Spots and Secrets

[th365thli]

I recently got into an argument on another forum. A user had posted a catch report and another politely asked if he could share techniques slash baits used. The original poster blew off the question (in a very rude manner I might add....which is what I took issue with). 

 

This got me thinking. What do you guys think of hoarding "spots" and secrets? I realize overfishing has started creep into freshwater, and some youtubers are already complaining about it. 

 

Personally I could care less about it. To me, there are enough sizable bodies of water in my area with bass that you can catch them if you try. If you're hoarding techniques that just means you don't have enough confidence in yourself as a fisherman. There are so many areas and ways to catch bass it would take some astronomical freshwater overfishing for it to become a problem. 

 

What do you guys think? Fair or not fair? We live in a digital age that is taking over fishing, if it hasn't already taken over. 

[Bluebasser86]

It depends a lot on your area I suppose. In certain parts of the country, there probably is a pretty unlimited supply of fishing spots. What about others who might have only 1 public body of water within a few hours drive? There's parts of western KS that don't have a public body of water within 2 hours drive of them. Or ones that live in areas that don't have a good population of bass? The lakes in my area generally have poor populations of larger bass, or even bass in general. I've seen a single season of sudden fishing pressure on a hot lake tank the lake completely for the next several seasons. 

 

I work hard to find my fish and what they're eating. Our lakes are mostly small and the good ones really take a beating. If I really figure something out, I'll probably share a little of the info, but I'm not giving away any vital spots or secrets. To me, asking a complete stranger on the internet to give away all their secrets, and then getting upset when they don't, is just being lazy. Not saying that entitles the person who was catching fish to be a jerk to someone who might ask, but it's easy to politely decline to share any information they don't want to share. 

[th365thli]

Definitely, I suppose I never lived an area that had scarce fishing. To clarify my specific situation, I live in the bay area where there are plenty of reservoirs. Hell the Delta is only a little over an hour away and we're talking a world class fishery here.

[Oregon Native]

Guess I'm old fashioned and don't need the publicity....I can go fishing and share (word of mouth) with friends.  Yes ... will do some on here with techniques but!!!!  Can't see why I would want so many friends (!!!!) on the water I fish doing exactly what I'n doing and advertising it on a public forum....seriously!

[Bluebasser86]

53 minutes ago, th365thli said:

Definitely, I suppose I never lived an area that had scarce fishing. To clarify my specific situation, I live in the bay area where there are plenty of reservoirs. Hell the Delta is only a little over an hour away and we're talking a world class fishery here.

Yeah you probably have more fishable water in that one body of water than the entire state of Kansas. Our biggest reservoir is only 16k acres, and there's only 3 or 4 total over 10k acres with a few in the 2-7 thousand acre range. The rest are small state lakes under 300 acres, and there's not a ton of those. 

[12poundbass]

I could/would never ask for a certain location or give one up. Yeah I'd ask or give up a certain area (west side of lake) but that's it. That's the sport of fishing....figuring out where they are, when they're there, and what they want. 

[Catt]

 

If I know what your boat looks like or if I know what vehicle you drive, I will find where you're fishing!

 

2008 I started a thread "So y'all want to learn Toledo Bend?", 252 pgs, 6,287 replies, & 915,384 views.

 

No I don't mind sharing

[Deleted account]

I don't share spots or specifics with the world at large using any medium, high or low tech. I will share in person, with young people or folks getting started. I also don't take pictures or weigh most of the fish I catch, so folks often think I exaggerate, and that's just fine by me. I fish for either $, or because I enjoy it. 

[A-Jay]

I'll share What I caught, as well as How & When I caught but very Rarely (if ever) Where I caught.

That part is Always up to each angler to solve on his or her own.

IMO, 'Successful Bass Fishing' is a process by which one uses whatever knowledge, experience, and time on the water to get the job done.  Once you know how to catch them, looking for them and eventually finding them Yourself, where ever that may be, is very satisfying.

One may be better suited to concentrate their efforts there, rather than hoping or even worse, expecting others, to do it for them.

So I say find your own fish.  I'll never ask anyone where they got them.  I may ask how though, and that's usually sufficient.

A-Jay

[lo n slo]

i generally dont mind. i've shared info with guys on the water. some dude in a kayak pulled up on me while i was fishing a long hump one day. "why are you way out here?" he asked. i explained and told him to start throwing. i threw a worm and he a crank bait. we both caught them. it was cool. he learned something that day.

[Sam]

Th365, where are you? Can you add your physical location to your avatar?

 

As for sharing secrets and spots each member on this Forum has their own opinion.

 

I will not share spots or secrets with guys I fish against in tournaments as a rule, but the rule is not in concrete as I have assisted others fishing tournaments and they have shared their input with me.

 

As for guys on this Forum, I will help them as best I can on Virginia waters.

 

As for guys I don't know I usually keep my spots and secrets off limits.

 

The problem is that guys who fish specific of bodies know the "secret places" and what "techniques" work best so in actuality there are  no secrets in bass fishing. You may think you have found the "magic pill" but others have it, too.

 

 

[NHBull]

There is a few of us on the lake that tend to know the hotter spots, but tend to reserve them for when we have guest and want them to have a good time.

 

There are a couple tournaments on our lake, and if you really to get a head start, be on the lake for practice.......  You will surely find additional places to fish.

 

  As far as what is working, almost anyone with the exception of the elite tournament fisherman will share.  

[scaleface]

If I catch fish in an area then yeah i'll tell everybody that I caught my bass in cove three...   If I catch my bass on a specific spot in cove three ,  such as a slight depression surrounded by four stumps , i'm keeping that a secret .

[RichF]

I don't like to share a lot of specifics, especially with guys I compete against.  It's up to all of us as anglers to figure out our own stuff.  It's more rewarding when you do anyway.

[frosty]

I fish all public water that anybody can fish so I don't mind sharing a body of water or what I used to catch them, but I'm definitely not going to show you any exact location. It's part of the fun exploring, finding the fishy places. 

[Jeff H]

I don't catch many fish so nobody pays attention to me anyway!

[Darren.]

Sharing is caring! LOL...

Anyhow, locally I have had locations and techniques

shared with me, and with those who were generous,

I was equally generous with them.

 

I will not share with every Tom, Dick, or Harry that 

is in a boat. There are knuckleheads out there and,

at least for me, I let my gut tell me about who I am

talking with. I'm sure others are the same, you get

a sense of the person you're chatting with and whether

they're "a good dude" or just trolling for info.

[Raul]

Ok, I can tell you when, where, how and with what, I don't mind sharing, but that don't mean you'll catch them, hell, my compadre can't and he is barely 8 ft away in the same boat.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, Darren. said:

Sharing is caring! LOL...

Anyhow, locally I have had locations and techniques

shared with me, and with those who were generous,

I was equally generous with them.

 

I will not share with every Tom, Dick, or Harry that 

is in a boat. There are knuckleheads out there and,

at least for me, I let my gut tell me about who I am

talking with. I'm sure others are the same, you get

a sense of the person you're chatting with and whether

they're "a good dude" or just trolling for info.

 

Two of my favorite breeds !

[Darren.]

2 minutes ago, Raul said:

Ok, I can tell you when, where, how and with what, I don't mind sharing, but that don't mean you'll catch them, hell, my compadre can't and he is barely 8 ft away in the same boat.

 

 

 

 

Two of my favorite breeds !

 

EXACTLY!! I shared specifics with a guy who later told 

me he had ZERO hits in an area I was killing. Using the

bait I gave him, too. All in how ya fish it!  

[david in va]

you can tell with what and you can tell where, but you can not tell how.

NO two fish alike

[sully420]

I share all the time the only time i dont is if i feel that a fisherman is un ethical or fishes illegally ir is rude. But i understand people who don't because of heavy pressure or lack of good fishing opportunities. I dont have that problem im Minnesota especially with bass fishing its not a popular as walleye or panfishing.

[2tall79]

I told my brother about a new lake I found where I had been catching good numbers of large fish. The next weekend he was there with his boys enjoying the same kind of success.  The difference being that he keeps and eats everything he catches.

And if that that wasn't bad enough, he told all his buddies at work and now they are doing the same.  Never again.

[scaleface]

If I know a good spot on public water that someone showed me , I'm going to fish it . The urge is just to strong .

[WRB]

The reason I am on this site is to share what little I've learned over 6 decades of bass fishing. There isn't any secrets and with modern sonar/GPS and sat over head search tools and fewer closely held spots. Our lakes are so small and highly pressured you need to be able to catch bass others are missing. I have shown dozens of BR members exactly where to look for bass on the lake maps they fish. We have anglers who use spotting scopes or binoculars to see where and what you using.

I know anglers who try to keep secrets from thier boat partners to keep an edge on them, it's selfish narrow minded behavior and common among bass anglers.

Tom

[BrianSnat]

I frequent a pretty active fishing forum for my state.  The people there are pretty tight lipped.  You see a lot of photos of their catch but rarely a mention of where it was caught.  Some even go as far as blacking out the background of any photos so others can't figure out where they were by looking at the background.

 

Now if you have a secret spot in a lake or on a river that is always productive for you, or if you know of some off the beaten path stream or pond that produces for you, I can see not sharing it on the Internet.  It would probably be fished out in weeks.

But generally in state like New Jersey, there are few truly secret spots.   Pretty much everyone who has fished any time here knows the better lakes and rivers and if not they can go to the Dept of Fish and Game website for a list of them, as well as detailed about certain locations and techniques.

 

For me Internet fishing forums are a place to exchange ideas.  I've been fishing for over 50 years and I think I have a lot to share, particularly with those new to the sport.  And we anglers always have a lot to learn, no matter how long we have been at it.   I've learned quite a bit here.  

I think sharing various techniques is fine. That should be the point of this type of  forum. I am willing to share generalities about places I fish.    "If you want to fish for 'x', try 'y' River north of 'z' or  "Lake 'a' has a pretty good population of 'b' and using a 'c' can be really productive there."  Most people who come to these forums aren't expecting you to reveal your secret hole, but appreciate some guidance. They get that here, which is why I like this site. Without that open exchange of tecniques and locations these sites become little more than brag boards. "Hey look at all of the big fish I caught, but I'm not telling you where or how".
 

"