Internet forums and steelhead fishing

There is no doubt that internet forums provide a wealth of steelhead fishing information, and information in general.  When I was getting started I looked through the last several years of posts on the forums and you can find every answer to any question you could ever want to know.  However, there are some negative aspects of this I would like to discuss.  "spot burning" is 100% real.  That is when someone posts a picture of a specific location that is known.  On the internet there are hundreds of "trolls".  People that surf the forums looking for information but do no participate in conversations.  Post a picture of a popular spot, and the next day you will notice an increase in the amount of fishing traffic there.  I have seen this happen several times in my young steelhead career, and am much more guarded about things like that.  It's a different story to post them on my page, because you as a reader choose to come here and I appreciate that.  Plus many of the pictures I post people know about, and if you have never seen it, you probably won't know where it's at.  Anyways posting pictures with obvious backrounds can come back to hurt you, especially if you plan on fishing there the next day.  I am just now starting to see the other side of things regarding sharing specific spots.  There are certain spots that I will share with any of my steelhead friends, then there are a few "gems" still out there that I or a close friend may have stumbled upon and keep to ourselves.  It is great to help out fellow fisherman and watching a new guy/gal catch their first is a very rewarding experience.  At the end of the day though, there is nothing wrong with holding those select few spots close to yourself and your "circle".  Facebook has been the single most helpful tool when it comes to steelhead fishing.  I can see friends post pictures of water conditions, as well as reports and some funny stories that come along the way.  There is tons of information on the internet that can be very helpful to angler, but the best information of all is the kind that you learn on the water.  So you hear of a creek that may be great how do you know if it is? Go fish it, if it sucks then you know not to go back, never know it could be that last secret here on the Alley.

Got out with my buddy Don today. Fished one of our most productive tribs without even a sniff! It was weird to say the least, so we packed up and hopped around the alley. Ended up finding a decent number of fish to save the day. All fished picked up on BorXofire cured salmon, and steelhead eggs. Fish were in the tailOuts as well as the heads of some of the runs. Ran into one other fisherman all day, it was nice. Felt like we had the places all to ourselves. Seems that a lot of the fish have spawned and may be dropping back to the lake. We hit one fresher fish but most were colored up nicely. Overall it was a great day to be out in January!

Winter

It has been fairly cold here the last week. But with warmer temps this week things are looking good. Rocky has been producing this last week, and I even snuck out to a feeder and hit a fish before it locked up. Ice has been the burg issue on lines, guides and tackle. Ice off past applied the night before will help tremendously.

Check out this forum, it's a pretty cool place for us fisherman. Awesome name too.

http://www.bdfishermanspub.freeforums.org/

January

Fishing this January has been great so far. Good numbers of fish all throughout the system. I have fished from the V all the way east. Fish are all over, most in tails but on the warmer days they have been in the quicker runs too. All over the systems too. Most fish I have landed have been on Pautzke cured eggs. Their cures have UV in them, and this to me makes a difference. UV colors are easier to see in the murky water, making. Huge difference in catch rates.

Fire brine

Fishing has slowed down for me a little bit lately. Got out a few days ago and caught a couple. My go-to creeks are starting to see some pressure now, so in the next few weeks I will be out looking for some new creeks to hit before the main tribs come down.

Here is a great write up from Pautzke pro staffer Duane Inglin on how effective fire brine is for curing eggs here in the great lakes.

http://www.pautzke.com/fireblog_read.php?read=29