Some days a fishing experience ends with a skunk, and yet you catch something far more valuable than the fish you went after. I got home yesterday from fishing the American River for steelhead by the Nimbus dam. One thing I can't stand about fishing from the shore is all the F......G trash people leave behind! There was a guy fishing by me who re-spooled his reel and had all his old line right there strung out for everyone to get tangled up in. When he was about to leave I asked him if he was going to leave without picking up his mess? He obliged and picked it up, then asked me, "Are you happy now?" I replied, "I'm happier, just look at this place, it's already trashed up, it's the least you could do." I was indeed happy that I could catch one of these bastards in the act of trashing our fishing grounds and calling them on their actions. When I left at the end of the day my buddy and I filled up a trash bag from the area around where we were fishing. I thought we were the only one's with enough respect to do that.
The next day we went to the same spot. We went a few yards up the river. This time there were some experienced guys there catching fish. They were friendly and willing to share information. Then one guy shows up with a 13 1/2ft Loomis noodle rod. He's in no hurry to fish. He sits down, has a cup of coffee. All these old timers know each other and are really nice. The one with the noodle rod somehow mentions bringing the family out and teaching the kids to fish properly. I then mention that they should teach them to pick up their trash when they are done fishing. He agrees with me. This guy goes on to mention how he came from an abusive family and then tells how he broke the cycle. He finished his coffee, broke out his trash bag, then cleans up all the trash in the area we were fishing- which was what he had planned to do all along. Then he proceded to get on with fishing. He outfished all the people there but was teaching us the entire time. He was teaching us beginners all the ins and outs to steelhead fishing the entire time he was catching them himself. I had to leave early but was very impressed with this guy. Not only was he an expert. He had humility, and he wanted everyone else to catch fish just as much as he did. He didn't just show up, start catching fish, and make everyone look bad.
What I learned from this guy is that I'm going to do a trash detail before I start fishing from now on. I'm always in such a hurry to start fishing. The other thing is that whenever possible I'm going to try and help somebody out-it doesn't have to be with fishing. The other thing is I know a guy that has a sign shop. I was thinking of getting some sort of sticker to put on the back of my camper shell that says something like, "Real fisherman pick up their trash." If you can think of a better slogan let me know.
So the lesson I learned is that there is more to fishing than just catching fish. It's about being a decent citizen, a caring human being, showing respect for other fisherman as well making it a learning experience all the time. I'm going to meet a lot of AH's fishing, perhaps I can make an impression on a couple of other new people to the sport like this man did with me. Kindness can be contagious. And when I go back, I will take what I learned about steelhead fishing from him and try some some new stuff too. I'm also going to practice a new knot he taught me.