How do ppl figure fishing popular rivers that your not gonna get low holed? I grew up fishing amongst others and share waters freely. Plenty of fish to go around and if you catch a fish or get to a spot before me congratulations. I enjoy watching someone enjoy the fight as much as i do. Ive caught many many steelhead and learned its egos and self entitled attitudes killing the sport of steelheading more than low holeing.
Hmmmm...I think you are missing the point.
I suppose there are different schools of thought on low holing. I personally feel it's rude and unacceptable, and if I arrive on a run and another angler(s) are already there I will always walk above him/her/them and start my first drift there. I like the idea that someone posted earlier in this discussion that in some case they will ask to fish ABOVE someone. I probably would not bother doing this on a busy lower river run, but if it was a more secluded run, especially a short one, I plan to adopt the practice of asking the person(s) if they mind if I drop in above them. It all boils down to respect, courtesy, manners.
The other school of thought seems to be "you don't own the river, and I can fish where I want." There is no law prohibiting low-holing, so if you are a low-holer then you are well within your rights to do so. Be warned though, you aren't going to make any friends and no one is going to give you a sniff of info, no one will loan you their pen to mark your license if you forgot yours, and so on, you get the idea.
The following is not my story, a buddy told it to be years ago, but it illustrates my point.
He was fishing a somewhat secluded run. People know about it, but it's a ways out of the way. My friend is by himself nearing the bottom 1/3rd of the run. Suddenly another angler appears out of the treeline, and heads right for the tail out. No nod, no can I cut in below you I'm short on time, nothing. A few drifts in the guy hooks into a big steelhead, buddy guessed 15lbs. As you might imagine he is pissed as he stood a good chance of hooking this fish as he was closing in on the tail out.
Now my buddy is a super nice guy. Normally he would reel in, put down his rod, and walk down and offer to help the guy land the fish. But he thought, nah, deal with it yourself. I would have done the same thing. So the guy has the fish more or less played out and puts his rod down and tries to grab the leader and deal with the fish (not sure if it was hatchery or wild). Well the fish snookered him and took off!!
As it took off the rod and reel went for a ride along the rocks/gravel. Buddy said it was all he could do not to burst out laughing as the guys center pin bounced off rocks and went into the river. The guy managed to grab his rod before it went in the drink and now is back playing it again. Snap! Fish breaks him off and is now gone. If that was not bad enough, my friend said after this the guy had his spool off and is examining his reel with concern. Likely got debris in his bearings or something like that. He left without a word.
Morale of the story is often you need a hand on the river, and you will not find many or any volunteers if you are a jerk.
Seems many people assume the ethics/expectations of steelheading are the same as fall salmon fishing. They are not. At the end of the day - fish however you like as long as it's legal.