This is a good question, that is for sure but I wonder if it should be split into the boat fishermen and the shore fishermen grapevine question if it matters, or does it really matter? I noticed on the "Lurker" thread, that I thought was pretty funny overall, that while it became a "Please introduce yourself"-thread, most read to learn however I think that very few specific spots/areas are really given up on this site or any for that matter, that is, no one gives directions or exact places to go and fish, remember, I said for the most part.
Someone mentioned on the "OTW" thread and how it is hard/challenging for a print-publication to come up with new information/fishing reports when year after year not much changes and the fish are in a way predictable as to where and when they will come around and where they will hang out. I began to notice this trend when OTW first came out in 96/97 and for the first 3 years I noticed that the same areas were written about that continues to this very day, which is good but again, they are only areas as one writer had mentioned regarding Cod and the B-Bouy/outside Boston Harbor, to say you caught your fish at the B-Bouy is like saying you caught it in the Atlantic Ocean, not much help. Maybe to make the question more specific if I am rambling, what "grapevine" are we talking about here, magazines, the internet, the tackle/bait shop guy/kid, the guy you bumped into in the parking lot or some friends either close or casual?
As I sit trying to frame my response, I can only think the grapevine would matter if one has a grapevine, that is a lot of grapes or a lot of vines to speak with about fishing. As I fish from a boat just about 100% of the time, and I only know one other guy with a boat, and not many more who fish at all, I know my secrets are safe, then again, all I learned has been from the spots OTW gave up to me 10 years ago and I'd go to the spots and try all their suggestions over and over again, never giving up and trying, trying and trying. I also took note of where other boats would be, the boats that looked like they knew what they were doing and remember their location so I could try them later. I know that the party boats gave me lots of places to try since they really know where the bottom fish are anyway, so from a boaters perspective while it took me some time, the well-remembered path to catching has been most enjoyable. I really give all my info to my family and as I have no kids, yet, my nephew will be the one to really know where the Honeycomb-Hideouts are that I know of.
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