Harassing members on report posts

[Mike Carey]

We've had a few report comments recently where the person posting the report is being harassed for not providing enough location details. Please be warned - if you harass a person that posts a report you may very well find your account and IP banned. Consider yourself warned.

[Larry3215]

Thats interesting. On most other forums, people get harassed for posting too much location information!

Either way, harassing people about a fishing report is not cool.

[Mike Carey]

I know, never thought I'd see that.

[fisherman92]

I remember asking if we could do secret river reports and people didn't like the idea for some reason... But as stated with secret reports, its not always about the body of water you are fishing but it certainly helps on secret reports to see if people are catching fish, techniques, temps, time of day, etc. Ive also posted information about river openings and people didn't like that either. If people don't like the information shared (or not shared) they should go to a different website. I will probably post secret reports this year to share techniques that work for certain species since I have avoided doing reports in the past due to the locations.

[Juniah87]

We are lucky we have such an awesome resource, I don't understand any form of negativity surrounding this forum! There is no need for it!

Play nice! *deep parental scolding voice*

[dutchman2858]

On any given website or Facebook group there seems to be a requisite number of Asshats whose only goal is to screw things up for the majority of users.

I may post "secret lake" reports this year for the simple pleasure of irritating those few individuals... If I do, and you are an active member of this group, feel free to pm me for additional info. One of my greatest pleasures has been sharing fishing and hunting information with others for over 60 years (I didn't know anything the first 10!), but the current trend of people to feel so entitled that they DEMAND I give them my knowledge is irritating, to say the least.

Read "secret" reports, be thankful for the information on time of day, weather, techniques, results, etc. and use it on your favorite waters. If another fisherman is generous enough to provide you with "insider" info on a specific lake or technique consider yourself lucky and tuck that info under your hat--it's not your's to share.

[dwh4784]

I've seen these rude comments a lot on "secret" reports. Just goes to show how entitled we are as a society these days. Funny thing is if you click on the name of the person whining chances are they've never posted a report themselves or added anything to the forum.

[Mike Carey]

I've seen these rude comments a lot on "secret" reports. Just goes to show how entitled we are as a society these days. Funny thing is if you click on the name of the person whining chances are they've never posted a report themselves or added anything to the forum.

Exactly right and identifies the person as a troll right away.

I'll remind everyone that posts a report - you have the ability to delete these comments. Each comment has a "delete" link on it that the person posting the report controls. My recommendation is you delete the comment and then notify me by PM. I can review the deleted commented and if it reaches the level of abuse (I know it when I see it) then I will delete and ban that persons IP address. Years ago I would try to work with people that posted abusive comments. I have learned it's not worth my time or effort. People know acceptable behavior and if they don't it's not my job to re-educate them on basic levels of civility.

[Amx]

In other words, a 'deleted' comment isn't really deleted, it's put in limbo and the mods, admin, and owner can still read the comment, and act on it as needed.

[dj2loud]

With respect to all involved, Mike has generously helped out a lot of folks by having this site up and running smooth, I really don't see the problem in giving out information on where I've been fishing and finding fish at ( whats really a red flag is not catching fish this past year! ) but I still share place's, time of day and my lures of choice! Folks are so hell bent on the "its my spot that EVERYONE knows but no one admits to it" attitude that sucks butt.... If your catching fish help a brother or sister out!!

[hewesbob]

I have always shared everything I do on every outing and never really understood why somebody would withhold information about where they were fishing or what they using and all that, but recently I went on a trip with a fellow that had been catching amazing fish in an area that I was having a hard time even getting a bite. He took me to his "HONEY HOLE' and showed me a new technique that I had never seen used in my 60 years of fishing. I appreciated this new knowledge and respected his request that I not share to much information about our trip. I posted pictures and shared basic information on two different facebook fishing forums and it is unbelievable to me how many rude comments were posted, everything from saying I was lying about the size of the fish (they were weighed and measured by the fish checker at the boat launch) to saying I was fishing illegally to the point that old friends of mine that know how I fish came to my defense. This may well put an end to me posting anything about fishing on any site. I retired to Coulee City so I had more access to Banks Lake, Moses Lake, Potholes and several other great fisheries in this area and I have always prided myself with the fact of giving true fishing reports and current weather condition or ice conditions or which boat ramps might be open or closed. I always thought that information might help somebody make the decision weather they make a trip to a certain lake or not, but after this last ordeal I am not sure I will ever post anything again on any other site other than this one. I have followed this site since 1999 and Milke has always done a great job of keeping the BS to a minimum. Great job Mike (and staff) keep up the good work.

[Mike Carey]

Thanks guys. I just read hewesbob's report, awesome fish. I don't mind if pieces of information are not shared. Sure, this site is all about sharing and helping us to all be better anglers, but it's also about entertainment. I enjoy reading reports and seeing pictures from successful snglers. The amount of specifics the member wants to provide is just the icing on the cake.

As to facebook groups. I see those as where our forum was 10 years ago. It takea time to build a tolerant culture. And it also takes never ending vigilance. The huge majority of NWFR members have bought in to the goals of this site. There's always a few bumps in the road and there always will be.

Just remember, the "delete" link is your friend!

[dwh4784]

I completely understand where people would want to post a report but not disclose the location. I still appreciate the tips on gear, water and weather conditions, etc. I have one spot I'll never post a report on since it is a spot someone showed me and asked me to keep quiet. Even though we were catching trout off the bank and I figured out on my own that I could catch big smallies from my kayak in there, it's still off limits IMO.

[TrackerPro16]

I had a guy share 'his' hunting spot and it turned out to be a place I had hunted 40 years before! Pretty funny. On the fishing side had another guy shared the 'special spot' that ended up being right around the bend from where I fish often. Got in the boat and headed there. When I rounded the bend there were seven boats there. SEVEN. I fished it later but did not do any better than my 'regular' spot. A lot of the 'secret' spots are not all that secret. Unless you are hiking in miles. Perhaps then they are. BUT, that does not mean you have to reveal them to anyone either.

[Mike Carey]

7 million people in this state. I'm surprised that spot from 40 years ago was still even there.

I'm in agreement with the not sharing truly secret spots crowd. That said, people take secret to ridiculous extremes. Two years ago I got PM harassed for posting a report on Sutherland. A yearly stocked kokanee lake on the Peninsula that most guys will go over to fish only as a special occasion.

I consider that way different from a location on a river you hike into and there is no one around. I would never drop a hotspot pin on a spot like that. Or a small bass pond for that matter. I would post the report but just not drill down to the specific area. Posting a report for the Skykomish is pretty darn generic.

We can be responsible and still share information...