Too free with information.

I fear I may have been too free with my honey hole information. Yesterday my fishing pardner Roy and I were literally crowded off the pier.

The conundrum is that I enjoy sharing, but I want to be able to fish my favorite spots also.

Uh oh...was this down at Lynn Creek

Are the bigger gills still biting? Ive been crappie fishing lately and haven't had a chance to go by there! I know you normally get there pretty early, so if it was Lynn Creek Im very surprised that a crowd was there that early.

I know the feeling "Smithaven"! For the most part I don't really care who is fishing where as long as the anglers are acting responsible. Unfortunately a lot of anglers leave a place with a lot of trash behind and are clueless about being responsible. I know why people living on lakes or water bodies post their property NO TRESPASSING! I would do the same. For the most all of the anglers who take part in posting their stories for all to enjoy appear to be very responsible anglers who love and respect the outdoors. The problem I have are the ones who do not post at all(lurkers)and do not respect the outdoors and could care less about the future use of water bodies. I am going to stop naming the water bodies where I fish in future post. I am only going to tell what type of water body. I would be glad to mention the lake or water body to anglers who have been part of the TFF on a PM if requested. Thank god we are only targeting a fish that does not really show much interest to most anglers. Just my two cents!

Side Note: If the water body is a very large area I may name it. As for locations they would need to find em just like I did. Would always be glad to share basic information such as bait used,depth of water for catches,patterns, and water conditions. This I will always do!

I don't see how you are even able to catch a fish out there. Had a gentleman crossing lines with everyone just to throw it under/towards the bridge, then a whole family of elderly folk saying they had been there since 6 AM. I'm guessing that area is just going to be popular. The first time I went was at 8:30 PM and there were at least 7 of us crowded near the rock/bridge corner.

If you mention location, then no question your spot is in trouble.

Of course posting it on an internet fishing forum is probably the fastest way to ruin a spot...but even mentioning it to "friends" is a high risk undertaking. One "friend" tells another and they tell several others and soon your spot is covered up with "friends" many of whom you wouldn't know if you saw them on the street. Before long, your spot is no longer a "honey hole" just another fished out place.

Good intentions will ruin a fishing spot quicker than anything.

An interesting aspect of this is others who are not careful with revealing too much information....you may very well protect the honey hole yourself, but all it takes is one idiot bragging on a forum or other means and one day you will find it totally ruined. Sad, but very true.

You guys are right on... Fortunately, in most cases, Texans aren't interested in chasing sunfish, however our two bowfin "special spots" are now useless, I suspect because of my posts here. We have yet to find replacements. Never again will I post here about a spot/target fish valued in these parts.

Years ago I started a forum that was "invitation only" just for this reason. Anglers there had posted regular "quality reports" on other forums, but became frustrated with the overrunning/ruining of their favorite spots by "lurkers" on the huge boards on the net. Although it was primarily anglers from Colorado, there were a few dozen from around the world. It was truly wonderful reading posts from these people. We all learned a ton, and made many friends. I shut it down when I moved here and could find nobody willing to spend the time necessary to be the administrator.

Maybe the same sort of thing would work down here...

I can understand how you must feel but I believe you all forget that one of the reasons for this type of forum is to help others learn the art of fishing , I have been privileged to learn so much from a select group of anglers on this forum who never hesitated to give me locations and ways to fish. If you feel so strongly that all your favorite spots get taken when you give info then don't give it but please quite being a bunch of martyrs and crying about it.

I totally agree with you. I personally come from East Texas and would have no idea how or where to fish here. I would be stuck fishing for Panfish with corn at the local park. If it wasn't for pictures and advice I wouldn't learn to venture out beyond my comfort zone.

I do find myself being more open to suggestions and posting about areas but I am not really afraid of someone ruining my spot because there are usually people already fishing it. The key is that I either A) catch way more fish then them or B) don't catch any fish at all.

While you may catch buckets of panfish I would be lucky to manage 1 or 2 in 3 hours of fishing. The ones I do catch are usually comic sized and I just laugh at their girth and toss them back.

To me what ruins a good spot is not active fishermen but ill-mannered fishermen without manners and/or litterbugs.

There is a difference between "the art of fishing" and reading on forums where fish are being caught and going to the specific spot. I am not a great fisherman like apparently so many others are on this forum but I do not rely on the reports to tell me where to fish. Rather I use the forum to see what baits and techniques are working in any part of the state and then apply that information to my own fishing area.

Also I do not see the posts being "crying about it" but rather a cautionary tale of what happens when you do share information that is too specific. The people of this forum that share their fishing information in this forum are not the cause of the problems but rather the vast majority of people who view these forums do so so they can find out where to fish and never provide information on what their fishing trips are like.

Myself I can provide any report needed if anyone is interested in how to consistently not catch many fish or fish of any great size.

Mr. Smith you know that Ashley and I both share your conflict all to well...

I'd be very interesting in participating and helping out...if you decide to get it going again.

Martyrs? LOL, overstate much?

What you may not realize is that "secret honey holes" may well be frequented by several different anglers...and those that post such location information on the open net not only destroy those honey holes for themselves...but for everyone else who knows and fishes them.

No, not martyr, just asking for some common sense and common courtesy to all anglers.

Courtesy should be practiced by all, but unfortunately that is not the world we live in. I would like to say also that if it weren't for the posts of some of you gentlemen, I would not be catching gills like I am now. I have learned so much from this section of the TFF that it would have taken me years to figure out own my own. Especially techniques, and y'all have been so good about answering specific questions that I have asked and I enjoy reading your fish stories. I understand your frustration and just ask you to keep posting.

Plus #1.

I also have learned a ton from all of the anglers who post here as well! As for me I continue to let all of you know the baits,techniques,and types of water bodies where I am catching fish. I will also give depth,water conditions,and patterns. As for exact locations send me a PM and I will usually share that! The main problem I have are with the people who will fish a spot and leave all of their trash behind and simply do not care about the future of our water bodies.If an angler can learn techniques and practice them he or she will be able to find fish. An Angler should also take the time to study the Sunfish family and learn their basic traits. It has taken me years to master the art of finding BIG sunfish and I am still learning. The spots I have are many which I have found 90 percent of em on my own. If an angler studies his fish,learns about their patterns,develops techniques,and fishes a lot,he will be able to find bigger fish with ease no matter what he or she is targeting. Like I have already stated,not to many anglers target sunfish which is a big plus to the ones who do.

Frankly forums were originally designed for the "exchange" of information, and to have a great time communicating with others interested in the same subject. The key words here are "exchange" and "communication". Far the majority of us here love teaching others how to catch more and bigger fish, but there are limits.

When sometimes over a thousand users view a post/report, and only a handful respond, we can assume that forum is overrun with "lurkers". These people are not "exchanging" or "communicating"... they are only "taking". Far the majority of users on most public fishing forums are there simply to grab great info for free without reciprocating.

Indeed some of those who do not post lack confidence or don't feel what they have to say would be valued, or maybe even ridiculed, however far the majority are here to grab for free. If you do not post reports, photos and such, because of a lack of confidence, you might be surprised that most of the active/valuable members WOULD enjoy your offerings. If you feel that you should be allowed to simply take from those who post, go for it, but don't be surprised when you see the number of quality reports diminish substantially, which has certainly happened on this forum. There are very few quality reports here anymore from almost 100,000 members.

Are all those anglers who stopped posting reports "martyrs" or "crybabies"? You believe what you want, but we all know the truth... they simply don't want to lose anymore quality experiences on the water.

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Well stated "HC"!

Good thread! Some great points made by everyone!

I feel your pain, SH. I have noticed that quite a few reports from the SA/ Austin metro lakes have really hit lows for the last couple of years and their demise is in close relation to the reports that have been posted on this forum and others like it. Heck, even TPWD website, books and magazines are toting the one time great fishing of places like Dunlap and Lady Bird, but its a completely different story now on both of those lakes and many others. Now I get a bad feeling in my gut when I see a successful report naming one of my few remaining hidden gems. Forums and other on-line tools are great, but they don't discriminate between responsible anglers and crummy ones.

I give general information only. With the information I supply anglers should be able to find em.

Smithhaven, I'm thinking it's less to do with people on this forum figuring out your spot and abusing it and more to do with that being the only place to fish around that area. State park is closed and nobody is catching anything inside the barge area so everyone is out where the action is. I noticed that area was extremely busy the first day I ever fished the barge area. The people also tend to not have much common sense as far as etiquette goes. Casting over your line, you reach over to grab something and someone comes right behind you and pushes you out of your spot. People leave trash all over when there are garbage cans 10 feet away. Just overall rudeness, really.

I fish the barge sometimes and have always noticed that corner being overly crowded. I like my space and stay away.

PM sent.