Ponquogue Bridge Bass Have Arrived

[Flukerr]

In a report the info is the benefit...The fact that the tide,depth,lure is left out is not a good thing..Leave out the location..Be general.. The other info is what benefits those that have a clue..Or else its just like bragging...

Nothing wrong with taking a quick pic and back in the drip...C.P.R....(Catch,photo,release...)Like George said..Its the moment..The joy of it coming together...

This one...2 days ago..Not a giant, but a small pattern that I figured out that I have not seen anyone else on.A dozen fish later and a good time had...Its all relevant...

 

[george]

My point is that the longer some people take to snap a picture, the longer the fish is out of its element. I take pictures of fish I will eat. I have a lot of space on my phone.

Agreed. But the only thing that will last a lifetime is the photo

 

[BennyV]

My point is that the longer some people take to snap a picture, the longer the fish is out of its element. I take pictures of fish I will eat. I have a lot of space on my phone.

I’m with you on getting fish back in the water quickly but, Id rather see a picture of a short then watch some schlub on a PB trip wrap a rag around a short to take it off a hook.

 

[Bucktail]

I must disagree with the concept of posting reports online as it leads to more fishermen in a specific area. In years past posted reports have led to folks from UTI (up the Island) showing up in numbers , parking on private property, leaving garbage , turning around on a homeowner's newly sodded lawn and just making life miserable for the few guys who figured out a good bite in a small spot. Even if they didn't catch on one trip, they came back and searched around a nd found a few other spots and f'ed them up too. Same thing at a south shore inlet and an obscure east end beach. The "other" site was a problem until the surf report section was changed to general areas. We all love our fishing time but don't all like to fish with a crowd. Thanks

 

[Chinacat]

The difference here being that the original poster is as local as local can be, is passionate, dedicated, and enjoys sharing with others.
I appreciate and look forward to his info sharing. Keep up the positive energy KF

 

[Rick67]

The difference here being that the original poster is as local as local can be, is passionate, dedicated, and enjoys sharing with others.
I appreciate and look forward to his info sharing. Keep up the positive energy KF

Your absolutely right about him being as local as local can be and has been reporting on same areas for years with zero crowds in all his pics.

 

[richtrox]

Considering I was one of the people who lobbied hard on the other site to get rid of spot specific info in the reports, I'll just weigh in briefly here. Like most things in life, one size does not fit all. When there is a sand eel bite in an 8 mile stretch of beach, the word will get out anyway, so posting a report with the general name of the beach doesn't really matter much. This is most people's argument for posting spot info on reports, and it is valid. But this is not always the scenario for those of us who fish from shore. Pro-report people are fond of saying "there are no secret spots" and that's complete bs. I doubt there is a square foot of west end back bay that hasn't seen my boot prints at one time or another. Same for Moriches and some of Shinny. I've had spots in the bays that were as close to money, year in and year out, as you can get, but they were over specific structure and could handle tops 3 people. I found them myself through years of exploration and leg work and I've never felt compelled to share those locations with anybody, simply because they would be useless to me there after. It's happened to me enough to know what I'm talking about.

There are many scenarios like this also. Take Shinny and Moriches inlet. The fish are not spread out evenly throughout the inlet so that everybody can go find a rock and catch fish. The fish are usually located primarily on one drop at each inlet. There are other small sections of both inlets that hold some fish but when you mention either inlet, most fishermen fish the same hole. And fishing an inlet at night, in a lineup, is a specialized branch of the sport. But you post a report that indicates fish being caught at "pick one" inlet, then you have done a disservice to everybody. There are several reasons. The most obvious is that inlet ineups can only hold so many fishermen. Even when everybody is well acquainted with the process of casting and landing fish in a line-up, it's still a tough deal when it starts to get crowded. When a report brings in a bunch of extra people, even those who know what they're doing, the entire process breaks down and becomes unmanageable. And that brings me to my next point. A report has the capacity to bring those who have little, to no idea, of how to fish a jetty into the mix, and that's bad for them as well. I've had to stop what I was doing to patch people up who have taken falls because they were not equipped to be out there. I've had to land other peoples fish more times than I can count because they had no idea how to land fish from a jetty, or were completely unfamiliar with the terrain. I've seen others that needed help getting off the jetty, etc. That's what a report can do in those cases.

I met member Flukerr for the first time many years ago. Myself, and a close friend, were fishing a big fish bite that happened pretty much every year around early June. I could give you the whole story on why those fish were there every year but it's beside the point. So it's around 1:00 am, the tide has started to move really well, and my friend and I are hooking up consistently (all 20 lbs and over) when I see Flukerr and his friend come walking our way. They passed by but Flukerr was no fool, he knew what was going on, so a little while later he works his way on down to us and asks if we would mind if they fished with us. It's a free country so I couldn't say no lol, but I did stress to both of them not to say a freak'in thing to anybody about this. The next night my friend and I show up at around 1:30 am or so, and there's 10 people, elbow to elbow, fishing the hole. Flukerr comes up and says it wasn't him, that his friend blabbed. Needless to say, I over-reacted. So yes, a telephone can burn a spot also, but that doesn't take reports off the hook.

So here's a simple compromise. For open beaches that can hold lots of anglers and the fish are spread out, if you feel the need to post a report, OK I understand the argument for those. But as I said before, one size does not fit all and not all spots are created equal, so before saying anything, consult you conscience. If your report (or phone call) is going to ruin another persons day, then you should ask yourself if your own self-promotion is worth it. Because that's what many reports (but not all) are, self-promotion. Like others have stated, you CAN post reports that are useful to others without ruining it for anybody. You can indicate bait movement up and down the beach, conditions like water and wind, general areas (like fish are in back bays on the out, or west / east end beach) and a picture if you like, all without saying "go stand here and cast this way". So let your conscience be your guide and consider the possible impact on other people in your decision. Simple pimple.

BTW, it wasn't getting rid of locations in the surf reports that ruined that other site, it was the incessant arguing that killed it. It became a hostile place and I take part of the hit for letting it go as long as I did, at least down in the surf board. But boy, did we have some great parties and BBQ's on the beach during the heyday. Those were good times. Have a good spring everyone.

 

[Roccus7]

And they're off!!!! I've got dibs on the Popcorn Concession...

 

[Bucktail]

Thanks for a spot on , eloquent explanation Rich.

 

[Rick67]

 

[Chinacat]

I find it all rather discouraging that actually talking about fishing and sharing info would be shunned on a site dedicated to Fishing.
I guess we need to focus more on cigars, who had what for dinner last light, what's on TV, politics, etc???

 

[BennyV]

I see both sides of the coin.

If it’s a secret spot then don’t report it. If it’s a general location then what’s the big deal?

Most of us have been fishing for many years. If you don’t get it by now then there’s no hope for you lol.

 

[pequa1]

When I surfcast, I just want to know if there is a lot of weed and any significant sweep. when I kayak, I wanna know nada- its just so much more enjoyable fishless or not than my boat or the beach. When I do occasionally use my boat, I would like to know if blues are in the bay, and if all the fluke are <19" LOL.

 

[longcast]

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head! SPOT ON.

 

[richtrox]

I find it all rather discouraging that actually talking about fishing and sharing info would be shunned on a site dedicated to Fishing.
I guess we need to focus more on cigars, who had what for dinner last light, what's on TV, politics, etc???

Who said anything about not sharing info or fish talk being shunned? If you're referring to my post then I suggest you go look up my body of work, on the other sites as well as my youtube channel. Other than a few notable exceptions, I doubt anybody has provided more information on learning how to catch fish from the surf than me. I've written volumes on the subject and produced many hours of instructional video, all free to those who wish to read or view them, so if your post is directed at me, perhaps you should sit back, smoke one of your cigars, and rethink your reply. If your post is not directed at me, then disregard this one, no harm , no foul. Nice collection of emoticons btw

 

[richtrox]

I see both sides of the coin.

If it’s a secret spot then don’t report it. If it’s a general location then what’s the big deal?

Most of us have been fishing for many years. If you don’t get it by now then there’s no hope for you lol.

Simple common sense and courtesy, it's not that complicated. What I find strange, and this applies to just about everything nowadays, is how viewpoints are always at the extreme, never in the middle. It's either black or white, no gray area allowed lol. Anyway, I said my piece and won't be talking about it any more.

 

[Chinacat]

Who said anything about not sharing info or fish talk being shunned? If you're referring to my post then I suggest you go look up my body of work, on the other sites as well as my youtube channel. Other than a few notable exceptions, I doubt anybody has provided more information on learning how to catch fish from the surf than me. I've written volumes on the subject and produced many hours of instructional video, all free to those who wish to read or view them, so if your post is directed at me, perhaps you should sit back, smoke one of your cigars, and rethink your reply. If your post is not directed at me, then disregard this one, no harm , no foul. Nice collection of emoticons btw

Nope, not directed specifically to you at all!! I do recognize that you go out of your way to share your expertise with others, so THANK YOU for that.
Unfortunately I'm not as eloquent as others here may.
I should have stuck to the specific issue here. My position is that mentioning a bridge that everyone knows about is NOT spot burning. It's right in my backyard and on any given day has many people fishing there and that's not gotta change whether or not KF or anybody else mentions it in a post on this board or anywhere else. Hell, the Town of Southampton just spent an extensive amount of time and money to stabilize the old bridge so everybody can have access to fish there. Do we have to tell them not to encourage people to go there?

BTW, I don't smoke cigars, LOL

 

[richtrox]

Nope, not directed specifically to you at all!! I do recognize that you go out of your way to share your expertise with others, so THANK YOU for that.
Unfortunately I'm not as eloquent as others here may.
I should have stuck to the specific issue here. My position is that mentioning a bridge that everyone knows about is NOT spot burning. It's right in my backyard and on any given day has many people fishing there and that's not gotta change whether or not KF or anybody else mentions it in a post on this board or anywhere else. Hell, the Town of Southampton just spent an extensive amount of time and money to stabilize the old bridge so everybody can have access to fish there. Do we have to tell them not to encourage people to go there?

BTW, I don't smoke cigars, LOL

LOL No harm, no foul. I don't smoke cigars either. Have a good spring.

 

[george]

I find it all rather discouraging that actually talking about fishing and sharing info would be shunned on a site dedicated to Fishing.
I guess we need to focus more on cigars, who had what for dinner last light, what's on TV, politics, etc???

Nope, not directed specifically to you at all!! I do recognize that you go out of your way to share your expertise with others, so THANK YOU for that.
Unfortunately I'm not as eloquent as others here may.
I should have stuck to the specific issue here. My position is that mentioning a bridge that everyone knows about is NOT spot burning. It's right in my backyard and on any given day has many people fishing there and that's not gotta change whether or not KF or anybody else mentions it in a post on this board or anywhere else. Hell, the Town of Southampton just spent an extensive amount of time and money to stabilize the old bridge so everybody can have access to fish there. Do we have to tell them not to encourage people to go there?

BTW, I don't smoke cigars, LOL

I fully agree with you and I suspect you know that already. I've been in the fishing reports business for over 3 decades and this "spot burning" issue has been here all along.

Quick story. I put out my first print issue of what was then named New York Saltwater in 1989. I drove from one of the island to the other delivering this new free publication. Not all, but most shops and boats were happy to have it.

The next week I'm delivering again, and I go to Captree, and let us just say the reception was poor. One Captain, who went on to be a great friend and mentor to the industry, Captain Ed Laske of the Dixie took me aside and explained that captains didn't like to give up their spots. They were convinced that our report of "flounder at Heckscher" ruined the spot for everyone. Ed was a great guy and knew what he was talking about and as the day went on I heard the same thing over and over.

My point is this isn't anything new and over years, outside of surf fishing, I'm still not convinced it is a real issue. But the perception is there, and the above report is a prime example of what I consider a perfect report. Take it all into consideration and I think you'll agree.

This is more of a surf fishing issue than a boat issue. For instance, right now we have a great bite of weakfish happening off of Heckshire. I can guarantee you that anyone that targets them knows where and when they will be. And those that don't, in most cases don't have their boat in the water until Memorial Day. So the crowd you see there at the top of the tide - a little tip there - has nothing to do with spot burning. It's where the fish are, and Great South Bay anglers know it. At the same time, I also know of a spot where I can run to right now, park about 100-yards away and get on my waders and play with schoolies. Now that is a secret spot that I have NEVER seen another person fish, and I wouldn't give it away.

We are doing our best to balance the two and we will provide what our users want. But the younger crowd is in a much tougher spot as each angler has his own platform now, and there's no stopping that. But

This site is still young - and I'm not , and over time we will grow into what New York Anglers want out of their go to site. I too want to see more fishing content, and we will get there. The plan is in motion but this all takes a bit of time. But we will get there.

And PLEASE if there's a post that concerns you contact any one of our staff and we're always glad to help. We will not allow any members to get attacked. Some of the stuff I see on FB is crazy and so uninformed it's scary.

As for cigars, I had to give them up after my illness. I do miss them though

 

[Chinacat]

George-
Thank you for taking the time to address that.
It's nice to see your are actively involved with what is happening here
I did not feel attacked in anyway on this issue. Maybe the original report poster may have, but I didn't as all I did was add my 2 cents to a discussion that was already underway.