Fishing Report I Think?

[SmallyWally]

Here is my 2 cents worth of opinion of this ongoing squabble. Both sides are right...plain and simple. Our rivers offer a lot of meat for the folks who want or need to eat from it. One thing though.....why can't the smallmouth be protected from the frying pan. There are many types of fish to eat so why can't the MDC simply take the smallmouth off the menu. Is anyone really gonna miss eating them? Bottom line from an economic point of view, people will come from all over to catch nice smallmouth....$$$$$$$. I am not the most intelligent fella but it sure seems to be a winner for ALL parties, to have a healthy and marketable resource in the state or all.

[MOsmallies]

My 2 cents (not that it matters) is.... Please post reports but don't give away specific spots. It's just NOT necessary plain and simple! You are NOT going to hurt our resources or piss a lot of people off by NOT mentioning the exact spot. You ARE going to piss a lot of people off and significantly raise the chances of our resources being damaged BY giving away specific spots. I try to post a report after every trip I take. I usually post pictures, discuss baits, and patterns I find. I do all of that without giving away specific locations. The most detailed I'll be is giving away a mile marker on Lake of the Ozarks but even that still leaves miles of shoreline to the imagination. I don't think I've ever pissed anyone off with one of my reports and I feel they've still been helpful, informative, and enjoyable.... Maybe I think too highly of myself

My point is that it is NOT necessary to give away spots. If you really want to share specific spots, please consider doing it through a PM, Email, or face to face meeting with people you trust. I've shared information with several people I have gotten to know or who have taken the time to contact me directly.

I think we can all agree that we are passionate about our Smallmouth here in the ozarks. Unfortunately everyone who trolls this site and others like it are not. They don't care about treating smallmouth with respect and they don't care about growing trophy smallmouth fishing for years to come... They care about bragging to their buddies and putting meat on the table. These are the people that are hurting our resources and we don't need to help them find more fish.

I hope everyone continues to post reports and pictures. This site is awesome and can be extremely informative without giving away exact locations especially on fragile stream environments. It's just NOT necessary in order to make this a helpful and informative site.

[Seth]

My 2 cents (not that it matters) is.... Please post reports but don't give away specific spots. It's just NOT necessary plain and simple! You are NOT going to hurt our resources or piss a lot of people off by NOT mentioning the exact spot. You ARE going to piss a lot of people off and significantly raise the chances of our resources being damaged BY giving away specific spots. I try to post a report after every trip I take. I usually post pictures, discuss baits, and patterns I find. I do all of that without giving away specific locations. The most detailed I'll be is giving away a mile marker on Lake of the Ozarks but even that still leaves miles of shoreline to the imagination. I don't think I've ever pissed anyone off with one of my reports and I feel they've still been helpful, informative, and enjoyable.... Maybe I think too highly of myself

My point is that it is NOT necessary to give away spots. If you really want to share specific spots, please consider doing it through a PM, Email, or face to face meeting with people you trust. I've shared information with several people I have gotten to know or who have taken the time to contact me directly.

I think we can all agree that we are passionate about our Smallmouth here in the ozarks. Unfortunately everyone who trolls this site and others like it are not. They don't care about treating smallmouth with respect and they don't care about growing trophy smallmouth fishing for years to come... They care about bragging to their buddies and putting meat on the table. These are the people that are hurting our resources and we don't need to help them find more fish.

I hope everyone continues to post reports and pictures. This site is awesome and can be extremely informative without giving away exact locations especially on fragile stream environments. It's just NOT necessary in order to make this a helpful and informative site.

How do you feel I should of posted my report? I simply said I caught smallmouth at Meramec Springs. That location is a half mile long. If I had posted in the Meramec Springs section and said I caught smallmouth and trout, how would it of been any different? I guess the only appropriate report I could have made was to not make one at all. There is a thread posted in the Meramec Spring section that includes picture of a smallmouth with the exact location in the background. I don't recall anybody harping on that feller. I'd say posting a picture holding a smallmouth with a background that makes it obvious where the fish was caught is worse than saying I caught them somewhere in a 1/2 mile long stream.

[MOsmallies]

I can't tell you how to post your reports, but if I was posting I would have just said that I fished an ozark stream that holds some wintering smallmouth. The hair jig worked well in such and such colors. I dragged it or swam it or hopped it. I'd post some pictures of the nicer fish. Blur out the background if the background is easily recognizable. Even if you mention that you also caught trout, it still leaves a lot to the imagination of the readers. It could have been Bennett, or Meramec Springs, or the Current, or the 11 pt, or other sections of the Meramec, or any other stream that holds both Smallies and Trout. Having the readers know that you caught them at Meramec Springs doesn't add any value to the report.... Just more information for those that don't respect our Smallmouth to potentially over-utilize and damage the resource.

I really don't want to come off as an @ss as I've always enjoyed your reports in the past. And I don't want to come off as a know it all (cause I definitely do not know it all) but this is just how I would've handle it. I'm honestly just trying to give you an example of how to share your trip and success without giving away the specific 1/2 mile stretch. It's pretty easy to fish a half mile stretch in a couple hours and find where the fish are holding. Giving a 6-10 mile stretch is a little different.

I don't recall the other post, but if I had seen it, I probably would have said the same thing. I don't think anyone on here is specifically targeting you for this Seth. This has happened before and will continue to happen. We're just trying to make people think twice before giving exact locations as many of us have seen the damage it can do to a stretch or hole or entire creek. Like I said, I've enjoyed your posts in the past on the Osage and Gasconade and you seem like a great fisherman. I hope you continue to post reports just without specific locales.

[mjk86]

Hey all....Im looking to find some good smallmouth waters? Ive always thought they tasted good, especially the ones that are 3+ pounds. Sure do look good in the fryin pan!! Anyhow, i target them in deep river holes in the winter time. ANyone have any good spots they may be stacking up?? Thanks for all the info.

[ness]

You're just being a smarty pants.

Let's get back to the floggings now.

[ozark trout fisher]

I'd post some pictures of the nicer fish. Blur out the background if the background is easily recognizable.

I'm sorry, but that's unreasonable to expect folks to do that. I can agree with you on maybe not naming the exact spot, but let's not pretend this is classified information.

If you are blurring out the background of a photo not to give away a honey hole......it's either the best spot in the world or you are taking yourself a bit too seriously IMO.

[MOsmallies]

I'm sorry, but that's unreasonable to expect folks to do that. I can agree with you on maybe not naming the exact spot, but let's not pretend this is classified information.

If you are blurring out the background of a photo not to give away a honey hole......it's either the best spot in the world or you are taking yourself a bit too seriously IMO.

I can understand that.... 98% of people won't recognize background features of a spot anyway, but I added that because Seth mentioned this...

"There is a thread posted in the Meramec Spring section that includes picture of a smallmouth with the exact location in the background. I don't recall anybody harping on that feller. I'd say posting a picture holding a smallmouth with a background that makes it obvious where the fish was caught is worse than saying I caught them somewhere in a 1/2 mile long stream."

I don't think I've ever had to doctor the background of a photo, but sometimes it may be necessary. I can think of a few spots that I would want to do it. This is definitely on the extreme side protecting a spot. Some people may guess/know the spot based on background features, but most won't. However, if you mention the spot, 100% of the people then know the spot.

[Al Agnew]

I ain't arguing anymore. But I will note this...I believe part of what MDC has been studying with tagged smallies is seeing how many are harvested around the major spring branches, with an eye toward seeing if they need more restrictions on keeping fish in those places. I don't know whether they've come up with an answer yet.

[shawncat]

....Place seriously has been exposed here before many times for many years.Bottom line is aint nobody here can tell a man how/where/what he should post....but phil.As long as forum rules haven't be broken,phil hasn't asked me to post/edit i'll continue to post what I want,where I want,when I want period.Dont like it,dont open it....that easy.

I know seth,guess what,from here and consider him a friend and a good steward....im sure he didn't post spot to ruin resource,ruin somebodies honey hole.I think he posted for reason he's stated....give somebody a tip,help them turn a cold day into something special,give somebody a good read.He certainly don't deserve a backlash like this...especially after all the good reads he's turned us on to.

Seth's young,an excellent fisher,and again a good stewart....I doubt he'll make a mistake[as some here think]like this again.He'll be around longer than most here will due to his age,his hardiness[he don't give up easy....as seen]and his true nature to help.

If you knew seth,i'd bet anyone here would be happy to have him in a foxhole wit ya or the type you'd let marry your daughter.So for you older nay'sayers,he just needs a little school'n,for you younger ones....don't open it,just say'n.Carry on....