Would you give it up...

[Pail Rider]

The location of your honey-hole that is.  Got a guy (he is my butcher that cuts my venison) who is hounding me to take him to catch some slab crappies.  He has seen pics of some of my catches and is on me like a pit-bull on a 3-year old to take him there.  The problem is, if I tell him then he'll be there everyday with his buddies...

Would you tell him to pack salt or be a good doobie and take him there??

[brookiebomber477]

i say find a mediocre spot and bring him there making up stories about all of your big fish that were caught "right by that log over there" or "near the shore by that point"

if you don't get anything good, then tell him you must have fished it out already!

[hard_water]

no way dude i would not tell him , show him i would take him out to a different spot on the lake or even a whole different lake. if you know up front he will abuse your freindship and fish your spots to death then its up to him to find his own spots.


                                            water

[bigfish_1556]

I'd start butchering my own venison and forget about it.  Obviously in his business he talks with a lot of folks that are prone to ice fishing as well......

I like the previous post, too - take him to a decent spot, just not THE SPOT.

That or just ask him man to man not to give it up and cross your fingers

[adkRoy]

Find a very large lake, Take him for  a long walk across it and tell him you caught it in that area. Most guys won't walk that far. 

[adkRoy]

oh make sure the lake has crappies in it.

[Pail Rider]

oh make sure the lake has crappies in it.

LOL, that was my plan...there is another lake nearby that holds crappie, but not nearly the size of the slabs I've been icing.

My mind was already made up prior to making this thread, I just wanted to see if everyone else thinks like me.  This guy is super-nice guy, he's pushing 60, he just runs his mouth too much.  As I said before, he butchers my venison and we've talked about where I hunt.  Well after taking a couple nice deer with the bow in my deer honey hole a few years ago, I noticed a couple people in there that had never hunted there before...coincedence, I think not.  Now I give him a line of bull where I'm hunting and suprise, there are trucks in those spots, but not my honey hole.

[Jenk]

IMO, if you think he'll take advantage of the spot and your friendship, I'd say no, don't take him there, take him somewhere else and lie through your teeth.  But if you want to see him catch those slabs, blind-fold him all the way there with his hands tied so he can't see where you're going....hold his hand to the spot on the ice, then allow him to fish.  Blind-fold him again for the way home as well.    I only take people to my honey hole that I trust 110%.  If I don't trust them, they're not going     Just my opinion. 

[fish_finder]

 I wouldnt take him if you think he is going to fish it every day and show others where it is. Like the other guys said, take him somewhere thats maybe ok and make something up.

[jgguppyboy2]

if you cant trust him to keep it to himself then no way!  your spot would be fished out in a year.


                      ~Stefan~

[perch chaser]

The location of your honey-hole that is.  Got a guy (he is my butcher that cuts my venison) who is hounding me to take him to catch some slab crappies.  He has seen pics of some of my catches and is on me like a pit-bull on a 3-year old to take him there.  The problem is, if I tell him then he'll be there everyday with his buddies...

Would you tell him to pack salt or be a good doobie and take him there??

1st how is as a butcher?
2nd does he know where you hunt? does have a gun too?
3rd take him to the spot, but not right on the the spot. a few hundred paces makes a world of difference. oh by the way, you should know the good and bad times to go.

[empty hook]

The location of your honey-hole that is.  Got a guy (he is my butcher that cuts my venison) who is hounding me to take him to catch some slab crappies.  He has seen pics of some of my catches and is on me like a pit-bull on a 3-year old to take him there.  The problem is, if I tell him then he'll be there everyday with his buddies...

Would you tell him to pack salt or be a good doobie and take him there??

I know you have  made up your mind just a short story to show you you made the right choice.  I know a guy that took his best friend to his shanty where he had been catching limits.  Friend swore he won't tell. He ended up with so many holes around his shanty he thought it would sink. Not really but a lot of holes,and no more limits.

[jayswimmer09]

i agree with all of u guys def take him on a nother lake

[pike-perch01]

i took my best friend to my honey hole.i had only seen 3 other fishermen there in the last ten years.now he brings 5 guys there all the time and i am not included.he is now my ex-best friend.i had hunted and fished with him for twenty years.i go alone now and enjoy the solitude.and i have now found a better honey hole on a different lake.

[nunzio]

  kenman, are you a former watcher of Romper Room? Haven't heard that phrase in a long time.
Good fishing buddies are hard to find.......good spots even harder! Nothing worse than the feeling after a "trusted bud" spills the beans on a spot/bite.
I'll go fishing with most anybody......but I take very few fishing with me  

[jigmasterjr]

prerig his traps with some precaught crappie from a different spot and let him pull them up lol just joking id bring him somewhere decent but not your honey hole

[dabber-doo]

Lmao you better hope your butcher is not a member of ice shanty

[Little Brown Dog]

Nope, He is in the perfect place to give info to others.  Same as the bait shop.  They ask where I'm fishing I tell them mud pond!  Trying for a limit of ROCK BASS!!!  They leave me alone then.

[blue mule]

go to a lake neither of you have fished before. charge out like you know where you're going. punch holes like a pentagram, or a crop circle. fish like you're gonna fill your truck. when you go home with an empty bucket, tell your friend the best spots don't always produce all the time. tell him try at night, or noon or 2:12 a.m. the best fishermen get skunked now and then. tell him to try it out. when he heads to your spot, go to the honey hole. just clean the fish yourself.

[dabber-doo]

So Kenman did ya take him to another lake or not? and if ya did, did ya catch any fish? Or is he a ice shanty member and read this and pulled out the cleaver on ya? lmao 

[scavengerj]

  good one dabber! Knowing what he has done in the past. Knowing that he will talk with alot of people. Having any "gut feeling", I'd have to say I wouldn't tell him either. I'd take him out, maybe even to the same lake but, under no circumstances would I put him on the "spot". Had that happen with guys who worked the baitshop I always went to. Nice guys, friendly and such. While getting bait one afternoon I mentioned to them where I had caught three muskies. I didn't tell them where I was going that evening but, it was to that spot. Lo and behold they showed up! Two of them! The spot is so tight you can only fish one person on it but damn if they didn't want to try and elbow me out of the way. After they saw I wasn't going to give them any ground, they took the hint and left. I am open to sharing with others but you have got to give something in return  And if told or taken to a spot and asked not to tell anyone, I honor that request as I hope mine would be. Only one that knows my best spots is my girl 

[RLWagner]

Kenman,

You answered your own question. You said he would be there everyday? Uh.....what are you missing here? If I show a honey hole I have an advanced agreement that dude will only go when I take him, or he does not go at all. I am sure most people here have seen a honey hole fished out in a year or two? If he is gunna be there every day, then he will also brag and bring others. Say good bye to honey hole. Entire age classes will dis-appear and your prime spawneers will be decimated.

Just my opinion, but this is  a no brainer! NO access to the honey hole!!! That is only for the closest of friends or acquantances that agree to keep their mouth closed.

[njsimonson]

he just runs his mouth too much

Loose lips sink ships.  If you have a truly "secret" spot and want to keep it that way, don't tell anyone let alone Blabbermouth the butcher. 

Nothing wrong with helping folks find fish, but crappie lakes, especially of smaller size, simply cannot take much pressure before you're left with a slew of 6-9" fish, and no big'uns. 

I have been entrusted with one such crappie spot, and only my fiance and I go there on the advice of a family friend with the promise that we tell no one - and we do exactly that.  Keep it between US. 

[SPARKYICE]

check out the thread "oak leaf grubs havesting" in n.y. general.
i posted that i would'nt give up my spots to find bait, and one of the guys felt i was a bit selfish and uncooperative.
well, it's just that i've been burnt just like a lot of you guys, and i'm alot more careful now.
if you bust your butt to find a special spot. it's yours. most people have the same resources to find places as you, but some just don't want to do the leg work.
besides, i like going places i've never been.

[stumper]

I wonder if he is still around,this thread was started in feb.

[vermonner]

good topic.  a guy I work with killed the trout this year on opening day and I saw pics.  Asked him if he would show me where and he said "it's my buddies spot, I wouldn't feel right coughing it up."  I totally respect that and put in a request that if his buddy ever needed a fishing partner, to look me up and left it at that.  Furthermore, when I get on to a hot spot, I usually keep it to myself.  There are 2 fishing buddies I have who I would tell it to, but
1) they're often with me and
2) they keep their traps shut

Never tell a big mouth unless you want to spend time with him at your honey hole

[Mainedog]

No.

[fishinjim]

And don't feel guilty about it. I have some friends who hired a guide on a large lake around here. He took them to some of his spots, but told them he could not take them to his hot spots, because he had a tourny coming up. They caught some fish, but not many. Many people I know will only tell you LAKE X. AND I don't blame them, Give up good spots on small lakes and soon you won't have any fish youself.
                             SECRET SPOTS ARE SECRET FOR A REASON

[BUCKSKI]

Ya still have to catch em!
But I would also use a plan B lake, not the holy grail!

[IceMANCooketh]

My old man always told me the following about taking my buddies to our hot spots:

"You take your friend, he takes two of his friends, they take their friends and we do not have a spot to fish anymore." 

I only take people I know won't tell about the sweet spots or those that do not live close enough to pound the spots.