Who spies on other fishermen?

[gaddy]

Been doing this for years. Thought about it today at a trout pond. Fished for an hour with no bites, well I had a couple dinks play with my stuff but no serious takers. Stopped to talk to a buddy on the way out who had 3 in a bucket. " nothing happening here " As we talked for a bit I noticed he was getting bites quite often and couldn't hook up. What are you doing, using ?? Same old stuff he says. Well he reels in and I notice that he is using the same stuff I had used a couple of days before when I had kicked his butt on fish, and in the same spot.
 Got to thinking about how many times I have watched other fisher-people, what they are using and how they were fishing. Most people will not tell you.
 This happens a lot when Steel heading. How deep is their bobber stop, jig or just bait, colors, scents??
 Any way, How many of you are fishing spies??

[fowl smacker]

First off, why didn't you keep using what was working for you before?  Of course I peek, who doesn't?  Often times, I'm the one being peeked at though.  I especially love it when I'm in a hog line and we get a fish to the opposite side of the boat that the "peekers" are on.  We'll quickly bring the fish on board and I'll have a lure of a different color on hand, I'll swap them real quick and before I put the "new" lure in the water, I'll just hang it there for them to get a good looksie.  It usually isn't too long and they're reeling in their gear to swap colors.  Then I'll swap back to the fish catcher.  Haha, just a fun game we play.  P.S.  this has backfired on me twice where the peekers hooked up immediately after putting on my fake lure color. 

[Sandberm]

Yep, binoculars in the boat when steelheading. Nothing wrong with that. 

[MADMAX]

What color you using ?
How deep are you ?
My buddy on the radio every time

[Lucky1]

Yep, binoculars in the boat when steelheading. Nothing wrong with that. 

Where I came from binoculars were called Minnesota fish finders.

[Badhabit]

Rule number one when fishing. Repeat success.

[HillHound]

Yeah it’s crazy how secretive we are but you go down to Cabo and all the boats fly flags that tell other boats what they are catching and on what color.

[metlhead]

Many times I fake the "fish on" when other boats pass by on lonely stretches. Easy to do steelheading. They will linger at a distance as I "hook" a few more. Roll out, and they are on that spot right quick. Everbody spies

[Stein]

It's all part of the game.  Watch others, hide your stuff, it's hard not to compete.  The once or twice a year I am all by myself it's really hard to figure out what to do.

[jstone]

Or you can just be upfront
Tell me the best fishing spots and what to use?

[Stein]

Or you can just be upfront
Tell me the best fishing spots and what to use?

Buoy 10, triangle flasher and anchovie, week before Labor Day.

[WSU]

Or you can just be upfront
Tell me the best fishing spots and what to use?

Buoy 10, triangle flasher and anchovie, week before Labor Day.

Horrible advice. Herring all the way.

[RB]

What color you using ?
How deep are you ?
My buddy on the radio every time

 

[Ridgeratt]

Last year during the sturgeon season there was a member from here who when I was observing the other boats in the area was peeking also. I waved, he waved back.
I later found out his secret identity from here
😎

[7mmfan]

We all do to some extent. I know I do. That's how we learn. I remember fishing an eastern WA lake with clients one time when the river was blown out. It was hot as blazes and the normal approach wasn't working. There was one other guy on the lake, and he was slaying them. I watched as he set his indicator, and counted how many arm lengths he used. HOLY SMOKES he is fishing deep. Deepened our presentation up and bam, bam, bam! Sometimes we just need a little nudge.

In general, I'm pretty willing to share information when on the river. All the info is out there now for people to find. Most of us know it's not the lure, but the presentation that really matters.

[Onewhohikes]

I know I do I like to see what he/she is eating for lunch.

[Taco280AI]

I'm guilty of it. Remember many years ago fishing off the Emonds pier, most people were using white Darts, and with decent success. At one point I was there several days with no fish, as with the others. A guy showed up with Megabait, three casts, fish on! Saw him the next day, first cast, fish on! I left and didn't come back till I had Megabait, and didn't take too long till fish on!

[KP-Skagit]

My dad used to carry around the most ridiculous as seen on TV lure to tie on after the end of a good day of fishing. He would display it proudly as we pulled the boat out and more than once people asked about it. Not sure the name of the lure but it was a hybrid of a synthetic cut plug, spinner bait and crankbait all in one.

[bassquatch]

I used to all the time! Kept a pair of binos on the boat for overly busy bodies of water. If the guy 100 yards away from me just went through an area throwing a spinnerbait, then I don't want to follow behind him doing the same cause it's generally a waste of time!

Been about 10 years since I packed binos now. Once I was able to fish weekdays more often, I lost the need for them.

[dilleytech]

If you’re not paying attention to the people who are catching better then you then you’re really missing out. I don’t try to hard to hide what I’m doing but when a total stranger asks what bait I’m using or what depth I’m fishing I find it very rude and will almost always lie. You are supposed to learn by watching others around you. Not by begging strangers for there hard earned secrets. There’s plenty of info sharing going on by people thirsty for attention on the internet as is.

[hunter_sean08]

I'm speaking from the perspective of a diehard saltwater Chinook fisherman. It's pretty classic to get the drive-by interviews or text messages out on the salmon trolling grounds after putting a fish in the box. At the most I'm giving generic answers on gear unless it's someone from the "inner circle".

I'm always watching other boats and keeping tabs on who's catching and who isn't. I'm watching for where they're catching fish and what color flasher they're using. I also look at what their speed is. Oftentimes it's clear who knows what they're doing versus who doesn't know what they're doing just by watching how fast they're trolling.

When it comes to salmon, your ability to catch fish depends way more on how you're fishing versus what lures, scents, flashers, etc. you're fishing with in my opinion. If you're using a deep six to troll with as opposed to a downrigger for example, well you're going to catch less fish and that's a fact. Check your speed, your depth, your ability to stay at said desired depth, etc. Follow the tides, pay attention to what people are doing around you when the tide is in the process of changing. Heck, look at how many people are already fishing when you arrive at your spot. If there's already a handful of boats out there you should ask yourself "should I have woken up earlier?".

You won't get many worthwhile answers from successful fishermen because success is coveted when it comes to certain fisheries. That's why observing is arguably the most powerful tool you have when it comes to learning the art.

[bassquatch]

Not to mention it all comes down to execution! I've been on plenty of trips with my buddy in which we were using the exact same thing and one of us was hammering the fish while the other was scratching his head all day!

[Hilltop123]

Nothing wrong with a little, situational awareness.

[jeffro]

When I used to guest moorage my boat in Edmonds, over the summer, back when there were decent seasons.... LOL
I’d  come in with limits pretty regularly, fish and crab, next thing I know, I start noticing some of the other boats from my pier in my spots.
I wasn’t really partial to them tailing me so I started leading them to no mans land (like mid-channel bank) Once they showed up I’d leave them in the dust to the next spot, which was usually a dogfish/ seal party back at Possession.
They would show up 10-15 minutes later, if I wasn’t catching fish already I’d pull up and run up to check my crab pots up by Greenbank.
Most wouldn’t follow after the second time I did this, none of them had enough fuel....
Then I would go to my honey holes unmolested
I keep my cell phone handy and use the radios to talk to my buddies.
That’s all I need if my spots aren’t producing

[lokidog]

My ex wife should have "spied".... I continuously out fished her with same rod/reel and gear, would she ever pay attention to the difference in my retrieve? Nope, idiot....