Arbitrary Rules

Both the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Game Commission publish booklets of rules that govern fishing and hunting. It is the obligation of sportsmen to know and follow these rules.

However, most sportsmen abide by other sets of rules they set for themselves. These are rules that depend on the discretion and choices of individual sportsmen. Many times, these arbitrary rules are more stringent than the rules set by the two commissions.

One arbitrary rule that many fishermen abide by is a choice to release the fish that they catch. This is known as catch-and-release angling. When I was young, I was one of only a handful of local fishermen who practiced catch-and-release fishing. Most other fishermen thought those of us who released our trout were wackos. My own mother said we were eccentric. However, over the past 50 years, catch-and-release fishing has become a dominant ethic among fishermen, with an estimated 80 percent of season-long fishermen now releasing almost all of the fish they catch.

One of my personal arbitrary rules involves a choice I make when I’m fly-fishing. Most of the time when I’m fly-fishing, I use underwater flies known as nymphs. An exception to this is when flies are hatching from a stream and trout are rising to eat them. At that time, like most other fly-fishermen, I fish with a floating dry fly that I hope imitates the hatching insects. Anyhow, during the hours without hatches, I dredge with nymphs, which is enjoyable and productive. Sometimes, though, I encounter a trout that is rising in the absence of a hatch. If I see a trout rise more than once when I’m nymph fishing, it’s an arbitrary rule for me to remove my nymph and tie on a dry fly, while trying to determine what kind of fly the rising trout is eating. Many times, especially during the summer, surface-feeding trout will be eating ants or beetles; so I often cast an appropriate imitation of one of these bugs. I do not have to do this, but I get more pleasure from catching a trout on a dry fly than I do from hooking one on a nymph. I know other fly-fishermen who stick with nymphs, even during hatches of aquatic insects.

Another of my arbitrary rules involves turkey hunting, a rule that my son insists I obey. A long time ago, we decided that sportsmanlike turkey hunters should rely on calling and woodsmanship – which works well for Bob but not always for me, since I’m the Cove’s worst turkey hunter.