Ye Rules of Attainment

2005 Team GFR Bulletin: Rules and Regulations

Bill of Attainage

Title 381, Chapter 68 Team GFR Code:

I.) All efforts to successfully catch a trout must be conducted under the strictest adherence to all currently existing regulations of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, or of the relevant governing body with jurisdiction in the State, Province, Territory, or Protectorate where the trouting effort is made, as they pertain to angling.

II.) All trouting must be conducted through the responsible and genuine interests of both parties, i.e. angler and trout.

III.) Equipment is limited to standard fly angling instruments.  All trout are to be bested through the presentation of an artificial, team-approved fly pattern constructed of typical, team-approved fly-tying materials.

IV.) Any trout thusly duped under these stipulations is considered "caught" when one of the following criteria is met:

a. A trout is hooked by the angler's fly, and is brought to the hand of that same angler, whereupon it is touched.

i. §381.68.i, as amended at Pink Rock Run, 26 June 2005, allows for a trout to be considered "caught" when any human act has resulted in the touching of a fish which is, or has recently been, hooked by the angler at any stage during or just after angler/trout interaction.

b. A trout has been hooked by the angler, and is airborne within reasonable touching range of the angler, whereupon it falls back into the water and becomes once again free, without being touched by the angler.

c. A trout is hooked by the angler, and in the best interests of the fish, is released completely and entirely by the angler's deliberate intention prior to touching.  This might include, but is not restricted to:

i. Lifting the fish from the water by the fly in its mouth and doing the "quick twist" to free the fly, without ever touching the fish, per se.

ii. Any deliberate act intended to remove the hook from the fish and return it to its freedom without actually touching the fish or removing it from the water.

iii. Intentional severing of the angler/trout connection (leader) to allow the trout to go free.

d. A trout is hooked by the angler, and is brought to within reasonable and undoubted touching range, and has visibly and undeniably conceded to the angler beyond the shadow of a doubt through the complete lack of any visible motion or activity, yet becomes free as the act of touching, or implementation of any of the aforementioned 'non-touching' scenarios, is attempted.

i. This criterion is met only if the fish basically "falls" off the hook. Any visible motion or effort on the part of the fish to become free, even after appearing to concede, shall void the invocation of this criterion, and said trout shall therefore not be considered caught.

Title 80, Chapter 72, Team GFR Code

I.) A county is considered to be attained by an angler upon the catching of a Trout, pursuant to Title 381.61 Team GFR Code, from a body of water contained wholly or in part within the geographical boundaries of said county, as set forth by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or by the governing entity of any other State wherein future attainment efforts may commence.

II.) Whosoevereth shall endeavor to attain any of the counties of Pennsylvania by angling upon a flowing body of water, whereupon such waterway shall share, enjoy, cross over, or otherwise form the boundary of, or come in contact with, two or more counties, shall hereby assign any interaction with thine finned brethren to one and only one of said counties in question.  This county, and this county only, shall be here, henceforth, and forever attained.

a. Future attainment of the remaining counties in question shall be achieved only by the capturing of trout on some other flowing body of water within said county, and not upon the waterway of original issue.

b. Any flowing body of water which has been the source of attainment for any county shall not be interacted with for the purpose of additional county attainments, wherein somuchas said waterway flows from one county into another.

III.) A deliberate Declaration of Attainment for a given county, through the legal catching of a trout (as set forth in Title 381, Chapter 68 Team GFR Code) on a stream wholly or in part contained within that county by the attaining angler, must be made immediately upon successful catching of a trout. Said may be verbal, physical, or even symbolic in nature. This declaration is henceforth forever locked into attainment history.

a. Attainment can only be rescinded in the case where an egregious geographical error has occurred, and the attaining angler is or was at any time unaware of his/her true location on the surface of the planet.

IV.) The number of counties attempted to be attained in one day shall not exceed three(3).

V.) If a trout is killed, maimed, defaced, or otherwise accidentally recieves heinous treatment, the offending angler will immediately retire to the streambank, remove his fishing vest or appropriate version thereof, and instantly commence the Crooked Run Hop of Shame.

AMENDMENT I to Bill of Attainage, Team GFR Code:

I.) For purposes of Attainment, an angler may under no circumstances through any purposeful act alter or otherwise deface any natural environs so as to further that angler's chances for successful attainment.  Utmost care and respect must be taken in order to preserve original vegetative and geological configurations within the attainment environment.

a.) Any obtrusive living vegetation or branches must not be broken or otherwise removed in order to clear a casting lane or improve the angler's field of vision.

i. Such vegetation may in fact be moved, tucked, or held back, so long as such acts are in no way injurious to said vegetation, and said vegetation must immediately be returned to it's original state upon completion of the attempt.

b.) Relocation of dead vegetation is strongly discouraged, but shall be permitted under only the most extreme circumstances.

AMENDMENT II to Bill of Attainage, Team GFR Code (as amended 27 August 2005 at Rt. Br. Difficult Run):

I.) Upon the successful catching of a trout pursuant to Title 381, Chapter 68 Team GFR Code upon any stream, that stream shall be henceforth and forevereth be referred to as "acquired".

II.) When a previously un-acquired stream is acquired by a member of Team GFR, whereupon that stream shall be Unnamed (UNT) in the annals of all known literature and sources, the angler first acquiring that Unnamed stream shall inherit the inalienable right and responsibility to provide a name for said stream.  The name, once chosen, shall never be altered or rescinded for any purpose, and shall remain in the annals of Team GFR posterity forever.

a.) The name christened to a newly acquired, previously unnamed stream will be disseminated amongst, and embraced by, all Team members, and the full measure of vigor must be applied toward use of the GFR christened name of said stream whenever referring to it in all missives, conversations, monologues, dialogues, and ritualistic ceremonies.

AMENDMENT III to Bill of Attainage, Team GFR Code (as deliberated at Devils Hole Creek, Permission Section, 22 April 2007):

Simultaneous Angler - Stream Interactions (SASI)

Definition:  A Simultaneous Angler – Stream Interaction (SASI) refers to any attempt by multiple team members to actively angle in the same general vicinity of each other on any single body of water at the same time.  This “general vicinity” can be described loosely as the general area in proximity to a line drawn perpendicular to the stream channel from bank to bank. Multiple team members actively fishing within this area at the same time are considered to be participating in ‘simultaneous activity’.

A.  Number of Participants

I.) In order to maximize angling opportunity and enjoyment for all team members, as well as to limit the amount of physical damage to the angling environment and possible psychological injury to landowners and others, it is altogether fitting and proper that the number of team members attempting a SASI be appropriately matched to the environs within which the SASI is executed.

II.) SASI attempts will be regulated under the following guidelines:

a.) There are no numerical limits to the overall number of team members permitted to participate in any SASI attempt. However:

b.) In any case where stream size, flow, or other physical, environmental, psychological, spiritual, socio-economic or other pertinent conditions allow for only one angler to reasonably fish at a time, every effort must be made to limit the number of SASI participants in the group to no more than two. This can be achieved by any of the following methods:

i.) The composite group of team members attempting the SASI will divide into multiple groups consisting of no more than two team members per group. These groups will then endeavor to interact with separate portions of the stream where the SASI is actively under attempt. All groups will apply the full measure of vigor to leave ample fishable water available between groups for the other groups to interact with. Every reasonable effort will be made not to disturb or otherwise distort the angling potential of these waters in any fashion. The angling environment will be left as undisturbed as possible.

ii.) The composite group of team members attempting the SASI will divide into multiple groups consisting of no more than two team members. These groups will then endeavor to interact with some other body of water within reasonable distance of the body where the original SASI was attempted. All team members involved will participate actively in the determination of alternative destinations, schedules, driving arrangements, etc., in order to quickly facilitate the transfer of team members to the new angling environment.

iii.) When the number of team members in any group attempting a SASI exceeds two, one or more members may voice their desire to tag along with another group, thereby raising the number of team members in that group to more than two. All members of the affected group must consent before tag-along status is awarded to said individual. Although compliance with 81.1.A.II.a decrees there will be no limit to the number of tag-alongs allowed within any group, multiple tag-alongs are strongly discouraged except under the most extreme circumstances.

c.)In cases where the angling environment and all other ambient conditions allow for multiple team members to participate in simultaneous activity, Team members must decide jointly upon the most appropriate number of members for the given area. Any number of team members present in excess of that number deemed appropriate for the given area will determine some other course of action pursuant to 81.1.A.II.b.i, ii, or iii. All Team members present will actively aid in the determination of this action.

B.  Transfer of Angler Status

I.) It is necessary to establish a set of tangible guidelines governing the transfer of active angling status from one Team member to the next in the course of any SASI where, due to existing conditions, only one Team member may actively fish at any given time.

II.) It is assumed that Team members fishing under such conditions will be doing so in ‘leapfrog’ fashion. This is standard operating procedure, and for quite some time has been reflective of how we do..

III.) When two or more Team members are fishing in a leapfrog fashion, transfer of active angling status to the next Team member ‘up’ will occur when any of the following scenarios or situations occur:

a.) A trout is caught pursuant to Title 381, Chapter 68.

b.) The active angler has twice (two times) had a “feeling”. A feeling is defined as any action that results in feeling the trout on the line, i.e. it has been undoubtedly hook but then becomes free in a manner not compatible with Title 381, Chapter 68.

c.) The active angler loses or is otherwise forced to replace his fly, leader, tackle or any combination thereof, requiring said Team member to temporarily or permanently relinquish his active angling role in order to address the situation.

d.) The active angler invokes his God-given right to free choice and decides to change his fly or some other aspect or compilation of angling accoutrements. This might include switching from nymph to dry or vice-versa, extending or shortening leaders, replacing, lengthening or changing tippet material, etc. Quick fixes such as adjusting strike indicator position, applying fly floatant, pinching a hook barb, etc. are allowed without transfer of the active angler status.

e.) Any active angler may relinquish, pass, or otherwise transfer his active status to another Team member at any time. However, any obvious attempt to do so in order to increase the likelihood that he will be up when an upcoming, particularly desirable section of the angling environment is encountered is strongly frowned upon. Team members found guilty of such egregious activity should be chastised strongly and called "baiter" for the rest of the angling event.

f.) All Team members are encouraged to reasonably limit the time that they hold active angling status even if they fail to encounter one of the abovementioned scenarios in order to ensure ample angling opportunity for all Team members.

IV.) If an angler catches a trout pursuant to Title 381, Chapter 68, said active angler is endowed with the unalienable right to ‘finish out’ the particular water feature he was fishing when the trout was caught prior to transferring active angler status to the next Team member.

a.) Only in the case where a trout is caught pursuant to Title 381, Chapter 68 will the active angler be permitted to ‘finish out’ the feature he is fishing. The occurrence of any other scenario described in 81.1.B.III.b thru f will result in immediate transfer of active angler status to the next Team member.

b.) Transfer of active angler status will occur immediately after the active angler ‘finishes out’ the particular water feature that produced interaction.

¹ "Bushwhacking" is defined as the act of destroying natural flora in the attempt to reach a location where no known path exists or is available to the angler.  Destruction is typically limited to the trampling of underbrush and/or hand-breaking some small branches.  Cutting implements may only be used during an emergency.