I know this will be difficult for some of you to achieve, but it must be done. We have the finest in brainwashing materials and self-help guides if you are overwhelmed by how to go about this. Just ask, we are here to help.
Along with not talking about spots any more, there is a whole new way of taking and manipulating pictures so as to not give away where you are fishing. Even a mere cloud in the sky or a lone tree on the shore, might be enough to tip off the hordes of fisherman that want your spot and will rape it of all fish if they find it.
In the past you would simply take a picture, crop it nicely and post it on the internet. Pretty much like the example below.
Well any idiot would know, based on the above picture, that I am in Batavia at Les Arends Forest Preserve. They would know that I am parked in the middle parking lot. They could then figure out that I am 150 yards up stream of the wheel chair ramp standing on the south edge of the chute of water that curves down and between a couple of islands. They would then know that I am fishing the edge of the chute where the bottom is made up of large limestone slabs that are bitch to wade through because they drop off sharply and if you're not prepared it will send a jolt of pain all up and down your spine. They would then know that I was casting downstream a 4.5 inch pumpkinseed chartreuse Producto twister attached to a 1/16th ounce jig with a 2/0 hook and just letting it swim around in the current letting it bounce up and down and behind all this limestone. And they would know that I could feel the smallies pick it up and then let go, pick it up again, hold it and then give it a pop like popping down an olive. Then they would know that is exactly when I would set the hook.
Well, because from that one photo the average fisherman can tell all those things, and because there are tens of thousands of fisherman visiting local fishing forums looking for just those kinds of photos so they can go right to the spot, it is no longer recommended to put up photos like that. Below is an example of how the background can be completely eliminated to conceal where you are. All that the viewer will know is that you caught a nice fish, it was sunny out and you smoke cheap cigars. That is more than enough information for them to know.
But let's say you're out by yourself and you still want to get a decent picture. First is to shoot down at the fish as you hold it by its jaw with its tail just barely out of the water. This way the background is nothing but water.
Second is to crop the image of the fish closely in Photoshop.
This conceals most of the background of where you were fishing. But you have to be careful using this technique. If you are in water that I've fished, I've memorized miles of shoreline. Something so simple as that tree in the background might be recognizable by guys like me. You can bet I'll be out there the next day, in your spot, trying to hook every fish in the area. I'm sure there are thousands of guys on the fishing forums waiting to do that exact same thing.
Third technique is to get in extremely tight on the fish. This way the background is pretty much completely gone, we can see what kind of fish it was and you can just tell us how long and/or heavy it was and we'll believe you. Following are some examples of this technique.
Finally there is the most preferred method. It blocks out the background, but lets the viewer see the fish in its entirety. AND the benefit is that it conceals the identity of the person holding the fish. Here are three example of what I'm describing.
This is important, there are hundreds of fisherman willing to follow and stalk the successful fisherman out there that are leaving there images on fishing websites.
I am not making this up.
So, I have yet to decide whether to make these new guidelines a rule or just keep them as suggestions. All I know is that if you post a lot of details on a local fishing website, and hundreds of thousands of fisherman look at those details and go looking for your spot, don't come here whining and bitching when you go to your spot and it looks like this.
