To Tell or Not To Tell

[flechero]

Yo Flech I should have put a smilie on that[ I wil}l just a smart a-- quip I aint taking any offense to anything Sorry it came off that way Man

My miss...  it's good.

[jdw174]

When I wrote the outdoor column for a morning newspaper, I would tell what lake, what depth, type of structure/cover, and type of lure.  What I would NOT tell under ANY circumstances was the exact spot I was fishing.  I gave my readers everything they needed to find the fish on their own....but no more.

[Rattlinrogue]

Mostly people that I take fishing with me are folks that don't own boats,are not really big into bassin',kids that don't get to go often,etc.,so I take 'em to what I think is the best that the lake has to offer.I'm not really worried about somebody fishing the good spots that I find.I'm pretty sure somebody else found it long before me.

[Grey Wolf]

Since I don't tournament fish , I'll spill my guts to anybody that asks but that's just me.

I certainly understand why people don't want to give up their honey holes and really that is their business.

[Matt Fly]

A little side note from Takahiro Omori as I read on the ***.      

To Tell or Not To Tell:   According to Tak, what he's learned since winning the Classic is to not listen to any Dock talk.

Tak said that listening to the other pros after a day on the water has messed him up.    This year, if you look in Tak's boat, he has a note taped to his rod boxes saying, "no dock talk".

Matt.

[5bass]

Dock talk can definitely cloud your judgement. At the dock,everybody you talk to was catching fish and mostly all on different lures and in totally different areas. I have heard that about Tak too and a few others on Tour also but "dock talk" is different than physically taking someone out and revealing your spots.

If KVD took Tak to an awesome underwater hump that was loaded with 5 pounders,Tak cant tell me that he'd avoid that spot the entire tournament. I'd guarantee if he went by the spot and KVD was nowhere in sight,Tak would be sittin' right on top of it.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

I dont mark spots without permission then don't tell anyone about them without permission.

[New 2 Bass]

I tell any and everybody where i was fishing, what i used, how i used it, boat position, colors, depth, time of day, day of week, etc, etc. If they ask, i tell. Even in the river. Everybody know how i caught my 10+lb. walleye, what i caught it on, and how i caught it. I tell everybody who asks. As a matter of fact, it was just north of the bridge in berrien springs below the dam on a #10 black a silver huskey jerk casted upstream, and drifted downstream, then s l o w l y reeled in. The fish hit it on the way back towards shore. Do i care? No. If there is somebody else on my spot, oh well. If there is a line of people there, thats just too bad and ill have to wait my turn. I can actually benifit from having somebody in my spot. It gives me an opportunity to try something new, maybe ill hit it big somewhere else i would have missed earlier. Now i will sound very cockey and maybe ill come off as an @$$hole, but i usually outfish somebody in my spot after i tell them every little detail. Am i a better fisherman? Id like to think so. I have fished side by side with somebody fishing the exact same lure, same color, same jighead, same everything. I outfished him 7-0. They think im holding something back, but trust me, i do anything i can to make everyone a better fisherman.

 Nope, you are not Uranus at all.  You sir, are a nice guy!  

[fish-fighting-illini]

I used to tell but the better I have become at fishing the less I am willing to share. I love to catch fish and when I go I want to catch them.  If I don't I may as well throw away my equipment. I do mainly catch and release so they will be there the next time. One problem is the lakes I fish are fairly small and up untill now most fishing was from the bank. Good spots are hard to come by as things get crowded. I will share with my buddy but I hope he doesn't share with many others. On my small lake I had gotten to the point that I used to only fish from around 1/2 hr before dark untill around 10pm. I didn't have to worry about crowding and clowns ( lake is ver small). Now I see more and more people coming at that time of night. I've shared some info ( and will still share some ) but I'm being more careful about it. I think some of the problem is the "saving for a fish fry" mentality of so many people. They catch fish after fish and have to keep them all. They say lake so and so had good Crappie but now they are all tiny. These are the same people who are catching the 25 fish limit 4,5 and 6 times a week. Recently I posted that my dad caught a trout in a small pond near his house. Someone came by and asked if they were biting, I told dad right after he caught it that if we ran into someone to keep quiet. Heck the next day the lake would have been full of every greedy fisherman who owned a knife and fork. I know that is not the most popular opinion but just my .02.

[northgabassfisher]

see i work at a bait and tackle store were it is part of my job to tell people were and how to fish a spot but i still try not to just give it to them i will give them a general area of were to go and what to look for, and maybe a tip or two on how to fish that spot. but i do share some of my good spots to some people it just depends on who they are, if its like a guy coming to fish a tourny and its the first time hes been up on my home lake then i will go it to more detail on the spots i show them.

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

I think im too kind sometimes and give away too much info to other anglers, usually we'll exchange just whats working but who knows if what they are saying back to me is truthful, most fisherman are good guys but giving away secrets seems to be like pulling teeth, personally i dont seem to mind much giving away what lure and color works but exact location i try my hardest not give away, at the best it would be very general, like their being caught in the weedlines about 3-5 feet deep but i wouldnt give away my honey holes!