Question of the Day.

as a person who don’t know the river all that well, and i see someone of the caliber of a james, dustin, Jon J, or even JC fishing a spot. I will wait until they have left and try to fish that spot the way that i think that works. I am not out on the water to “steal” anyones spot and I am also trying to make myself aware of any tourneys that are happening on the water that i am fishing. I am sorry, but until i become that good of a stick, I can’t put myself on that side of them shoes. I hope that one day I will get followed around and people will try to fish my spots. we will have to see what happens.

thanks

shane

Your special spot; don,t these fish ever move. Last year during a bass tournament on polls 5, 5A and 6, I caught 32 of the nicest Largemouth anyone could ever hope for in a slough out of Merrick Park. Assuming I agree with tournament fishing I would have won easily. But they were all released, healthy and in the same spot I caught them. I would be happy to tell you the exact location, because they haven’t been there since.

As for your honey holes, we also have a few. But if someone follows me I generally go to less productive spots and they eventually leave.

James comments are right on. I haven’t fished Pool 4 for a number of years. However, if I did and was not catching fish I would definately follow a Moving Waters Guide Boat. Why, because these guys know a heck of a lot more about that pool then I do. Nonehteless, I would not fish close to them or anchor on the same Wingdam. It is rude. The best tournament I was ever in allowed only one boat per Wingdam.

Lastly, if a guy saw someone/you catch a bunch of fish from a specific location why won’t he use the same spot and tell friends.

Finally, dumb question at the end of your lecture.

You just need to find the honey holes that are all out of the way. I have 3 on Castle Rock lake that have been producing but you have to get out and push the boat across a sand bar thats 20 feet long. Well worth the work though. I have been fishing these weeknight tourneys and have won 4 out 5. Largest bass first night was 4.6 lbs. Taken on a bohawg on a current swept point. I put together a pattern and fished every point on the way back or where I knew there was one. I have guys starting to follow me and looking at the baits on my rods. But I am pretty good at losing them on the river. I make that mistake once but now I take and switch baits before weight-in. My 2 cents is you can’t hide from them you just have to stay ahead and hope no one else in in your spot.

hey dodge boy,

you also need to out think the greatest thinker as well. I have heard of guys that have a rod laying on the floor of the boat and when they boat a fish, they pick up that other rod and start to cast that lure for a bit, then they lay that lure back down on the floor and go back to the one that was working. they only use that technique when they are being fished on top of one another.

shane

I think JC knows about finding spots that are “out of the way” but that dosen’t seem to help when guys are in the same area as you. Its too bad, but the fish are not always in areas like this. Most tournaments have it in the rules that you cant get out of your boat to “make your boat more accessable to tournament waters”. Guys that pre-fish with bi-noks and follow other fishermen really add another element to the sport that we shouldnt have to worry about but is somthing you are forced to deal with.

JHall

I cant believe that people continue to take shots at JC- I think he is a very valuable resource for all of us on this site. Ill bet if you emailed him with a question he would be quite open with his response to you. He may not spoon feed you the spots, lures or techniques used, but is very open with general patterns and interpretations of the ecosystems which is the best way for all of us to improve as anglers. It is easy to take shots at someone from behind the disguise of a website nickname when nobody knows who you are. JC- better get the target back out again.

The underlying debate of the post is interesting- i know i have much more respect for myself when i figure something out based on past experiences and logic rather than by following someone who is better than i am. That being said, it can be a good way to learn about what to look for in the future and done correctly would probably help you without hurting the person you observed. If you know them (which it sounds like in this case they do), they might tell you- white spinnerbait on the edge of pads with slight current or something like that. I believe this is totally different than purposely following someone around (without permission) to see where they go and what they do. If a friend of acquantance of mine had a good area i certainly would not ruin it for them by seining every fish out of there and telling everyone who will listen what a great voyeur fisherman i am. I consider it a breach of the unwritten “angling etiquette” and quite lazy to follow somebody and spy on them, cut into their spot and ruin what most likely involved hard work and time.
Sorry about the rambling, my 222222222 cents.

Quote:

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Sorry about the rambling, my 222222222 cents

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Must be valuable information. I think that comes to $2,222,222.22. Is that a Doctor’s salary or what?

Baron,

You are right about JC sharing info when asked. When my out-of-state brother came for a visit and some time on the water, I PM’d Jeremy with a question on some general patterns and techniques and he responded quickly with some good information that helped us have a good time and catch some fish. I didn’t ask him for GPS coordinates or anything, but I thought it was great of him to help out someone he has never met.

CR

Seems like some folks have to resort to binoculars, following people prefishing, cutting them off to get to the better fish, and even following them in the tournament… With greater publicity more and more people follow the boats they believe will lead them to the fish. Alot of guys don’t even fish the tournaments they just follow the boats and mark their maps. We look for Herons and new fisherman look for Bass or Walleye boats its seems.

I finally decided that I could get aggrivated to the point of morphing into something that even I do not recognize or I could let it slide off and try to continually be a better fisherman in spite of the eeeediots. These days I seem to walk the middle drifting more to one side than the other on different occassions.

I have adopted a few new rules though…

1. I rarely ask anyone for their spots. People that know me know that I will actually tell you to shut up if you start telling me your spots and I’m prefishing the area you’re speaking about because I don’t ever want to be accussed of stealing someone elses water. I believe if I find it I have just as much right to it as the next guy. I’ll ask about patterns and presentations but not specific spots except in very rare circumstance like a trade or a general conversation about a lake with a very close friend or if I’ve not ever been on the body of water before and I end up hearing about spots when I ask for general information about the lake.

2. I am not responsible for you, your boat, or your occupants if you follow me…. There is a small rock bar on a lake that I tournament fish quite a bit. The rock bar resembles a very small wing dam… it is about 22 feet long, 3 feet wide and 7 inches under the water on top. It has 20 feet on one side and 15 feet on the other. I have a habit of cutting the engine, trimming up, and gliding over the top of the bar to settle down just outside a sunken island that is near it. I fish the sunken island… if you follow me you’ll leave your lower unit on the bar and put your passenger in the water… A number of years ago an individual followed me and when I cut my engine he decided to race past me… he asked me for a tow… I told him sure… soon as the tournaments over. There’s a few closing dams that are very interesting when the water drops… ones that if you don’t hit them just right they hit you… I have no problem leaving you to fend for yourself if you follow me and park yourself on one. I’ll stop long enough to fish you out of the water but I’ll not tow you anywhere.

3. If I catch you using binoculars on me and I’m in the right mood I’ll go as far as pulling up the trolling motor up and drive my boat up to yours, introduce myself, take a picture and give it to folks to post on the board or I’ll post the description with boat numbers. If you believe you need to use binoculars to fish the fisherman then the rest of us might as well know who you are so we all can get acquainted.

4. I noticed a while ago that guys that resort to this sort of behavior also tend to stretch the rules so, again if I’m in the right mood, I have absolutely no problem reporting folks that blow slow zones, fish too close intentionally, or are unsportsman like on the water.

5. I follow the rules myself, try to be as courteous as I can, share information with folks that ask, and try to represent tournament anglers in a good light since most of us really are pretty good folks.

6. Never treat nontournament anglers like they are less than tournament anglers when it comes to fishing an area. If they are on it first I move on to a different spot. Allot of these folks will become tournament fisherman. They will learn from us… our bad habits as well as our good ones. I’d prefer to show them the good ones.

I know I sound gruff and I’m really not as gruff as I sound but I think we have a responsibility to be the best we can be to the general and specific public. Part of that responsibility is to address this issue like many others that cause ill will. I guess I’m just willing to address it straight up on the water or on the bank. I think grumbling about it without confronting it just enables it to continue.

Anyway, hope things get better JC. You know you always have my support.

Curt

J.C., you certainly know how I feel about this whole …… thing!! The day of going out and finding fish are GONE!!!! The days of packing a lunch, picking out your favorite binoch’s, getting the latest river map, making sure the cell is charged are here to STAY!! Funny thing; those who are guilty are the “OLE-GUARD” who in turn are teaching the really “NEW-GUARD” the ropes!! As for Curts post, Wow!!! never better words to describe alot of feeling that are SHARED by so many!

Curts rule #6 is the most important.We must be the examples,maybe I.D.A. could make business card with the website address and have it say “become a better angler”give it to some of these clowns and maybe educate some of them.

Dave,

That is one of the best Ideas I have heard yet. The only bad thing would be….at least I know myself, If I got close enough to give em a business card I would be tempted to make sure that “this clown” recieved coloring books for christmas for the rest of his life. Maybe JC could keep cool enough but not me. Well, I gotta get going to my anger management classes. See Ya

JHall

JHall, you’re killing me!

See ya in class!

Mark

You mean AA class, cause im not in any others.

JHall

Ever notice that going to Anger management classes tends to really tick you off?

heheh

Curt

First off, were I to see you &/or Fleck -or anyone else from this board-, I’d ask when you were goin’ in for lunch so I could get to know you guys better.

Second, nope. I cannot pull up on another’s spot. I’m not sure I’d call it cheating, but I would call it stealing… well, wait… yeah I’d then call it cheating as well ’cause I’d weigh-in & get possible $ on your fish.

Of course I’ve been trying to figure out who’s pie-hole’s been a-flappin’ in the wind … Hmm… Ah , yes! It’s all becoming clear to me now!

Having your confidence broken is painful.

Maybe if the knob would have asked you first, or told you up front that he’s around you to learn… Maybe then I’d say yes or no, but simply takin’ a guy’s area is not good for the karma, hey.

Even when I hire a guide, or fish with a buddy, I ask them if they’ll be takin’ me to spots that I can or cannot fish again. If some spots are “yes”, it’s ok; if some spots are “no,” I never go.

I traveled with three other guys in the BFL. We had our areas. Sometimes our areas would cross; then we just respected the other’s spots. I mean, damn, we all traveled together and lived in the same motels and ate & prayed together, ya know? It would be like takin’ from your brother or someone that close to you.

The big dump in the live well idea was great!

Well, those are my $.02 cents .