I totally agree with not blabbing your mouth about favorite spots, just don't believe in false info! I will be going north this weekend to fish for the white springs. Where am I going?

Jerry,

I've been up there the last 2 weekends. You will be a happy angler

AuntyM, you didn't get chosen for jury duty did you

Blackdog, There is a differenc between helping someone with a technique and telling about where the hot fishing is. I fished one of the bigger rivers this year for summerrun, saw about 5 boats a day and caught lots of fish. Pretty soon the posts started about catching fish there, and it turned into a zoo. One of the little creeks around here used to have a trophy cutthroat fishery, fishing and hunting news ran a article about it. The fishery was gone in 3 years. I used to fish the Skok with 8-10 other guys on the whole river, now its with 8-10 snaggers on either side of me. Will I lie, you bet. Will I help someone with a question on how to do something, you bet. Ask Parker or BK on how to do someting see what you get for info. Get your **** straight before you go calling someone a fool or idiot.

Fishhead5

I've enjoyed this thread and your replies because this issue is something that I've thought about often while running WashingtonLakes.com. First, I think fishing web sites provide a valuable source of information and comradrey (sp) to the people that visit them. I think it gives us the perfect chance to share techniques (to the extend that we want to share them) and to help one another out. I have always made it clear on my site that if you are fishing a small lake and don't want to share fishing reports - DON'T. And I think the same thing applies to the various small rivers and private spots we fish. Personally, up to now I've always considered the number of people logging on to the fishing sites to be fairly small relative to the number of fishermen actually on the water. And while I think that is still true for lakes, I think it is a different case for rivers. Plus, lakes tend to be more of a put and take situation than rivers, at least that is how the state runs many of them. As far as river reports go, I think reports on popular holes such as Reiter's or the Cowlitz meat hole are fair game, but I would discourage reports on smaller rivers and runs except in a general kind of way.
As far as the numbers visiting these fishing web sites, even on a busy month I'll bet there are at most 25,000 distinct anglers hitting this site. Compare that to the circulation of Fishing and Hunting News, or the weekly fishing reports in the Seattle Times - much greater numbers read those publications. The reality is we have what - 3-4 million people in this state? The days of secret holes are fading away. But fortunately most anglers are casual fishermen who frequent the more popular spots, leaving the smaller rivers and lakes for the dedicated few willing to research and put in the time on them.

It's semi-****ing easy people. Stop lurking and start participating in comraderie, then all the people that show up at your river you won't feel so angered about because you know them. You have exchanged ideas, past glories, future glories, and probably even shared a time or two with that girl...don't worry EEEEEVERYBODY knows who she is

I'm an advocate for working smarter; not harder. Others, are just plain lazy and would like you to tell them right where to stand. Granted there may be no secret rivers, but damn it man, if you are going to post about a river, do it on a Sunday evening or something.

For we regulars, we pretty much know what other regulars fish what rivers and we have a nice network going so we don't post about it, and it's worked great. Only pissed off one guy that I know of and that directly wasn't my fault

To the other guys that have helped me along the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE NORTHWESTERN HOSPITALITY Just thank you in general. You guys know who you are...hell might be a woman or two in there too that gets spanked...oops, meant "thanked".

I've been battling the flu for over 6 days, but still I get to fish vicariously through my friends and it helps speed along the recovery. Not to mention the GREAT night I had Wedn. and the Sat. morning I had which both attributed to the flu because I was out fishing. The only way I would have caught those fish were from 2 "prestigious" members who first told me about the river 2 years ago. Yes, I had help, yes I have come along in my angling, but I am still humble enough to share whatever info I can....smaller rivers and zippers = "Fuhgeddaboutit"

Just do a credit-check or background check on the guys/gals before you indulge info to them. I bet all those Oly guys wish they would have done that 2 years ago...suckers :p LOL j/k

What Steelheader69 said!

Well, I get to chime in since so many others get to ( and by the way isn't this what the forum is for????). I am fairly new to the Northwest. I came here about 5 years ago. A friend of mine showed me how to get started fishing for Salmon in rivers (which are just about extinct in rivers where I came from). He showed me the basics and some "honey holes" on 'his' river.

If it werent for him I might still be just sitting around wishing. I totally appreciate what all of you have said, there are many good points being made. If you have a special place that you like to fish and don't want a stampede there, don't share it or take it off forum (great suggestion!!!). As far as hints on how to fish better, I snagged a few in the beginning but it was a kind gentleman fishing next to me who showed me another way to fish that did not snag and I not only caught more fish but had more fun! He also shared some gear with me to get started and show me what to buy. I did take the time to learn new fishing spots but value highly the experience of others. I realize that any time someone is sharing with me they could be leading me on and only time and experience will show otherwise.

In the mean time, imagine being transplanted from an area where you know the rivers/lakes intimately and have favorite spots to an area where you know nothing and can not meet your fishing needs ( I feel like an addict at times). Someone willing to come along side and show you some basics or a better way of doing things is like a drink of water when you are dying of thirst. A forum like this one is a great way to get some information. Mike is totally correct about the numbers of people who read this site. I have been out many times and asked the people fishing around me if they use the Internet as a means of getting information and maybe 5% have said they have. Mike also said that the days of having a 'secret' hole are getting few and far between. This is especially true in populated areas. We should work on educating those that are fishing near us or get the regs changed to benefit the fishery more.....whatever is done, even snaggers have a constitutional right to be there, they just need to be caught or taught.

MikeC, I agree with your sentiments. But I would like to know your opinion regarding those who,in an effort to draw folks away from where they are fishing, post fake reports of good fishing elsewhere. I guess one could post counterproductive techniques as well. Wouldn't a proliferation of false postings render the boards useless?


PS: The tuna fishing in the Sound is incredible right now! Troll a KingBee Wiggler on the surface at 10 knots and you can't miss!

I guess a simple "hows the fishing" or "can I float fish up there or fly fish down there" is out now. Too bad, I always try to help out someone who is new. Jerry your right, we dont have to give out our pet spots to help a fellow angler. But what do I know.

AuntyM, I fished close to your area and did relatively well, some nice silvers and kings[same river RT1 and Superfly posted some hero pictures about], fished there for 5 days,didn't post about it because it's not myhome river. Once again I DON'T BELIEVE IN PURPOSELY MISLEADING PEOPLE BY BEING DISHONEST. If your ever out to Ft. Casey during silver season and see 10 people fishing bobbers and herring from the beach I would say I'm responsible for 8 of them getting the sickness. It does my soul good to increase other anglers happiness.

JG, I do agree with you about posting lies to misdirect people as being somewhat unethical. For those who do that I wish they would just not post. On the other hand, as I posted when I became moderator here for awhile, these public internet forums are not a proper place to post about less known zipperlip rivers. Those are to be discovered by yourself, or going with friends and not revealing where it is. As for answer most Q's about water condtions a night or two ahead of a prospect trip, I think that's fair game and alright to help with fishability condition posts - again, except for the rare zippers. Posting how the fishing is on large bodies of water such as Elliot Bay, the Cowlitz, NF Lewis, or Columbia I don't have any probs with that. It can help anglers who only get to fish once a week to fish an area with a chance to catch a fish. >>>

As for posting about fishing techs, which I have done more than anyone (partly because it's become a paid gig), there is an old saying among sporting fishermen - "Tell them how, but not where." >>>

BTW JG, how would ya know you fished where 'Fly and I did? Neither of us posted where that was. And there is no 'hero' bull**** about it. Catching fish is easy; not heroism. Also Fly and I have business promo reasons for posting about good days sometimes. Despite that, we both have WAY more good days than are posted about (or pictured).

RT

RT1 , As far back as I can remember[Sometimes that's only a day or two]those pictures were called hero pictures, if that offends you after Sept 11th I'm sorry.As to where you were fishing with SF your a legend now, even that middle-aged fat guy disguise can't hide you.

Every few months or so this topic comes up

I have the advantage of being able to fish almost anyweek day I want
So I do,
do I post my results ......HELL NO!
Thats My perogative!!!!!!

I will contribute to topics on technics for the most part,but like a few of us ,have learned our Technics the hard way.

As far as posting false reports,I have a hard time believing most of these Jokers anyway
I tend to stick to rivers I know anyway,just because one river is hot usually doesn't mean fish aren't in another river.......some of us don't need to have our egos stroked

RT1-
Jerry Garcia knows ALL!!!!

That's a disguise!? Damn good Halloween costume there, RT. You scared the crap out of me. :p

It's not that he's a legend Jerry; his vertical smile gives him away as he passes you.

Slab Quest,
You bet people probably do post both good and bad fake reports to steer others the wrong way. And there isn't much I can do about it on my site, unless it's so obvious as to be ridiculous. But I think that the vast majority of people are honest and post honest information. (just call me an optimist I guess). People that post fake reports are only hurting themselves. That's a personal moral point of view. Anytime you intentionaly do something that hurts someone that action will come back to haunt you. Karma 101. Just my opinion...
I don't think false posts will ever kill these boards - people helping people is too strong an idea to be hurt by a few losers. Now, on to more pressing matters - where did I put my tuna rod?

MikeC

Don't forget the KingBee Wiggler