I have to admit I'm part of the interent fishing and occasional cell phone tip fly fishing crowd. I don't think we, as fly fishers, are as bad as that less intelligent spin fishing crowd. Of course with that I am kidding. They are a good resource. There's more of them. There's a ton of good anglers out there. And they are hardcore, maybe harder core, fishing around the clock and in all kinds of shitty conditions.
People get all up and bothered over the spot burn, especially when there's a bite in a particularly remote access location or one where there's only a spot for a few anglers. And if a spot can hold space for four spin anglers, that means one or two with the fly rod. If you are conscience of spot burning, like I try to be, and are involved in social media, then fighting the resistance to share your catch online is a daily struggle.
I have always preferred to document outings, both running solo or with clients back in the day, by illustrating what you could encounter while fishing. Beautiful, or not settings, the angler in action, and if lucky a Nat Geo scene when nature is showing itself in all of it's glory. As of this spring I constructed the viewing tanks, one at 30 inches and one at 40 inches. That was done "To keep them Wet". That is a labor of love. It takes planning, work, the right fish, and the willing ness to have to lug it and set it up for the right moment.
There's are different levels of spot burning. You'll see anglers hoisting a catch with, let's say a ferris wheel in the background, or something like the Verrazano Bridge, which could tip off a whole bunch of surf or boat anglers that there's fish in the area. This fall we had "the run", where the fish were in tight and either camped out in one town or working there way south and blowing through towns as they blew through the bait.
While the cell phones were in effect, this year we saw the phenomenon of surf cam fishing. It used to be all you needed was a truck, binoculars, and a cell phone and if fish were on the bite from Sandy Hook to say LBI you could find them, even though you'd now have to go out and catch them. Surf cams are really cool. They work for the folks who have a long drive down to the beach and a quick hit on a site can show you what conditions are on the beach, and who's out there fishing. Things like water quality and wave action can be seen on the cams and can help one make the decision to go or not. They also can show blitzes on the beach, which we saw for about a month along the Jersey Shore this fall.
So now as the fall and winter run ends I look to the long, and what appears it's going to be, cold winter. There will be a few fly fishing shows and a lot of tying getting ready for the spring. Last year, after a long three years, I finally got into a stride and was able to have success on the Delaware River. This is not an easy fishery to learn and have succes in, especially for the fly rodder. Unfortunately, any successes I had I had to keep tight lipped or make delayed posts as to not blow things up, nor piss off the small group of anglers I have befriended. So a lot of pics were of fish in the water, where they below, without sight or mention of locations.
I was texting back and forth the other day with one of the guys I fish out west with. He wants to make a season long video taking snippets each time he goes. It would be very cool to see it when finished, but it can only be for a few in the know to see, otherwise you would "that guy" that it blew it up when the trollers take quick advantage of those putting lots of time in to learn and enjoy a fishery.