Thread: Caught a limit on Ky Lake, Sugar Bay

thanks kyfishman

Its not often someone will help others out. You did it right though, you didnt give out the EXACT location, you gave a part of the lake. Thanks and good luck.

Let me throw my $.02 in here. I have been hurt by internet scouters and those who would give out too much info accidentally or on purpose in both fishing and waterfowling. General info is one thing but many want to go too far.

Several years ago, I was fishing lots of bass tournaments and had learned deep water bassin from some of the best in GA. When I moved back to KY Lake, I was approached by a friend of a friend to show him some deep water tactics. When we met the first time to fish, he told me up front his rules;

1. You don't show ANYBODY my spots.
2. If I pull up on one of my spots and you are fishing it, you are expected to leave.
3. You don't tell anybody about my spots.

I thought the guy was pretty anal but said hey, it goes both ways. We fished together a few times and I ended up showing him more of my spots than I ever learned about his. I had found a mid-lake roadbed intersection that I had never seen another boat fish. I took this guy there a couple of times and we actually we able to catch a couple of limits using my GA techniques that I taught him. This was in the days of 12 inch minimum on bass and I had caught as many as 16 12+ inch bass on consecutive casts from it (releasing them). The largest I ever caught off it was about 5 pounds.

All of a sudden I started finding boats on this spot when I would go there. Some times I would wait till they left, move in and catch fish and leave, other times not catching any. This puzzled me since I had fished it for nearly a year with zero competition (never in a tournament). One day I saw a boat on it and moved in closer to see if I recognized the boat or occupants. There were 3 guys in the Ranger (not his boat) and one of them was the guy who had read me the riot-act about HIS spots. I had a very unique color combination Skeeter Starfire and I KNEW the guy knew it was me. I got close enough to carry on a conversation and he turned to me, put his hands on his hips and stared me down till I left, never saying a word to me! The mystery was solved! Seems he had been getting anybody who would take his sorry leech azz fishing to the roadbed. Needless to say, he never set foot in my boat again but it did give me a new view on telling folks about your good spots and how respect goes both ways.

I think I may have conveyed this story to wiskers in a phone conversation we had. I'll try to help anyone I can but I just try to keep my cards close to the vest when it comes to internet scouters.

I would like to share my experience with a certain person on this board. A couple years ago, my son and I planned an early Spring trip to KY Lake for some Crappie fishing (we are from Central IL). I started chatting with some folks on this board and quickly found a few that were helpful with tactics, but one was more helpful. All I had at the time was a plain Eagle fishfinder and a hand-held GPS. I was asking about tips on locating fish easier as it was a new lake and so much area to cover. This person (I will not name him because I don't want people to hound him) is a guide on KY Lake. He gave me 6 or 7 GPS coordinates in the general area of where we were staying. We hit those spots and found several of our own. The only thing that he didn't help with was the weather. It was a record cold front that came thru and the fishing sucked for over a week. When we got home, he PM'd me to ask about our trip and I shared our plight. He actually apologized! Like he could have fixed the weather. He is one of the most stand-up guys on here! There are people out there that will abuse this type of assistance like there are people that will pull right up on you when you are catching fish! Nothing you can do about it. I want to say thanks to many of you that have helped me be a better fisherman because of the tips you have shared from type of line to different jigs, etc. I won't name names, but most know who I am talking about. You guys are what makes a board like this enjoyable!!!:D

Originally Posted by bandchaser

Folks will learn the hard way. All the work they put into brushpiles and beds. Then reaping those benefits, and posting it for the whole world to read. They will return to their "honey hole", and it will be empty for several trips to come.

Its great to hear your excitement and the story. But If I killed a very nice gobbler or buck, and gave the internet the coordinates and location of where it was killed, do you think I would have company on my next visit??????

Thanks quacker for the back up!

I understand what you are saying but here's the thing. While I know the work that goes into piles and beds, unless it is a private lake, people are going to find, fish, and share them. The hard work doesn't make them yours exclusively! As for the Buck and Gobbler reference, don't you usually hunt on private property? That makes it a whole different story.

Originally Posted by JTMavs

The hard work doesn't make them yours exclusively!

It shouldn't make them instantly available to 10,000 people looking on the internet for a place to fish tomorrow just because you stumbled across them today, either.

Originally Posted by JTMavs

As for the Buck and Gobbler reference, don't you usually hunt on private property? That makes it a whole different story.

You hang around hunting forums very long and you will see that the internet is full of people that don't think a thing about trespassing on your property or running in and leasing ground out from under you.

Like I said earlier, this whole internet thing is old hat for those of us that hunt. You guys will learn soon enough that it applies to fishing as well.

Quakr - You are surely one of the guys on here that I have the utmost respect for! I agree, if you put coordinates on the internet, people are going to abuse them. But this thread started telling people of the general areas and depths he was fishing. That is just being helpful. I surely wouldn't work my butt off and spend lots of $ making brushpiles/beds and announce where I put them! Just know people will find them.

I like to help people out myself, but only with general information like depth, color, method, rigging,etc. - however I can. No specifics on location, just general areas. There's a lot of difference between coord's and a 1000ac. creek. The worst thing is telling about a spot we fish together that came from one of my contacts. That is a no-no. If someone shares some spot-on info and specific location with me, it stays with me. I won't take anyone with me that bumps their gums too much. BTW, I duckhunt too - lesson learned on both fronts.

Originally Posted by Quackrstackr

Like I said earlier, this whole internet thing is old hat for those of us that hunt. You guys will learn soon enough that it applies to fishing as well.

Dang.....I feel like I am slow or need special training for internet forums now. Didn't realize that fishermen were this slow?