Tell all books: good or bad?

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I would have to say good and bad. I have the Dave Wolf book. As far as the book goes I don't feel that it gives away any real secrets or completely advertise a specific spot. What it does do is give general info on maybe one to three streams in each county, or about a dozen or so in each region of the state. It seems to me that it is a helpful reference and one of my favorite streams is in the book, but it doesn't tell you much about this particular stream. It doesn't say park here and wade in next to Jake, thats where the fish are. That would **** me off. Most of the streams that are written about in detail are well known popular streams that are crowded and have been that way for a long time. As for the others they are mere suggestions, in which some advice is given but a lot of exploring is left to be done. It's like a map without the X. On the other hand, and we are all guilty of it, posting very specific spots on the net can be bad. Most of the books on the area are bought by people in the area. As far as the internet goes
I would say I might post about a stream that I've been to but recently I've sent and received a few (pm's )about certain streams or specific areas that I feel shouldn't be advertised any more if any at all than they already are. I've gone to a stream or two and decided that I wasn't going to post anything about it because I didn't want to get on the site the next day and see the over 400 people viewed my post about a stream that not many people know about. I've also posted some things in the forum that I later realized I might not want to post about anymore. I guess I can say we all have benefits in finding new information, but if we give too much information it can bite us in the ***.

 

[tabasco_joe]

Let's say it was possible to publish a book which contained information on every trout stream in the US. Listed good pools riffles and runs, hatch charts, local patterns, public access spots, etc. So there were no secrets anymore. My guess is that it would tend to spread out the fishing pressure. Sure the streams closest to the population centers would get the most traffic but that happens anyhow. Those that are the most remote would get the least traffic. This happens anyway. I would expect when there is restricted information those fewer number of well known streams close to population centers would get hit hard.

 

[vern]

Both.
When I was outdoor editor for the Potter Enterprise, I did a comprehensive on the three watersheds and received quite a bit of flack from certain people about certain streams.
My motive for doing it was to help the paper's business and the business of the advertisors, and to help visitors expand their visits beyond the very well known.
But streams change, land ownership changes, fish populations change and visitors change. In truth, the longevity of the information in tell-alls is not long.
On the other hand, I've guided off and on since I was very young, and experienced some terrible results - those I showed specific places and techniques came back on their own and showed others the same places and techniques and pretty soon those places lost their magic and/or were trashed.
For me, it was shooting myself in the foot, and I won't show my personal favorites any more, because I don't have time to let them recover to enjoy them again. The same is true with grouse and deer hunting spots. Find them on your own and when I see you, all is well.
Commonly, in addition to personal financial gain, and reputation building, there is the ego-stimulation of showing someone great things, but it frequently can come back to destroy the thing.
I once told a new newspaper manager specifics about where to take his boy to hunt wild pheasants. The guy was a jerk and horrified me later when he said he and the boy ended up walking through an orchard shooting apples. I felt terrible about it, for not screening this guy better.
If you're going to tell some things, you must own some responsibility for what happens to it and the behavior of those you send on their way; especially if you tell them to tell the landowner you sent them.