National Pro Staff Rant

[irishfield]

In 1980,at Erindale park was shoulder to shoulder at any pool. Whats changed?

 

 

I do understand your rant.

 

Guilty..

Yep and Yep.. well other than the "guilty" on my part. Bronte St Bridge.. Oakville... fist fights under the bridge from cutting the wrong line.. circa 1983 when there was no more than 3 feet between "anglers" at 4am !

[BillM]

Hi, I'm posting this from my super smooth Dell XPS laptop, while watching my Panasonic Viera Plasma TV. I just had some fantastic soft tacos from Taco Bell, which I drove to in my fabulous VW TDI.

[DRIFTER_016]

Were you wearing you Gucci underwear when you did so Bill?

[BillM]

You better believe it!

[MJL]

Were you wearing you Gucci underwear when you did so Bill?

 

And if he did, he should throw in some statistics in a statement like “And I wore Gucci boxers while typing this message. 10 out of 9 people agree that they are 45% more breathable than the next leading brand”

[Salmonidstalker]

And if he did, he should throw in some statistics in a statement like “And I wore Gucci boxers while typing this message. 10 out of 9 people agree that they are 45% more breathable than the next leading brand”

Lol. 60% of the time it works all the time!

[FloatnFly]

thing about backgrounds is, if you can recognize the river bank, and trees and bushes in a photo.....then you have already been there and know about that hole. but to someone who hasn't fished the river, they aren't going to be able to tell that spot from the thousands of others that are out there

[BillM]

thing about backgrounds is, if you can recognize the river bank, and trees and bushes in a photo.....then you have already been there and know about that hole. but to someone who hasn't fished the river, they aren't going to be able to tell that spot from the thousands of others that are out there

 

It's not about exact spots though, it never is.. It's about providing thousands of your new best friends with up to date river conditions.

[lew]

I've never fished a river and I have absolutely no plans to ever do so, and reading posts like this one only re-affirms my feelings.

 

I have NO idea how any of you guys can find enjoyment in this type of fishing when your shoulder to shoulder with guys, ducking under each others lines to land a fish, and actually getting into fights with each other.

 

Thanks, but I'll gladly stick with the solitude of my boat.

[blaque]

I've never fished a river and I have absolutely no plans to ever do so, and reading posts like this one only re-affirms my feelings.

 

I have NO idea how any of you guys can find enjoyment in this type of fishing when your shoulder to shoulder with guys, ducking under each others lines to land a fish, and actually getting into fights with each other.

 

Thanks, but I'll gladly stick with the solitude of my boat.

Its not always as bad as its cracked up to be. Theres plenty of solitude and fish thru the cold weather months to contradict alot of what you hear about the fall and spring runs. Wait till the weather turns and hit it !

[DT10Sam]

I've never fished a river and I have absolutely no plans to ever do so, and reading posts like this one only re-affirms my feelings.

 

I have NO idea how any of you guys can find enjoyment in this type of fishing when your shoulder to shoulder with guys, ducking under each others lines to land a fish, and actually getting into fights with each other.

 

Thanks, but I'll gladly stick with the solitude of my boat.

Hi Lew,

I totally agree with you on this and I have certainly seen my share of disgruntled fisherman fighting over their lines in the river and their spots etc. The last time I did anything like that was 44 years ago at the Saugeen River in Southhampton and I watched guys then fighting and shoving each other around. I love the solitude of the boat as well and come to think of it I'm getting the boat ready for some walleye action on the Bay of Quinte. Will be out there for the next couple of months until freeze up.

[misfish]

Wait till the weather turns and hit it !

 

WORD.

[MJL]

I've never fished a river and I have absolutely no plans to ever do so, and reading posts like this one only re-affirms my feelings.

 

I have NO idea how any of you guys can find enjoyment in this type of fishing when your shoulder to shoulder with guys, ducking under each others lines to land a fish, and actually getting into fights with each other.

 

Thanks, but I'll gladly stick with the solitude of my boat.

 

Lew, it applies to every species of fish. I’m sure if you (or anyone) was looking to get some walleye for dinner, you wouldn’t motor your boat to the local shoal where 40 boats are drifting/trolling around that 1 spot. The reason the eastern ditches are so popular is because they’re in close proximity to the largest city in Toronto. The paths along the rivers have been worn for over 60yrs by anglers before us and now, many of those paths are paved for easy travel. As far as reading water goes, at this point in time when there is no water, it’s easy to spot fish in water knee deep.

 

I still enjoy my steelhead fishing because I’m not fishing with the crowds (usually I’m just alone or with a close friend). I looked at a map, sometimes knocked on a few land-owner’s doors, pushed my way through a bit of forest and found no one at the other side. I can fish a stretch of river and never see anyone else the whole day.

 

There’s a lot more to steelhead fishing than those eastern lake O ditches. On that note, I value those streams even though I don’t fish them much anymore (I mostly just hike along with my cameras)…They have wild populations of trout & salmon. My license and tax $ weren’t spent to stock any of them with steelhead. My $ goes a longer way when they are not getting raped and exploited by other people (and so does yours).

Edited October 3, 2013 by MJL

[blaque]

 

WORD.

 

Word is right, theres plenty of this to go round when the snow starts flyin. Not a footprint to be found .....My favorite time of year

 

Edited October 3, 2013 by Blaque

[SirCranksalot]

I usually fish a bit further downstream from where that pic was taken.

[lew]

I'm sure there's countless gorgeous isolated spots around Ontario where you could fish all day and not see another person, but I was referring to the spots close to the large populations where guys are falling all over each other while trying to fish.

 

To each their own I spose, just not my cuppa.

[craigdritchie]

Wow, go fishing for a day and look at all I miss ....

 

 

 

It’s not 'where' that’s the issue, it’s 'when'.

 

Mike, I couldn't agree more. My big beef with internet boards has always been their power to expose entire runs of fish to instant and concentrated pressure. I always hate it when someone posts a picture or a description that identifies specific spots (especially those "I went 18 for 26" posts) because you know the next day there will be 50 new vehicles parked at that very spot. If 100 guys read their post then each tell two or three friends ... and they tell two or three friends ... well, you know how it ends.

 

I have no beef with magazines or TV shows ... yes, we all know the spots. But to Mike's point, we don't all descend on the place when the fish are heavily concentrated at that precise moment, and at their most vulnerable. By giving away the 'when' the internet has the power to seriously damage those fish populations, in a way that magazines or TV shows never could.

 

 

Getting sucked in s'what happens when you wannabe a wannabe. There are very few bona fide professionals in that gang but hey, that's just my opinion.

 

 

There have always been attention hogs who would do just about anything for a couple of free jigs ... or just to feed their own egos. They seem to need attention at any cost. Maybe their moms didn't pick them up enough when they were infants.

 

 

 

It's not about exact spots though, it never is.. It's about providing thousands of your new best friends with up to date river conditions.

 

 

Yup, what he said. Trout and salmon populations are fairly fragile things. It looks like a lot of fish when they're crammed into a little stream, but when you start harvesting those fish, it cuts the number of breeders very quickly.

 

It isn't just about angler harvest either. Three years ago a run of salmon came up the Credit really, really early. There were about a dozen of us who knew they were in, and we had a blast fishing for them. Then some idiot put a post and photo on a message board (not this one). The next day, there were no fish left in the pool I had been fishing, but probably 30 slit carcasses all along the bank. Goes to show, you cannot control who sees your post. It isn't always the people you necessarily want to share it with. So thanks, idiot. Hope feeding your ego was worth it.

 

 

I've never fished a river and I have absolutely no plans to ever do so, and reading posts like this one only re-affirms my feelings.

 

I have NO idea how any of you guys can find enjoyment in this type of fishing when your shoulder to shoulder with guys, ducking under each others lines to land a fish, and actually getting into fights with each other.

 

Thanks, but I'll gladly stick with the solitude of my boat.

 

 

It's not just in rivers though Lew, it's a behavour problem that goes farher than that. Anyone who has ever owned a cottage will know what I mean. It's a summer Saturday morning, you're sitting on your dock with a coffee, and you watch a parade of idiots in bass boats pulling up to your dock one after the other, some of them even give you the death stare because you're out there interrupting their fishing.

 

I mean, dude, it's my dock. Buzz off.

 

There are countless stories of tournament guys (some of them probably PRO STAFF ... LOL) who blatantly cast around swimmers. The complete lack of courtesy and sense of entitlement isn't restricted to people in waders. Sorry to say.

 

 

 

Word is right, theres plenty of this to go round when the snow starts flyin. Not a footprint to be found .....My favorite time of year

 

 

I love that photo. And that particular spot. I have a similar picture, in fact, taken more than 30 years ago. Except mine isn't as pretty as your picture.

 

 

I don't really understand the whole pro staff thing. I totally get someone wanting to make a living in the fishing business. I did, and I put food on the table for more than 25 years by writing about fishing as a full-time job. I totally understand that to do that, you have to pay your dues when you start out, and do a lot of work that isn't exactly lucrative. Everyone in the industry has, at one time or another, worked their tail off for not very much reward - me, Bob and Wayne Izumi, Big Jim, Mark Kulik, Mark Krupa, Al Lindner, Dave Mercer, John Kerr, Bill Dance, Ang Viola, Pete Bowman ... I can name names all afternoon. But while we may have all worked hard for humble rewards, we never gave it away for free.

 

There's a huge difference between paying your dues, and paying out-of-pocket to be a product shill. These pro staff guys just don't get it - they don't understand that by paying to work for nothing, that's all they'll ever make. There is no career at the end of that road.

 

The only other reason to do it, then, is ego - pure and simple.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Craig_Ritchie

[BillM]

I like that spot as well, Mr.Richie I think an adventure is in order, lol!

[blaque]

Uh oh, i think i may have commited my first "spot burn"

[MJL]

Uh oh, i think i may have commited my first "spot burn"

 

No you haven’t…But in 5 mins when people who don’t know start asking me where that is, I might not be able to help myself.LOL

 

On a more serious note, when people do ask me where I catch my carp, I send them to a certain beach on the Toronto Islands. Usually conversations there start with, “hey, nice rod ”

[BillM]

I wouldn't worry about that, lol!

[craigdritchie]

On a more serious note, when people do ask me where I catch my carp, I send them to a certain beach on the Toronto Islands. Usually conversations there start with, “hey, nice rod ”

 

You are a sick and twisted young man. No wonder we get along!

Edited October 3, 2013 by Craig_Ritchie

[blaque]

you canadians are already "hip" to that area anyhow , and besides that.........the parking there sucks now lol

[porkpie]

Eastern ditches..... What a crappy little term. I have never understood why steelheaders speak of these creeks with such derision, yet they will all flock to them as soon as a run is in. It's like sucking all the enjoyment out of something that you can, and then running it into the ground!

Edited October 3, 2013 by porkpie

[hammercarp]

I too fished South Hampton over 40 years ago ,The gentleman described it to a T. I never went back.

This same stuff is starting to pop up in the carp angling scene here. If you can believe it. The most under exploited fish we have in Ontario . found virtually every where in Southern Ontario and guys are getting into it for the same reasons that are talked about in this post. Monster egos, greed, selfishness, jealousy and even violence are starting to creep into the sport. We also have the added incentive of the sport being relatively new to a lot of anglers. So we get the guys who think they are writing them selves into the history books. Even though the book has been written and they are not in it.

These guys are relatively few in numbers but they can cause a lot of problems because carp angling here is a very social recreation. Half a dozen guys fishing together is fairly common here.

Pro Staff are mainly used by bait manufacturers in carp angling. You can actually get one man band operations that make carp baits and use pro-staff.

The term "swim jumping" is being bandied about. We call a spot that we fish for carp a swim. So the words are a take off from the old gold rush days " claim jumpers" .

Different pot but same old stuff in it.