Rude mosquitoes & rude fishermen

I was motivated to write about the rude mosquitoes. And I was stupefied to write about the rude fishermen. It's difficult for me to know which is worse = hungry mosquitoes biting me at 2:00 AM, leaving large, itchy welts OR the rude fishermen who abuse the river, crowd your fishing spot, and break the law. Believe me, I know which is worse and which offends me more.

The tiny, buzzing insect bites may itch for a while, but with a little ointment the discomfort goes away. The interruption on my peaceful day by thoughtless fishermen doesn't go away for a long time.

The hungry mosquitoes are just doing their natural, biological habit of survival. The rude, inconsiderate fishermen who leave their worm container trash on the riverbank, who think that the cigarette butts, plastic cigar tips, and beer cans are going to disappear or float away to a magic trash can, who ignore the fishing regulations by killing way too many fish, that is inexcusable.

Yes, I choose to fish a section of the river that is very easy to get to. Yes, I could walk a little further and get away from the elbows of the fisherman who insists on crowding me. They are sometimes so close we could touch rod tips! And a couple days ago a worm fisherman hooked my blue fly line. Another tossed their red and white bobber right at me and I was afraid their treble hooks would snag me. That’s way too close so I had to tell them they almost hit me.

When the fisherman was slowly killing the 20”+ rainbow trout in his net, he asked me if the dog would eat the fish he was about to lay on the riverbank. I said “no”, but I should have said “the dog knows better than to kill the fish.” He stashed it in the bushes while he tried to catch a fish of his own. I was confused that he was able to talk another fisherman into giving him the 20”+ rainbow. Not sure why someone would hand over their fish unless they knew them. Watching him try to catch fish I knew there wouldn’t be too many killed by him, but for some reason that other fisherman continued to give him fish. He had parked his SUV in the “no parking” area near the boat ramp and we watched him put more fish in the cooler, but it was 6:00 PM and too late to call the warden. A guide with clients had already given him a talk-to about why you shouldn’t kill the fish and why you have to abide by the law. If I see him doing it again I will call since the warden encourages us to do so.

I’ll take swarms of mosquitoes biting me, doing what is natural, any day compared to the thoughtless, rude, stupid behavior of someone who thinks they can trash the river and kill the fish without consequence. Obviously they don’t think about the repercussions of destroying the river. Come on people, children are taught at an early age not to be a litter bug, that if we don’t take care of the environment it won’t be there to take care of us, that rules are there for a reason, and that being polite will get you a lot further than being rude.

I’m finished with my rant for now. We’re off to the river, hoping to find a spot where we have some elbow room. I can count on the mosquitoes being there.