Almanac for 2026 · No. 10 · Autumn, October

Curamenti

A slow almanac of the fly rod

Field notes

River etiquette

A river is narrow, quiet and easily spoiled, and fishing it is solitary by nature. Good manners on the bank amount to one idea, applied thirteen ways: leave the water, the land and the next person’s day as you would wish to find them.

  1. Find out whose water it is

    Nearly every stretch of river belongs to someone. Before you put a rod up, know who controls the fishing, hold whatever permit or ticket they ask for, carry your licence, and read the rules: methods, hook types, seasons and catch limits vary from one beat to the next. If you cannot find out, do not fish.

  2. The angler already there has the water

    Whoever reached a pool first fishes it undisturbed. Do not start in the same pool, and do not walk in above someone who is working upstream or below someone working down: that is the water they were about to fish. If in doubt, ask. “Which way are you heading?” settles most things in ten seconds.

  3. Leave more room than seems necessary

    On a small stream, a good rule is to stay out of sight: leave at least two or three pools, or a few hundred metres, between you. On a larger river, leave no less than the length of a long cast plus the water they will reach in the next half hour. Nobody has ever been resented for giving too much space.

  4. Pass wide and quietly

    When you must pass another angler, leave the water, go round well back from the bank, keep low and keep off the skyline. Their fish can see you even when they cannot. A raised hand is greeting enough; save the conversation for when they reel in.

  5. Keep moving

    On shared water, fish through a pool and move on. Camping on the best run for a morning is poor manners where others are waiting. If someone is waiting behind you, offer them the pool when you have had a fair turn.

  6. Wade as little as you can

    Every step in a riffle crushes the insects that feed the river, and every wade through a pool puts down the fish in it. Cross at the tail or the head, not through the middle. From late autumn to late spring, stay off pale, freshly cleaned gravel, where eggs may be buried.

  7. Leave gates, fences and stock as you found them

    Shut every gate you open and leave open gates open. Climb at the hinge end, or better, use the stile. Give livestock a wide berth, and cows with calves a wider one. Keep to the bank path and out of standing crops and hay.

  8. Park so that a tractor can pass

    Use the places you are shown. Never block a gateway, a track or a passing place, however early it is and however briefly you mean to be.

  9. Take every scrap home

    Nylon is the worst of it: a discarded leader can tangle a bird for years. Carry a small bag for tippet trimmings, and pick up what others have left. Leave no trace of where you ate your lunch.

  10. Check, clean, dry

    Invasive plants, crayfish plague and fish diseases travel between rivers on wet boots and nets. After each trip, check your kit for mud and weed, wash it, and dry it thoroughly, for two days if you can, before fishing another water. Felt soles hold water longest and are banned in some places.

  11. Be gracious to other river users

    Walkers, swimmers, paddlers and birdwatchers have their pleasures too. Reel in for a canoe and let it pass along the far bank; a civil word achieves more than a scowl. Keep a dog, if dogs are allowed at all, out of the water and under close control.

  12. Keep the river’s secrets

    If someone shows you a piece of water, it is not yours to pass on. Think before posting a recognisable bridge or bend with a large fish in front of it. Small streams do not survive fame.

  13. Leave the keeper something to thank you for

    Report pollution, dead fish, poaching or a fallen tree to whoever looks after the water, the same day. Fill in the catch return honestly, including the blanks. Those records are how a fishery knows whether it is thriving.

And toward the fish themselves: the fish care guide.