Old School…

The other day when the wife and I were fishing a river that we frequent often…we heard something and looked upstream to see two kayakers approaching.

Usually we have the river to ourselves for the whole day but this day was different. The first thing the older gentleman in the lead kayak said was, “this river sure is crowded!” I thought the comment was rather odd and I could tell the guy was genuinely upset that we were fishing the same river as them.

I will digress a bit here to explain to the reader that I myself am not a people person. I prefer to get as far away from other humans as I can. I like to fish or hunt completely surrounded by the sounds of nature. And I don’t take kindly to incursions from the outside world/other humans. Also, I am tired of cleaning up after other humans no matter where I go. Now back to the story…

I could’ve gotten upset myself at THEIR intrusion since obviously we were on the river well before them. Instead I let the old man vent for a bit and genuinely agreed with most of his complaints/observations. For reference, this particular area became available to the public in 2019. However, most of the people who accessed it kept it pretty quiet because they knew what would happen once word got out. It wasn’t until recently that the Fish and Game Commission decided to advertise it on TV as well as holding fishing clinics here. None of the “regulars” were happy to say the least.

Anyway, the 4 of us sat on the river and talked. We had honest conversations regarding this river and our respect and concern for it. These two gentlemen were from Arkansas and had purchased land on the river just so they could have access. Once they realized that my wife and I were just like them in the fact that we deeply cared for the well being of this river, they relaxed a bit. They were amazed that we fished up and down the river on foot…deeming it too strenuous so they opted to fish out of kayaks. Respect was earned and given both ways as the conversation continued. We could’ve parted as enemies but instead parted ways as fisher-friends.

Give and take goes a long way. I’d rather fish in harmony with others when possible. And I really don’t have a problem with others trying to protect their waters as long as they allow access to people who feel the same way. I don’t pick up trash for awards or recognition but because I CARE. In retrospect it was kind of funny…as we talked and shared stories about some of the rivers we fished, we ended sharing new locations and access points with each other. I shared my knowledge of BFS and JDM tackle and showed them the gear we were using as we clearly had different concepts of what constituted “ultralight” fishing gear. If both parties of a conversation are not learning something…is it really a conversation?

Things to ponder on…