Man I am going to miss you guys , Like "abu" all I will have is picture's from your adventure'! I have never posted picture's on the internet because I got roasted the 1 and only time I had a guy snap a shot of Timber and myself with a monster Satsop king, dark boot but a true Northwest trophy.
Boot this, boot that, native out of water and released mind you this was a long time ago! Learned my lesson I did not like the feeling I got from Public response. Yes I'm with Stam just go fish it Is always good for the soul. Enjoy and leave the blame game for those that want it that way , be friendly and courteous to your fellow angler's when you are fishing and Life is good, great thread !!!!Peace

Good thread Andrew!!!
I have to admit there are some great "photographers" here on the board, and some great "picture takers". I guess we have to determine which one we are. Same goes for the new age "videographers", and as Coley put it the "Helmet-Cam" gang. Where do we want to fit in. I too enjoy Todd Moen's work, and subscribe to an online pictorial board called "Catch Magazine" some of you might recognize it. Brian O'keefe a great photograher in his own right came up with this idea to share still photos and some great videos on this sight.
I have to admit, I was a picture taker, but I am taking the steps to being a photographer, composing, cropping, fill flash, no fill flash. But the main reason I take photos is for myself and my way of remembering the days events, a photographic fishing journal if you will. If one shot happens to turn out and would consider sharing it on the web, I rationalize myself out of doing it.
As for the GoPro gang, I dig it, but It would take alot of editing prowess on my part to put out something worthy out on the web. But I would use it like my Dad did with his "Old School Super 8" and take family movies of his boys surfing Waikiki more than anything else. It's still too expensive for me anyway.
"Photographers vs Picture Takers"

"Videographers vs Helmet Cam Gang"

Where do you fit in???

But I'm with Stam......I'm too old to "Rage against the Machine" or to worry about it!!!

Just want to go fish,
Winterun

I know that spot!

AP -- touche'! It never occurred to me that revealing this zipperlip would result in flack, but in the interest of not devolving into yet another ascot thread I'll not say anything for the moment.

Being a realtiveley new comer I feel the internet provides information but not the necessary tools.. I have grown and learned more just from being on the water and putting in time. This has allowed me to gain a little credibility with people that consistantly catch fish. That's the greatest compliment in my opinion.

I dare not take anyone but the wife to those spots. I've been burned once by someone and its not cool at all. A big reason why many are interrogated is because no one wants to work, everyone wants instant success. I've been skunked many a times and still go out with a high level of confidence. Others go straight to hatchery holes and then grill you when you post a chrome fish.

I think it's a crappy trend.

There are places I fish that are no secret, and have not been secret, for a long time. Those places are hatchery rivers with a steady stream of anglers. More people, lot's of fish(and usually, action) are the expectation.....not much phases me on these trips.

Then there are the places over the last 25 years that I have busted my butt to explore either on my own or with a few select friends. 100 of hours invested pouring over maps, driving roads, searching out trails(and in some cases building them) and most of all, walking the river. These are remote spots with not so much a sense of ownership on my part but reverence because I found, discovered and researched them on my own. They saw(notice the past tense) few to no people.

A killer summer run river in the southern part of the state had some spectacular, light pressure fishing in the late 80's-mid 90's. As the internet came to be there was a noticeable shift in pressure within just a few years. Pics started appearing. It's an easily recognizable spot if the background is shown. Would that spike in pressure have happened w/o the internet? Maybe, maybe not. Newspaper coverage was non-existant during the good times but once it spread on the internet, outdoor newspaper editors caught wind and now mention it frequently......more exposure and rarely not crowded. I haven't fished it in a decade.

My most cherished winter run river is remote with little access. Not a lot of fish but they are all wild and sometimes pretty damn big. It's a beautiful river. The first 10 years I fished it(on foot) I not once ran into another person or boat. Some years I'd come across and old set of boot prints but that was about it. 5 years ago, a guide caught wind of it. He started floating it every weekend it was fishable and does to this day. We cross paths occassionally. When I first ran into him I asked how he learned of the area? He said he'd been curious about the river so he posted a thread on another fishing board asking if anyone had info on the river. Got the info he needed and game over.
He takes clients, clients tell stories and the thousands of readers on the other board just got a seed planted in their heads about a new place to try too. The last several years, it's typical to see driftboats, pontoons and bankies in many of the accessible spots and even in a few of the unaccessible ones on any fishable weekend.

Coincidence?

Look, everyone has the right to fish....no one owns the rivers....I get it. But many of us hate crowds. In fact, I go to extreme measures to avoid them. To that end, I've done my homework x 100 to find that solitude. So how should I feel when the internet has taken away my hard-earned solitude at the click of a mouse?

About pics.....I love pictures. Love to take them. But 99.5% are shared via e-mail with family and those I fish with if it's a sensitive location. Hatchery river pics or fish close ups I don't worry too much about. Even put one up here from time to time.

The damage has been done in my eyes....too many people, too much instant info at their fingertips, all being forced into smaller and smaller open areas. Make the most of it while there's still something to fish for.

NWWC an other radio shows and magazines don't help either. they have some "true" Steelheader BLASTING hour segments on Big fish rivers especially low key op rivers and have "how to / and when to". That doesn't help in my book. welcome to the 21 century. Technology is a B*tch.

A perfect example of how to post a perfect picture on persnickety PP:

1. Crop photo to eliminate adipose and avoid all controversy.
2. Crop or process photo to eliminate all locale identifiers.
3. Add or darken glasses and remove wedding ring in post to conceal true identity and maintain plausible deniability.
4. Hold fish forward to make it look bigger, brighter and badder.
5. Colorize background and wear a hat and coat to make it look like autumn, even though it's the dog days of summer.
6. Avoid logos so they can be photoshopped in later to the highest bidder on STS.
7. Smile like the fishing is off the hook to make cyber fisherman jones with jealousy.

Awesome shot Stamly, I'm sick with envy.

PS. Thanks for the metadata too.

LMAO!

I was going to throw down some long f'n post, but stam already said everything I was going to say.

Cool pic, stam.

This is a pic of stam. He's on a river. If you guess where, good for you.

Took care of that for ya Dan!

Not my style to get that long winded but the fingers just kept a type'n on this one. Struck a nerve I guess.

Innernet?





What me worry?

Whew, almost forgot the Ray-Ban's.





What me worry?

atleast its not upside down...

How's this one for keeping the spot, angler, and a gear secret?

What we were fishing for, now that is not quite as hard to guess.

Russia is where it's at, and they are not.

Based on these statements and the lack of concern you show for anyone figuring it out, and the run-in I had on said river with the both of you two... you made it too easy for me to figure out.

That spot is no secret.

I hate the internet sometimes.

I'll tell you what it did. It made people think we live in a destination fishing area when WA isn't really that good anymore.

My grandpa and his friends raised me telling me the good days are over, the rivers are farked and it is just not the same. That is how people used to think and to some extent it is true. We all work way WAAAAY harder to catch fish these days than did my grandpa.

Now, thanks to the internet, people are moving to places like my home town Bellingham planning on spending all their free time chasing "steel faces" with a fly rod or something like that. They actually move here thinking the fishing is a bonus or maybe literally for the fishing.

All the experienced anglers, including me, have seen the seasons on the local rivers vanish in the last 10 years. Sometimes many us talk about moving to a place that actually still has access and decent fishing. It is a typical conversation, "Where would you move?"

If you were an internet layman you would think moving out here is the first step in becoming a steelhead fishing God when the truth is it is on its way out and fast and has been for decades. The industry and internet gets a lot of blame for changing the perception of this region even as it sink faster than rock......

"Where would you move?"


East Cape, Baja California Sur or up the Cape cost toward Loreto or near Los Suenos in Costa Rica and join about 100k of US citizens who already live there.