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[Stratocaster]

We are all free to post what ever we want on this site as long as we follow the rules and guidelines.  Go ahead and post detailed directions to a productive spot on the river (secret or not).  Just don't complain when you find twice as many people in your spot the next time you go and don't expect your friends to be happy that you decided to be "helpful" to everyone including lurkers that contribute nothing to this forum or website.

Sure, the vedder, chehalis, stave, or Squamish are no secrets.  Most people know that they are productive rivers and there is no problem with posting about how productive they are but in the absence of posts outlining detailed directions to specific locations, people tend to spread out more on the river and isn't that a good thing?

I think in general the message is sinking in as I see more vagueness in the fishing reports that people post.  Part of the challenge of fishing is finding spots on your own.  Before we had the internet, that's what we did.  I can't remember how many times in the past I've made the long drive to the Vedder only to find it completely blown out and unfishable.  Now we have the internet to tell us what the river level is and whether it is fishable.  How much more do we need to "help" people out?  Should we offer to drive them to there as well?

[zabber]

Should we offer to drive them to there as well?

That'd be nice. Maybe bait my hook and gut my fish for me too?

I mean, if it's not too much to ask...

 

[katfish]

Internet forums are no more the problem than the many books out there providing fishing locations.  The problem is overpopulation.  Our rivers/lakes see increasing fishing pressue due to population growth.  And this is not going to stop as many people come here because it is such an awesome place to live.  Time to adapt, accept.

[The_Other_Gman]

A place to teach good fishing etiquette, respect for the fish, the environment and fellow fisherman.  These are what I see as avenues for internet fishing sites.  I 100% avoid combat fishing so personally I'd never go running off to any spot based on information found on a public message board.  Everyone has to start somewhere though, not everyone grew up fishing for whom many of the unwritten rules are obvious.  Give the benefit of the doubt and show a little tolerance to your fellow fisherman and maybe you'll be able to teach them a little something positive that'll get passed on to the next guy.

[Matt]

I'm familiar with several instances where posting a location on this forum has resulted in a huge increase in pressure on that location.  One of those instances, a false report about an unproductive area was given on this forum as an experiment and the area went from having virtually no pressure to some 30 anglers showing up.  A report without a location is just as enjoyable to read and can be informative.  There's no substitute for getting out on a system and fishing it.  No one has ever become a good angler by reading online reports. 

If you post about a specific location, its a certainty that someone looking for a fishing spot is going to read it.  Recall hundreds if not thousands of people read this forum.  Same goes for threads asking for uncrowded locations close to home to wet a line, don't they realize that thousands can read any reply they get to their query?

I fully understand that figuring out where to fish is at least half the battle for beginners, but let me tell you that finding your own spots as a result of putting in the time exploring is the greatest satisfaction you'll ever get from angling.

[Fish Assassin]

Reminded me of someone who posted that fishing was hot at the mouth of the Seymour as part of a psychology experiment. Within 2 hours there were several dozen of fishermen down there.

[Zackattack]

No one has ever become a good angler by reading online reports. 

haha you probably dissapointed quite a few people with that comment 

Joking aside, interesting discussion going on here. I just thought I'd share my thoughts as a newbie to salmon fishing. After-all seeing things in different perspectives is always a good thing. For me, I didn't really grow up with fishing (my dad was never into it). I'd always been into nature, boats, hiking etc. but I was always the one initiating it. With fishing, learning on my own has been really difficult and I can't say enough about forums like these in terms of helping noobs out! I just think as some previous posters have explained it is truely difficult to connect to people that you have never met face to face. I think makes everyone just a little cautious or even suspicious which is unfortunate but at the same time justifiable. In my posts ive made so far I've tried to ask reasonable questions and have tried to answer the questions myself before asking, as well as never asking for exact spots locations which I think is common sense. I'm studying geography right now  at school and love being outdoors. I've been exploring the Vedder by myself the past couple weeks and have been learning lots. I've met some great people, as well as some not so great people haha. Having to drive 1.5 back and from richmond while losing spoon after spoon and being flat out broke is kind of frustrating but Im only getting more knowledgable as time progresses. But that being said I guess I have some simpathy for the idea of the internet as a sharing tool (when used the right way of course) because I think of myself trying to learn and how hard it is to find out certain things. Its never been said to me but i've seen the line: "go checkout the river for your self / explore" so many times on here, and half of the time the poster was never asking a specific spot or anything. I guess I just have simpathy because I have put in time learning/exploring this year and am happy to share what I know/just learned (not much though ahahah)
anyways.. and afterall we cant really complain about the net while posting in this online forum can we?
haha just thinking out loud i guess..