River Etiquette

Every year at about this time a migration happens that is not too different from the snow geese that come passing through to rest for a while and then move on for greener pastures. (They spend a little time eating all the seeds that have been planted and leave behind a pile of shit to clean up.) Some of the rivers right now aren't floatable due to lack of water and because of the recent storms, some are getting blown out. The Missouri, however, is a tail water of sorts because it is regulated by a dam. (A series of dams actually.) In the time I've been here, I've only seen the entire 35 mile stretch blown out like twice and it only lasted for a couple days. Guides from all over the state are bringing their clients to the Missouri because it's the only show in town. Eventually, their home rivers will come down and they will go home but in the meantime, there is this influx of guides that aren't familiar with the etiquette that has been established up on the Mo so what I'm going to do is help you all out with a little lesson in etiquette.

First of all, etiquette isn't a law so by not following it, it's not like your going to the poky or you are going to lose your license. There are no legal ramifications so there is no real way to enforce it. However, etiquette is normative behavior constructed by the ethos, (or locals,) with the goal being a set of unwritten rules that benefit all those involved. It changes from river to river because quite frankly, the guiding community on some rivers is tighter than on others. In some communities, the guides don't care so much about each other or the success of each other's clients so a very different set of rules is constructed.

I worked for 13 different outfitters last year, which means on any given day I might be working with a different set of guides as the day before. Because of this, we all work together at some point and most of us help each other out. We also get that if we are all successful, that equates to more boat days on the water for all of us because people come back and they bring friends. It's a pretty simple concept really. That doesn't mean it's not competitive it just means there is a little balance. Plus, there are only two bars in Craig and it's much more fun to sit and have a beer with friends than chucking bottles at each other.

The problem is when a group like Paws Up comes from over the hill and they don't know the local river etiquette and they don't care to learn it. It kind of screws up the game for all of us. On Saturday I ran into the Paws Up crew a number of times and it had a real effect on the fishing and quite honestly, I felt my patience level being tested for a good part of the day.

Now I know what you might be thinking; it's a big river and there are plenty of fish and you don't own the river and bla bla bla and all of that is true but when you have six boats from one group alone parking in every hole and every run on one 5 mile stretch, it kind of sucks. The local guides don't park because they realize that by parking, only one boat gets a shot and the rest of the boats get screwed. By doing row-arounds, a boat can go through a run, each client can hook up and you can slide out of the hole to let the next boat through. Then, land the fish, row back up stream and take another shot. There are so many fish stacked up in some of these runs that a few boats can fish the run and be successful at the same time.

But this is why I like guiding on the Mo and I wouldn't even think of guiding on rivers like the Big Horn. I've heard stories of outfitters sending shop boys out on the river at 6am to stake out holes. They rush their clients to that one spot and sit on it for hours. That doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun to me.

The other thing that drives us all crazy is working a bank and having someone slide in 50 yards in front of us. That's awesome! And it only happened about 20 times on Saturday. Even 100 yards is too close. What was even cooler was taking out at the end of this frustrating day and having one of these Paws Up water sharks ask me how the streamer fishing was and what they were eating...fuck you. (Whoooo! Sorry, got a little carried away.)

What I observed and what the real consequence of this is, is that the local boys get pressured and start following suit. Guys that would normally be very accommodating to each other were now sitting on runs, cutting each other off and any sense of etiquette went right out the window.

The last thing I would say is that I think there is a difference between the recreational fishers and the guides. It's not that every one shouldn't have the same responsibility to be courteous but most of us understand that if you aren't on the water every day, it's difficult to learn the nuances of the guiding culture. We are for the most part, very accommodating to those people and definitely give them some slack.

Keep 'em where they live y'all and sorry for the f'bomb.