Thread: There is the largest of pachyderms among us

Originally Posted by Speck

Very true duck. As a wise man once said, "Wannabe is Ugly". BTW, I think I still owe you lunch.

NP Speck. Just drop in and I'll gladly treat you to lunch, or dinner! Always good seeing you!

Thank you for your opinions on the matter Bird Down, Feeshrman, and Canebreaker. I am glad to see comments from those who stand opposed, or at least on the fence. To hold your own opinions and not care to reflect on, hear, and at least understand opposing thoughts does not offer one much chance to learn and grow and in some cases change. Much to the detriment of our own political climate. I hope you can all do the same for me. My only aim was to allow anyone to express there ideas on the matter without anyone feeling shamed, angry, or attacked. It is so hard to listen openly when one side is starting off from a defensive standpoint resulting from what they feel may have been an offensive remark. You all shared some valuable insight. As did Cray under the other post titled "Dissapointed"

First off, please don't think I am telling you what is happening. I am just offering my own opinions on the matter.

I have to agree with two similar remarks made by Bird and Cane. Whether or not you actually bring additional anglers to the lake by your post, you can most certainly overwhelm a specific area with anglers who were already committed to your lake when you offer overly detailed info on the "where" portion of your report. Granted even I have trouble triangulating a position off a errant photo and I pride myself on my abilities at dead reckoning navigation. I can get the general area but not the specific structure so to say. However, the age or better yet, experience, of the angler and his knowledge of that lake greatly enhances his chance to draw these conclusions based off of what he sees in a picture. I have seen this hold true here and elsewhere. It happened often offshore several times if someone managed to catch a specific oil rig we were drifting on for tuna on or maybe on which we had hooked a marlin or two. I watched a client post a report while we were on a three day excursion of a marlin we hooked at the Mars rig and by the end of day two there were 35 boats trolling and we sailed off for greener pastures. I have been guilty of this too when overly excited, or maybe even a bit selfish, knowing I will be at work for the next four weeks and can't hit the lake. I have to remind myself that just because I give out detailed info on "my" spot that I found, it could very well be someone else's secret honey hole too and they wouldn't be happy if it was overrun. Just as if I find someone's brushpile/stakebed through my own efforts, I still have to respect the fact some one took the time and effort to place it there and I should respectfully keep his secret. When I place structure I usually do it at night by myself. As the saying goes "the best way to keep a secret between two people is to shoot the other guy". Any work I offer at a pre planned event I write of as charity as I know those locations will be fairly well known before the first crappie finds it. To correct this on my own part I have relegated myself to after-action pictures once my boat is off the lake. I also don't talk about where specifically I was on a lake but I try to describe in good detail what kind of spot it was so others may draw there own conclusions on how to find a similar location. Now offering advice on well known "community" spots is something I feel much less strongly about.

I have also kept watch on the numbers for each post and you are quite correct that fishing reports get a much larger percentage of views than a report asking for help or assistance. Maybe I came off too strongly in what I said as I do believe posts can affect a lake sometimes, but on average I believe they don't. I don't however think naivety is involved. Extrapolating ballpark numbers from some limited data, say a post garners 1000 views, we know that every time we open that post it gets counted whether we have read or before or not I.E. 10 people viewing a post 10 times is 100 views. Plus factor in the amount of people who have no intentions or means to fish the lakes and just came for the pics and stories, out of staters, those with no access to a boat, and those who are physically unable to join us on the water anymore. I, too, read many reports on lakes which I will probably never visit in other states just to glean information on baits and tactics. Based off tracking my own use and those with which I have discussed it, I may view a report 5-8 or more times on average, depending on the amount of responses it gets. Maybe 1000 views can be whittled down to 150 serious anglers of which maybe 50 can influence their decisions by it over the course of a posts active time of a week or two. Of those, it is unknown who was coming to start with and who changed their itinerary after reading. I have a hard believing on an average day at the lake that if you asked every boat there why they came that the majority, if forced to be honest, would say I heard about it on CDC yesterday. Though again, I do also believe that on some particular days this happens but not on the average, at least not enough to down another person for posting. Granted, I will admit, that none of this is truly known and maybe it comes off as splitting hairs. Also, this doesn't account for the phone tree that lights up sometimes as well. I have to keep in mind too, that I fish on week days primarily and as such my opinions as to added pressure may be somewhat biased.

I have discussed my own displeasure with the long time and recurring ghosts and that's a problem we can't solve ourselves short of Slab putting viewing restrictions on posts based on the users amount of involvement on the site, which I believe he has no intention on doing. Some people are just plain selfish. But, to me, the worst are the tournament anglers who do this. We all see the influx of inquisitive reports from "just coming in for a vacation" queries that seem to pop up in great numbers a week before a tournament on that specific lake. Guys with this much knowledge and talent could easily help others but sometimes are too focused on their own. (not speaking for all of them as many are wonderful fisherman, mentors, and sportsmen who will even hand out hot baits to other fisherman at the ramp. I will help anyone, I want to see everyone enjoy their day on the lake and catch a few fish, but with tournament guys, unless I am getting a cut of the winnings I tend to keep mum past passing on recent lake conditions unless we have a prior relationship. Even then, when fishing competitively, especially top tier trails, you should be able to pattern a lake well enough yourself.

PS - Wannabe, G, Slab, and Speck are Gewbers! Wannabe is UGLY! And I am now expecting cookies at spring camp from G! Thanks for keeping the mood light fellas.


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I, for one LOVE to crappie fish, but last few years have averaged 10-12 trips a year due to work (6 days a week) and kids, especially our first grandchild. It is very difficult lately to fish very few times and find fish, especially on the big 4, without being lead in somewhat the right direction. My wife goes with me sometimes, and I would like her to enjoy those trips. I never ask anyone for gps coordinates, but I ask a few people about general areas and patterns to fish. I know Grenada and Enid well, but it's still hard to pattern fish only fishing occasionally. Grenada did not used to be like that back in the 70's and 80's. We used to single pole only and catch many limits with my dad. Having said that, I love to go, even if I knew I wasn't gonna catch anything before I left the house. It's not about catching cooler fulls or limits to me, I just enjoy going. And, like MSA said, I am willing to help anyone out (If I knew anything, lol). We just need to respect and enjoy this sport, and make sure it will be good for our kids and grandkids. Sorry for the rant, lol.

Originally Posted by duckhunter

I, for one LOVE to crappie fish, but last few years have averaged 10-12 trips a year due to work (6 days a week) and kids, especially our first grandchild. It is very difficult lately to fish very few times and find fish, especially on the big 4, without being lead in somewhat the right direction. My wife goes with me sometimes, and I would like her to enjoy those trips. I never ask anyone for gps coordinates, but I ask a few people about general areas and patterns to fish. I know Grenada and Enid well, but it's still hard to pattern fish only fishing occasionally. Grenada did not used to be like that back in the 70's and 80's. We used to single pole only and catch many limits with my dad. Having said that, I love to go, even if I knew I wasn't gonna catch anything before I left the house. It's not about catching cooler fulls or limits to me, I just enjoy going. And, like MSA said, I am willing to help anyone out (If I knew anything, lol). We just need to respect and enjoy this sport, and make sure it will be good for our kids and grandkids. Sorry for the rant, lol.

I remember this one time, we weren't catching squat on Enid this one year (no laughing). I was with Yankee Doodler and we could not catch a single fish. Then this fellow member seen us on the water, asked us how we were doing. So we let him in on our lack of luck (or skill in my case). He told us exactly where to go, told us how deep to fish, told us what color to use, and even gave us all his minnows (he said was leaving, had to werk or something like that, I changed the spelling cause Billbob gets too excited when you use that four letter word). I can't remember his member name, I think maybe it had something to do with duck hunting or something like that!!!! That is exactly what this site is about. I got 100 stories just like that about our members here. And there are thousands more I don't know about. Thanks for a wonderful day, and for your generosity DH. Crappie.com members are the best.

Originally Posted by Slab

I remember this one time, we weren't catching squat on Enid this one year (no laughing). I was with Yankee Doodler and we could not catch a single fish. Then this fellow member seen us on the water, asked us how we were doing. So we let him in on our lack of luck (or skill in my case). He told us exactly where to go, told us how deep to fish, told us what color to use, and even gave us all his minnows (he said was leaving, had to werk or something like that, I changed the spelling cause Billbob gets too excited when you use that four letter word). I can't remember his member name, I think maybe it had something to do with duck hunting or something like that!!!! That is exactly what this site is about. I got 100 stories just like that about our members here. And there are thousands more I don't know about. Thanks for a wonderful day, and for your generosity DH. Crappie.com members are the best.

Thanks Slab, it was great seeing ya'll that day! I even felt so bad for ya'll that I even gave you my limit of crappie! Wish you could come more often....always good to see you. Good luck fishing!

Midmsangler I think your probably pretty close on your estimate. Prolly even a little high. But here's where it gets crazy, 5 people out of the 150 that viewed the thread will actually follow up on the report. 4 of these 5 will provide there own report on facebook, cell messaging, other forums, church, boat ramps, cleaning station, hotel, gas station, and the list goes on...out of the 10,000 reached out to at this point I would say around 250 follow up on the report. Out of those 250 I'd say around 200 will give there own report on facebook, cell messaging, other forums, bathroom walls, restaurants, bait stores, the list goes on. Out of the 110,000 reached out to at this point....ok I'm gonna quit

I certainly agree it's not wise to give your "spot" away. As others have said move to another part of the lake to a take a pic if that's not too devious for your sensibilities. ( Didn't we grow up hearing that you can't believe a fisherman's tales anyway). And what, now they're a plague on all of us? I'm in the camp that believes the overall impact is real, but very small. The question that hasn't been asked or answered is why is it so bad to see a lot of fishermen on the lake. This winter there will be posts bemoaning the fact that so many fish go out the spillway. If not, posts of how many are being caught snagging below the dam.I'd like to see em caught by someone having a good time on the water.