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Thread: Hotspotting ...

  1. #1

    Arrow Hotspotting ...

    ... is a term that came up on a thread on the Fishing Reports Forum.

    It was used in reference to simply identifying by name a 50 mile long river that is well known in Western Montana ( and probably Northern Idaho ) and is featured on a prominent website on angling in Montana - www.bigskyfishing.com.

    The few times I have seen the term used, hotspotting has refered to a particular place or stretch of a stream or river - like the second bend below Harry's place or the run just downstream of mile marker 18 or the hole below Big Joe Bend, or something like that. So I was surprised to see it used as described above.

    Curious how you use the term and what you mean when you do ??

    John
    The fish are always right.

  2. #2

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    Personally, I never get more specific than a waterbody name, and that only if it's a VERY well known waterbody. In order words, if I can expect to go there and see a crowd, then I don't mind naming it publicly.

    So, for example, if I was fishing the lower Shoshone, I'd tell people I was fishing the lower Shoshone, because I know there's already going to be 3-4 other cars in the parking lot when I fish there. I wouldn't publicize that I was fishing at XXX Access Point.

    Even if it's a river that's somewhat well publicized, but I can fish it without feeling crowded, I won't mention it.

    So, for instance, if it was a moderately popular river in Alberta, I'll say I was in Canadaland, but I wouldn't tell people that I was fishing the XXX River.

    If it's somewhere that I rarely see other anglers, the most specific I'll get is usually a state. In fact, I'll go out of my way to attempt to be discrete. I'll try to avoid showing landmarks that could be recognized on Google Earth, etc. Considering 99% of my fishing occurs in the latter 2 categories... yeah, I pretty much never tell people when I'm fishing.

    One of my favorite streams is hidden a long ways from anything in Wyoming. The fishing is good, the scenery is great, and on the most crowded day I've ever seen, I saw a footprint. The fact that I can have the whole river to myself, and be surrounded by nothing but nature (moose, elk, deer, still haven't seen a bear) is what makes it special. In this day and age of easy mass communication, I know it won't last forever, but right now it's really special, and I selfishly want to keep it that way. There was a time when places like the Madison River were like that. Now, I have very little interest in going there - fishing around crowds like that just isn't my cup of tea. So if I can preserve a few more special places for a few more years by not publicizing them, I'm going to do my part.

    Now, that being said, I will TAKE certain people to these places, but not just anybody. And one of the first things I do is beg them not to publicize it - because it's the remoteness and the solitude that makes them unique.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    The term is used quite a bit around here in the driftless area of the midwest. It seems to mainly be used when locations are shared through public internet forums and web pages and available to perhaps hundreds of lurkers. There are no "secret" places anymore (and, in fact, all of our streams are identified in a booklet published by the DNR), but the streams are pretty small and consequently probably can't take as much pressure as a bigger western freestone stream. You cretainly don't want to be following another angler as they'll likely disturb the water enough to limit your success. So it's pretty commonplace around here to not name stream names in public fishing reports. If you were to name streams and do so a public forum / web page, some people around here would consider that hot spotting and inappropriate. People share more specific information in private individual communications.
    Last edited by johnstoeckel; 05-21-2013 at 07:23 PM.

  4. #4

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    I generally name a stream, but not the location unless its to reference a well-known, nearby easy access point.

  5. #5
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    I've never used that term, but I grit my teeth whenever any of my favorite spots show up in other posts. And it doesn't have to be a "turn at this sign and drive X miles and pull over by the big tree". For instance, most of the photos of trout you post from the Lochsa have enough background in them that I can tell what pool you are standing in, and in some cases, what rock. Not a big deal since I am 900 miles away, but there are places on that river I gave up fishing because everyone said "go to this hole and fish", and there is ALWAYS someone in that spot. Then again, I can't see the attraction of standing in the same spot all day, or day after day, and recatching the same fish, either.

    I learned long ago the best way to have a river become crowded was to advertise how good the fishing was, and to tell people where and how to fish it, so I don't do that any more. I take pics of fish, yes, and say I was in a particular river, but I try real hard to not have any identifiers in the photo (although I have had people ID a spot from a single rock in the water), and I don't get detailed about how I caught em. Most of the time. If someone wants to know, they can always ask, but I am under no obligation to give up hard-earned info to people not willing to put forth their own efforts.

  6. #6
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    I guess I am pretty easy going on this. Coming to Denver? Fish the South Platte in Cheesman Canyon or downstream a bit around Deckers. Or hit the Colorado between Hot Sulfur Springs and Kremmling.

    But I have some small mountain streams that I only share with out of state visitors. They can't take the pressure the big rivers can take.

  7. #7
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    I thought this was going to be a thread about tying a bright spot into a fly!!!??

  8. #8
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    Tig, if you add a little red to the throat area on a fly that could be a form of hotspotting. Actually, more in tune with the thread, I have always been very open about where I fish. I don't own the water, it is there for everyone to enjoy. If I can make it so someone else has a great experience when fishing, so much the better. Larry ---sagefisher---

  9. #9
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    You can't hotspot an already hotspot.

    Regards,

    Silver

    "Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought"..........Szent-Gyorgy

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Silver Creek View Post
    You can't hotspot an already hotspot.

    Yikes!! I'm headin' down that long lonesome highway!
    When you can arrange your affairs to go fishing, forget all the signs, homilies, advice and folklore. JUST GO.

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