Well, despite the monster thread and debate, I've tried to keep my opinions to myself regarding the whole OTW thing (OK, so I made a couple of posts in the thread, I couldnt help myself
)
I want to preface this by saying two things:
1. This all may be coincidental
2. I have MAJOR problems with only one of the spot burns in OTW, the rest are fairly well known, easy to find spots.
Last night my fishing partner (PIEMMA) and I arrive at one of the well known spots 'burned' in the article. Now last night was arguably one of the nastiest nights of the year to fish; sideways rain, 30-40kt gusts and surf that was hard to walk in let alone fish in, in short my favorite kind of weather. We fished out as far as we could into the surf, I managed to get onto my usual spot, and ended up having an OK night as far as the fishies went. The unusual thing about last night was the parade of people coming to and from the spot. I came out of the water to find no less than 6 people either fishing or standing around (all w/ headlights on constantly I might add). I didnt think much of it as this spot fishes well in rough weather and was one of the only spots fishable that night. What struck me was the fact that I didnt recognize anyone (odd) and also where everyone parked was exactly where the article said to park, as well as where they were fishing, which was basically right ontop of one of the X's on Steve's map.
Now any look at a map will tell you this is a fishy spot, it gets crowded all the time on weekends, but that last nasty weekend night we had (pre-article) I fished almost alone for several hours. Post article, an even sh!tier night (weeknight!) was packed.
Now I have to say several good points about the people on the beach, as there is a good chance they lurk or post and I dont want to be a spot nazi. LAst night was very tough conditions, the wind was against the tide very hard. Paul and I fish toggethor alot and and have a pretty good routine down and we managed to wrap leaders a few times. The guys all on spot X were respectful (or chicken
) enough to stay where they were. I never felt crowded even when I had to turn a light on to unhook a fish. When I came off the beach noone ran up and asked what I had been catching or using for a plug (it happens there!)
My personal feeling is that several of these spots are very easy to get to and fish, and will get more crowded because of the article. What does that mean for me? on nice pleasant light wind nights I cant fish there, it will be crowded, so I will have to go elsewhere. Just my 0.02, but anyone who thinks that the articles wont have an impact, I beg to disagree...
tight lines and happy fishing....
Bryan
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