Just about everyone knows fishermen can be secretive and less than truthful about the size of the fish they catch and how they caught them. This has been going on for ages. Tournament fishermen are a perfect example. They not only guard the secret places where they caught their fish, but they also jealously guard the type of lures they used to catch those fish.
Years ago there was a well-known tournament fisherman who wouldn’t go in the local tackle shops if other customers were there. He would wait until the store was empty and then go in to do his shopping. Tournament anglers are known for putting different lures on their fishing rods before weighing in to fool their competitors.
When a bass fisherman finds a new lure that catches fish, he will guard that secret with his life and will go to great lengths to hide it from other fishermen. When the tournament director asks a fisherman how and where he caught his fish, there is a better than 50 percent chance the fisherman won’t tell the truth. A good example was a few years when I interviewed the winner of a bass tournament on a bitterly cold winter day. It was raining, the wind was howling and I asked the fisherman how he caught his fish. A sly grin came over his face as he told me that he caught all his fish on topwater lures in Rodman Slough. Now just about everyone knows that it’s extremely rare for a bass to take a topwater lure in the winter. Later I asked his amateur partner how the winner had caught his fish and he said all the fish were caught on jigs above a rockpile in the south end of the lake.
Tournament fishermen often say they caught their bass on the tackle made by their sponsors. In truth, a tournament fisherman will use any lure that catches fish regardless of who makes it.
Bass fishermen hate it when outdoor writers reveal where the fish are biting. Several years ago I was fishing in Rumsey Bay near Lakeport where I came across two fishermen working the same water. One of the fishermen recognized me and said in a low voice to his partner, “Don’t say a word about the fish we’ve been catching because Terry Knight will put it in the newspaper.” I have been chastised by more than one fisherman for revealing their secret locations. What the fishermen forget is that writers work for all the fishermen, not just two or three. The reason most fishermen read the outdoor pages of a newspaper is to see where the fish are biting.
In reality there are few secrets when it comes to fishing. Take a two-day bass tournament as an example. On the first day a fisherman will weigh in huge weights. However, on the second day there are bound to be several other fishermen fishing the same patch of water.
It’s also very hard to keep a special lure secret, the reason being that the manufacturer of the lure wants to publicize fish are being caught on the lure. Another reason is that someone fishing near you will see what lure you’re using and spread the word.
As for a secret location, forget it. There are no secret locations on Clear Lake. On any given day just about every location sees several fishermen and that includes the more remote locations such as Rodman Slough. This is especially true on the rockpiles in the south end. One time a fisherman told me that the bite was red-hot on several rockpiles near Rattlesnake Island. He told me to keep the information quiet. A few days later I went to the area and there were so many bass boats parked there that there was no place to fish. So much for his “secret” spot.
Keeping your “honey hole” a secret is just part of the of the fishing world.
