What's it all about

[bart]

Originally Posted by Canalman

Ron you're very lucky to have had the experiences you had and I think almost all of us would agree with what you've said about passing on the trade and tricks of it. Half the kids I see these days have the complexion of a bone Red Fin and talk about vampires and video games more than they do about building a fort, riding bikes or going fishing--it kills me. I feel like we're nearing the last great generation of fishermen and its not going to be because of a lack of fish like we all thought. It's sad, really sad. Fishing has run my life since I was 8 years old and I take a lot of comfort from hearing about or meeting people that might be more than twice my age that are still hammering it--I know this will be a lifelong passion and I do try to pass on as much as I can whenever the opportunity arises.

The bit you added about spot burning is an unfortunate side effect of the internet. The reason it was not a worry back in your younger years is because information didn't travel like it does now. There are hordes of "anglers" who spend their free time trolling these boards looking for someone to post a telling photo, or worse, a good report detailing where and how they knocked 'em dead last night. This is where so many of today's newer fishermen are being sold short by their own greed and need to prove that they can hang with the "big boys". They are not learning anything about why the fish are in spot A or how to locate their own hotspots. And unfortunately quite a few very good spots have been chewed up pretty badly by these occasional errant posts or revealing photos. In a time where so many owners of waterfront property appear to have skipped a few days in nursery school (No, they're MY LEGOS!) and access is dwindling by the day... location specific information simply has to be kept on the downlow in my opinion. And a great amount of care has to be given to choosing who this information is given to even on a person to person basis. It's crazy, and yes, you might argue that this behavior might suggest that I skipped the same days in nursery school--but I've seen what happens when too much info is shared and it's not pretty.

I wish I met Bob Pond and Stan Gibbs!

-Dave

I think this whole post pretty much nails it on the head. Well said...

I met Stan Gibbs' son (I forget his name, I think he had long white hair) down at the canal one day when I was probably 15 so this was 14 years ago. I was working a Gibbs pencil when he approached me and told me I fished the pencil exactly how his father intended it to be fished. To me, that was like the biggest compliment anyone could have ever paid me, especially coming from him.