Giving away hot spots

I can’t help but notice when someone posts a successful fishing outing, people are quick to ask, where “exactly” did you catch them?
Like they expect someone to draw an X on a map and give precise GPS figures. They are usually sly or play dumb while keeping their fingers crossed in hopes someone will accidently let the cat out of the bag.
Hey, don’t hurt to try and I also keep my ear open to others reports and think to myself, I wonder exactly where they went, so I too can zoom in on the action.
Remember what grandpa used to tell you. You never ever give out your secret fishing hotspots.
Mike, Tom and myself have been fortunate enough to get into some honey holes. How many of those hotspots were given to us?
I would honestly have to say only a couple meager per centage.
The vast majority were because time was taken to explore and experiment with different locations at different times of the year.
A recent example. No secret Mike, Tom and I located some dandy pannies over on the river this past month.
OK, yes, someone gave us a general location and we did manage to catch fish.
However, the truth…………we have since abandoned that so called hot spot for others we discovered on our own. Five new places compared to the one and they proved to be more productive.
No one gave those to us, we had to find them on our own.
No, they aren’t even close in location to number one.
The real secret is to learn to recognize productive water, depth, cover, weeds, wood, etc.. You instinctively know it when you see it.
Then again there is dumb luck or accidently tripping over honey holes.
One of Mike’s and my favorite spots on Lake Zumbro is a good example of that.
We were having motor trouble one day and while Mike was working to get it started again, we were drifting aimlessly.
Nothing I could do so I dangled a straight line over the end. Bingo, banggo, beautiful, big Bluegills and Crappies. All by accident.
So get out there and work at it a little, find YOUR places. Then remember what grandpa told you…………

Yikes,thanks for the info or lack of.

For me it all depends on who asks for the hot spots,I have no problem telling a young dad with his 2 young sons venturing out for a day of fishing, If I can get a kid interested it’s a win win.
(if you can’t give up your spots at least give em a tip or two.)”Keep them interested.”

Ron,

So you spend your time hanging out on fishing sites so you can remind people not to share info? Seems… conflicted. But each to their own.

Whoa Jim…. take it easy. I am simply suggesting that folks take the opportunity and exert an effort at creating a better fishing experience by exploring and researching for themselves instead of relying on others.
Yes, fishing forums are created to inform.
I have given a fair share of such information with equipment tips, baits, lures and techniques.
It is very frustrating to pull up to a favorite site only to discover someone else settled in knowing full well someone else handed them the location without them having to exert some energy. Not going to bore you with such stories I have experienced with squatters.

Quote:

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Whoa Jim…. take it easy. I am simply suggesting that folks take the opportunity and exert an effort at creating a better fishing experience by exploring and researching for themselves instead of relying on others.
Yes, fishing forums are created to inform.
I have given a fair share of such information with equipment tips, baits, lures and techniques.
It is very frustrating to pull up to a favorite site only to discover someone else settled in knowing full well someone else handed them the location without them having to exert some energy. Not going to bore you with such stories I have experienced with squatters.

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Ron

Forgive me if I came off strongly. I’ll provide some more background on why I wrote what I did.

I’m always interested in this topic, for obvious reasons, and after a quick read back through all your posts in the last 6 months I couldn’t find a single example where you put fishing info out here on this site that could potentially drop another angler on one of your favorite spots.

I found a couple posts about MarCum’s future, one about the Lake Zumbro fishing league and another about HOF’s grand re-opening.

That left me wondering what precipitated your post as obviously nobody ended up on one of your spots based on what you’ve posted in those threads. I must admit… it just seemed odd. Or maybe out of place would be more accurate. Either way your welcomed to post your thoughts. I agree… people should rely on their own efforts. I just couldn’t see how people were taking advantage of yours. At least through this site.

Yes, I admit to not having contributed much on this site as of late. However, if you check farther back in the archives you will discover I made several, in fact enough that you made me a moderator for a period of time.

Then I was demoted of that position because your panel stated I wasn’t contributing enough. Understood, no hard feelings.

My recent post was yes, a feeble attempt at encouraging others to explore. Apologies if this ruffled some feathers.

My biggest frustration with fishing forum sites is that only a small minority really participate and the majority lay in the weeds and take advantage with no regard for those who put in honest efforts.

All one has to do is view a post and see only a couple of contributors, but look at the hits……….

I will also admit I became somewhat discouraged with IDO when about a year or two ago, I sought some assistance or help with panfish locations in the west metro area.

I got next to nothing other then some generic chatter. One guy did tell me, “hey, you wanna know where the fish are, hire a guide”. Cute, real cute.

Oh well, life continues, but maybe that explains my cynicism.

Hey, good fishing…..