Question of the Day.

Suppose you are on a good pile of fish. From there you win the next couple tourneys in this area.
From there you have a guy that “I USED to respect” running his pie hole about seeing us there. Now the area that you spent time finding and figuring out is all but becoming a community hole. My question is if you were fishing and saw someone (say blue perhaps) there and you check the area and find fish do you use it as your own and secondly do you go around telling everyone what you saw? Don’t you feel like you are just a [censored] and if you can’t find your own fish shouldn’t you just sell your boat or better yet give it to the guys you are ripping off. How is that for a question.
I am so sick of the wanna bees scouting, following, and cheating at its greyest line. Yep, JC is getting grumpy again.
Jc

Well JC, i’m not good enough to have that problem (not like you Blue/Champman and others do) …but this brings up few questions on ethics/rules/rights to water/but most of all, personal character.

I’ve had a few people share a few of their “secret” spots w/me before …and it’s my character to respect the fact they asked me not to tell others…Most have told me they don’t even care if I fish there, as long as I release them and don’t fish b4 a tourney.

As for blabbing my mouth on people’s spots..That is indeed wrong …I wouldn’t want it done to me and therefore, I don’t do it to others. I don’t mind sharing a pattern that’s working….because that’s all it is, a pattern. A person still has to apply that pattern to a place on the river (hopefully their own), and I’d only share that with people i know well…otherwise you’ll get the typical fisherman’s response.

What do you do about it Not sure how to answer that. Confront them maybe?

The copycats will always be there, but it’s the true anglers (like yourself) that will continue to succeed…they others will just fade away.

Wouldnt it be a better thing to do by talking to the person whom you used to respect? Maybe this person doesnt realize how important your honey hole is to you!

Everybody is somebody else’s confidant (what a game that ‘I only told one buddy’ deal becomes ) and the only real way to guarantee you’re not giving away your ‘secret’ spots is to never put your boat on them.

I’m going to jump on the other side of this. I’ve fished every damn square inch of all 44 miles of pool 4. Probably multiple times. People see me all over the place and in areas they’ve likely never fished before. But that doesn’t make them ‘mine’ or give me any extra hold over them. The river belongs to all of us equally is my feeling and unfortunately for guys like you and I that dig and ferret out the less-likely stuff out there, there isn’t a way to drive a flag in the ground and claim it off limits to the next guy.

I’m not sure how it is in the bass realm but on the river Dustin and I fully expect anyone that recognizes us to pull into the areas we’re fishing after we leave to check things out. I rest easy knowing that 99 out of 100 will be baffled and leave in short order.

I’ll give you this guy that’s running his mouth and trying to be the ‘hero’ to those wondering where you’ve been fishing is quite the classless boob.

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I’m not sure how it is in the bass realm but on the river Dustin and I fully expect anyone that recognizes us to pull into the areas we’re fishing after we leave to check things out. I rest easy knowing that 99 out of 100 will be baffled and leave in short order.

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Holy cow James, you’ve got this modesty thing down pat. LOL

Gator Hunter

It has nothing to do with the “honey hole” Its the fact the has is keeping tabs on me and giving out all the areas I fish. I might as well mark up a map and sell it. I just don’t get why somone would do this. I hope I can return the favor. I’ll post the marked map, pattern, and baits used right here on the forum. Its like all the “I saw monzy over here” alure.
Oh well, Like I said I get grumpy once in a while.
jc

Did you pi$$ him off or something??

Nope, I haven’t seen him at any of the tourneys. I am sure he is around because I see his old partner all over the place. His old partner is good Shizel. Thats ok, I am going to take a big healthy dump in his livewell and pee in his rod locker.

jc

lmao

To put a positive spin on things, it’s a sign of ultimate respect that you are now being followed and monitored!! When you make the classic next year (per previous prediction), you will have more than one boat following your every move.

I do agree though, that would be damn irritating. Plus, I would think it would make for a boring day following someone around. Moreso, though, isn’t learning to be the best fisherman you can be part of the attraction to fishing?

AS for what I would do, the first thing would be to flat out ask why the hell the guy is following you. Does he know you know he is your shadow?

I bet he does now….
jc

If you were to drink Old Style the night before…it wouldn’t be healthy…keep that in mind.

If I were trying to destroy a livewell in that manner, Blatz would be my weapon of choice.

That would require drinking it however, quite a sacrifice!!

Sincerely,

The Beer Snob

Oh cummon, I didn’t mean it that way. Besides, I fish anywhere I see you too! I ain’t dumb… lol

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I’m not sure how it is in the bass realm but on the river Dustin and I fully expect anyone that recognizes us to pull into the areas we’re fishing after we leave to check things out. I rest easy knowing that 99 out of 100 will be baffled and leave in short order.

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Holy cow James, you’ve got this modesty thing down pat. LOL

Gator Hunter

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Sorta like a Where’s Waldo deal then, eh?

Where on the river is Jer-e-mey Crawford?

Kinda catchy!…lol

If that’s the case he’s either got it out for you for some unknown transgression, real or perceived, or he just doesn’t know better or what he’s doing.

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It has nothing to do with the “honey hole” Its the fact the has is keeping tabs on me and giving out all the areas I fish. I might as well mark up a map and sell it. I just don’t get why somone would do this. I hope I can return the favor. I’ll post the marked map, pattern, and baits used right here on the forum. Its like all the “I saw monzy over here” alure.
Oh well, Like I said I get grumpy once in a while.
jc

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there are some people that dont have the luxary of being able to be on the water enough to go explore new spots or have to connections that will help them do it so they resort to finding new spots anyway they can

fish the river long enough and it always happens especially down in these parts every spot seems to be community spot with in a year or 2 and when you think you found something no one else knows theres 5 boats there tourney morning

stuff like this happens and will continue to happen and theres only 1 way i know to stop it buy you a pos boat get you some junk equiptment and dress like a dirty ole river rat and go incognito till tourney day then no one will know its you

I hear ya James. Anytime I see someone fishing someplace I haven’t fished I gotta at least check it out.

Gator Hunter

Jeremy,

I know exactly what you are going through. This has happened to me more than once over the years. All it takes is someone to mention at the local bait shop that they saw you out fishing a certain spot. Someone else chirps in that they know that you have been on the fish and soon that spot you were seen on has visitors. It doesn’t matter if you caught any fish there or not. I know that sometimes we like to think that we have our own little “honey holes” but the river does belong to everyone. Fishing etiquette doesn’t come easy to everyone. When out fishing for fun I won’t pull in on a wingdam if there is a boat on it (unless the boat is occupied by certain individuals). I may know there are fish on that dam but it gives me the opportunity to try a different or a new spot. I am not big on crowds. I did make the mistake of netting a 5Lb walleye while prefishing for a tournament a few years ago. I knew that I was seen netting the fish. My mistake The morning of the tournament the guy who saw me net the fish was parked on the very spot where I netted the fish. I don’t know if he had any luck there. I had several other “spots” that produced fish that day and we did alright in the tourney. It is a big river. Unfortuately there are many eyes out there watching you.

Eyehunter

Drive safe and watch for deer

Thats a good question jc an i have thought about it for awhile.This is what i come up with.If i saw you fishing in a spot would i check it out?
Yes i would.If it was you or anyone else an i went by an noticed you on a spot i would ask myself {whats he got going there} i would pull in an see what type of pattern you had going.Try to find what is working there an apply it in as many spots on the river as i could find.
Would i use the spot as my own? No,that same spot can be found all over the river if a person looks hard enough.We all know it’s not the spot but the spot within the spot an how it’s fished that matters.So if that was to happen to me it would just puff up my chest alittle an i would have a smile on my face knowing that chances are he wont catch anything anyway
I did like the live well and rod locker thing.That i think you should go for or at the very least tell him to kiss your

JC… you could just get a faster boat and lose them!!!

Well, you could do a KGB on the guy and feed him some dis-information. “Yup, I was right on that spot over there. Throwing a yellow Musky sized five of diamonds daredevil with 6 inch long orange rubber worms hanging off the treble hook. The Walleyes love it, especially if you soak the worms in drain oil. And make sure you crank it in really fast.” If he spills that to anyone else, his credibility is shot and no one will listen to him any more. (insert evil laugh here).

Hate to say it, but there’s probably not a whole lot of anything that can be done about scumbags like that. James is absolutely right when he says it’s everyone’s water, but all too often people neglect to incorporate courtesy into that privilege. As for people that aren’t available to get out fishing very often and catching fish any way they can(even if it includes tailing someone), urine on that. Pull up to the guy and ask for a few pointers, but don’t become his own personal paparazzi. Especially if it’s someone that knows JC is an avid tournament angler and works his rear off trying to locate the best bite he can. It becomes considerably worse when the offender starts running his/her mouth to everyone within earshot about “JC’s hot bite”. That’s the point where you become trash and somebody would be well-advised to go postal on your a$$. If it’s someone from the site, what are you thinking? It’s not hard to pm somebody, especially JC, and get some tips from him. He’s proven to be one of the most knowledgable and generous bass-addicts on here. Plus, the best piece of information he’s kept to himself is your identity, thus doing you a favor. I’m not trying to bash anyone here because that doesn’t do any good at all. I’m only trying to call attention to the reasons it’s unjust to do what JC is speaking of, number one being that it’s inconsiderate, and also to hopefully point out alternate methods of gaining information. I’ll go back to knowing nothing now.

Mark

JC,

Ahhh…this is a tenuous situation isn’t it? That’s part of the deal I guess. It is kind of an unconscious decision when we decide to post pics of ourselves, our boats, and hopefully big fish. You are going to draw attention, good and bad. Sometimes I find myself axing pictures that give away too much scenery:) The more successful you are the more likely people are to emulate what it is that you are doing, it’s a shame that a handful of people will cross the line and become disrespectful. I’m quite sure given the apparent level of success you enjoy, that you will continue to innovate, and in turn stay one step ahead of the “wannabees”. At least you bass guys can pretty much count on catch and release out of your “honey holes” We cat guys have to be concerned about the wannabees being meathunters as well. Maybe you should call the romulans and see if you can install a cloaking device in your boat….

Jason.

Unbelievable !!!!! I’m pretty used to the tag along thing, but why wouldn’t guys keep it to themselves, if for no other reason than financial(the next tourney). Just like the the Chunky Punk post I have on this forum right now that shows Mr. M’s party pontoon docked behind the Blackhawk

Baitshop I really don’t have to worry about folks knowing where they came from. But that spot isn’t gonna win any tourneys!!! And especially not three. I don’t want a map though…just exact GPS coordinates on a daily basis. … but again it’s gotta hurt BUD… best thing you can do is keep them all to the yourself… but ofcourse like they say hindsight is always 20/20… what a change a year makes hey!!!!

well, the question now is jc, are you going to sell me that map of pool 9 or what?

Care to elaborate?

Having fished with JC some on Pool 9, what is the opening
bit for that map?

I have to say, this is extremely frustrating to me,
when it happens, and my best answer to it, when it
has, is to switch boats. I have a camo Lund that I
use for duck hunting, and I will use it to pre-fish,
if I suspect folks are watching where I am fishing.
The problem is it only works until folks figure out
the switch. I also enlist some fishing friends to
use their boat, when it is that important. It is
a damn shame that some think the best “fish finder”,
is a pair of binoculars

Big Bass Bane

Even swap for pool 8 sounds about right…
jc

First I’ll start off like James did. We don’t own the waters and people are allowed to fish where ever. It really sucks…but true. I don’t feel I have anymore right to a spot or a fish than anyone else.

Now on the other hand, it is down right low. A friend who you trust has a big mouth. They turn a very lightly fished area into a heavily fished area. I would now have one less trusted friend. I do have to say when people see me fishing in some spots they go there and don’t know why I was there. I have to say that if they don’t use the same bait, presentation or are just plain dumb they move on.

I know I have had a few people who are big into tournaments ask me where I’ve been fishing and I have told them. In turn they have helped me out in other areas. It kind of sucks now because I’m getting into tournaments now and have given away a few good spots. Just remember there are more spots out there. You’ll have to buy a new boat, get plastic surgery, and dye your hair…but you’ll be ok

Sorry to hear a “friend” can be that way.

I will openly admit I watch Dustin and James very closely when I’m on the river. I just talked to Dustin about it last weekend. I personally think your an idiot if you don’t try to emulate these two guys. Do I move in while they are fishing a spot, hell no. I will commit it to memory, spring, moderate flow, X spot. I don’t fish any tourneys on the river and I’m all catch and release for any fish over 18″ and most under. Do I don’t feel like I’m stealing from someone? NO. Do I share this info with a bunch of guys, no. If you are in my boat fishing with me, then pay attention, just like I do when I’m fishing with you. I can see where this ticked you off, but it’s a chance everyone takes when we fish public waters.

I do like the livewell retaliation. Get some good ol’ budweiser keg beer, that’ll loosen you up.