Take a gun fishing

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andrewdl007

andrewdl007

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Along with shooting, I am also a keen fly fisher. Generally I do not venture too far out side of town so I have never brought a firearm out with me, but I watched a show about fishing in the Alaskan wild and they come across a massive brown bear. It made me wonder if any of you are fishers (of any type, not just fly) and if so do you take a firearm with you? What kind do you take and do you do anything special to avoid getting it wet?
 
Absolutely

I carry a Taurus PT111 in a desanti IWB holster. I clip it on the inside pouch of my waders. By doing that, I still get the full use of the pocket but quick access to my firearm. I know it is only a 9mm but it is better than nothing. I mostly fish in northern michigan so I'm not worried about critters, only people.
 
I carry everywhere but switch to a revolver for fishing. You never know what you may come across, animal or man.
 
Always. I have a shoulder holster for my CZ-82 that's a little uncomfortable, but I wear it if I'm wearing waders. I've run into more than my share of snakes and other vermin while fishing. I've never had to shoot one, but I'm glad I had the option. I do need to get a revolver in 38 because I haven't been able to find snake shot in 9x18 mak. :)

If I'm not in waders, I carry as usual.

Matt
 
A few years ago I was in my boat, crappie fishing with my wife and two small children. It was a beautiful day on Pickwick Lake and there were a few dozen other boats in the area. As I eased down the bank about 100 yards off the shore I heard a kid yelling something toward me from a big house on the shore. I couldn't tell what he was saying, and I certainly didn't know him, so I just kept to my business.

Soon enough an old man comes out on the deck with a pair of binoculars and trains them on me. Still no idea what this business is about I keep enjoying the day with my family.

Now the kid (maybe 8 to 10 years old) starts yelling down to me that I'm "right where he shoots his rifle." Surely I didn't hear that correctly...the kid is shooting his rifle into a crowded lake? I said something like "what?" And he repeated that he is shooting his rifle into the lake and that I need to move.

I yell to the old man that he's violating the law by shooting into a lake crowded with boats. He got pissed off and yelled down "I hope that boat is bulletproof!!"

I called back that he's not the only one with a gun. At that he walked back inside. The kid grabbed the rifle and followed him.

I called the sherriff and they said to call the game warden. I called the warden and he said he was busy because it was the opening day of turkey season and as long as the guy didn't actually shoot at me there was nothing he could do.

I found all of that to be BS. I carry a gun with me on the lake all the time now. The sheriff and the game wardens basically let me know that I'm on my own and they don't really care to do anything.
 
Once upon a time, visiting my brother in Arkansas, we were fishing in a lake. He brought his 10/22 and brought a Jennings. We defended ourselves rigorously against cottonmouths aplenty. But, yea, I do carry (something a little more substantial) when fishing here in Montana.
 
Yes,always. I fish almost entirely off piers and bridges.Less often on canal and smaller stream banks where snakes are seen to some extent.
My usual carry gun while fishing is a Smith model 60 .357. It's not too heavy and will handle just about any problem.

CCI shotshell's are in 2 chambers. :)
 
My Wife sometimes take her sig 9mm and most of the time I open carry my colt .357.
 
Every time I go, we have a lot of what I would not call house cats. We see cat tracks on the trail we hike, every time. Not to add that the state police busted a big pot grow near the area within the lat year.
 
I am a confirmed bank fisherman. I have shot dozens and dozens of cottonmouths with my trusty .38. Decades ago I had a scary incident while I was fishing in the boondocks when a "hunter" happened on me. He was a scary looking guy with no shirt or shoes toting a 12 ga. police pump shotgun and had 2 pit bulls. He asked me if I had seen any critters and I told him no. Most folks are honest God fearing people, but there is a lot of evil in this world today.
 
fishing gun

Here in California it's actually legal to concealed carry if you are fishing (I know, it's shocking!) I generally fish Sierra rivers for trout. These days I usually carry my M&P40c.
 
there really isnt much around where i live.. basically in central wisconsin, on the edge of where 90% of the population is on one side, and where 90% of the real wilderness is on the other.. sure, there are timber rattlesnakes present, maybe a bear or two, but id be more concerned with running into a rabid animal, or some stray pitbull (so far in my live ive been attacked by 3) than i would anything like snakes or bears.. i do carry a rather large kabar with me though, but thats about it.. if i was still in arizona with tons of venomous snakes, mountain lions, and elk, then yeah, no doubt, and if i do in fact move to alaska like ive been considering ill start carrying outdoors again there too.. but here.. eeh
 
It made me wonder if any of you are fishers (of any type, not just fly) and if so do you take a firearm with you? What kind do you take and do you do anything special to avoid getting it wet?
Click to expand...

Yup. A 4" Redhawk in .45 Colt, carried in a Diamond D Guides Choice Chest holster with a six-round bandoleer and speedloader. I don't worry too much about getting it wet since I'm usually wearing a jacket over it.

http://www.diamonddcustomleather.com/Chest_Holsters.php
 
I'm a spearfisherman, mainly for striped bass up off Montauk Point RI and along the Rhode Island coast. All freediving, no scuba. Does a custom made Darryl Wong hybrid wood/carbon-fiber speargun count? :D


The original tackle-box revolvers are the S&W .22-.32 Kit Guns, which were marketed exactly as such for years. The Model 63 is the pick of the litter.


Willie

.
 
you're not going to like this..... but 99% of the time I would never consider having a weapon with me on the water.

I work on saltwater (some years I'm in my small 17' skiff more than I'm out of it) and I wouldn't even consider carrying a sidearm or long gun with me unless it was for a specific situation -and only then.... If you work around saltwater it's tough enough keeping stuff meant to be there from corroding or rusting - much less a decent firearm. I routinely handle sharks up to about ten feet long with only gloves on my hands (among other hazards in the saltwater portions of the Everglades) and have never needed a weapon on the water in over forty years. Recently I've considered adding something to kill pythons with (yep, we've got both Burmese and Rock pythons in numbers where I work.....) but still haven't made any decision. Since I'm a permitted guide in Everglades National Park, firearms and keeping your license might just be a problem...

Funny thing, back in my police days, once or twice I actually did use one of my skiffs for special situations with one or two SRT members aboard. I had them pose as fishermen until we could get close enough to the water side of a marina where they removed their foul weather gear and stepped up on the dock in uniform with MP5's in hand to deal with a problem child...

While I've never carried a weapon on the salt... it's an entirely different situation when I'm towing my skiff from one place ot another and I always have a weapon somewhere nearby in my vehicle. South Florida can be an adventure day or night and I'm towing an average of 20,000 miles every year - much of it either before sunup or late, late at night...
 
Fly fisherman here and yes I do carry when I go fishing. I have run into bears and other unfriendly critters enough times that it will happen again and it may not have a happy ending. Not to mention stumbling across a meth lab or nasties of the two legged kind.
 
I always carry on the water for the same reason I always carry on land.
The crazies don't stop at the water's edge and belligerent drunks appear to get even more belligerent after baking on the ocean all day.
A Sig P238 in an IWB DeSantis holster on the hip is comfortable, virtually invisible, and extremely secure. I just clean it well at the end of the day if it gets splashed with salt water.

Tinpig
 
I've never taken special precautions when crossing rivers or camping near bodies of water, other than switching to a kydex holster so leather doesn't get soggied up. Gun gets wet and submerged all the time. It's not a big deal. I don't even take gun cleaning gear when I'm ultralight hiking. It just gets cleaned when I get home. Never had a rust issue.
 
I always carry when fishing, or any other activity. A long time ago I lived in the UP. I would take my rifle with me so I could shoot the salmon when they ran up the shallows in the river in front of my house. We ate well for a couple years. I then moved away.....chris3
 
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