Last year I was in both the catfish and ice fishing contests. I had never fished for cats and had a steep learning curve ahead of me. A lot of people shared their knowledge and expertise with me and now I feel fairly competent and somewhat competitive. I have ice fished for years but I learned a great deal more last year during the contest thanks to a bunch of guys who took me fishing and educated me. Here's my question: how competitive and how cooperative should we be? I tend to make complete reports on my fishing trips, right down to the color of the specific lure and the size and shape of the bait. I like to share and pass on what I have learned. But what about in the contest? Should we hold our cards close to our vests? Should we keep what we caught and where, to some degree, to ourselves? I distinctly dislike the attitude that says, "I had to learn it all by myself--good luck." I'm just looking for opinions. I posted some fish in the contest last week and withheld the name of the lake where they were caught. I wasn't trying to be cagey; the ice was far from ready to be fished on but we found a way to be safe; we didn't want to encourage anyone to go there thinking that it was all ready to go. Otherwise I would have been happy to share what we did. Am I being too open?
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Craig I think that if your posting a fish don't you have to post where other than that I don't feel you have to disclose the location in public view. If someone is really interested in exact location and you feel inclined to share but keep it private pm it. I'm very open about my trips like have been this far except honey holes. I'm also open about baits I use as I hope it helps others but I do understand the nature of the game if someone keeps it to themselves I thought this little meme went well with this thread
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I think ice fishing is one of the best times to go with others and get to know them and learn from each other. Our prizes aren’t that great for the contest to blow a chance to get to know others because we’re afraid they might catch the big one. I like to join up when I can. My biggest problem is never knowing ahead of time if I’ll be able to go. But I hope to fish with some of you this year. Good luck all and remember to have fun most of all. Later Jeff
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Justin, we are allowed to keep one place to ourselves. I just never saw a reason to before.
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Thanks Jeff for your wise words.
Last year you told me that you tend to be a trophy fisherman. Without going into too much detail if you don't want to, how do you do that? I think I understand generally how to do that for catfish now but how do you do it for panfish, trout, etc.? I know that you have caught some huge trout in the last few winters. I'm thinking that picking the right water is key, but what else does one do to entice the big ones?
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I should of said I like to catch big ones, not that I’m any good at it. The main thing I’ve found is fishing waters that have big fish and then do it often so the odds get better. On pan fish I use the camera and try to let the big ones get a chance to take it and pull it away from the little guys. Wish I was a guru so I could help but I just hope for luck. Later Jeff
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