By Malcolm Meintjes

Every sport develops in time an etiquette - that behaviour which often falls outside the actual rules of the pastime, but which governs acts of anticipated "good form" or sportsmanship. In cricket, for example, one is entitled to run out a batsman backing up, but it is considered unsporting to do so without one friendly warning. In golf, one is expected to stand quietly, refraining from any distraction, from clearing one's throat to letting off a shotgun, while your opponent is putting. Similarly it would not be expected for a soccer player to call out "Missmiss" to an opponent about to trap a ball.

Flyfishing, a very traditional pastime going back some 1500 years, has also evolved etiquette with respect to different angling situations e.g. river and stillwater fishing. In South Africa, trout angling has had a fairly loose arrangement mainly due to the lack of pressure on the water. Where one comes across another angler on the water, others simply give more than enough leeway for the privacy of fishing a pool. However with the influx of many new flyfishing addicts, very often an unawareness of etiquette exists, causing problems e.g. someone moving in higher up an occupied pool.

Noise

South African stillwater trout fishing etiquette is reasonably straightforward. In general, anglers (and any others walking the perimeters of a dam) should keep the noise level down - no ghetto blasters please - and allow any other angler at least 20 metres berth when selecting their own spot. It's not polite to crush in towards another angler who has just caught a fish! Or pushing into his spot while he unhooks his catch. By the way, it's customary to quietly call "Coming through" if you walk within range behind an angler casting. Quite a few people have had flies removed from their beings by ignoring this.

Technology brings its own new conundrums, such as the carrying of cell-phones on the water. This should, however, fall under the etiquette that governs noise generation. Imagine basking in the relative wild and hearing the strains of "Camptown Races" drowning out the cry of the Fish Eagle.

Another point is that if an angler decides to keep a trout, it should be dispatched immediately with a "Priest" and not left to linger or be placed alive in a keep net.

Float Tubes

The advent of "personal watercraft" such as float tubes, kick boats or as Dullstroom Dam once had it "floating ships" presents other challenges to behaviour. Usually the rule is that he who has less mobility has right of way, a view that float-tubers kick against for obvious reasons. Because this etiquette has not been entrenched, many waters rule that kickboaters should not come closer than 50 metres to the bank, if bank fishers are present. This is similar to the rules that govern boat fishing overseas.

There are many more examples, but one aspect of etiquette is that it expects you to err on the side of conservatism, if you are unsure of what the etiquette is. Or ask. In this day and age of individual rights, etiquette suggests it is the right of the other individual that should occupy one's mind.

More involved etiquette involves the fishing of a river especially where fishing pressure results in anglers bumping into one another. In South Africa in spring, many anglers converge on the Vaal River to pursue yellowfish in fast water. Because this has been a growing arm of flyfishing, attracting many newcomers, little or no etiquette has ever been developed or "borrowed" from trout anglers and, as a result, tempers fray frequently.

New Zealand

While first come-first served is the general starting point on a river, let's look at some New Zealand approaches, which were devised to cater for many anglers wishing to fish the same pool. The English approach which avoids a number of conflicts, prefers to divide the river into "beats", so if you book a "beat", no one can encroach on your allocated water for that time period (though I have seen some try).

However, let us get back to a crowded river scenario in NZ and how it can possibly help the concomitant SA scene. Imagine a long pool flowing from left to right downstream. First angler in, as you would expect, has right of way and, additionally, he determines the movement of anglers following in his footsteps. In other words, if he elects to fish downstream, no one may blunder into the pool ahead of him. However, in our example, it will not long before he is joined by others. Once a second angler has signaled his interest in fishing the same pool, the first angler's duty is to cast, retrieve - and then move one pace downstream. As the space opens up, the second angler may move in behind the first, adopting the same cast-and-move procedure.

On the big pools of the Tongariro River it is not uncommon to see ten or more anglers moving downriver in orderly fashion about 10 m apart. It is quite amazing how only some anglers may catch fish but it is certainly not a case of all going to the first angler.

Once the first angler is finished (or when it has become too deep for him) he can exit the water and go to the back of the line. Thus a veritable conveyor belt system is in place with the fish being shared out. You can have your rights to fish as you wish, but not to hog the water.

Upstream

What if you want to fish upstream, you ask? You don't, unless you want to risk invective and a fly in your waders (custom not etiquette mind!) from the line of anglers coming down. It happens by accident, from time to time, and can be quite comical when the two factions converge around a corner.

In South Africa, a loose arrangement not to push in ahead of someone already fishing is taking hold, but where the river is divided up into sundry features such as glides, runs, riffles etc, the situation can be confusing. It actually requires an ability to "read" water and anticipate what the incumbent angler in a glide or riffle etc is trying to accomplish. Ascertain the water the angler is fishing and either move quietly behind him or head for some other feature that will not disturb anybody.

Again, if uncertain, etiquette would suggest that you ask the angler for permission to move around him or behind him. This is particularly so with certain fast water areas where it may even be impossible to move quietly to access other sections further across the river e.g. an angler fishing on the "access route" to other river channels.

One might think that common sense should prevail, but as the saying goes, it is not that common. However, it is important that etiquette begins to take hold with respect so that everybody will enjoy their day out.

A FEW WORDS ON CATCH AND RELEASE

We understand that fish may be damaged during catch and release if appropriate caution is not taken, so we provide the following guidelines for catch and release:
• Use barbless or de-barbed hooks
• Play the fish to the bank as quickly as possible to minimize the fish's exhaustion
• Try not to handle the fish out of the water
• If possible, unhook the fish without removing it from the water - you may get a little wetter this way, but your fish is much more likely to survive
• If you need to weigh the fish, do it in the net (which should be knotless)
• Under no circumstances should you handle the fish's gills or squeeze it's lower body
• Preferably use pliers, forceps or a "Catchum" tool to hold the hook and "shake" the fish off in the water - a fish is much less likely to suffer damage by thrashing around in the water while you hold a hook, as opposed to being held or laid on the bank
• Once unhooked, if the fish does not swim away quickly and strongly, then support the fish in an upright position while it recovers
• If deep-hooked or gill hooked, then rather cut the line and release the fish - a fly cost a few rands - a trophy fish can cost hundreds to replace and, anyway, it deserves to live to fight another day!