Worst fishing day ever
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“Was a bad day of fishing better than good day in the office?” So that is the quote from a dear old friend of mine. It is in reference to a story I told him about my fishing experience this weekend . . .
I went fishing with Zach on the Toccoa river in North Georgia. We planned the trip in advance to coincide with peak generation and high flows in search of big trout. As it turned out, this was to be my worst day of fishing ever.
Instead of embellishing the story, I have decided to make this fun in an attempt to cheer me up. Here’s the deal, I have posted a poll in which I give a description of things that actually happened and one that did not happen. You get to pick which of the stories is NOT true.
Zach, please post the pictures you took of me at the car so people will know I’m telling the truth. I will reveal the actual story in the near future once people have a chance to vote on what they think is the bogus story.
I’ll post them Neal. 😉
To Neal’s credit, this was in large part my fault. I took him down a tight river in high water conditions which were serious enough that I had to really pay attention to keep the boat in order while still trying to fish. I have eight years of experience in my pontoon boat. Neal had his out for the third time. We would have been far wiser to simply float the river once without rods and reels to let him get the feel for it, then to come back at about half as much generation for fishing.
Zach
PS My right pontoon sprung a leak on the way home.
NO way did Zach catch a 28″ fish. I’ve seen his measuring estimation skills and they are off by about 8″.
nice.
NO way did Zach catch a 28″ fish. I’ve seen his measuring estimation skills and they are off by about 8″.
In my neck of the woods thats known as penis math, we all , well most of us use it from time to time. 😀
OMG, that stripping basket and fighting-butt rod in the background while holding up a dink fish is out of this world. That made me laugh! 😀 Thanks Carter, I’m getting cheered up.
Well guys, here’s how the day actually went – First, Zach’s cat pissed in his gear bag so all his stuff smelled very bad, he was not happy. Then we hit the water and I found out very quickly I didn’t have the slightest clue how to operate a pontoon under technical conditions. I couldn’t manage my anchor and my control was all over the place. I kept hitting trees. I had two rods rigged up and one was sticking up and out and the other was low and back. My 7wt Heliply rod with Hatch reel (and a new sink tip line aagghh) got snagged in a tree and fell in the water (luckily it was my spare setup and the rod and reel were both used, my good 8wt and saltwater reel were safe, lesson always point your rods back from you in a pontoon boat. Anyway, I lost the damn rod/reel/sink-tip and a new Zoo Cougar fly, luckily I was smart enough not to try and jump in after it. I just beached my raft on some millionaire’s land right next to a no trespassing sign and a walked around and counted to ten in a proverbial sense.
Back on the water I was still upset but already starting to see the humor in the situation (thanks to Zach’s Fat Tire beer, another lesson, try and bring some beer when floating) that I dropped anchor to calm down, but my anchor caught a stump in the water and my boat almost capsized backward. I almost lost it all so all I could do was to release my anchor completely and thus it was lost also. At that point all we could do was to float out and it took about 2 hours of rowing just to get back to the car. We just drank beer and rowed, no fish were caught that day. Well, that’s my story, truly a very bad day of fishing. Still better than a good in the office and I learned some very valuable lessons. Can’t wait to do it again, ha.
P.S. – Later that day, Zach blew one of his pontoon bladders and had to repair and his cat pissed in his bag again!!! Some days are just unlucky. I personally blame the whole thing on the cat. 😉
Time for my version.
My cat is blameless – his box was dirty and I wouldn’t have wanted to use it if I were him either. I cleaned the box and resolved the issue.
As I said above, putting Neal in that situation was largely my fault. I also blame the Orvis company for rigging his pontoon with a holder that tempts anglers into letting their rods wave five to six feet in the air. (Although I think the holder is really meant for a spinning rod). ALWAYS leave your rods parallel to the waterline in a pontoon boat on any water with overhanging obstructions.
The millionaire’s land that Neal pulled out on is a prime hold for big trophy trout, because said millionaire feeds the fish pellets and attracts them for about a mile on both sides. Unfortunately, that’s the reality on the Toccoa; except in periods of high water or heavy hatches, the fish congregate near the feeders. Yet another example of the me-first attitude plaguing rivers in our country. The irony is, having drawn in all the fish, the millionaire has now posted signs saying “No Anchoring! Private Property!” in an effort to keep fishermen away.
As for not catching fish, I actually blame my ability to kill the strip properly. While Neal was off turning circles learning to control the boat, I counted no fewer than five follows. I drew one littler brown to my boat three separate times but he wouldn’t take the fly. I am not following through somehow, or my tippet was too heavy, or something. Gotta figure it out. The only big fish I drew out unfortunately followed out too far before striking and got within sight of Neal’s boat (not his fault), and spooked off. Knowing that hole and based on the flash I saw, that one probably was over 20″ – not 28″ but it would have been a decent fish. I have been in the boat when 5 lbs. plus fish were caught on that stretch.
Incidentally, I took the bladder out of the liner and inflated it last night, searching for holes.
“The irony is, having drawn in all the fish, the millionaire has now posted signs saying “No Anchoring! Private Property!” in an effort to keep fishermen away.”
Can they do that in your state?
Andrew –
Your question was the same I had when I got home. I did some legal research and I am afraid the answer is ‘yes.’ The following is my professional opinion as a lawyer (which I wrote down because I would eventually participate in a challenge if the opportunity arose). However, I am not holding it out as something you should rely on:
In Georgia, if a waterway is classed as a “navigable stream,” the public enjoys an unhindered right to fish it, because the rights of owners of the adjacent land extend only to the “low water mark” of the river. O.C.G.A. § 44-8-5(a), (b). However, under Givens v. Ichauway, Inc., 268 Ga. 710, 493 S.E.2d 148 (Ga. 1997) (involving an attempt by a river user to challenge the non-navigability of a stream by floating it in a 16 foot long by 4 foot wide raft containing two passengers, a bale of cotton, and a goat – a typical 19th century commercial cargo), the test for “navigability” in Georgia is the “current commercial standard” for carrying “freight” (i.e. not rafters) down the river. The “current commercial standard” which was implicitly cited by the Court for carrying freight was a “barge which was 245 feet long, 35 feet wide, and drew seven and one-half feet of water.”
If a waterway does not meet the Givens standard, which the Toccoa River, among others, certainly does not, then that waterway is not a “navigable stream” under the current interpretation of the law. The rights of adjacent landowners to a non-navigable stream extend “to the thread or the center of the main current of the water.” O.C.G.A. § 44-8-2. If one landowner owns property on both sides of the river, that landowner’s rights extend across the entire river. That landowner has the right to restrict all access, including fishing, under trespass laws. In a final blow to commercial rafting interests, “navigability” is further restricted by O.C.G.A. § 44-8-5(a), which clarifies: “The mere rafting of timber or the transporting of wood in small boats shall not make a stream navigable.”
Consequently, it is clear under current law that landowners’ interests on the Toccoa and other smaller “trout streams” in Georgia would be able to effectively close down fishing should they so desire. The only exception would be rivers such as the Chattahoochee which are owned by the State of Georgia or the United States. To my knowledge, no trout stream in Georgia would pass the Givens test because none of them are large enough waterways. Thus, only rivers in which the actual stream bed is owned by the government would remain technically open to fishing.
Now, people raft the Toccoa all the time. They do so basically on the forbearance of the landowners, who are giving implicit permission by not asserting their technical right to post the land. My belief is that the landowners do not wish to provoke a change in the law. There are enough commercial rafting and fishing interests in Georgia to make up a significant lobby; possibly a stronger lobby than the landowners and certainly more motivated since this is their livelihood. If we saw mass posting of rivers like the Toccoa, the Chattooga, the Flint, etc., then I think the Legislature would alter the law.
Zach
Andrew –
Don’t try to read too much into the citations; this was written for lawyers by a lawyer. (Ga. 1997) means the Supreme Court of Georgia handed down the ruling in 1997. The Supreme Court is the highest court in almost every state (except New York) and is likewise the highest court in Georgia. This means that all lower courts in Georgia will be bound by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law. If you want to change it, you have to either convince the Legislature to re-write it or convince the Supreme Court to revisit its own interpretation on appeal (not likely).
The statute in question was actually penned in 1863, although it has been recodified without substantial change a couple times. What this means in lay terms is that “navigability” of a river is the key. If the river is navigable, the public can fish it. If the river is not navigable, landowners can post it, if they want to.
The term “navigable stream” is defined in the statute as “a stream which is capable of transporting boats loaded with freight in the regular course of trade either for the whole or a part of the year.” The challenge in the Givens case was what this language meant: what was “freight?” What is the “regular course of trade?” Was the “regular course of trade” defined by an 1863 standard or a 1997 (i.e. the present) standard?
The Court held the standard was the present commercial freight standard. That’s why they used a big old barge as the definition of “regular course of trade.” By interpreting the law to mean current freight standards, the court drastically limited the number of rivers in Georgia which could be defined as navigable. Obviously, had the court accepted the 19th century standard, with the bale of cotton and the goat as “freight,” then we’d have a whole lot more navigable rivers in Georgia.
What that means is that we all need to pay attention to landowners. Watch them to make sure they aren’t being agitated, and if they do get agitated, pay attention if they start to organize. Most landowners are not aware of the current state of the law; they tend to cite their deeds, which actually have no impact if they are in contravention of the Court’s current interpretation (that means a court today would just throw out the part of any deed claiming to give title to a “navigable” streambed to a landowner).
The best way to handle this is to work with landowners rather than against them and leave the law alone. Most landowners just want their property to remain clean and quiet and undisturbed. If you see anglers abusing that relationship, you might mention that the landowner doesn’t have to let you fish on the property (at least on the Toccoa) and thus it’s better to behave. On the other hand, don’t go telling your landowner buddies that they can post the property! No sense waking up a sleeping tiger.
Zach
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