is the internet breeding lazy fisherman?

[pikester]

I suppose that the laziness thing has some truth to it but like others have pointed out, there are few if any "secret spots" anymore anyway. I have asked for info a few times on this forum & have been helped (thanks to those who did) but I generally rely on my own footwork. Everyones situation is different but I can tell you mine is; married, 3 kids under 7yrs old, & I work 5 days/week involving 2 1/2 hrs travel per day. I have very limited disposable income & even less disposable time. These factors coupled with 95cent/litre gas add up to me not being able to throw $80 gas in my truck & taking off for the hills any time I want (like I did when I was 20) & then just being able to say, "oh well, nice day for a drive..."

So for me, getting a little help from others before planning a trip ( in order to minimize financial waste & maximize "bang for the buck") is not a lazy convenience, it's pretty much a necessity Just my point of view.

[Waxy]

Here's the part I don't understand -

I could tell you EXACTLY where I was and EXACTLY what I was doing yesterday, and you could go there tomorrow and not catch a single fish. It's not because I'm a better fisherman than everyone else, it's because fishing is never the same from one day to the next. I've had many a day where what was deadly for me the day before doesn't work at all the next day. You have to be constantly adapting and changing your spot and presentation according to what the fish want THAT DAY.

To my mind, anything other than generalities - was it a crank bite, jigs, rigs, etc..., deep, mid, or shallow, slow or fast, is about all the useful information you can get out of a person, no matter how much they want to help. I'm usually more than willing to give people those generalities, it's up to them to find the fish that day.

Call me crazy, but a lot of times I actually prefer the search and the "chess game" with the fish - finding them and figuring out what they want that day - more than I enjoy actually catching them. It's the part of fishing that keeps it continually interesting and challenging, just parking on a spot and reeling in 50-100 walleye a day is fun for a day or two, but it quickly loses its appeal to me.

Waxy

[lineman4 life]

I have 2 young children at home and a wife who does not want me gone unless I'm at work. I wish to God I could spend my days off traipsing around the country looking for good spots but I'm lucky if I can get out for 5 hours in a weekend right now. It's pretty tough to stay interested if you just pay for gas to drive to some creek or river you found on a map to get skunked or set up at a spot where there is not a lot of options. I greatly appreciate any info shared on this forum but don't ever expect anything. So to those who share in order to further the sport and education therein, Thank you.

[Cal]

Somthing every fisherman should have is a copy of the Alberta Fishing Guide. This will get you pointed in the right direction. Then there is the information availible on the board, hooks and tactics for just about any species you want and hotspots at most of the popular lakes. I can understand both sides of this argument but between the board and the Alberta fishing guide it is way easyer to fish a new lake or river than it ever has been.

[wildman]

truthfully, i think the 'net is a good tool
but like everything on it, you gotta take what you will as anyone can post anything and there's a lot of false info and half-truths...
so, no i don't think the internet creates laziness...
however, i've witnessed other technology do so big time!!!
i've seen people using aqua-views for example and sit in one spot and get skunked because they "saw a fish" or "it's too much work to move and re-set all the equipment"....
so, in that sense, yes technology has created laziness...
there no substitute for putting in effort!!!!
cheers, gw.

[DCSM]

Originally Posted by baitfisher83

X2 i have no issues sharing info with others.....i like seeing lots of fish being caught, i know you all think <but that hurts our resources> but seriously, more fishermen=more money into resources as posted here..

This may be a side note but more money doesn't mean better fisheries management necessarily. Unfortunately more people catching tons of fish means more being kept or mishandled as not everyone is as responsible as they should be.

It is so much more complicated then throwing money at the problem. When the fisheries have done this you wind up with more natural species being eliminated and hurt by introduced/stocked species. These introduced species increase in population so rapidly they begin to stunt and cannot grow properly for example PCR and Chain etc...

Back to the topic at hand I think what Spud is trying to get at is that with so many people having access to so much information it has become so much more then just sharing fishing tips on great stretches of river or the right lures to use over a few brews.

It has become easy for the wrong kind of fisherman to put stress on good populations that many of us have come to enjoy seeing grow and change often catching the same fish year after year in the same hole only to come back to find people have poached and decimated that population.

Lets face it the big fish are getting harder and harder to find its not like it was "back in the day" Maybe an increase in information is contributing to the decrease of fish stocks.

I mean if you're a seriously dedicated fisherman or woman who is searching out the best spots to find that elusive brown trout chances are you have a real appreciation for maintaining good fish stocks because you understand the fragility of the ecosystem and the balance necessary to produce large healthy spawning populations. Instead of some jerk who is looking to nail as many fish as he can to stock his freezer up regardless of limits and size. ( we all know and have seen these individuals)

I say keep your honey holes secret share them with people you really know will take the same care as you to protect them.

However If I am surrounded by 16 people at my favorite hole and they are all playing by the rules: who am I to call it my spot? I think it just means it is time to adventure on and discover a new honey-hole after the best fisherman go to where the fish are they don't whine about someone being in there spot.

[pondstomper]

I still like going and exploring, I also like to tromp and stomp through slough, pond, crick, and tree to get to a honey hole (thus the name pondstomper). But as I am getting older (33 now) I feel the need to pass on info to deserving fellow fisherman, specially the kids cuz just as my kids love to fish, others do too. And its great to hear stories of the kids, when they say they had to tromp through crap to get to a spot that gives up a bunch of fish. As I would put it, a spot for a spot. But I would rather take a person to a honey hole, and teach or give advise on the spot than just sending them blind. Still its not like I am going to reveal all my secrets just yet, but I am loosing up on some of them. Some are just to difficult now to get to. Like a section of creek i know, 5 pound brookies and browns, 2 mile stretch, but it'll take you 12 hours to do it. Bloody jungle it is, and you have to stalk the fish. Maybe I will let that one out.......probably not.....at least not yet.

[plinker]

I find this discussion odd because people are screaming about what seems to be an over population of others fishing and yet I hardly ever see people fishing in the spots that I go. I just stay away from where I see as over populated spots. Years ago I used to fish Sheep river and a certain element started fishing damn near right beside me. I just moved upstream away from them. No use getting stressed out. Fishing is my release. I fish Keho, Travers (away from the crowds), Oldman, certain ponds that I have access to, and streams in the Dutch Creek area. As for the information being given out, if the old chinese fellow who watched me get skunked day after day at the Sheep, hadn't come over and talked to me in 1977, I probably never would have figured out the way to fish that river. Information is a teaching tool.

[WkndWarrior]

Originally Posted by Wulfespirit

I was lazy long before this forum existed.

X2