Fishing Alone, With Snakes

[Flykuni3]

Tagging onto the great Fishing Alone in Yellowstone, a poetic post title if ever there was one -- anyone have a rattler or other snake story to share?

Just this season I had a close encounter with a diamondback on a local stream. It was my first in a year's time. Last year I came across a small 20" curled under a bush. Spotted him from several feet away because I normally walk looking down, examining exactly where I am going (snakes and a broken fibula are in my past). I got a nice shot of him, he didn't rattle or rouse. I moved on. But this year's encounter was interesting.

I was whacking through brush to get to a hemmed-in pool, branches and stuff everywhere, careful and very concerned with the rod as I negotiated through all the obstructions. There were rocks about hip to chest high nearby. The stream sounded great, and I knew I was entering below a good riffle by the sound. Then a second, odd sound intruded. It sounded weird, electric, and I stopped for about five full seconds listening. Oh, F me. Oh I get it now. And I moved away from the sound without looking, stopping in the pool about 10' from the source of the weird sound. I looked back and there he was, coiled.

Mr. Snake was coiled up on a shoulder-high pyramidal rock and began to rattle when I was about 3' away. I said, "Sorry dude, didn't see you. Thanks for the warning, and I mean that." I took pictures and fished on. More wary.

[DaveNJ]

Doesn't compare to Rattlesnakes, but in early June when the water snakes mate on the edge of the Catskill rivers they can get pretty thick. Once had a friend completely fall apart when he realized the only way he could leave a spot was to hopscotch his way through them. They'll whack you but they're not poisonous.

[Loogie]

Pics? Glad you are safe!

[mlarocco]

Many years ago. Days of 35 mm film. Pic of younger me in front of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (up on the rim). I could probably did up some critter pics (no snakes though). I have plenty of pics of animal butts from all over.

[KLNC]

I admire any of you who can fish comfortably with snakes around--better men than I, and I'll admit it.

[PT48]

In Australia snakes are a fact of ff life and most of our streamside snakes are more venomous than rattlers. You stay alert, wear protective clothing and leave the snake alone if you encounter one. If the snake is in the water with you, you get out because on rare occasions they think you are a log and try to climb up you. Snakes are our version of the grizzly bear.

[chsparkman]

Many years ago I would fish alone in remote areas of the San Bernardino Mountains. Rattlesnakes were thick and I would fish with my .22 rifle slung over my shoulder. Those were the days.

[flyfishingpastor]

I have seen and walked past - carefully/at-a-distance-walked-past, Rattlesnakes from PA, WV to WA and MT and I doubt I'll ever get used to it or enjoy the experience though I love wild creatures. I haven't seen any in ID yet and I can't say that I'm sorry about that.

I love the camo they wear and the clear warning they usually give us but I confess I am scared of poisonous snakes. I don't want to harm them so I absolutely leave them alone, giving them a wide berth when I see them/hear them, and thus far, they have returned the favor. Honestly, I don't see them often enough to recognize their buzz until I actually see them. And, then I think, "Hey, maybe that WASN'T a grasshopper last week!" Having said all that, I routinely wade through chest high debris, streamside and I've never seen one stream-side. So, I'm a pretty bold mover through streamside brush - until I see that first rattlesnake by my feet. Then, things will change! PT-48z: I'm not sure I'm cut out for FF-ing in Australia (though I'd love it).

Pat

[Bamboocollector#1]

I hate snakes! So I am always careful when fishing.

Too many bad experiences with copperheads and other snakes.

I'd skip fishing in Australia and head for New Zealand.

[DrLogik]

I do much of my fishing in the wilderness far from parking lots, roads and the lot. The Smokies are my main haunt. I've had three up close and personal encounters with Rattlesnakes in the 40+ years I've been back packing and fishing there, and seen many more. The last one was three years ago when I was fishing for 5 days far up Eagle Creek with my then 16 year old son. We had just eaten breakfast and started up the trail to the next camp site when I stopped dead in my tracks.

My son walked into the back of me and said, "Why'd you do that?" I leaned to the side and said, "you see anything"? He said, "No". "Look, there, on the right about 8 feet in front of us. He's sunning himself", I said quietly. He focused and said, "Dad, how did you see that???"

Here he is, can you spot him? He had almost slithered off the trail when I finally got my camera out.

[jhuskey]

Shoulder high - neck/head bite would be NO fun. Good for you man! Good karma.
With my hearing loss from USN high speed precision grinders, I might have just kept walking - not good.
I love snakes.

[PT48]

I know you want more. I once lived in a small mountain range in southern Australia. It was tiger snake central. The tiger is not Australia's most venomous snake (the sixth most venomous in the world none-the-less) but it is the most aggressively dangerous. For those of us who lived in the bush, the tigers would get into our wood piles, our gardens and even our houses (under wood stoves was a favourite location). Every time I went fishing I would run into one or more tiger snakes. Just about every person who lived in those hills had a "close encounter with a tiger snake" story. Here's one. Some friends of mine had guests for Christmas. The visitors arrived late at night and went straight to bed. The next morning, Christmas Day, one of the guests got up early and set out to explore the house. He saw what he thought to be a lovely representation of a porcelain snake. He reached out to lift it up when, WHOA, the thing lunged at him - the rest is local history. I cannot top that story but did one day rescue my wife when I heard a blood-curdling scream whilst she was outside gardening. I found her frozen to the spot with a tiger at her feet. Sad to say that tiger went to Heaven (the local law was that if they hung around the house they had to be "relocated"). Oh, on another occasion we had a copperhead snake get into our vacuum cleaner hose. That was fun. For those of you who are friends with Glen Brackett, he can tell some good stories about Australian snakes.
I have been into "bear country" in Montana, guided by an experienced and trusted woodsman, and have experienced the nervous exhilaration that comes with it. Almost all places have their perils.

[Flykuni3]

Haha, love the porcelain snake story.

[snorider]

Man what a way to wake up! better than any cup of coffee. We live with snakes out here, but luckily they are very polite and give a warning if you are too close for their comfort, a nice loud BUZZZ. In fact buzz worms is what a lot of folks call em. I have seen plenty fishing and hunting but I do have two fishing related stories that were a bit scary. The first was when I was out carp fishing on fort peck reservoir with my buddy Jeff. We were walking thru tall grass and reeds along the bank, casting to rolling fish and generally having a good time. I stopped and put down my pack and was digging my water bottle out and I kept hearing this strange sound like a bee in the window screen. It was very quite but it kept going over and over. As I reached down to pick up my bag I saw the source of the noise about 6" from my hand. It was a 10" prairie rattler with a half shed skin over its rattle and he was HOT! Made a poke at my bag and I beat a hasty retreat. I had put my hand within a foot of him probably 5 times.

The second was on the lower Madison River in the late 80's I was running the shuttle to the lower outhouse to grab the boat trailer after a very nice spring float, this was back when there were few cars in the lots. My pals dropped me off and I had parked the truck along a long curb at the edge of the lot and had put the keys in the high security area under the passengers floor mat. I opened the passenger door and put my foot on the door sill ready to grab the keys when something caught my eye. At about the same instant the 6' rattler who was shading himself along the curb saw me. He immediately started rattling and began coiling up! I was in what could only be described as a compromising position looking like a still shot of the 100 meter hurdles. This was so shocking I could not help but shriek as I thew myself on the front seat of the truck. My friends who did not see the snake were unable to drive for a few minutes due to fits of laughter. Still one of the biggest rattle snakes I have ever laid eyes on.

[jimwright]

I'm on my way home from 2 weeks in MT., I'll be back tomorrow. No rattlesnakes but about a week ago I was fishing a 600 yards or so stretch of the lower Clark Fork and went by 3 western garter snakes, one of them swimming underwater in the rocks. Six years ago I was on the Cimarron River in New Mexico the first week in June. It was cold at night and I believe the elevation was around 8400'. The water was definitely chilly and one afternoon I walked up on a large garter snake close to 3' long laying half in and half out of the stream. He crawled off when I walked up to him, it really surprised me that he was stationary in that cold water.

[nativebrownie]

Not rattlesnakes, but a close canopy stream that I fish has a great many water snakes. No problem, right? But for some reason, unique to this watershed, the snakes like to sit in the canopy over the stream. You will hear them, every so often, fall into the stream as you work your way through..
I know what you are thinking, not yet, not just yet...

[Bud]

Here in Central Texas the Spring White Bass run is a big event and draws a lot of fishermen of all persuasions. Last season I was fishing a local stream across from a rocky bluff. I waded across to swing a fly along the edge and was standing about 15 feet from a rock pile on the trail that ran along the bluff. Some movement caught my eye and I saw a rattler of about 36 inches sunning on a rock. Then I saw another, and another. I looked closer and the rock pile was alive with them. I backed up about 20 feet and continued fishing. A few minutes later 3 kids of about high school age came walking along the trail which is about 8 feet above the water. I warned them about the den and suggested they back up and go around it. They flipped me off and hurled a barrage of profane insults questioning my masculinity. Then they reached the rock pile and those bad boys all started buzzing. Tackle boxes flew. Rods went airborne and 3 kids belly flopped into the river in front of me. Yeah, I laughed my butt off while they mucked around in the river gathering their gear. They sloshed upstream toward the road without a word to me.

[Flykuni3]

Snake justice.

[snorider]

And poetic at that!

[WiFlyFisher]

I grabbed this snake along the edge of the Madison about 10 years ago...



Then I let him finish his meal.

John