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.