Fishing in the Central Valley: Getting on the water can be the most aggravating part of fishing

I thought I might share some of my biggest fishing pet peeves – especially ones that have surfaced when I’ve invited anglers I’ve never fished with before. Being raised on a farm, my father had certain common sense rules that he also applied to fishing.

Heres are a few:

Never be late.

My dad had been a military staff sergeant, he said that the only excuse he would accept for being late for one of our fishing trips was that I had died. However he also said I was still responsible to let him know why I was late.

Growing up in a rural ranching area we had a bunch of local farmers who were also avid anglers and If anyone in this group invited you to go fishing and to meet them at 7 a.m., you better plan on being there no later than 6:45 a.m. Being late meant you had not planned far enough ahead to load the boat, get your fishing equipment stowed and be ready to help.

Back in those days, since none of us had anything like a cellphone, you better make extra provision for any problems and delays you might encounter. Being late was a basic trust and integrity issue. Mess up and you were on “ the list.” Word got around fast too.

With that kind of early training about tardiness, you can imagine how I reacted when I first began inviting “friends” to go fishing with me in my boat.

I’ve had too many experiences where I would spend hours cleaning and prepping my boat and gear, and then end up waiting for my fishing partner.

It often seemed they would call me about 15 minutes after our scheduled meeting time and say they were running late.

They would assure me they would arrive in about 10 minutes and then show up in about 30-40 minutes.

In addition, when they finally arrived, I would find out later in some cases - that they had really slept in due to a late night party.

They also usually would be the people who wanted to leave the lake early because they were so tired. It’s unpleasant to be treated like an afterthought, especially when you’ve worked so hard to be ready and on time in expectation of a great fishing trip.

Waiting until you’re out fishing, then telling your buddy that you have to leave soon to go do something. I have had this happen to me more than a couple of times. It is frustrating because I have planned to fish with someone until dusk, when out of the blue my fishing buddy will nonchalantly say they have dinner plans and want to leave soon.

You mentioned that you struggled with this one. It took a lot more editing than usual, please read closely.

The trip was planned to be an all day thing. I had taken the day off and we were in my boat.

What can you say? If they brought their own car, I am glad to drop them off to head home but they may need to change their plans if they came with me in my rig.

Time on the water is precious and not something most avid anglers give up easily.

Finding accountable fishing buddies is not easy. If you’re an avid angler you need to be careful about who you take fishing and that they clearly understand what the trip is all about.

Bottom line: I can handle legitimate reasons and situations that come up, but the toughest thing to deal with is someone who is indifferent or unconcerned about trying to be a good fishing buddy. Being late without adequate notice or not telling your partner until you’re on the water that you’ve got plans to do your own thing are two things that bug me.

I love taking new friends fishing, but these days I’m more on guard and ask many more questions than I ever did before. I also try to share the boundaries and expectations so they show up on time.

Warning: If we are on the water and you spring on me the unknown fact you’ve got plans for dinner that night and you have to get back early, then I hope you can swim.

Be on time. And never give up!

Roger George: rogergeorge8@protonmail.com, Rogergeorgeguideservice on Facebook and @StriperWars.