[Kai]

Help me out here folks.

Here's my situation.

A friend of mine that I fish with occasionally accidentally discovered an amazing fishing spot. It's 10 minutes from my house, has lots of big, 12+ inch trout, and I doubt anyone has ever fished there, because it's the sort of place that you would never believe would support trout (much less good sized trout.)

It's public land, with easy access (once you know where to go.)

Can I fish his secret spot without guilt? He's been talking about it for some time now. What's the etiquette about fishing other people's secret spots that they divulge to you? If I go there and catch (and release) these trout, am I a bad person?

[BigCliff]

Well, if he didn't want you to know about it, he probably wouldn't have told you. Just ask him if he would mind if you fishing it.

If you do end up fishing it, smash the barbs down on your hooks so you don't injure the fish's mouth after catching them. It also would help to get a mesh net to use to land the fish. This will cause less of the fish's protective slime to be removed when you land them. One last thing that will help protect the fishery is to wade in it as little as possible.

Oh yeah, and don't leave trash.

[BruceN]

I think that if he didn't want you to fish there then he probably shouldn't have let you in on the secret. Fish away. I think it would be bad manners to tell anyone else about it without consulting with your friend first, though.

Bruce

[Frank Whiton]

I would call the fellow and say; "lets go fish that spot you told me about". If he can't go ask him if he minds if you go and fish it. I would then act according to his comments. Remember that real good friends are few and far between.

[Fish Bones]

Well... you know your friend better than we do... so let your conscience be your guide. Friendships have been won and lost over fishing spots.

But I have to think that if he didn't want you to fish the spot then he never would have told you about it. I mean that's how I would look at it if the rolls were reversed. If I told you about my secret spot then I would expect that you would fish it any time you want. However, I would stress to you to not tell anyone else.

Its public land so fish it. Tell your friend that you did. If he gets mad at you then perhaps he's not as good of a friend as you thought.

[Reactor]

Don't fish it without his permission! I have had many people fish or hunt a speacial lplace that I told them in confidence and it made me mad. Sounds stupid but it's human nature.
People used to look for my truck and then find where I was fishing. Once I found out that this was happening I found myself hiking very far from my truck to keep fishing spots secret.
Take the time to find new spots. It's fun and challenging. Theres more to fishing than catching.
Good Luck.

[Kai]

Originally Posted by Frank Whiton

I would call the fellow and say; "lets go fish that spot you told me about". If he can't go ask him if he minds if you go and fish it. I would then act according to his comments. Remember that real good friends are few and far between.

I've been trying to get him to fish there with me, but he's busy and doesn't have the time.

I've been out "scouting" the place (with no fishing gear) and it's just like he said; big lunker trout.

I'm going to let him know I want to fish it with him, but if he can't get off his duff and go soon, I'm going to go fish it without him.

And no, I'm not going to tell anyone else about it.

[Colorado Cajun]

I think you are in the clear to fish it, especially if it is on public land. I'd be careful that everyone else don't catch on to you going there and I'd definitly not tell anyone else about it since he is the one who discovered it and shared it with you. I'd say go and have no guilt.

[Kai]

I fished it.

Caught and released two good sized fish (rainbows, no less.)

Broke off two more (6x tippet), and had 5 or 6 strikes where I missed setting the hook.

Got some strange looks from some folks walking by.

[madriverbrown]

A good friend of mine has a secret place within fifteen minutes of where we live. You can catch quality size smallmouth everytime (3-4 lbs). He finally took me there last summer it was awesome. One day he had to work over and I wanted to go wading , so I went. The next day he asked me if I went to "The Spot". Couldn't lie to a friend ,told him I did. He told me straight up that if he didn't want me to go there he wouldn't have showed me the spot.