[Mr. Sandman]

Some of their shows are OK. They are entertaining. For me, I don't like anything FW and turn those off right away. I could care less about fishing in a pond in ME or NH but I suppose some people like that stuff. That's cool, just not my cup of Joe. I like some of the surf shows and some of the boat shows. But there is a real downside too all this and it has been compounded now by social media in all its forms.

What I don't like about OTW (and have dropped the mag subscrip and don't fish their contest anymore) is that they (in conjunction with social media) have burned more spots (boat and shore!!) then I can count. IMO they pretty much destroyed the CH surf scene there. I use to fish cutty fairly often in the post BI heydays . I recall when they "re-discovered" the place. They hype was over the top on the shows. There was hardly anyone over there back then. I mean you would be alone for days. It was a beautiful place to fish. One trip I went for a week and did not see another fishermen and only saw 3 people the entire week. Now entire (multiple) clubs take over the place all season long and this is in large part because of the exposure that they alone provided in all media formats. Then I use to fish it only on mid weekdays when the tide was right, now even that has become busy. It is so disappointing. I miss walking the entire coast and not see another fisherman all night. (Or running into a single fishermen here or there, now it is a cluster of guys pounding certain spots) In an effort to make money they killed the very thing they loved. Do we really want guys driving hundreds of miles all that way to fish right there? I have asked fisherman on the beach how they found about CH and nearly everyone said...OTW or they went with their club and they told me about it. Many clubs show the videos of shows at the meetings and plan trips around these shows.

On the boat scene, the tuna bite off chatham; It has been fished for years by locals no question but they REALLY compounded the problem big time with their small boat you too can do this type shows. Anyone out there can tell you of the fleet at the sword or the BC. Pre-OTW, most small boat guys never heard of these places.

They increased the small boats running to canyons and to other offshore spots. Now there is a lot of room out there but anyone who made the trip to fishtales this season to fish nearly 100 miles offshore next to 300 of their buddys in every size and shape boat from 17' CC's to 130' megayachts from NJ to MA can tell you it was a friggin circus out there. Now I blame most of this on FB not OTW but they were also a contributor to the problem.

My biggest complaint is the what they did off MV this summer. Some small tuna (most under 40" moved in in decent numbers) not too far offshore. It was a real time cluster phuck for 3 weeks with large crowds of small boats drawn in directly because of their postings. Tiny boats, guys they never fished for tuna with no permits pounding away at tiny fish. I heard reports of guys taking lots of fish then attempting to sell them to restaurants and markets, most were given way to friends in the end. Others piled on posting their GPS tracks with photos of thefish they caught, the next day it was absurd. I saw guys out there in minsule boat saying they only have a bass rod with 20# test and no tuna gear, just bluefish gear. Many didn't even know they needed to have a permit and that there were strict regs governing taking of these tiny fish. There was NO enforcement, NO education, NO respect for the resource. The place was raped. When I spoke to a few of the anglers, they thought the crowds "weren't too bad" Obviously they never fished offshore, because the reason you go offshore is there are NO crowds, most of the time you are by yourself.

Now I do not blame OTW for everything, and like I said I find their show entertaining but they are part of the googan over crowding problem. I know thy are just trying to sell advertising and fisherman just want to catch fish but between the shows in the winter and the near real time reports during the season, it has become a real problem boat or shore.

I don't see a solution to the problem and don't know what the responsible thing to do is. I actually stopped the mag because I had to make some statement as pitiful as that is. Also I found them pretty repetitive. I usually paw through a copy while I wait in my Dr's office now. IMO FB is now eclipsing the OTW problem. You have to keep your internet mouth shut and only talk to a few of your trusted friends, if anyone leaks it out you are doomed in no time. I am sure some of you like me belong a closed "pay site" where membership is limited but you have to be careful there too, if one of your internet friends tells someone and they post it in an open place, again, you are doomed. This almost always happens it seems. Fishing will never be the same and that makes me sad.