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Last year I was reading through the field reports and one angler had posted a report from his outing and left out the name of the stream he had fished. Another person posted a message basically saying if the angler wasn't going to tell where he had fished, why bother posting a report. I got the feeling the responding party was looking for some free information on locations and wasn't the least bit interested in the rest of the report. Let me give you my take on field reports....

The field reports forums are there for those who wish to post reports. There is no "rule" that says you have to post reports. Likewise, there is no rule that dictates how much information you have to give. That is left up to the discretion of the angler. Face it, with the advent of the Internet and computers becoming more widespread in American households, the number of people who have access to your information is staggering. I think sometimes we become "comfortable" here at RS.com because we have a great bunch of folks. Many people post daily and even those who don't are known to us because they've posted in the past. It's easy to forget that we are not the only ones here. The weekly stats I receive regarding our site traffic indicates that there are far more readers (also known as lurkers) than active participants. That is pretty much par for the course for any web site. The bottom line is, there are alot of people reading the board who you never know are there.

Why is that important? Well, it depends on your situation. If you fish a stream that is small or fragile and would not withstand heavy angling pressure, you might want to adjust your field reports accordingly. You DO NOT have to disclose the name or location of your body of water to post a report. I know several folks who fish regularly, but never post reports because they don't wish to bring more pressure to their area or they've worked hard to find certain spots and don't want to give them out. Both reasons are perfectly legitimate. However, you can post a report for the purpose of sharing your outing with others without giving up vital information. Sometimes you may have a banner day or land that big smallie and you just want to share that with others. Here's what I do -

There's a certain small stream where I live that would not hold up well to heavy pressure. It gets fished by locals and those in the "know", but I have never mentioned the name of this stream on the site and never will. If I want to share my outing on this stream, I simply type in something like Central KY 04-05-01 as my heading and go on and give details about conditions, number and size of fish, lures used, etc. I do not mention the name or location of the stream. There is another variation I use for reporting - a second stream in my area is very well known and to think I could keep it secret is ridiculous. I don't mind mentioning the name of this stream, but I refrain from giving the exact location I fished. The stream may be well known, but I feel I can still protect the exact spots I fish. That doesn't mean other people don't fish them, they do, but I simply try not to bring additional attention to them.

When I read a report, the location is the last thing I'm concerned with. I am more interested in conditions and the things that person tried that may or may not have worked. I have no desire to horn in on somebody's fishing holes. If someone wants to know more specifics on an area I fished, they are free to contact me by email. If I know that person, I'm happy to share. If you read a report and it doesn't give exact directions to where the angler fished, don't post a sarcastic or rude reply. Contact the person and ask politely if they could provide more information. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Field reports are not intended to give you step-by-step directions to good fishing areas. They are for the benefit of the poster so he/she can share their day with the rest of us.

If I fish a large system like the New, Susquehanna, James, or another big river, I don't mind being more direct with locations. Not because larger rivers can take abuse, but many of the areas on these rivers are not secret and get fished regularly. Most of us know the guide services that operate on our rivers and we know what sections they float. The point I'm trying to convey is, take things on a case-by-case basis. If you've fished a small stream and don't want to disclose the location, don't! You can still post a report if you'd like to share the details of your catch, but don't let anyone make you feel like you have to give them coordinates to your honey hole! If you are comfortable giving specifics regarding locations in your report, that's fine, too. I think caution is certainly warranted when it comes to fragile streams. We want to preserve these small jewels and sometimes that might mean being very discreet.

I'm not trying to make anyone paranoid, but simply want to stress that not all reports will have location information and that is fine. What I want to convey is the fact that you can post reports without giving locations if you so choose; don't belittle people for not giving locations; think before posting when it involves small systems; and, provide other information that can be beneficial like conditions, tactics, observations, etc. There is much that can be gleaned from a report if it has good information. A discussion of tactics, biology, or presentations is more beneficial than the location of somebody's secret spots. When it comes to field reports I say "to each his own".

Regards,
Brian