Vince,
Your point is well taken, and with all that is going on in the world, no one probably should be concerned about it, but they are. They always were, and always will be. Comparing wish a fish to a spot during mid winter that a few people fish isn't comparing apples to apples. Last year, if you did wish a fish, then you heard me on the radio, had my family on a group of fish that were catching doubles the entire time and I gave out coordinates and asked everyone to come in...
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENTITIES

but I do understand your point. We have soldiers dying overseas and we are concerned about spot burning, but you aren't going to change that. In that mindset, who cares about catch and release vs catch and kill, who cares if they shut down fishing forever, who cares your car broke down, who cares we got 40 inches of snow...but on the topic of fishing, it is an important issue, and doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme, but fishing itself is a small scheme issue, hence the issue.

No one on this board should give you crap, which is why we went to this board. You should, and can express your opinion which is why I posted this topic in the first place. Your opinion is valid and well taken
Mark

Marty,

I must have passed you by at Bass Pro yesterday...Of course I stopped there after an eye appointment and my eyes were dialated and I couldn't see sh#$@#$t...I looked like a guy in his 90's with reading glasses and my head 6 inches from the merchandise....:)

I did see those beautiful rockfish in that tank as well...Looked good...For those of us that like to catch other types of fish, that spot looked good as well...Just jigging on that log would do the trick....

As for sharing spots....This is the first and last time I will share an exact spot with the public......

GPS Coordinates:
39.1573ºN, 76.7227ºW (WGS84/NAD83)

Like Marty said, look for something that looks like a tank with fish in it...Try there....Some real nice fish....

:cool:

Trapshoot...there are many different kinds of fishing....for instance if I just wanted to catch any fish...it's about as easy (As Shawn would put it) as taking a feather and a coat hanger and hooking up...but truthfully as I get older I could care less about small fish...16-18"......If I get on a school of them I will move on...
I am looking for a better grade for sure...last year was the best LTJing for quality fish year I have ever had...maybe I'm getting better at it....but I know what to look for...and once I find it I try to keep it quiet...to a degree....
I post weekly reports...I give any info I can except for location...if you really read my reports you can figure it out..(my location)...
If you notice the depth of water that I am fishing in thats a dead giveaway....But normally I catch fish in many locations throughout the day..it's not just one spot that always works...

I bet if I put a post up in May on TFish that said I was slaying bigguns at buoy #80 on a fri there would be 100+ boats there sat am....
I'm not kidding...
So to give you an example...Walleye pete is a good friend of mine who is a fabulous fisherman... he is out there almost everyday so he has an advantage for good fish bite locations...
But he fishes all over I mean all over...he spends days and days just riding around and finding "fishy" looking locations...saves them on his GPS and than goes to them regularly to check them out..
I have lots of guides that call me on thurs to see how my day went and I lots of guides that call me on tues to tell me where they caught fish at...
if Pete posted locations every report he would be out of business...
The vast majority of guys on these sites are quite lazy....but there are a minority of guys who love fishing...love finding their own fish and don't mind sharing info with the guys that share their passion...
When I first started posting reports on the internet I posted locations...got a few calls from some well respected fisherman and they told me I would regret it...they were right...
I get bmails from guys I don't know asking for help LTJing and I try any way I can to help them...

So why in the world would I post a location so that Joe Blow and his 20 friends can show up and ruin a spot...?

Jamie summed up most eloquently what I was trying to say but am too unintelligent to get across! If I fish with you once, or you share your info with me once I'll share every detail with you...but I'm not going to put it out there for the masses. For exactly the reason Jamie said, and I can name numerous instances last year where there were fish and someone posted it on TF and the bite shut down...
MOW, LP, SP, EB and the infamous PI posts...all great bites, all shut down by posts on TF

Let me play devil's advocate for a minute.

Say I'm a relatively poor guy. My boat is an early 80's Grady I got cheap from a friend. I can fish maybe once a month, but if I could I'd fish every day I would. I have a job that has a lot of hours and I take all the OT I can to support my wife and 2 kids. Now, I love fishing like everyone else but my opportunity to find places to fish is limited. I really rely on reports because when that 1 day a month rolls around I know where to go (even if not a specific spot, but a general area of the bay). I want to have success so my kids are into it to, and then I'll pass down the tradition of fishing.

My question (and I'm just playing devil's advocate) - is the opinion to keep all the info quiet elitist? Who does it really affect? I think the answer is really complicated, and not black or white. I'm honestly not sure. Again - I say to each his own...and my personal opinion is to keep other's info quiet and share my info with my friends and those that share with me.

Cheers,

Bob

Vince,
Here’s my take on selfishness, 7 or 8 years ago I took a guy fishing because he wanted to learn the Patapsco River so I told him I would take him out with me and show him a few spots. Well we fished for about 3 hours and we never even put a fish over the rail so I told him that I have a spot that not many guys know about and I would like to keep it that way. So off we went and as soon as we pulled up I seen nothing but fish on the fish finder so I just knew we were going to catch something. His first drop he pulls in a 30” the biggest he ever caught and for the next 1 ½ hours we bailed fish up to 35”. When we got back to the truck I asked him NOT to say anything about that spot because it’s a place I knew I could catch some fish if other places were not producing. Well the next week I go down to the river and went right back over there and as I was pulling up I noticed 3 boats in that area and yep you guess it, it was the guy that I had out with the week before and 2 of his buddy’s with 3 guys in each boat. Did I learn a lesson you bet I did, did that guy ever go with me again NOPE. As I said before I will try and help anyone I can and give them as much information as possible but I learn my lesion the hard way and it will not happen again.

Personally, I prefer the "old time" way - you put in your time, pay your dues and become proficient because of your experience. The internet hasn't done the overall quality of the fishery any good. If I should happen to feel the need to brag about my catch, I do it in person to select people who I know appreciate the info and won't bring in a armada of boats to clean out the school.

Spot burning? In general I am a weekend warrior and a loner. A lot of friends I fished with grew up got married had kids sold there boats. I am always chasing the fish in general because I only fish one or two days a week. I have a few friends & Captains I talk to and in general have to filter what they say. With that said I would not give away anyone’s honey hole. However, I fish some general areas that I know get hammered such as Hackett’s, Pidicory point, muds LP and Brick House. Can a general area be burned? The in fisherman reports these areas every week as having fish on them? Now for specifics locations GPS coordinates pylon numbers and specific humps which are only big enough for a boat or two I definitely believe they can be burned. In General I help out people and give them a chance IF they are A7%&^ then no soup for them. Unfortunately, I think everyone here who has posted on this board has a very unique boat and I see most of you guys burning up and down the bay all the time. I look forward to fishing with you guys this year. I fish in the Chesapeake bay From Stoney Creek – HS buoy.

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10 or 12 years ago on CA and WWA, I'd post a spot or two. I paid the price a couple of times though and learned my lesson.

Pretty much, the info stays close. I know which of my buddies keep their mouths shut and which have a wider network.

And if I see a post about a spot I like to fish that concerns me, I send a bmail to the poster and they have edited it every time.

Yeah - I think so depending on the audience. Years ago I got intel on TF that an area I'd never fished was holding Blues to 7 pounds, and rockfish to 12 pounds.

I broke out the chart, looked for structure in the general area, picked my tide and crushed 'em.