where to draw the line

Evening all, i have just been involved in a bit of a discussion about giving venue details and recent form out on the site for all the world to see. My last bit of useless advice to this new member was telling him to ask for pm's to avoid broadcasting the info to all and sundry, but then a thought struck me /forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif. What if the person asking the question was one of these fish stealing people from another country /forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif

How could we distinguish between a genuine angler and someone just looking to fill his bucket for sunday tea /forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif

Why would it have to be a fish stealer " from another country",

It seems on here that every "specialist" fish group has a looney fringe that sits behind computers and will wait for a "secret" venue to be mentioned, then, en masse, they form into the "circus" and go and trash said venue.

Maybe we should have no forums incase anyone dare mention a river, or lake, that contains fish.

bu**er them all, it could just be paranoia from the few well know cases of the press publishing a venue, and the great unwashed turning up to catch said fish.

Neil, talk to those you know about venues, but be prepared if you mention one in open forum, some newbie, with no profile fillied in on here, will probably "flame" you for mentioning your saw a pike or a barbel there.

I get your drift about the nationality of the thieves, when i was a lad i was disgusted at seeing lads taking big perch and crucians home for the pot. For me, its about catching it, letting it go (letting my lad kiss it first if he's with me /forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif) and then trying to catch it again. But my point is, how do you know who you are giving the advice to? every fishing forum will have a venue advice section,'how do i catch carp here?' Should we stop these sections incase they just want to catch them for the pot?

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hi neil,regardless of what we say and do on here,anybody who wishes to catch fish for the pot only have to spend a couple of quid on a weekly fishing paper for venue reports or glossy mags with all the info /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

There was a time in this country not so very long ago when all fish caught were eaten Neil, even bags of dace were taken home for the pot so don't go thinking it is only eastern Europeans who eat coarse fish. Even to this day it is not illegal to take a fish home and cook it for eating but thankfully it isn't such a prevalent practice nowadays.

I don't have a problem with naming venues I fish but I seem to be the exception that proves the rule, not that I care. It is a practice that is frowned upon on sites like this yet the majority of the venues that people fish are fished regularly by loads of people and I see no harm in telling anglers that I have had a successful day at such and such a venue in the hope that they can enjoy the same sort of fun.

an allie (spelt wrong I know)

We all look to these forums for advice, if we cant tell the truth what's the point?

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Neil McmurranMcmurran wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Evening all, i have just been involved in a bit of a discussion about giving venue details and recent form out on the site for all the world to see. My last bit of useless advice to this new member was telling him to pm'sfor pm's to avoid broadcasting the info to all and sundry, but then a thought struck me /forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif. What if the person asking the question was one of these fish stealing people from another country /forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif

How could we distinguish between a genuine angler and someone just looking to fill his bucsundayr sunday tea /forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif</blockquote>

Niel; I understand were you,re coming from, and I totally agree with you.

There is a lot of new members to F M Asking the questions, were,s the best waters etc etc.

I do not tell then if it,s water,s up this way. Unless I know them/trust them.

But I PM them the info. This wayelo one el,s can see it, and I think that,s were some of the members are going wrong (Broadcasting water,s that hold big fish) As we all know most of the E U Members go through all forums ( British anglers) to find out the best places.

I do not mention any particular water on this or any other website purely because almost all the waters I fish are club run and it doesn't feel right to give out info tothose who are not prepared to do some homework(NOT everyone)and other club members have paid good money to join the club.

That said,if I'm fishing and someone from the club asks about catch/bait/method etc and seem to be struggling then I tell them what Im trying-seems pointless not to.In some ways it almost gives me a bit of a pleasant kick to offer help but perhaps thats because Im getting older and things like secret baits etc dont seem to matter as much anymore......I want a good day out and if I can help to make this happen for others then why not?

Ive done this in the past and found the guy in my swim on my next visit but so what-it just means Im forced into trying somewhere else-stops me being lazy!!

Life really is tooooo short............

init just tee cee /forum/smilies/thinking_smiley.gif

"I caught a 13lb barbel from Collingham, plus 3 others from 8lb to 10lb" goes the post on here. "Shame on you" they all shout fornaming the venue, "now all the barbel anglers will descend on Collingham".

Yeah right, like Collingham is some secret barbel venue and I use that purely as an example. I can understand the need for secrecy if it is a little fished gravel pit or something similar that has suddenly produced monster tench but most venues that produce big fish are well publicised and fished regularly by many anglers. Furthermore, very many of those big fish waters are day ticket or season ticket with no restriction on members and if you click onto the websites of those fisheries the size of fish you can catch are there for the viewing, anglers proudly displaying the heavier fish complete with the bait they were caught on and even the actual peg in a lot of cases. Yet when Joe Bloggs reports on FMcatching a 14lb tench from one of these well known venues he is immediately reminded of the need for secrecy,this to my mind is taking things toridiculous extremes.

I have been criticised in the past on here forsaying that I would tell anyone who wants to know, where I have had a good day on the river even to the extent of naming the area of a particular venue but do I care? Not one little bit, because I too have found out via friendly advice over the years of where is a good place to fish on, say, a particular river and I have no qualms whatsoever in passing that advice on to other fellow anglers so they too can have a day of pleasure.

Rivers in particular have been fished for generations and the list of venues and the fish that inhabit those venues have been published, passed down, whatever, to the extent that it is common knowledge to any river angler and he naming that venue is never going to be secret information. Would you be surprised for instance if Mark Wintle reported the capture of an 8lb chub on the Throop, would you think this was publishing a secret venue to the detriment of other anglers who fish the Throop? Stuff and nonsense a lot of it is, secrecy is forMI5 angling is for the angler.

i am from a match fishing background where we openly brag about our catches, ie venue, peg number, weight and bait, although sometimes there might be the odd white lie about the bait used lol. So this secrecy is quite alien to me