Dom Garnett – have specimen anglers gone mad with their secrecy?
When it comes to our better catches, has the whole angling world gone a bit too KGB? Dom Garnett doctors the evidence…
IS THERE anything more natural than wanting to share news of a great catch with your friends?
For previous generations it must have been a simple, satisfying pleasure. Arms would be outstretched and eyebrows raised over a pint. Inevitably, the best stories spread further than the captor intended.
So how on earth have we reached today’s situation of paranoia and surveillance? In the internet age, a single picture can be accessible to hundreds of others at a click. Few of us are completely innocent either. After all, as human beings we are wired to seek approval – hence that stream of ‘likes’ that follows a notable catch is addictive. Even if you are not silly enough to make the exact location obvious, news spreads quickly. We see others castigated for naming waters or showing recognisable places, but is this fair? Surely, if there is any fault, it lies with the pack of sad gits who will literally study every last blade of grass in the swim for their shot at instant glory?
So what can be done? Most of us learn to be more careful with what we share. We end up deliberately taking pictures with obscure backgrounds, or even smudging or editing out details.
This might not always matter for bread and butter catches or those tougher or more elusive species, but a single careless angler can kill fragile fish like pike. Hence the ridiculous shot below.
It does take a bit of the shine off a capture for me, though. After weighing and releasing a fish, we should be basking in the glory, not worrying about the consequences of telling anyone!
For anyone who contributes to print or digital publishing, the whole issue of sharing information can be an even bigger headache. On the one hand, readers want to know where to fish. I don’t own the waterways, and nor do I want the sport to be insular and unwelcoming. But I also have to respect friends and trusted contacts. The last thing I want to see is hordes of uninvited guests raid their favourite spots.
Whether or not this was ever the intention, this has happened with plenty of bloggers, film-makers and Facebook addicts. And yes, in helping others to enjoy fishing on my home patch I’ve almost certainly assisted the odd dodgy or unscrupulous angler.
Ultimately, then, perhaps the sad truth is that too many digital anglers want a shortcut to success. Part of it is our own fault for creating a sport where big fish and the approval of others hold too much sway.
Have some anglers become too lazy to find their own spots or do the hard work? If so, it’s their loss, because they’ll seldom have that sense of mystery and figuring it out for yourself that is surely one of the greatest joys.