The Ethics Finding Spots Through Observation

[Pat Brown]

45 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

There are big lakes in Central NC

 

Sorta.

 

I live in Greensboro and we primarily fish the two local lakes and they're very small relative to the number of people out there on weekends.

 

I was mostly being good humored!  

 

Even a big lake, only 10-20 percent or so is gonna be worth fishing at any given time so I dunno, I just think it's silly to act like any spot is anything more than something you discovered.

 

Even more so with the smaller (relatively speaking) bodies of water?

 

To put things in perspective, I've been on lakes where it takes hours to move from on spot to another.

 

You can fish all the good spots on my lake in an hour with an outboard motor.

 

It's just not the same.

 

Edited to add another facet:

 

There are consistently people who act like you fishing the lake or pond at all is fishing their spot ???

[Mobasser]

On my home lake, I have six really good spots that I've located. These usually produce some fish. I also make a couple of bank trips there each week. I've seen guys fishing two of these spots.                                                  I'm not sure if they've caught many fish or not, but I don't care. Bass move in and out of prime spots, and they don't always produce. When they leave, I've gone behind them and fished. The lakes are there for all of us to fish. So, I don't think it's unethical to fish any areas, as long as you don't crowd someone.

[Tennessee Boy]

Check out this video starting at about 7:00 minutes.  This is the argument many make about finding your own fish.   Do you agree?

 

 

[gim]

The part about "guys coming up to you and marking where you're fishing" is sketchy if you ask me.  If there is someone fishing a specific spot, don't pull up to them.  Stay a respectful distance away.  My personal rule is if you can cast to someone, you are too close.  If you want to mark where you see other boats fishing and then come back when they aren't there, have at it. How would they even know you came back to fish that spot if they aren't there anyways?  I believe that's what you have described in your initial post on the subject in this thread.

 

There is a certain demographic of anglers (and people in general) that are always going to take the easiest way out.  Whether its because they don't have time or they are just down right lazy, whatever.  There is a term for people following other people around.  Its called tail piping.  That's unethical IMO.

[Mobasser]

10 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The part about "guys coming up to you and marking where you're fishing" is sketchy if you ask me.  If there is someone fishing a specific spot, don't pull up to them.  Stay a respectful distance away.  My personal rule is if you can cast to someone, you are too close.  If you want to mark where you see other boats fishing and then come back when they aren't there, have at it. How would they even know you came back to fish that spot if they aren't there anyways?  I believe that's what you have described in your initial post on the subject in this thread.

 

There is a certain demographic of anglers (and people in general) that are always going to take the easiest way out.  Whether its because they don't have time or they are just down right lazy, whatever.  There is a term for people following other people around.  Its called tail piping.  That's unethical IMO.

I agree. If you can reach them with a cast, your too close.

[TN bassmaster]

22 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t even try it, but I have before. Not a great recipe for success for me, never liked sloppy seconds 

 

it reminds me of a guy I used to work with, he would never read a newspaper someone else had already opened under any circumstance. 
 

now I’ve got some younger readers wondering what in the world is a newspaper 

what are those things???

[Bankc]

22 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

We have lived in our current home for about two and a half years. It's located near the lake and whenever I leave the house, I pass by the water. There's a bridge that I cross at least twenty times a week, and as expected, I always check the water conditions and the number of people on the water. I have noticed that one particular offshore spot often has a boat on it.  I estimate that I've seen a boat fishing that spot hundreds of times. One day, I saw a boat there and two hours later the same boat was still there. I have checked the map, but I don't see anything interesting in the area. Obviously, there is something there that attracts anglers.  I have not fished there or graphed it to see what's down there.

 

My question is this: Would it be unethical for me to fish this spot simply because it is popular? I am not seeking advice as I already know how I feel about it. I just want to start a conversation about the ethics of fishing spots solely because you've observed others fishing there.  What would you do?

The fact that you would even think this says to me that you're a good person!  

But if it's a public lake, then by that definition there can be no ethical problem with fishing it yourself, provided there is no one else using it at that time.  If there were, it would create a whole host of other problems with public land use.  It would be unethical to recognize that as someone else's spot, due to the precedence set by that action.  Sharing is what makes it public.  And it's important that we utilize, respect, and protect what little public access areas remain to ensure their value is passed on to future generations.  

[Mobasser]

Just pass slowly by these guys, give them a wave, and go fish another spot. When they leave the spot is yours to fish.

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Check out this video starting at about 7:00 minutes

Nah. Check out the whole series, y’all

[Choporoz]

2 more professional bass fisherman who feel they have earned the right to be treated different than Joe weekend angler.  Reminds me of Hackney saying, that if he's in tournament and he can see you fishing, you're too close.  I understand what they are saying, but I think they're disconnected from the 99%.

[Tennessee Boy]

3 minutes ago, Bankc said:

The fact that you would even think this says to me that you're a good person!  

Well thank you  but the truth is I'm not .   Like I said in the original post,  I'm not looking for advice,  I'm just trying to start a discussion.   I have not fished or graphed the spot because I'm not that interested in a spot that gets that much pressure.  I'm pretty sure it's a brush pile that someone dropped.   I'll eventually graph it to see what all the fuss is about and if I see fish I'll probably try to catch them.   I think we all know of community holes that always seem to have a boat on them.  

 

Here's my opinion on these matters.   We all learn from others.  Some folks are kind enough to teach us.  We learn from other without them knowing it.  The notion that everyone should always find their own fish is unrealistic.  I spend a lot of time hunting for offshore spots because I really enjoy the hunt.  It takes a lot of time.  I found two spots last year that are special and not community holes.  I try to kept others from finding them by watching me.  I don't blame them or look down on them for trying.  That's part of the game.  The rest of the spots I fish are ones that anyone who can read a map would want to fish.  I don't apologize for being observant on the water.  When I fish a new lake,  I try to understand the character of the lake by noting what other anglers are doing.  When I see a boat fishing,  I look at the map to see what they are fishing,  if it looks good,  it's probably a community hole.  That's a lot faster than graphing every promising spot on the map.  Knowing how to read what's happening around you is an important part of fishing and there's no shame in it.  The truth is most professionals search the web, talk to as many sources as they can,   look at google maps,  and hire local guides to help them understand a lake before a tournament.  It's an essential skill in fishing.  If you always try to solve the puzzle on your own,  you are putting yourself to a significant disadvantage.  As your knowledge of a lake grows,  you become the one that everyone is watching to learn from.  That's the way it works IMHO.  If you wrap your boat and start a YouTube channel,  you should expect to get more attention.  

 

All that said,  being rude on the water is unacceptable and is a different matter.  You won't know it if I mark the spot you are fishing.  When I fished a club, I had many discussions about fishing spots that others had shared with me.  If someone showed me a spot,  I never fished that spot in a tournament without their permission.

 

 

[Pat Brown]

I mean I make a bee line for areas where there aren't any boats hammering the fish when I get to the lake and that's usually how I go about achieving success.  I have never in my life even considered idling up to someone and marking there spot/talking to them.  Seems rude at best.

 

Now if I see 5 fellas in 5 different boats parked for 5 hours down a bank on a flat and they all decide to pack up and go, I might mosey over there when it's rested a minute and see if they left any stragglers.

 

Caught plenty of fish doing that.

 

I do not think it's nice to get up on a person and fish where they are fishing.  That seems like common sense but I guess people around here are a little more considerate than some of the hotter bass fishing states.

 

 

[gim]

6 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I do not think it's nice to get up on a person and fish where they are fishing.  That seems like common sense but I guess people around here are a little more considerate than some of the hotter bass fishing states.

Happens frequently up here, but not usually in the bass fishing realm.  My experience here with this is in the walleye and crappie fishing realm.  A lot of anglers are looking to harvest those species (aka the meat hunters) and when you start hammering eater-sized walleyes or slab-sized crappies during the day time, its like waving a big white flag to other boats in the area.  You will very soon have company nearby.  I've seen more than 40 boats fishing like bumper boats in a small area before, all because one of them started catching 17 inch walleyes.  Its like vultures I tell you.

[Captain Phil]

I never fish where someone else is fishing.  I have no problem with fishing their spot when they are not there.  My reason has nothing to do with courtesy or ethics.  I hate fishing with anglers around me.   I fish for the solitude of being in nature by myself.  Even though the lakes I fish are large, this gets harder every year.  The worst is when some person fishes with boat music so loud I can hear them.  Music and bass fishing don't mix.  All I want to hear is birds, animals and the splash of a bass taking my bait.  Since Covid, our boat ramps are full even on week days and all the well known spots have three boats on them.  This means I have to fish where others don't. Surprisingly enough, I have found fish that I didn't know about before.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  ?

[ironbjorn]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Check out this video starting at about 7:00 minutes.  This is the argument many make about finding your own fish.   Do you agree?

 

 

If you can't fish a spot someone else put the time and money in to find, then you can't fish a bait someone else put the time and money in to create. Create your own baits. See how stupid this can get?

[Choporoz]

So....for those that haven't watched....there's two things mixed up in the comments above...but also a bit mixed up in the video;  fishing where you saw someone else fish once....or driving up to a spot while they're fishing there.  The guy with the complaint mixed the problems up all by himself - trying to illustrate an example, but his words had already betrayed him a little bit.   I think the host was just trying to set up the show by saying, here's a better way to fish offshore than by following someone.

My transcript - not EXACT, but pretty close:

 

Two long-time, successful, professional fishermen out with a youtube host.

 

Host:  There are some folks who spend as much time looking for fishermen as they do looking for fish

These two guys are going to help us figure out how to find off-shore fish….

 

Pro 1:  about above “I hear this all the time…guys coming up to you and marking you on the lake…..I’m not saying you can’t fish here…the whole point…is that we work hard, we spend a lot of money, we put in a lot of hours….and to me, if you put in a hundred hours and hundred bucks in gas….just to have someone drive up and mark you…that’s just not right….just go find your own fish”

[Tennessee Boy]

I just drove across the bridge.  It’s raining and I only saw one boat on the water.  It was on the spot!  
 

I thought everyone would want to know.?

 

[Swamp Girl]

I have no problem with the ethics of it, but some people suck at catching fish. They might have caught a fish there three hours before or even the day or week before and so they keep pounding that spot because catching a fish is a big deal for them. Then other people who suck at fishing drive across that bridge and see them there and they fish it too and catch a fish or two and also glue themselves there.

 

Last year, I fished a creek mouth. I'd caught 15 and a motorized boat with three men casting asked me if I'd caught any.

 

"Fifteen," I answered. 

 

Their body language told me that:

 

A. They didn't believe me.

 

B. They hadn't caught any bass.

 

[Pat Brown]

29 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I have no problem with the ethics of it, but some people suck at catching fish. They might have caught a fish there three hours before or even the day or week before and so they keep pounding that spot because catching a fish is a big deal for them. Then other people who suck at fishing drive across that bridge and see them there and they fish it too and catch a fish or two and also glue themselves there.

 

Last year, I fished a creek mouth. I'd caught 15 and a motorized boat with three men casting asked me if I'd caught any.

 

"Fifteen," I answered. 

 

Their body language told me that:

 

A. They didn't believe me.

 

B. They hadn't caught any bass.

 

 

 

Yeah, I hear fellas saying they swear the spawn is gonna start any day now at the marina. ???

 

'cant wait for the spring bite to turn on'

 

Meanwhile I'm catching them off shore spawned out...and on bed.

 

People can have all my spots, far as I can tell won't do most folks any good.

[Functional]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

Last year, I fished a creek mouth. I'd caught 15 and a motorized boat with three men casting asked me if I'd caught any.

 

"Fifteen," I answered. 

 

My go to answer is always "a few" or "not doing too bad" . 9/10 they dont believe you or you start getting followed. 

 

This past weekend I was pulling in some good 3 and 4 lb pass and a boat caught wind of it. I fished another 4 hours that day and every time I looked behind me that same boat was following. Changed parts of the lake and theyd be right there with me. They kept their distance so I didnt have an issue with it but it was incredibly obvious. Didnt see them pull any fish in though...goes to show just because you are in the right spots doesnt mean you can bring em in. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, Functional said:

goes to show just because you are in the right spots doesnt mean you can bring em in. 

 

Yep. Not everyone can catch fish.

 

2 minutes ago, Functional said:

 

My go to answer is always "a few" or "not doing too bad"

 

Good advice. Thanks! 

5 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Check out this video starting at about 7:00 minutes.  This is the argument many make about finding your own fish.   Do you agree?

 

 

 

Thanks for this video. I subscribed. 

[gim]

14 minutes ago, Functional said:

My go to answer is always "a few" or "not doing too bad"

Haha.  That's what I usually say too.

[Fishingmickey]

On 5/10/2023 at 1:33 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

I must say I'm very surprised at how much everyone seems to agree that it's okay to fish the spot.   Maybe I need to stir the pot a little more to get some debate going here.  

 

What about the argument that it takes time and effort to find a spot and that it's stealing someone else's work to fish a spot that you didn't put in the work to find yourself?

 

Let's consider a different hypothetical situation.  What if I noticed a well known local guide is sitting on a spot?   Would that change anything?

 

Obviously,  it's wrong to move in on a spot when someone's fishing it.  There seems to be a consensus that you shouldn't move in and mark a waypoint either.  I'm pretty good with math and I can get the coordinates of a spot from two hundred yards away.  Is that okay?

This is beginning to feel like trolling.  I'm sure you'll catch a few.

FM

[T-Billy]

6 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

You guys with your giant lakes!  ???

 

Here in central NC, the lakes are glorified ponds and the ponds are mud puddles with parking lots and sidewalks.

 

There are no 'spots' you can have to yourself.

Sounds like OH. All manmade reservoirs without much offshore structure. The ones I fish are between 1K and 3K acres, and they get pounded from April till October.

[1984isNOW]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I have no problem with the ethics of it, but some people suck at catching fish. They might have caught a fish there three hours before or even the day or week before and so they keep pounding that spot because catching a fish is a big deal for them. Then other people who suck at fishing drive across that bridge and see them there and they fish it too and catch a fish or two and also glue themselves there.

 

Last year, I fished a creek mouth. I'd caught 15 and a motorized boat with three men casting asked me if I'd caught any.

 

"Fifteen," I answered. 

 

Their body language told me that:

 

A. They didn't believe me.

 

B. They hadn't caught any bass.

 

I always just say yeah I lost a 10 pounder about an hour ago on a wacky rig... they can't tell if I'm making it up or if I'm one of those every 6 incher lost is a ten pounder. Either way they keep it moving.