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 The Etiquette of Opening Day
by Don W. Sangster
The long wait is almost over and the big day is nearly here. The
opener of the general trout season in southern Ontario is upon us.
For avid steelheaders and weekend warriors alike, the last Saturday
in April is more than just another day on the calendar; it’s an
annual ritual. But the rivers can get crowded with anxious anglers
on opening weekend; in some cases very crowded, and this can bring
out the worst in some anglers and lead to short tempers for others.
However, whether you’re heading out for your first opener, or your
thirty-first, following a few simple rules of fishing etiquette can
help ensure that an enjoyable time is had by all. Here are ten
things to do, and not to do, on Ontario’s steelhead rivers, creeks
and streams this spring.
1. DON’T – Trespass
Anglers complain that more and more private property is
posted “No Trespassing” or “No Fishing” every year. Ever wonder why
that is? It’s usually because of just a few ignorant slobs who think
that they have a right to tramp across any property between them and
the water without asking. Wrong. Much of the headwaters of southern
Ontario’s rivers, creeks and streams course through private
property. Without getting into a lengthy legal discussion about
navigable/non-navigable waterways, riparian rights and who owns the
water and the riverbed, suffice it to say that, unless you are
dealing with Crown land, you need to have permission to cross
private property in order to access the river. If you don’t, you are
trespassing.
Most landowners will grant permission to anglers considerate and
polite enough to simply ask. Not only will this allow you to fish
with a clear conscience and without having to keep looking over your
shoulder, but it will help improve angler-landowner relations and
maybe help slow the spread of posted lands.
2. DON’T – Wear Bright Clothing
If you’ve spent much time on southern Ontario’s steelhead
waters lately, you may have noticed a trend among avid steelheaders
toward smaller floats, and ones made of clear plastic. This is
largely due to the low water levels that have plagued much of
southern Ontario the last few years, resulting in shallow,
crystal-clear steelhead rivers. When you add bright, sunny skies and
the tremendous fishing pressure of opening weekend, you have a
recipe for extremely wary and skittish steelhead. Small, stealthy
floats are harder for the fish to see and are less likely to spook
them.
For the same reason, you may have also noticed the popularity of
camouflage clothing with many anglers. If the fish can’t see you,
they can’t be spooked by you, and nothing will spook wary trout
sitting in a shallow, gin-clear pool – and annoy other anglers –
quicker than someone wearing a bright orange floater suit or bright
yellow rain suit stomping up to the water’s edge and asking the camo-clad
anglers, “How’s the fishing?” I’m not saying that you need to go out
and a buy a new pair of camouflage waders and a camouflage hunting
coat, but try to stick to dark colours and earth tones for all
outerwear. That way, everyone will catch more fish.
3. DON’T – Wade Unnecessarily
It seems that many anglers think that because they are
wearing waders that they should be constantly walking or standing in
the water. The reality is that even the slightest movement you make
while standing in the water will be transmitted to wary fish nearby.
Besides, most of southern Ontario’s steelhead rivers are small
enough that they can be fished effectively from shore. In fact, stay
as far back from the water’s edge as you can.
If you do need to stand in the water while fishing, be considerate
of those people who are fishing from shore and avoid moving your
feet or walking around unnecessarily. If you need to cross the
river, do so slowly and quietly so you won’t stir up too much gravel
or sand, and do it well upstream or downstream from spots that
others are fishing.
 4. DON’T – Crowd Others Anglers
Nothing is more frustrating to a steelheader than
constantly tangling lines with other anglers fishing the same pool.
This results from simply having too many people fishing in one spot.
Some pools are large enough to accommodate several anglers, while
others only have room for one or two. The bottom line is, give each
angler their own space, and certainly enough room to cast and make
drifts longer than just a few feet in length. A good rule of thumb
is at least two arm lengths from the next fisherman.
If you are fishing in close quarters, be especially considerate of
the guy next to you. This includes not casting over the line of the
angler upstream from you, and not allowing your float to drift so
far past you that the next angler downstream has to constantly wait
for you to finish your drift before he can make his next cast. And
most of all, if someone hooks a fish close to you, whether he yells
“Fish On!” or not, quickly reel in your line and wait for him to
land the fish or move away. This will prevent tangled lines and lost
fish. Since you have your line out of the water anyway, offer to net
or help land the fish, especially with a big fish or a young or
less-experienced angler. They might return the favour some day.
One way to avoid crowds is to simply look for spots that aren’t
being hammered by other anglers. Before opening day, the rivermouth
areas of those rivers and creeks flowing into Lakes Ontario, Erie
and Huron/Georgian Bay that offer year-round steelheading
opportunities can get crowded. Once opening day arrives, however,
these rivermouth sections are mostly overlooked by anglers who
generally head for areas upstream. Depending upon how early spring
has sprung in this part of the world, significant numbers of fish
may have already finished their upstream spawning duties and dropped
back down to the rivermouths, on their way back to the lake. You may
even find yourself all alone with a bunch of fish all to yourself.
If you do happen across a small, quiet pool somewhere that someone
else has already discovered and is fishing it all by them self, be
considerate and politely ask them if they mind if you too fish
“their” pool. If by some chance they do object, just move along to
another spot until they leave. There are usually more than enough
fish around on opening weekend for everyone.
5. DON’T – Bottom Fish Where Everyone Else is Float Fishing,
or Vice Versa
The most popular method for catching steelhead in southern
Ontario is float fishing, but by no means is it the only way. Many
anglers prefer to bottom bounce, bottom fish or cast plugs, spoons
and spinners. All of these methods will catch fish, but they aren’t
all necessarily compatible with each other.
Float fishing involves repeated casts upstream, with the float being
retrieved usually after it has drifted well downstream. Imagine a
bunch of anglers all float fishing side by side, each one casting
and retrieving in lock step with the guy beside them. Now imagine
another angler coming along and deciding to bottom fish right in the
middle of the row of float fishermen. Since bottom fishing involves
attaching enough weight to your line so that your bait sits on
bottom right where you cast it, the exact location of which may be
difficult for other anglers to see, you can understand how this can
wreak havoc for the float fishermen, especially should one of them
hook a fish.
The simple solution is to just “go with the flow.” If everyone else
is float fishing a particular spot, then you should do the same, or
find another spot to cast or bottom fish. Similarly, if you are a
float fisherman and you come across some anglers bottom fishing or
casting, make sure you do your drifts well away from them.
6. DON’T – Steal Someone’s Spot
This brings us to one of steelheading’s unwritten rules:
you never take another guy’s spot when he moves upstream or
downstream to land a fish. The same thing goes for someone who has
temporarily vacated his spot to answer the call of nature.
 If a non-angler were to observe a group of avid steelheaders fishing
a stretch of productive water for a period of time, they would
surely remark at the ballet of revolving spots being performed, with
each angler periodically hop-scotching from one spot to another to
make a few drifts before switching back to another spot. Believe it
or not, there is a method to this madness, namely the continual
search for active fish that have not yet seen that particular
angler’s bait, and a few feet upstream or downstream can make a
difference. In this scenario, it is perfectly acceptable to move
into a spot that has just been vacated by another angler in this
way. It is also obvious when someone is moving to a completely
different pool, or is packing up to leave altogether. It is even OK
to briefly shift over toward where someone just hooked a fish and
has left to land it, as long as you honour the spot and move away
again when the angler returns.
7. DON’T – Target Spawning Fish
This “Don’t” actually falls more under the category of
ethics than etiquette, which perhaps makes it even more meaningful.
Depending upon whether it’s been an “early” or “late” spring come
end of April, and depending upon how far upstream you are fishing,
you may encounter numbers of fish that are still actively spawning.
You’ll be able to recognize this by seeing fish, usually in pairs,
sitting on spawning redds, or perhaps actually spawning. These fish
can be extremely vulnerable, as they will often defend their nest
against anything that drifts too close to it, including an angler’s
bait. Catching fish off of spawning beds is not sporting or ethical.
Leave them be to do their thing as there will be plenty of other
fish around that have already spawned and are now looking to feed.
8. DO – Try to Land Fish Above or Below the Pool
Steelhead are rarely active and biting all day long.
Instead, they tend to turn on for a few brief spurts throughout the
day. It is during these short periods that most fish are caught.
When they do turn on, the trick is to not do anything to spook them
and turn them off again too soon. One thing that can quickly and
easily spook active fish is an angler engaging in a lengthy fight
with a large or particularly acrobatic fish in the middle of the
pool.
Instead of basically ignoring the other anglers around you who are
continuing to fish, be considerate of them and try to lead the fish
upstream or downstream out of the pool and away from other anglers,
where you can fight it and land it without worrying about alerting
every other fish in the pool and ruining the bite for everyone else,
and yourself.
9. DO – Release Most of What you Catch
Again under the ethics category…there’s nothing wrong with
keeping a small trout now and then to put on the barbeque, but why
some people insist on taking home five trout (the legal daily limit
in some areas), including big ones, is a bit of a mystery to me.
Even if it is legal, the reality is that if everyone kept his or her
limit each time out, it likely wouldn’t be long before Ontario
steelhead would become a rarity. Besides, a quick check of the
publication Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish, published by the
Ontario government, will reveal significant restrictions on
consumption of rainbow trout, especially large ones, from many of
our Great Lakes tributaries, due to high levels of mercury and other
contaminants. It also just doesn’t sit well with those anglers who
practice catch and release, and it doesn’t look good to the
non-angling public.
If you do decide to keep a fish, don’t slice it open at the water’s
edge and leave a pile of guts sitting on shore, and never remove the
roe from a hen rainbow trout and leave the carcass behind to rot on
the bank.
10. DON’T – Litter
Besides trespassing, nothing annoys landowners – and other anglers –
more than littering, and there is simply no excuse for it. If you
were able to carry that full worm container, that full coffee cup or
that full beverage bottle down to the creek with you, you should
have no problem taking the same (but much lighter) empty container,
cup or bottle back out with you. In fact, do as a few courteous
anglers do and take an empty garbage bag with you and even do a bit
of cleaning up after others. It will not only make you feel good,
but it will improve the scenery for everyone.
Discarded fishing line is something to be particularly watchful of.
It can not only prove to be a hazard to riverside birds and animals
that might become entangled in it, but I’ve seen many anglers
(including myself) trip over fishing line that has wrapped around
their feet. Worst of all, it can take many years for it to break
down in the environment. It weighs nothing, so simply stuff it in an
empty pocket or sandwich bag and carry it out with you to dispose
of. Better still, many tackle shops will accept used nylon
monofilament fishing line for recycling.
Follow these 10 simple rules and chances are that you and your
fellow steelhead anglers will enjoy another memorable opening day.
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