A Slap in the Face

[PhishLI]

8 minutes ago, Pickle_Power said:

Imagine how the other guy feels having to enlist his kids to get tips on how to catch fish.

Creeps don't feel anything. That's why they're creeps.

[lo n slo]

53 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Sounds like you forgot to tell them about the old chemical plant that was on the property before it was turned into a residential community and why you would NEVER eat anything that comes out of one of those lakes. ?

well played

[DitchPanda]

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

Tight lips, my man. The most convenient places closest to my house are all small waters. I've worked hard to figure out these heavily pressured spots. Tons of hours of where, when, and how in freezing rain and extreme heat. Very few people are successful here other than randomly. The only people brought into the fold are others that are just as hard core, curious, and somewhat successful. Only a scant few of those will get a whiff of what I've worked out. I've taught a bunch of kids and a few adults how to use a baitcaster when I saw they were in birdnest hell, sometimes for hours at a clip, or tie knots, but that's where it ends. I don't discuss my portfolio or fishing secrets with strangers. Little good will come from doing either.

 

I'm sorry to hear you were mined for info and regret it. That's too bad.

This is how I feel about my home lake especially regarding bass. I'm not to stingy on details about bluegill, crappie or catfish...but the bass are a different story. I've spent 20 years figuring it out and I'm not about to freely cough all that hard work earned info up to just anybody. I've got 1 buddy that I share it all with...he's a member here...and another guy I share about 50% with. Both guys understand the importance of not spreading this around and also know that if they break my trust in it that I won't get mad but I'll stop giving them reports and info. Neither guy has ever done that because they want it to stay quiet as well. The reason I'm protective is because this lake is 2 minutes from my house and is like to keep it productive.

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

Tight lips, my man. The most convenient places closest to my house are all small waters. I've worked hard to figure out these heavily pressured spots. Tons of hours of where, when, and how in freezing rain and extreme heat. Very few people are successful here other than randomly. The only people brought into the fold are others that are just as hard core, curious, and somewhat successful. Only a scant few of those will get a whiff of what I've worked out. I've taught a bunch of kids and a few adults how to use a baitcaster when I saw they were in birdnest hell, sometimes for hours at a clip, or tie knots, but that's where it ends. I don't discuss my portfolio or fishing secrets with strangers. Little good will come from doing either.

 

I'm sorry to hear you were mined for info and regret it. That's too bad.

This is how I feel about my home lake especially regarding bass. I'm not to stingy on details about bluegill, crappie or catfish...but the bass are a different story. I've spent 20 years figuring it out and I'm not about to freely cough all that hard work earned info up to just anybody. I've got 1 buddy that I share it all with...he's a member here...and another guy I share about 50% with. Both guys understand the importance of not spreading this around and also know that if they break my trust in it that I won't get mad but I'll stop giving them reports and info. Neither guy has ever done that because they want it to stay quiet as well. The reason I'm protective is because this lake is 2 minutes from my house and is like to keep it productive.

[Dminor9]

Seems like for every silver lining, there is a cloud. Why is there always someone or a group of people that have no regard for others and have to ruin the good for their own means? Karma will hit them at some point. What goes around, comes around. You have added to your good Karma, while they added to their bad Karma. 

[Kdizzle]

Trash takes what it wants, when it wants and doesn't really care for a normal humans sense of decency and ethic or moral code. 

 

During the winter when I take my kayak out on the river, I usually stumble upon at least once per season a pile of filleted Smallmouth bass ranging from 1 to 3 pounds per fish.  You can tell that they've been gigged "accidentally" by a piece of white trash that went out gigging for suckers.  I report it to DNR, but due to the budget cuts to the office over the last decade or so, no agents ever show up to investigate and it goes unpunished.

 

They don't care about the amount of time it takes for Smallmouth to grow to a certain length and weight, or that this kind of poaching can kill a 5 or 6 mile stretch of river for an entire year. 

 

Its very hard to continue giving a ****, when so many people don't, and then be disparaged as an environmentalist, as if that's a bad thing, when you do complain.  Add to that that some of this trash tends to resort to violence when confronted by it, will quickly leave you hoping for an asteroid to hit the planet and wipe every thing clean, if you aren't careful.

[Hammer 4]

This may seem trivial, but my guess  is sooner or later, and I bet sooner, those people will get tired of eating bass, and find something else to do.

At a few ponds I fish, I saw this happen,but in the big numbers as you mentioned, a couple of guys would show up with buckets for a few days, then disappear. Hopefully this is the case.

In the long term, what you did was the right thing to do. 

[Smells like fish]

I'd like to know what advice they used to catch those 60 bass lol

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

40 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

I'd like to know what advice they used to catch those 60 bass lol

Word!

[BASS302]

@JediAmoeba,

There's an old saying: "No good deed goes unpunished".  Sorry it happened to you.

[Tywithay]

Are they keeping within the lake limit? If so, I don't really see the issue. 

[JediAmoeba]

39 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

I'd like to know what advice they used to catch those 60 bass lol

 

  Lol.  A set up I use for my kids.  I also told them to ditch the swivels and prerigged hooks and use 6# line as heavier line kills the action of worms and especially neds.  

 

You need to know the depth but it works great over flats and ponds that have a consistent bottom.  Tie your slip float on so the deepest the bait will go is about 1 foot from the bottom.  At the bottom I use a heavier jig head with a TRD worm off the back.  Then every 2 feet up from the TRD I place a circle hook with a thin wacky worm on it.  This can be very awkward to cast but essentially you cast into the wind at an angle so it bobs up and down and floats parallel to the shore line or a bit towards you.  In Pa we don't have a limit to the amount of hooks we can have on a line - Before I had a fish finder this is something I used to do to find the depth of fish back when I was a teen, I also used it for dead drifting for muskie with large dead bait.  My buddy said they were mostly using live bait and treble hooks rather than circle hooks.

 

I also showed them how to fish a ned rig and using the lightest mushroom head was key.  

 

They fished from morning to night 2 days in a row...and they bring their kids because this allows them to throw out more lines - 3 rods per person on Pa. When I saw them they had 15 rods set up, some were bottom fishing for bullheads and stuff too.  

13 minutes ago, Tywithay said:

Are they keeping within the lake limit? If so, I don't really see the issue. 

That's one way to look at it.  If everyone has that mentality though we wont see many fish caught.  - Pa allows 6 bass per day per person.  

[Tywithay]

8 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

 

That's one way to look at it.  If everyone has that mentality though we wont see many fish caught.  - Pa allows 6 bass per day per person.  

Then you should be mad at the PA Wildlife department. Not people abiding by their rules.

[Hammer 4]

8 minutes ago, Tywithay said:

Then you should be mad at the PA Wildlife department. Not people abiding by their rules.

True. But taking a 100 fish per day out of a pond could deplete that pond fairly quick. OTH, common sense goes a long way. 

[Tywithay]

7 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

True. But taking a 100 fish per day out of a pond could deplete that pond fairly quick. OTH, common sense goes a long way. 

Who said they were taking fish out every day? My family has a big fish fry every couple months and we keep a lot of fish out of the pond on our property to prepare for it (upwards of 100). It is still plentiful and has only been stocked once. I'm sure there's a good number of folks that keep none or very few and the family in question may not keep more after they stocked up. It'd be a little alarming if people were keeping 100 fish per day, but that was never mentioned until you said it.

[Hammer 4]

5 minutes ago, Tywithay said:

Who said they were taking fish out every day? My family has a big fish fry every couple months and we keep a lot of fish out of the pond on our property to prepare for it (upwards of 100). It is still plentiful and has only been stocked once. I'm sure there's a good number of folks that keep none or very few and the family in question may not keep more after they stocked up. It'd be a little alarming if people were keeping 100 fish per day, but that was never mentioned until you said it.

I should have IF, they are there fishing every day, or even 3 or 4 times a week. Also, depends on the size of the pond.

 

 

[garroyo130]

20 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

I wish taking out small fish was the answer but we paid for a survey of the waters last year.  I didn't see the report but their recommendations were to add a lot of fish, food sources and cover for fry.  We added a bunch of bass and sunfish last fall and were working on the cover for fry but Covid ended that this spring.    

 

Under normal conditions this year I am catching about 1 bass for every 1.75 hours fished.  Last year it was around 1 every hour.  

Whoever "we" is needs to reach out to the HOA or whoever owns those lakes and work with them to establish limits. 

[Jrob78]

11 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

Whoever "we" is needs to reach out to the HOA or whoever owns those lakes and work with them to establish limits. 

This...Talk to the HOA about your concerns and see about putting out some "Catch and Release Only" and "Residents Only" signs. Work with them to establish some rules. It might not even be legally binding but might discourage some people from keeping fish. Other than that, if they are doing things legally there's not much you can do.

[DitchPanda]

On 6/22/2020 at 4:42 PM, Dminor9 said:

Seems like for every silver lining, there is a cloud. Why is there always someone or a group of people that have no regard for others and have to ruin the good for their own means? Karma will hit them at some point. What goes around, comes around. You have added to your good Karma, while they added to their bad Karma. 

 Some trash left some trash at the boat ramp on my local lake today..empty worm containers and a broken sinker. They also forgot a brand new pair of needlenose pliers. I'll throw away a little garbage for a $6 tool anyday. Probably ticked them off when they realized they lost em. Small dose of karma. 

 

It would be double awesome if I run into them sometime and overhear them say they lost the pliers. Maybe id even tell them I found them and I'm keeping them as a fee for being the garbage man.

[schplurg]

First your canoe gets trashed and now this? I'm thinking people in your area have proved they are not worthy. 

 

If I remember correctly you and your kids also went out and picked up trash for some hours one day. Their trash most likely.

 

I dunno what to say man, so sick of people sometimes. I try not to let it get to me but it does, and I enjoy being around people less and less. Hate to be negative but it's the truth, and not just fishing.  

[Dogface]

On 6/22/2020 at 8:23 PM, JediAmoeba said:

 

  Lol. You need to know the depth but it works great over flats and ponds that have a consistent bottom.  Tie your slip float on so the deepest the bait will go is about 1 foot from the bottom.  At the bottom I use a heavier jig head with a TRD worm off the back.  Then every 2 feet up from the TRD I place a circle hook with a thin wacky worm on it. 

OK I got that part now where is your 8 acre lake? ?

 

 

[soflabasser]

On 6/22/2020 at 1:39 PM, NYWayfarer said:

You did the right thing. They did the wrong thing.

 

I hope this doesn't discourage you from helping others in the future.

Well said. I have taught many people how to fish since I enjoy helping others. Some of those people took advantage of my generosity which is no surprise since there are many greedy people in this world. These are the people I do not invite fishing with me again even if they payed me. Others are grateful for my help, contribute back equally, and respect the environment, those are the type of people I invite again. 

On 6/22/2020 at 6:03 PM, Kdizzle said:

Trash takes what it wants, when it wants and doesn't really care for a normal humans sense of decency and ethic or moral code. 

Those with no morals do not care for anyone but themselves. They will do anything to make a quick buck. They will take advantage of someone's generosity if it means it gives them even the smallest advantage. It is best to associate yourself with honorable people and weed out the greedy ones.

[txchaser]

On 6/23/2020 at 9:19 AM, Jrob78 said:

see about putting out some "Catch and Release Only" and "Residents Only" signs.

https://www.vistaprint.com/signs-posters/metal-signs

 

It is amazing how easy it is to order metal signs on the internet, and even more amazing how official they look. 

 

 

 

[RAMBLER]

I showed (not taught) a guy how to catch some fish, mostly pan fish.  His wife was from China and had never seen so many fish bigger  than her finger.  They ended up with 2 of the biggest freezers they could find and filled them with fish.  I found out later that there was a pond where trout were put in for kids to fish.  He found out about it and would sit in the brush waiting for the fish to be dumped and then catch all he could carry.  I never told him anymore about fishing nor did I ever take him fishing.

[MGF]

Fishing pressure is crazy these days. Also, today there seems to be a lot more people who know how to catch fish. The internet makes it easy to learn some pretty advanced techniques real quick and easy. Still many people are pretty lazy and need to be spoon fed.

 

I don't know if I'm a very knowledgeable or talented angler but I've been fishing for a long time and I catch quite a few fish. I don't go out of my way to help somebody unless they're really putting in effort and it somehow leads them to me.

 

The crowds have been crazy around here this year and I'm not very pleased with their conduct. Fortunately most of them aren't fishing...just making noise and mess.

[N Florida Mike]

Im careful what I tell to people on the small lake I live on. If someone wants to know what Im fishing with , I just tell them soft plastics work pretty good, but I usually leave it at that. Most of them try with a bobber and worm for a few minutes, and never do again.

As far as keeping fish , I used to keep everything when I was a teen. I changed to catch and release ( some of them,)to catch and release ( most of them). I do keep some in the 12-15 inch range to thin the herd. A friend on the lake gets irritated when I tell him I keep some and why. Ive explained it several times and he still doesnt get it. This last time I sent him to the pond boss site so he could read up on it for himself.