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Posts: 7090
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | I'm going to do my best to give better fishing reports to put in the Fishing Reports forum for this coming year. I know the idea of doing so is disdainful to many muskie fisherman, and I get exactly why, but for the benefit of the whole I'd like to see others try to do so also.
What I will write:
-lake or area of lakes fished
-water temps
-water levels (out of the ordinary)
-genearl conditions (weed growth, crowding on the lakes, etc.)
-results (caught, missed, follows or the lack there of)
-general fish patterns (types of lures used w/ or w/o success, speed of presentation, general fish "mood")
What I won't write:
-specific spots, or in some cases specific lakes.
-specific lures used.
Thoughts? |
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Posts: 619
| how about adding time of day seeing the most activity and any specific lure colors if there seems to be a preference at any given time? |
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Posts: 1286
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | What's wrong with specific lures? If you want to whore yourself out, so be it! It helps the economy, because everyone will run right out and buy,buy buy. |
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Posts: 7090
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Time of day is a good idea, I'll try to remember this one. Specific lure colors....I'm thinking that I'll be inclined to tell something along the lines of "bright" or "natural" colors. The line I'm trying to toe is one where on the one hand we want to help each other out, but on the other side of the line is telling people "go fish here, use this lure in this color, at this time of day". There has to be some level of "self-sufficiency" that people need to attain, at least in my mind. I'm not a guide, I don't want to be a guide, but I also don't feel as though I should be telling people where I catch fish, what on, what color to use and what time to go to that spot. If you really need that level of specificity, you might want to consider hiring a guide. |
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| I think there is a reason he is leaving it as a "General Fish Pattern."
I like the idea of it, but I also understand the downside of it as well. Leaving it as a general area (i.e. Vilas County) will help with the crowding issue and the rush to a bite if you will. The other side is......what is the point of posting a report with water temps and weed growth if we don't know what lake it is you are fishing........ |
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Posts: 7090
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | deciever,
If I were to give a report about fishing Vilas County lakes, while I wouldnt say "fished Oneida Lake" I also wouldn't go the other end of the spectrum and say "fished a Vilas county lake". Something along the lines of "fished a dark-water, shallow lake in Vilas County" would be the direction I'd go. |
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Posts: 8834
| Slamr, I think what people are worried about is twofold:
1. Making it too easy for someone else to just run out and catch a fish, when they worked hard to figure out a pattern. Because, you know... Catching muskies is supposed to be voodoo. Nevermind the fact that they pretty much will eat anything that moves when they are active.
2. Having their secret spot/lake/pattern revealed and pretty soon there are boats everywhere catching "their" fish. Their fish. Yep. My fish, my lake, you go home...
I get that, I really do. And I get that talking up a 100 acre lake that people generally don't fish on the internet is just plain stupid. There are a lot of lakes that are only good because only a few people fish them regularly. There are a lot of spots that are the same.
I think you know enough to be able to tell the difference between those and something we all can use like "the weeds aren't up yet in _____ Bay."
Water temps, general conditions, is there a bad algae bloom, etc? There's no harm in posting that sort of stuff, and I think it's something we can all benefit from. Fishing reports should provide general information that everyone can use, and not specefic information that some people will abuse. As long as you do that, I think it would bring great value to the site. Just stay off my lake, ok?  |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i know it's spring when this thread comes back ... it's one of my favorites. |
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Posts: 135
| Water temps, water levels if applicable, always helpful and appreciated. The rest is useless in my opinion except it's always nice to hear how someone did when they went just because I enjoy talking fishing and listening to fishing stories.
What I don't get is when people post on a site and ask "are they biting?" "Are the muskies on the move?" etc. or "what are they hitting?" Believing that there is some kind of lasting pattern that they can follow to success. Fishing is the pattern.
Answer, yes and no, they are biting, and no they are not biting. Some are, some aren't. Might hit a soft plastic, might hit a topwater, might not hit at all. I think some folks wait for a good report to go, which, as we all know, or should know, means nothing. Fish will bite or not. We all have opinions about weather, moon, pressure, etc but it all comes down to going fishing and getting a lure wet. If you're trying to decide whether to go or stay home based on if someone thinks they're biting or found them biting when they went, you're wasting your time. If I want to go fishing, I go. If I read a report that says they're on fire, I expect the fishing to be just as tough and rewarding as it always is. If I read a report that says there's no action, I expect the same. Others success or failure has no bearing on how I'll do when I go.
JMO |
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Posts: 619
| for me, i really appreciate good up to date fishing reports on the internet......last yr i got a tip online and caught 3 fish in 1 day on the tip, i did get pretty specific info too like the lake, depth, lure, and color. I was thankful and it was fun!!! |
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Location: Grinnell, Iowa | If anyones fishing results contain secrets, why would they bother posting anything at all. The only reason why people like this post anything has more to do with patting themselves on the back rather than sharing information. IMO.
Edited by rocket 3/20/2009 2:05 PM
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Posts: 897
| Well, I got kicked off another site for posting this, but here goes...I think you're all a bit more understanding.
My experience with posting lake names of small (under 2000 acres) lakes:
In February of 2008, an outdoors "writer" began a thread in the musky fishing forum of one of the most heavily trafficked fishing websites on the internet. The thread asked for, and I quote, "your top three sleeper musky fishing lakes in Minnesota," supposedly for purposes of writing an article on musky fishing in Minnesota. I didn't particularly like the idea of some of my favorite lakes being named on the internet so I suggested that people refrain from responding due to the inevitable increase in pressure on smaller lakes. Of course, this didn't jive with this particular website's forum policy and I was suspended for a year because "who do you think you are telling people what information they cannot share."
Anyway, that's beside the point. The point is that one of my favorite lakes was named in this thread. Fast forward to the middle of June and the first time I fish this lake in 2008. Arrive on Friday, impending strong storms keep most off the lake. The following morning, as we cruised back to the access to go to another lake there were seven boats fishing muskies, including 3 Ranger boats. I've been fishing this lake for 12 or 13 years and have never seen more than 3 other boats on the lake fishing muskies, and have only seen one Ranger in all that time and I know the owner. We get to the access and it was packed. Usually there are 5 or fewer rigs, there must have been 15-20 that morning, parked everywhere one would fit.
Fast forward to August and September. Same deal. At least 5 or 6 other boats fishing a lake that rarely sees more than two at a time. Keep in mind that this is not a lake that produces 50 inchers, or numbers. This lake is probably in the bottom of 120 some odd muskie lakes in MN as far as fishing goes. I fish it because I've been going there since I was 13 or 14 and I love being there.
Was the increase in pressure merely coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it. I've fished this particular lake long enough to know what typical pressure is and last summer had the heaviest fishing pressure since I started fishing it.
Be careful about posting specific lake names on the internet, they are there forever. That's what PM's are for. Some lakes can't take the additional pressure and you might just find your favorite lake is all of a sudden crowded.
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| I completely agree with whynot. We are all fisherman, we all love the thrill of the chase, for the most part we are all pretty experienced anglers. Let people go out an figure things out on their own. That is 90% of the fun! I am not saying to keep everything a secret but to give out all the details of when, where, and how does not make sense to me. Most of the lakes I fish here in Il. see more than enough pressure already. To post on the internet that the muskies on the chain are biting would be like posting on a crackhead website that a place is giving away free crack! I think that it is up to us as anglers to go out and figure somethings out. I am a helpful guy and I love to see people catch fish but good luck trying to pry my hotspots out of me!  |
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Posts: 7090
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | My intent in describing what I would and would not post was to try to illustrate my belief that there IS a middle ground between "I caught this big fish, in a lake, on a lure, in a state" where there is no information given and "go to Makeout Point on Big Breasted Lady Lake at 5:30AM when the moon is in the second house (and Jupiter aligns with Mars), use a silver bladed double 10 w/ a black tail at a fast retrieve while casting at GPS coordinates 847 X 989 and keep the boat in 6.89 feet of water". I really believe we can all help each other to cut down the learning curve somewhat, while also not giving out the lake xs and secret spots.
and don't steal the stumps! |
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| I'd consider it to be a mistake to post detailed fishing reports on a public forum for the general public to utilize to their advantage. It's one thing to "help out" your local Musky chapter with such information. But to assume that the general public will be--
1) responsible with this information
2) apply good handling methods
3) have much of a caring attitude in general for the lake and locals
--are all pretty far-fetched assumptions.
A lot of hard and slow work has gone into developing and protecting both good fisheries and healthy fish over the years, But inviting in the masses who don't understand the fragile nature of these things with a report of "here's where and how to get the fish" could work detrimentally against that.
There are already enough "general" fishing conditions and reports information available on most any state's DNR web sites. To quote an old proverb, Slamr, to me it just seems borderline to "casting your pearls before swine."
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Posts: 7090
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | A lot of hard and slow work has gone into developing and protecting both good fisheries and healthy fish over the years, But inviting in the masses who don't understand the fragile nature of these things with a report of "here's where and how to get the fish" could work detrimentally against that.
*but wouldnt that say more to the point that we need to make sure we are educating the masses on issues like proper tools to have for safe releases, when to avoid fishing in the heat, and the importance of c&r overall? and, i would say that if people are coming to muskiefirst for fishing reports, there is a good chance they are alos going to be reading about release issues? |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | I have posted plenty of reports in the years past. Last year I didn't because of all the crap I got from others via e-mails, pm's, and word of mouth.
I will be happy to share again to some extent. There is a happy medium somewhere between "Thumping ones chest" and giving a good report. I tried to share catches and some patterns like cranks baits, bucktails, top water, etc. I don't have a problem with sharing info because Pewaukee is so pounded it would not make any difference. Maybe a few more boats at times but then some others will leave due to all the pressure on the water.
I didn't see any more muskie fishermen on Pewaukee when I was sharing info. I was out there every day and it didn't get any more pounded with great reports.
Lake-link gets more hits I would bet and I don't post anything there.
I believe people can share limited info or even good info and it will not effect most lakes. Not little jewels that are small should be protected.
I always try to help the people who help me. Like Smokeys Muskie Shop. I know they got more buisness from increased anglers that are not regulars.
Some of the regulars get pissed if we promote the lake. In this day and age of Catch and Release it is not that big of a deal.
The more poeple who read the posts the more the messages get out. I always add release tips and advice with my reports. Lots of info to keep anglers informed on stuff they might not know about. I say keep the information highway open for everyone to learn from.
People can get all this info from my website anyway. Why not share it. Maybe I will get a few more guide jobs out of it or maybe I will get less becasue they can get it here or my site. Trust me you can give advice and people can still get skunked. Teach them on the water and they become better anglers.
Fishing reports are just reports of what worked last week. Most of the time that pattern is past. People get to worked up over this. I could go either way with it. I would be glad to help out some with reports or save myself some time and not post any. Just my two cents...........
Good post Slamr, I would like to see more reports to better this site. It would be nice to see more poeple share advice. Say someone starts a post and lots of fishermen add to the post with advice and current info. Everyone wins.
Catch and Release make this possible. Without that I would not share anything. Protecting the lakes is everyones goals. Teaching people whats best for the fish and the lake is what I always push. Catching fish while you learn is just a bonus.
Post or not to post, that is the question.................... |
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Posts: 18
Location: Northwoods | Just want to say, "great post"! It should bring a lot of guys out of the woodwork, with years of info under their belts. I guess there is a downside to this also, where common sense will have to be used. I do like to see info and ideas traded, as I like to do so myself. Great friendships are sometimes built from this. I enjoy seeing offers of help given to people who may be new to the site or to a specific fishing area. I've seen this often, on this site and Musky Hunter, where people offer their ideas or even to take them out personally, or to look them up when they arrive. If they feel that certain tips can not be shared with the masses, they can choose to PM them. I understand that some are just seeking the "pat on the back", but for the most part, people in general are just trying to be friendly and helpful. Amen. Joe |
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Posts: 73
| I’m glad to see this post, Andrew, (Slamr), and I hope you follow through with it. I suppose that it’s possible that there will be a few who will just try to capitalize on the “hot spot of the week”. But in the bigger picture, HELPING others is what a forum ought to be about. The more real-life info offered that is directly related to fishing, the better.
It might be helpful to add in the weather conditions that day, too. My experience has been that the weather conditions of the day seem to be one of the greatest factors in what worked or didn’t.
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