Spot Burning

Spot Burning

*** This may be the last of my winter opinion pieces. The ice is off the ponds and spring is here. So hopefully, I will have new fishing adventures to share along with tips on how to catch them in the next few weeks or so.  Maybe some of you thought  these pieces were boring and skipped right over them. Maybe, you agreed or disagreed with my points of views. Either way, hopefully these opinion pieces gave you something to think about for a few minutes during a long cold winter.

This is one of the more controversial subjects I’d like to put my two cents in. Spot burning for those of you that don’t know is when someone posts online (or any public forum, I guess) where the fish are biting. Some guys are super sensitive to the point of obsessed about spot burning. There are entire fishing forums where if someone mentions a spot the whole thread is erased.

I have seen threads on forums where guys will say they will be on vacation in Narragansett next month and ask advice on spots they should try. If some poor fellow helps this soon to be vacationer out they will chastised and humiliated on the forum.

Really? This is more than a little extreme. Here are my views. One, if someone takes me to a hole and we catch fish or even if we don’t, the spot stays between us for eternity. I would never give up their spot.

If I run into a huge blitz, I will post about it that night but not the exact spot. Narragansett has a lot of shoreline. If I am catching fish in late September at the ocean, you can bet I’m in ‘Gansett. Still I’m not going to tell you exactly where they were. The point of my blog (I hope) is get people wanting to go out and fish, be outdoors etc… Yet I’m not going to hold your hand and tell you exactly where I caught them.

Why? For one I don’t know you. I’m big into catch and release. I will keep the occasional fish but it’s pretty rare. The person reading this could be into keeping every illegal undersized striper they catch. I am not going to help them out. 

When I caught that nice bass ice fishing, I was fishing a pond that was shown to me. Besides that, this pond wasn’t much bigger than a house. It may have been less than an acre. It could easily be fished out by a guy with a dozen shiners in the spring. Even if all the fish were legally caught, keeping any trophy bass out of that puddle would be devastating to the fishery.

So when do I think it’s okay for spots to be burned? I have no problem telling someone about large public access areas. During the spring on a dropping tide Conimicut Point can be great. The sandbar is a mile long and there is plenty of room for a hundred guys. If I had a great night, I might even mention the spot in a post the next day. 

I also think it is okay to give advice. Breachways are great place to catch big stripers on a dropping tide. Everyone knows it, but if you’re just starting out, this is extremely useful info. So helping someone out with general info like that is fine. Charlestown Beachway is a terrific spot. That said some nights no fish might be around. On the other hand, if someone catches a forty, I am positive that guy is not going to tell. There’s only room for a couple guys, so he will keep that secret until the fishing has cooled down.

Here is my opinion about other fishermen. If someone else is willing to burn their spot, I feel that is there personal choice. If “Billy Bob” catches fish at Point Judith or at some little tiny honey hole a mile away, I feel it is his choice whether to tell people or not. Just because you and I might not, doesn’t mean we should judge Billy Bob if he does. Maybe Billy Bob is a bragger, maybe he had the best night of his life and he is so excited he needed to tell someone. Maybe, he just wants to be a nice guy and wants others to have the same success. If he gives up a spot it is his choice, not mine or yours.

I really have seen guys get ridiculed on public forums for talking about spots. I’ve seen comments from the moderator threatening to kick that person off the forum. I think this is going way overboard. I understand spot burning can lead to crowding. It can help lazy fishermen that don’t put in their time to catch fish others have worked to find. Still, threats and public ridicule are extreme. If someone confided in me where they caught fish, I wouldn’t tell anyone. But if I catch the fish, it should be completely my choice if I let the world know or not.