A Minor Rant: Giving It All Away

[Uplander]

Call it a pet peeve. Or, perhaps a vexing gripe. But I have an issue with a trend taking place here on the BB. That trend is the public dissemination of the location of fishing spots. Call me old school, but I was brought up with the idea that fishermen never, and I mean NEVER, tell anyone but their long-term fishing partners about their fishing spots. It just wasn’t done. None of my fishing partners would ever dream of doing it either.

Yet, here on the BFF BB, I see an increasing propensity for people to give up, to the entire world, particular sweet spots and even entire rivers and streams! I’m sorry, but I find that very disturbing. Doesn’t anyone realize that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of fishermen around New England and the Mid-Atlantic states who read these posts? Talk about giving it all away….

Obviously the major rivers like the Deerfield, Hoosic, and Westfield are no-brainers and talking about them in general won’t be any big revelation. But giving up particular pools and holes on those rivers? To me that's crazy! And discussing the smaller rivers and streams that can’t handle fishing pressure at all is even crazier!

Yes, I understand that anyone could very well figure out where to fish on their own. But, that’s the kicker – on their own. Why on God’s green Earth would anyone in their right mind divulge a fishing spot to masses of people? Do you want to have no fish left for yourselves (not everyone practices catch and release)? Do you not care about solitude while fishing? This is unfathomable to me.

The state announces where it stocks. I don’t even fish for stockers and that practice makes me cringe! Yet here on the BB we have announcements of where the fish have been dropped, and calls for more disclosures of favorite stocked fishing spots!

Don’t get me wrong, I love this BB and think it’s a great resource. But I do have a real problem with naming fishing locations on the Internet for the world to see. No one owns these spots, and there’s obviously no way I can prevent these disclosures, but I do think such disclosures are unethical. Yes, unethical. By way of example, say 5 guys are regulars at a given fishing hole. One of those 5 posts here about the hole. Next thing you know, 10 new guys show up who wouldn’t have otherwise. Now, the guy who posted here didn’t do anything illegal. But, he did impact the fishing for the other 4 guys – guys he may not even have known fish the same hole as him on a regular basis. To me, that’s unethical.

I’ve decided that I’ll not be posting photos here on the BB of my fishing this Summer as there has already been a case of someone’s “secret spot” being called out here when he posted pics. This is too bad, not least of all because I fish some very beautiful backwoods places and get some nice pictures I’d love to share. But I won’t. The risk is just too great, and that’s sad….

[jf5]

Hey, I agree. But isn't really up to the poster to what they want to reveal?? Even just having any web BB and the topics discussed give info away.

[jlibs]

Passion! I love it. I agree to some extent, Uplander, and I do appreciate your concern. However, I think there needs to be balance. As you mentioned, it's not a terrible thing to take your close friend to a "secret spot" if the hole will be respected, but an email blast may be a little too much.

On the otherside, while no one really showed me where to go when I first started, I have figured out "the hard way" where my "secret spots" are. It just took some time and some creativity which is part of the fun and challenge.

When I first moved to the Berkshires, I bought topographical maps and would try a new stream, brook, river, etc. every week and I would wade (typically upstream) from one access point to the next, and then I would wade back (often with a headlamp in the dark at this point). Now, I don't think I gave away anything here with my strategy.

I do feel you should continue to post pictures. I also feel it's ok to share some spots, but be sensitive to giving away the entire barn of years of accumulated info in one email/post, to get newcomers to the sport going. Remember our mission is promote the sport of fly fishing for new and experienced anglers.

To sum up, I agree with you, but there needs to be some balance whatever is done. Be stealth, but share to help our peers.

JLIBS

[Uplander]

I agree 100% Josh. I have no problem at all with someone fishing “my” secret spots if they found them on their own, through hard work, or if I bring them there. My beef is with posting location-specific information about rivers, streams, and “secret” spots on the Internet. Hell, even detailed discussions of locations at the BFF meetings is vastly preferable to posting on the Internet!

Balance is a good thing, but how to strike that balance? JF5 asks “isn’t it up to the poster to decide what to reveal?” Of course it is. But, where does the “right” of a poster to post what he wants overrule the “right” of other fishermen not to have their spots broadcast on the Internet? It’s a tough one. Someone might not think they’re giving away anything special when they post details of a fishing spot on line, but that spot could mean the world to someone else, and by posting it’s location, etc., you’ve taken something precious from someone else….

Yes, the BFF is a resource, and should help newbies, etc. But that’s not the same as the club acting as a de facto guiding service and instigating hordes of anglers to fish Berkshire waters. See, I, for one, do not think the rivers and streams of the Berkshires can handle the increased fishing pressure that would result from promoting the Berkshires as a fly fishing destination. I believe that the fishing will be impacted, the few remaining wild trout places despoiled, and the precious solitude that I crave dissolve.

[dw]

Sometimes the worries can become too much and we lose site of the reason we flyfish. It's recreation, it's a hobby.

Sometimes you can let things like excessive harvest, land use, multi use, canoe folks cutting up trees, broadcasting of fishing spots....... It just becomes too much.

Fisherman like to talk about their fishing, and their fishing spots, call it ego, information....... I don't think it's that worth worrying about.

If a trout stream has a real wild population, it probably won't be threatened by harvest. Would I be pleased to see a guy with a stringer of wild browns I released three days ago? No, I wouldn't but I'm just not going to worry too much about. Wild trout that are fished over a lot tend to become selective. If one is caught, it will tend to scare the others in the pool.

A lot more wild fish are probably killed by birds, runoff, temperature extremes, or drought than any fisherman.

[jskowron]

This is a tough topic on several levels. While I'm not sure how I feel about people giving away "secret spots" too readily, it does highlight the fact that we are lucky that our streams (at least the stream beds) and many of our lakes are public waters with easy (in a legal, if not physical sense) access. While some may take advantage of the info given online, thus missing out on the thrill of finding the place for themselves, at least they are not reading about fishing spots that they have no legal right to access.
On a slightly different note, It has been my experience that once you get a 1/4 mile past a major road access point, very few people will take the time to find the "secret spot", even if the location is divulged online.

[JoeOverlock]

I'm not to worried about people fishing my spots. I've been plugging the Treet Cleaners basin for a year now and haven't seen an increase in Fly Fishers there, only the bait guys.

I guess I should be more careful about posting my brook trout holes though.

I can't see what's bad about telling people the best places to catch stocked trout though. Most of them are just Put and Take fisheries.

[JoeOverlock]

jskowron said:

On a slightly different note, It has been my experience that once you get a 1/4 mile past a major road access point, very few people will take the time to find the "secret spot", even if the location is divulged online.

That's true. Not a lot of people will work for their fish. I only know a handfull of anglers that will hike into spots and realy work for thier catch, Uplander is one of them.

[Mark Patenaude]

On a very prominent Wisconsin FF board that I'm a member of, the fastest way to get "flamed" by the other members is to be too specific on fishing spots.

Be general with your comments but don't give the spots away...

[Joshua Field]

As a way of getting around the "tell the world" problem with discussing fishing spots, I added a members only board which is only viewable by registered website members... that way at least details posted about people's favorite spots will only be shared with a relatively small population of local fly enthusiasts.

You can get to this area by going to "Berkshires "Secret" Fly Fishing Spots" from the main page of the bulletin board.

[jlibs]

Good idea Josh, and thank you again for all of your work. We would not have this club if it weren't for Joe's initiative. In addition, we wouldn't be having this forum discussion if it weren't for your great work and dedication with this website.

Balance is definitely the key here, and I'm going to be more careful myself on this board. This really raises some very good points.

[DanaC]

I think giving away a _few_ spots is a good idea - not the "A-list" spots, but a few lesser-known items to avoid overcrowding on the places _everybody_ fishes.

Then again, if I don't much like somebody I might send 'em to the most overcrowded, overfished swimming hole in the river

Dana