World Wide Web Impact on Fishing???

[Jasonb]

Well i've been reading, reviewing, and learning alot lately. That got me thinking that is the World Wide Web helping our fishery or is it just doing more and more damage??? Take the Map Projects for example, all theese bodies of water would have spots marked out by the people who fish it, not listed all over the web for anyone to find... Are the lakes getting more and more pressure because of the info the W.W.W. is giving? Consider this... you've been fishing a lake for 10 years, have all your spots labeled out and you never get skunked... but now some guys get together and make a report about where they caught their fish, what depths etc, now you go out and only have hopes for a bite when years ago 15-20 fish was a bad outting!!! Im not trying to stirr anything up, nor am i saying reports are a bad thing, but if you get 30-50 people a year or more, fishing the same areas you fish because of the WWW do you think you'll catch just as many fish as you would if those people didn't know? How do you guys feel about this? is it hurting our fishery or promoting it???

JaY

[SALMON]

Theres no doubt the information technology trail leads more people to fishable waters. Word of mouth spreads faster..just a click of the button. But as with all fishing I may have a great day one day and a poor day the next on the same body of water. Cold fronts,wind, water colour all affect fishing. The changes keep us learning , from the web and from our peers. I think the fishery is improving because along with the information many "informed" anglers don't take home every thing they catch. With catch and release the fishery can grow. As far as numbers of people fishing abody of water, isnt that the purpose of being here. Get people out who enjoy the out doors and fishing. Have a spot for our kids to fish and encourage them to carry on in the management of the resource we all love. I think the fish will be fine..we just found out about 100,000 other spots we didnt know of before on the web. Dont know about you..but I dont have time to hit all those spots.

[Jasonb]

well that was an amazing response to that... from that point of view im almost 50/50 on the deciding block

[1lastcast]

First Id like to say thanks for a great topic. Im sure this subject will draw many hawkers to it.

I have to say its not good for the fish But there is so much more to fishing than being were the fish are. Sure you can read about some great location on some great lake. But you still have to learn on your own, and on that given day what it takes to put fish in the boat. The world is always changing. As are the fish, tech, and equip. it is a never ending circle.

I also think that because of the internet and Tv people are more aware of how important it is to pratice CPR. Catch - Photo - release.

My vote NO. Pollution and over harvesting ARE!

[orrsey]

I voted yes. I do think that the WWW can hurt some bodies of water. How many people found out about Petrie through this web site?? I know I did! There have been times when I have given out info and the next thing I know I see pics posted of that spot with guys holding up fish and sharing info of that spot. I dont post too much info about certain spots anymore because of this. However I am more than willing to help out in anyway I can if the person is respectful of the info given. Its just my opinion but I would guess that for every person who asks any given question about a body of water 20 other lurkers are going to use that info as well. I can not believe how much info is shared on here, people should go to the hunting forums...NO ONE gives specifics! So be careful of how much info you write on an open forum. On that note there is a lot of info that is very helpful and that can easily be shared without giving exact details of who what where when and how.

orrsey

[eye-tracker]

I figure the internet may have a temporary impact if detailed information was given on a spot or technique that is working.
Sometimes a day or two, or even a season can completely change a fishery and the way the fish are biting or located. I use to worry about lurkers and the internet, but I find people that spend all their time looking for and reading reports online are not out on the water figuring out what is working.

In my opinion nothing replaces time and experience on the water - and that is not something you can share on a website.

-sheldon

[Fishboy]

My vote was "yes", but with an explanation.

First, I think we all can agree that there is a wealth of information on the internet that can help us all become better anglers. There's always something new to learn. There are millions of pages to go through dealing with techniques, equipment, laws, ethics, clubs, events, and locations.

It is this latter topic that the internet affects the most adversely. In the past anglers didn't like to tell where they'd been lest their fishing spots got overrun with other fishermen. It was a case of you tell one person who told another who told more and so on. Pretty soon that lake or stream was crawling with anglers from all over and the fishery collapsed.

Nowadays, you're not just telling one friend by talking about your location, your telling the world. There are lurkers on every board and they lurk specifically for this kind of info. It only takes a few minutes for them to find all they need to know about locations and what was working.

The result is more people at those locations and they bring with them, as 1lastcast wrote, pollution and over-harvesting. Check out any popular fishing location and you'll see the evidence. The fishing declines and there's a ton of garbage on the shore and in the water. This problem is so bad that several websites now ban any naming of waters.

To sum up, while there are definite benefits to internet fishing sites, their ultimate impact on the fishery has been detrimental.

[Bass Addict]

I use to worry about lurkers and the internet, but I find people that spend all their time looking for and reading reports online are not out on the water figuring out what is working..

-sheldon

BINGO !!!!!!!

[gorfman007]

I agree eye tracker, I have been to areas where there were claims of great catches and had nothing on a specific day . went back at different times tried different tactics with success.

You need the right stuff at the specific time to catch the fish in the targeted area. Variables will always exist. Up to us to figure them out.

[Jasonb]

I like the replies im hearing... this is turning out to be a great topic!

[Bass Addict]

On a side note though ,, my pm inbox is getting full of request's for the whitefish location ,, we fished last weekend

[Mike P]

On a side note though ,, my pm inbox is getting full of request's for the whitefish location ,, we fished last weekend

Know exactly what you mean BA....By the way, me & some friends where fishing 1 point down from you the other day...what's that point called you guys were on???

[saskie]

I don't think so - in the general sense so I voted NO, with the caveat that it definitely in the more local, specific sense.

Pressure from controlled and regulated sport fishing is at the low end of the spectrum of adverse factors affecting fisheries, compared with shoreline development, commercial harvest and pollution.

That being said, since almost everyone on this board fishes within an hour of a major urban centre, if you were to find that one lake that everyone overlooks and still has great fishing and post it on this or a similar site it would definitely be affected.

I think it's safe to say that its common knowledge now that the farther you get from people the better the fishing. Me posting a report about the fantastic fishing at my cabin at Tomison Lake since I know that I won't be seeing any of your ugly faces there due to the effort (time, cost and distance) required to get back in there.

Now if I was to name my secret LM hole...different story since it's within 30min of Kanata

[Hookup]

Wow, all I can say to this thread is that the responses so far have got me hopp'n mad, and mostly at myself.

First, I'm frustrated that people would so arrogantly horde this information and believe that sharing location info hurts fishing.... Fish'n is something everyone should enjoy.. someone told you about it, got you hooked, shared some of their locations with you, and it's highly selfish to end the sharing cycle. (read on before flaming me)

Second, I don't want to publicly announce my secret spots either... for exactly the same reasons as above... So this thread shows me that I'm a walking contradiction (something my wife has known for years)... and why I'm frustrated... I have no easy solution... the last thing I want is a bunch of beer-cans and garbage floating in my favorite spot just to see it has been fished out by a few losers who trolled the internet for "researching" good spots.

Therefore, um, yeah, I agree with everyone else, the internet is hurting and helping fishing. There are loads of good tips, and ethical discussions about fishing, gear reviews, etc, etc... All of which helps... but I do not want 300 people hitting my secret large-mouth lake this year, so that secret dies with me and the few people I trust not to deplete / damage that fishery...

It's not even the 300 people hitting it.. I just want people who will fish in my special locations to treat them with the same respect that I do.. and that part is impossible to control/assess...

[Bobber]

Great question and one which I personally have stuggled with in the past few years.....believe it or not....considering I own this site, and ultimately are contributing to the very question that you are asking.

If you are focusing your question "only" on whether or not someone can "find" your secret spot by looking on the Internet, then my answer would be different than if you are referring to other factors which can negatively impact our fishery, such as its health, pressures, or environmental conditions, of the fishery due to someone reading something on the Internet.

Providing information that will allow people to figure out where you're fishing and what you're catching "used" to be something that was accepted and welcomed by all when fishing sites first started. The success of attracting people to Fish-Hawk all started off with the Ontario Map Project, and many fishermen who are still on this board, and have grown in their angling success, have used these maps to find spots, catch great fish, and improve themselves to the point where they are now finding "their own" spots, simply because they've expanded. I do understand now that there is often a lot of time, money, and trial and error that gets put into finding these wonderful little honey holes, where the fish are plentiful and big, and that sharing this information with others "could" cause a flow of anglers to those spots who in turn may fish it to death, and then that spot which was once a thriving fishery, now sees pressure that it didn't before and subsequently becomes just another spot.

It is for this reason that I've changed the way the Ontario Map Project works in that I don't mark the places where people have caught fish, but simply provide the maps, a little information on the body of water, and a discussion area for people to talk about catch locations "if they want to". It is purely voluntary. There are some who like to share spots, and then there are others who don't. This is perfectly fine since our Ontario Resources are for everyone. It is also the reason that I don't "encourage" people to tell others where they have caught fish and identify bodies of water any more....and then taking it one step further promote the idea of taking pictures and sharing them, but putting a little more thought into the positioning of the person who you are taking that photo of so as to not identify anything particular that would give away the spot that you may have found. It's not that hard if you just turn the boat a little away from the shoreline and take a close up shot of the person and the fish. This way you get to share your catch with everyone without giving away where you caught it.

Now for those who don't mind naming spots and sharing information with others, then that's their right as well, however the people who are on the recieving end of this information should take into consideration that even though you may have been made privy to a great location for fishing, you still have the responsibility to do what needs to be done to preserve that resource and even to respect the person who gave you that information by keeping it to yourself and not getting into specifics with anyone else, unless you have their permission to do so. In this case I'm talking about "private conversations" between two anglers.

Apart from just naming spots, there are a lot of other factors that the Internet now offers which were not available some time ago. Many of these factors contribute positively to our fishery, can increase awareness of it's sensitivity, identify how to properly do things, help us understand why certain regulations are in effect, help us learn new technologies and new products on the market, and help people build relationships...both personally and professionally.

This is my primary and number 1 reason why I do this, which is why I take it so seriously in trying to make a site which respects one another and shares information to educate and perhaps even provide experiences to some who actually never get to do what many of us do, and can only read and dream of doing it. Done right, it's almost as if the reader was there themselves, and to many that's priceless.

So......since I still maintain this site, my vote is "no", provided of course that at the same time it "brings awareness" to anglers so that everybody understands proper ettiquette with other fellow anglers, and most importantly, is aware of effects in the world which affect our fishery. These being such things as Environmental effects, Economical effects, Biological effects, Social effects, Water Body Pressure effects....etc.

It's all a part of the equation, and just like everything else in the world is not really as simple as focusing on a single question of whether or not the Internet is good for our fishery or not. It can be, and for the most part is, if used properly

Just my off the top 2 cents.