Thread: posts ruining your fishin

so what the heck you do about it, if the members only forums dont get used? what about a sticky warning for new new members? an auto PM to all new members for a warning? at least they could be warned. lol

most fishermen suffer from an illness to want to help others. its a general sickness caused by being mostly good folks. the integrity of mankind is definitely getting thin! i just hate read more stories like these. some far worse than i have experienced. i really dont know what i would say to some idiot that pulled up on me close. indiana has a harassment of sportsman law on the books, maybe that would apply?

I look at it this way:

Almost all of us that are members of this site share a common bond.... Nope, it isn't crappie fishing either. No matter if you are in the Ohio board, Arkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, or any other one, we all have the same love for fishing, learning, and teaching. In other words, "we are like minded individuals".

I joined this site in 2009 to help me become a better crappie fisherman. I don't like to go to a lake and just catch fish (anyone can do that). I like to go and target a species. My success is measured not in the numbers I catch but if I caught what I was after, if I figured them out that day, or I found them after they dissappeared from another spot. A few years later and I am able to pass on information to others.

I carry a Crappie.Com sticker on my boat and I tell people all the time that I feel as though I have an obligation to represent crappie.com the best way that I know how. Whether it is helping someone from out of town find a spot to fish, giving someone pointers on baits, or even giving some fish to unsuccessful fisherman. I tell people about our site all the time and I encourage them to join. But, I encourage them by treating them the way I would like to be treated. They go to a place I reccomend, they catch fish, they remember the sticker, they join the site because of how they were treated by me. That is how I view it in my mind.

Yes, people are always going to be looking for the easy way out. But, most of those people are not members of our site. Basically because of what I said about "we are like minded individuals". Their minds don't work like ours do. I am a member of other sites and I see everything that has been mentioned in this thread all the time. From name calling, bashing, you name it.

We're fisherman, always guarded by nature. Hey guy, where did you catch that fish? In the river......

I'll leave you with this food for thought:
Salmon fishing in the late 70's and early 80's on lake Michigan was like a boom town. Fish were everywhere and gobbled up by the masses and lax bag limits. Soon, fishing became harder, gone were the people that fished every weekend. This was way before the internet. When they did fish, the only source of information was local charter Captains. Obviously, there were not many fish to be had and the captains were tight lipped so what did people do.... they followed the captains. Soon you had a mess on your hands. Tangled lines... fights at the dock. All over fish. Eventually, the captains went further off shore (where the others couldn't go). Fast forward to the late 90's into the new millenium... fishing returned yet people still followed the charter captains. This time, the captain got together, started local web sites that related to fishing success, how to catch fish, what they were using, what to look for, and how to do it. They were educating the public. In short order, your fleet became more knowledgable of WHY the fish were in a certain spot, what to look for and so on. Instead of taking a man fishing so they could eat for a day, they taught a man to fish......

Like others I came here to learn more about crapoie fishing and over time the tips and info has helped out alot. I enjoy doing post that help others with Q I started out with. Expesially in the SI forum and what I've learned from others.

We will always have those, be it bass eye or crappie ect. fisherman who will act as others have spoke of. We just need to be aware of what is put in a post when it comes to helping vs info others will exploit.

Originally Posted by river scum

had a topic come up in our state board i thought some of you mite benefit from. link to it- http://www.crappie.com/crappie/indiana/286861-cataract/

its talking about the results of posting too much info on fishing sites. you mite want to consider some of the points brought up before sharing your honey holes. lurkers, low integrity, no talent spot jumpers are everywhere, just waiting to wipe out your spot. laugh if you must but it happens all the time!

whats your thoughts and or first hand experience? im sure this isnt just an Indiana thing.

you seem like you would fit in real good on the Mississippi board.

Most of us folks on the Louisiana forum pretty much share where, what on, how, etc. We help each other out, as well as welcome all the new comers. There are even some who have posted some excellent maps of certain areas. We help everyone, because that's who we are. No point for us to keep secrets because we do it for fun and want to share. My two cents.

Originally Posted by Rees Guide

I help a lot of folks when I can, sometimes I can't but when I can I will help through pm or on the phone. I don't mind this at all and most are from out of state. I post pics but pretty much just general info.
Going somewhere on a trip and its tuff sux, hope when I get to travel someone will lend me a hand like they did last weekend.

Though my trip fell through you were a big help to me.

We post a lot on where and what we are catching them on but we have over 600 miles of shoreline and put different brushpiles that we can move too....what we found is that people will see you fishing there and then hit it but that cant be helped....we just try to have several different locations because what may be hot today is dead the next

We'll if someone want to know where I fish they would need to come with me. In part because this lake is huge and even the part I live on is big as a lot of lakes. Where I live it's almost a mile across and I am 5 miles from the main lake. I never tell where I am fishin other than the large area I fish in, but then really you would have to include the bottom 20 miles of the lake which is really huge with 3 huge fingers like I like on, 3 on the Texas side and one on the Louisiana side. So I never tell where I am and usually just the kind of water, meaning depth and such. I guess you would need to see this lake to completely understand what I mean, but with 1200 miles of shoreline it's big!