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I watched as one group tossed their lines into the current, over and over again, without a single hit. It was obvious they had spooked the area, and the fish wouldn’t be coming around here for a while. I even heard one of them say they had been fishing this spot all night and only had a few bites.
Although these folks seemed to be enjoying them- selves, laughing and telling jokes, this wasn’t what I drove two hours to see. I couldn’t be angry though, this wasn’t my private fishing hole. And they prob- ably drove just as far as I did to take advantage of a prime fishing location.
I left when the anglers started asking probing ques- tions about other good locations in the area. They were very cunning about it, too. They would start by mentioning a place where they had fished in the past with great success, thinking this would ease me into opening up about my secret spots. It got me thinking about a song from years ago...
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
In June of 1980, country western singer Johnny Lee sang a song by that name that went to the top of the charts. While many folks enjoyed this tune, a certain number of us came up with a twist on the meaning of the title, making a common joke that I still hear today. For instance, a fly fisherman hooks a male
trout that happened to be searching for a female trout during breeding season. He then jokes with his buddy telling him, “I guess that fish was looking for love in all the wrong places.” (insert laughter here).
The anglers mentioned at the beginning of this article were definitely looking for trophy fish in all the wrong places. Although they were well within their rights to fish this spot, there are a few unwritten laws of ethics, a kind of code, that most anglers should understand.
The first, and most important rule of fishing etiquette, could go something like this: anglers should learn to find their own fishing hotspots. They should take pride in the fact that they took the initiative to hunt for and locate their own locations, rather than being lazy and following directions and gossip from some social media site.
Western Maine covers a huge area full of wonderful fishing waters, so why waste precious time on a
few, overused locations? Branch out and find better fishing, with less competition from so many others. Learn to enjoy the search and the solitude; some- times these seemingly unknown settings turn out to be where the biggest and best fish are, because other folks just don’t make the effort.
Maybe it’s just me, but I go fishing to get away from crowds. If I see a gathering at one fishing point, I
Solo fly fishing from a canoe on an isolated pond. What? You thought I was going to tell you where it is?
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