Does the Interblab Need Yet Another Fishing Web Site?
 

Nowadays you can find just about any conceivable interest group on the web.

You can search for your favorite exotic cat/dog/catdog/dogcat recipes or gay necrophiliac midget porn sites 24/7.

I was just kinda curious ... do you think there is room for more northeast saltwater fishing sites or is the field pretty much saturated?

(You can guess why I'm asking this ... see recent :spam: )

I pretty much spend my time on 3-4 well-known regional boards (well, 3 really since I'm in the moderator's queue on one of them :hihi: :blush: ) . I don't think I have the attention span or the time to really frequent a 5th one.

How many times can ya beat the same fishing topics to death on the interblab?

The other thing I noticed is ... I get more "entrenched" with the same 3-4 sites (three really) as I become increasingly connected with the "community" ... not that I'm "clique-y" but I do tend to remain with the same group of people I've personally met and fished with over several years.

(On a side note, the recent spamming by a proponent of another board could be viewed as an unwelcome intrusion of sorts into aforementioned collective sense of community, which might explain some discomfort at the spamming. Interesting psychology this interblab brings about.)

One could argue that the number of fishing boards is only limited by the growth in participation and online awareness of the sport. With the proliferation of all these UBB type forums, you'd think that northeast saltwater shore and boat angling is booming. But that doesn't strike me as the case today ... if you compare northeast saltwater angling (both shore and boat) to other types of forums.

Today, the largest such forum has several thousand members. Some of the non-fishing sites (excluding porn of course) I frequent have memberships in the tens of thousands.

It seems to me that the boards that were relative "first movers," have core communities and have staying power with their sponsors (e.g., noreast, sol, s-b, ss, etc) ... will be the ones that will garner the most eyeballs. But I could be wrong.

Anyhoo, just looking to get your thoughts, since fishing seems to be winding down. :alien:

I get all the info I need here, sol, ffsw and rt
Is there room for another ? Sure, but to get knowledgeable fishermen to put another web site in their "favorites" bookmark after
being associated with one site or another (and sites with long running histories and search functions) might be a little difficult. Established fishing web sites attract more users because the answers are there, a new site would only have questions.

now you have my attention .. lots of friends here and like to keep up in plug building forum .. nope .. don't need any others ,.. just here and there..

WOO WOO NEXT HOT THING!
New boards come and go but you won't beat the ones that have a steady core of members.

You'll see a mass exodus of people now and then to different sites (ie: how all the powder.com posters aka the maggots made the move to the teton gravity research forums) but generally you'll see the same power base forever.

Interesting. MikeP ...if you're reading this correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the last time this happened on the fishing boards was when a bunch of people migrated from ss to sol? (five-six years ago or something like that?)

And even then ... there are still a lot of people who post on both.

Sure, more fishing forums don't hurt.

Don't need another one, :doh:

ya have the finest one right here

with the best of the best people. :hihi:

There will be more and more all the time - whether or not we need them or want them or will visit them.
There are some sites that are almost "lurk only" where they get a lot visits, but very few people actually post.
I think the real question is whether or not there is a definitive site yet - I don't think there is but I would say this one comes closest.
Look for more sites, with fewer participants.

:btu: After s-b.com what else could thier be thats worthwhile.

New boards often get started as a reaction to dissatisfaction with another web site. But it wasn't a contemporaneous thing with SS and SOL. The exodus--actually a banishment--was sometime around Labor Day and SOL didn't get up and running until December. The hot board before and after the exodus was WMI. WMI was a national board, but it seemed like all of the regional boards put a stake thru its heart. I still give WMI the credit for showing all of the guys who started regional boards--Tim, Gowge, Tres Irby and the rest--how workable internet fishing sites were. It also provided the regional boards with a base of readership to take along.

The latest example was the exodus of some of the hardcore New Yorkuhs from Noreast to Surfrats, due to dissatisfaction with the flame wars, the over-emphasis on spot burning reports, and George in general.

Interesting thought. Personally, it makes no difference to me. I'll hit the ones I do, and when a new one pops up, I check it out. If value is added, then I tend to start visiting more often, to see what is going on.

While I am fairly confident that the site I admin is what started this thread, I really don't think it matters. We all have our loyalties to various things. My loyalty is to my family, friends, and the love of fishing/boating, not to any particular website.

I have been poking around here since I found out about the :spam: incident, and find alot of useful information. You guys have a good thing here, no doubt.

Lastly, the site I run was fledged due to a small scale bansihment from another site as well. There's plenty of room to play on the web, it's your choice as to where that is.

Enjoy & Happy Holidays !!

the more information the better.

Not every site is perfect and each one has its pros and cons.

I have met some nice folks due to the fishing sites.

I think it's the same info all around it is true if u build it they will come but this is more than that, this place is great. although I don't know all of u people (and hope some day to meet all ) the exchange of the info here is good. and John does a wonderful job for us just my 2 cents worth carry on .....

i dont care if there is anotherone... this is the best one.... and i'm stayin here

recently left another site for good. most over reacted to simple questions as if you were asking them to burn spots. my arm would hurt if i try to pat my self on the back that much. and it was heading for a "XXX" rating. sorry not into any of that. just tell me your getting fish and ill figure it out or die trying. BW

If somebody had some money to put into a site and they knew how to make it profitable and they were not selling stuff so there was no conflict with the sponsors, they could do well.
Each of the major sites currently in operation have major chinks in their armor that have prevented them from becoming preeminent - so the door is still open.