Zach Matthews
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Shew. We kinda got whacked by Hurricane Dolly yesterday, believe it or not. We still had an amazing time. Our guide, with the unforgettable name Baz Yelverton, proved to be a total professional with a few aces up his sleeve.
We started out in Pensacola Bay and ran out to see if we could get into the Gulf. No go; the breakers were hammering the surf and turning over 1/4 mile out. There was probably a six foot swell at 8:00 AM with no wind, all pushed up by the lobes of Dolly sitting offshore.
However, Baz still anchored up on a sandbar and we had some ho-hum ladyfish action. I was kinda wondering what he was doing (other than checking his sports’ casting, which is always smart). Suddenly I hear a sccccreeeeeaaaacccchhhhhhh across the sky like the blue’s just been torn asunder and the friggin Blue Angels come ripping over us in formation. They hold practices on the bay right there at that time of day! We watched an entire air show; F-14s flown upside down, at one point a pilot came right over our head at near stall speed and we all waved. I swear he was not 100 feet off the ground. Those guys are flat out astounding.
I probably should have shot pictures but the boat was heaving pretty good and my gear was fogged from being the A/C in the car on the drive over (it was hot and humid). Still I did record an audio, which may make it into a future podcast.
So after that extremely sweet bonus (earned his tip right there in my book), we proceeded up into the bay and set up for sharks (which we were targeting since the albacore were out in the heaving gulf). This was agreed beforehand and in no way a cop-out by Baz; I wanted to try to catch a shark on the fly.
Baz put us right by a multi-million dollar mansion on a point and we proceeded to have shot after shot at cruising blacktips. I had follows and swirls on poppers but no bites, but Jake Campbell, my cousin, who was fishing with us as a birthday present, stuck about a 60 pounder. Holy. Crap.
That fish ran him over 200 yards into his backing on a heavy 10 weight RPLXi. Finally it just sawed through the Tyger Wire; nothing to do, couldn’t budge him. We did get some pictures of the fight, which lasted about five minutes. Very, very cool.
Unfortunately, conditions went south pretty quick after that. The “afternoon” wind started at 10 AM and pretty soon I was the only one left in the boat who could really still cast, and not that well at that. We switched to sinking shooting lines to cut through the gale but the bay was white-capping everywhere. So we ran up in the lee, way, way up about 10 miles into the East River looking for bait and jacks.
We did find the bait and we did manage to cast to it for quite a while. Baz did a great job of setting us up to drift through the menhaden. With the wind howling, I had the dubious satisfaction of seeing the backing knot on my shooting line, but of course all I really had to do was huck it up there and let it sail.
Finally we determined that the bait wasn’t holding any predators other than us, so we went back to the shark point and had a few more follows. I had an epic chase all the way to the boat by a small, landable blacktip (probably 30 pounds), but unfortunately he spooked off when he got within about 30 feet. Chased a little black clouser of all things.
We had a great time despite basically getting blanked (ladyfish notwithstanding). Blue Angels, sticking a shark that big and seeing the fight, and knowing that there was nothing whatsoever Baz could do about wind and hurricanes. I would happily recommend Baz again (Gulf Breeze Guide Service). Total professional in every way, and you know I’ve seen the flip side.
But, alas, my Gulf of Mexico streak of bad luck seems to have held in terms of actually catching fish. Still, for a no-fish day, this is as good as it gets.
Zach
Dusty, I like the second image better. I think you are right that the log took up too much room and kind of drew your eye away from the angler. Looks like some fun carping!
We’ll see what happens at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show (which I am covering again for American Angler).
Tim –
The #1 factor in why no one has done an outsourcing article yet is cost. The magazines’ travel budget was never much and nowadays is pretty much nil. That means (assuming I wrote it for AA), we’d have to have a sponsor to get us to the factories, and since the sponsor would be a manufacturer, that would raise a potential conflict of interest. Plus, what manufacturer would be served enough to pay a writer thousands of dollars (the cost of a ticket to SE Asia plus lodging) to come out and maybe just confirm what the manufacturer has been saying all along? I mean, I see that as a big positive for the manufacturer but I am not sure they would.
Zach
A waterproof camera pack company had offered me a demo pack to go try out but they never came through.
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
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
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.
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.