# Should I post member fishing reports on the homepage?



## Jim (Feb 29, 2012)

I am thinking every now and then to post some member fishing reports on the homepage. Just the member name and a vague description of the fishing trip. 

No secret spots and no baits used! 

The Fishing reports section is member only so If they want that info they would have to be a member.


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## redbug (Feb 29, 2012)

I would not place reports on the home page in fact i think you should restrict the fishing reports a bit more
I think it should require a min amount of posts to see the reports.
Now if you are looking for more members i would think about a teaser:
post some pictures and the state they are caught on the page 
then add maybe wanna learn more about your local waters??
join up and see what your missing
WOW just checked and found that 3372 members have never posted 
i am 100% sure that they arent all looking to find fishing spots but they should contribute in order to see them
JMO


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## crazymanme2 (Feb 29, 2012)

> I would not place reports on the home page in fact i think you should restrict the fishing reports a bit more
> I think it should require a min amount of posts to see the reports.
> Now if you are looking for more members i would think about a teaser:
> post some pictures and the state they are caught on the page
> ...



+1 very much agree

Good job redbug =D>


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## 200racing (Feb 29, 2012)

i see it as kind of a honor to get put on the front page. at the same time i agree with redbug about getting more lurkers active.


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## Loggerhead Mike (Feb 29, 2012)

Id like to see a few lunkers on it even if it is just pictures and no description. A quick Google of most any lakes will bring up a current report so it doesn't bother me


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## Jim (Feb 29, 2012)

redbug said:


> WOW just checked and found that 3372 members have never posted
> i am 100% sure that they arent all looking to find fishing spots but they should contribute in order to see them
> JMO




Just a cool little fact, We average 40,000 to 50,000+ *UNIQUE* visitors per month!...and its growing! I wouldn't be surprised if we break 75,000 by Mid-End of summer. Lots of members PM me about stuff and the first thing they say is "I dont really post, But I like to read the forum".


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## redbug (Feb 29, 2012)

Jim said:


> redbug said:
> 
> 
> > WOW just checked and found that 3372 members have never posted
> ...



thats great numbers i know that everyone love the site we get plenty of reports I just wonder if we would get more quality reports if posting was required to see them. I know a few sites have a 25 post min to see the reports and i think the guys that post the reports are more truthful and open when giving them


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## Butthead (Feb 29, 2012)

redbug said:


> thats great numbers i know that everyone love the site we get plenty of reports I just wonder if we would get more quality reports if posting was required to see them. I know a few sites have a 25 post min to see the reports and i think the guys that post the reports are more truthful and open when giving them



I like the idea of restricting the section as well. I'm definitely one of those people that will spill more when I know it's not for the whole world to know.

I like the minimum posts idea but the only problem with it is that you'll get people that will post useless or stupid comments just to make their number which leads to clutter in the forums.
Maybe minimum time since joined and minimum posts?

Maybe you could make the section available only through moderator approval. 
Don't show any love to the site and the site won't show any love to you! :twisted: 

I think all the free info and ideas people get on decking their jon boats is enough from this site.

Am I too mean? lol

So I too am NO to posting it on the homepage.


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## Gramps50 (Feb 29, 2012)

I would rather see some cool Tin Tip or something like that on the home page rather than a fishing report. I personally hang here for tip and stories about the Tins, I have other places for fishing related things.

JMP


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## Jdholmes (Feb 29, 2012)

Doesn't matter to me either way...I know zero about my local waters...it would be nice to know more since I just moved here, but I don't think there are many members from my area here anyway.

I've never been real secretive about my fishing spots and techniques though...I'm just a nice guy, I guess.


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## Jdholmes (Feb 29, 2012)

Of course I might should add that I have never lived in an area with a 2 million+ population until now either, my old town was 6500 people with lots of water and fish to go around.


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## fender66 (Feb 29, 2012)

Posting pictures of lunkers on occasion as a teaser is a great idea. It should encourage people to join if they want to learn more.


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## shamoo (Feb 29, 2012)

I also agree with Redbug =D>


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## Captain Ahab (Feb 29, 2012)

Ouch! This really hurts - and i mean really really hurts

I agree with Redbug! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## fender66 (Feb 29, 2012)

Captain Ahab said:


> Ouch! This really hurts - and i mean really really hurts
> 
> I agree with Redbug! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



*REDBUG FOR PRESIDENT!*


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## wasilvers (Feb 29, 2012)

Why limit people? If I don't want my spot known, I don't have to give it out. I learned this the hard way 2 years ago. I posted detailed informatin on lakelink about a certain lake. The next time I went, there were 6 people fishing one honeyhole and 4 at another - and till late last year, people would still try those out. Now I just give depths and colors, or lures used. 

Requiring #'s of posts limits the usefullness of the site for all things tinboats. 

I think a teaser pane with a fish and blurb on it on the homepage would be a great idea. I beleive the vast majority of tin owners use them for fishing anyway.
Also maybe a pane on a boat build would be appropriate. There are enough of them to choose from, a new one could run every week.


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## FishingCop (Feb 29, 2012)

Captain Ahab said:


> Ouch! This really hurts - and i mean really really hurts
> 
> I agree with Redbug! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Oh Capt, that must really hurt??? I feel for you man, my sympathies


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## Captain Ahab (Feb 29, 2012)

FishingCop said:


> Captain Ahab said:
> 
> 
> > Ouch! This really hurts - and i mean really really hurts
> ...




Thanks man - I need all the kind words i can get


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## copperhead (Feb 29, 2012)

I agree with wasilvers. Granted, I am brand new to this site, but it seems like adding a bunch of exclusionary requirements would actually _deter_ people from visiting the site. A little counter-productive don't ya think? This isn't a harsh criticism... just a thought.


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## Wallijig (Feb 29, 2012)

I belong to another site that's thinking of making it members only view fishing reports. Lot of guys refusing to post because "everyone" can see them. They believe if it's members only people are members would be apt to share reports with other members and not have the "herd" move in on them they mooch info & do not contribute any.


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## Bmac (Feb 29, 2012)

Even though I'm fairly new here's my .02 Go ahead and tease them about fishing tips and advise,but keep the honey holes to yourselves,or in PM's.

I've always been tight lipped about my honey holes,or how I caught them. Prefer to bring my own friends in on it,but it don't always work that way. You know those guys that fly at you across the lake,only to drop down and "troll" around you to see what your catching and how your doing it. Then the next morning your heading to your spot at sun-up,and there they are with a boat full of their friends. I don't mind someone asking how or where (I can choose to give them that info),but don't try to sneak the rewards of my hard work. 

How many of the non-posters are trolling for your hotspots? I've had a few of these tore up from the web. I know we don't have to give up our honeyholes here,but somebody else that happens to be fishing it might give it away. Sorta like hanging a sign up at the local bait shop,with directions and instructions to your favorite hotspot. 

Out of my 40 yrs of fishing I've concluded there's two kinds of fisherman. Those that can find fish,and those that can find others who are on fish. Just saying....


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## MrSimon (Mar 6, 2012)

I enjoy posting my trip reports and personally want as many people as possible to read them. I like the attention.

If there is something I want to keep private, I don't post it.

You have my permission to use my reports or pictures on the homepage if you want


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## Jim (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks for the input fellas! If I see a report I think is homepage material I will ask the member first and still then only give a teaser.

:USA1:


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## Leelatt (Mar 6, 2012)

I don't really browse the fishing reports section as it doesn't seem like many people are from my area however I think posting a full story/report on the front page is a bit iffy, I think if there's a picture of the catch in the report then post that up with a header or tag line that says something along the lines of "caught by one of our members" and then they can decide if they want to join and look into the fishing reports section. 

I think for those that are worried about lurkers and non members stealing their best fishing spot, then it's their responsibility to not put the specifics of the story into the report they post up, it shouldn't be the board's responsibility to make members have a certain post count to view the fishing report section because 2 things will occur:
1.) people will be deterred from joining
2.) we will get new members spamming posts to get up to the post count they need to view the fishing reports section which will only cause more work on our admins and moderators and then cause stricter rules on our normal members who are here to learn and share their info.

that's my opinion on it, 

-Lee


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## MrSimon (Mar 6, 2012)

That's a very good point .... having to hit a certain post count before getting access/privileges is a huge turn-off. It might be necessary, but its still a turn-off.


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## fool4fish1226 (Mar 8, 2012)

Jim - I like the way you did the home page fishing report - Just enough of a tease to make someone want to join. :beer:


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## fender66 (Mar 8, 2012)

fool4fish1226 said:


> Jim - I like the way you did the home page fishing report - Just enough of a tease to make someone want to join. :beer:



+1 Looks great!


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## Butthead (Mar 8, 2012)

I'm surprised that so many say that it's a turn off to join if you have to earn the privilege to see the Fishing Reports section. I know a few other sites that work like this, fishing and non-fishing. I personally only joined this site for the information and banter about aluminum boat building. I didn't even pay attention to the fact that there was a fishing reports section until last year.
Non-Members get LOTS of great information on building and modding their tin boats and I thought that was the original intent of this site? Fishing reports seem like more of a secondary topic.
Frankly, if I'm really looking for solid fishing information, this would not be the first place I would look, sorry. Tin boaters only make up a part of the whole fishing scene, so why would I only look to them for my fishing information?

Since there is such a solid core of passionate contributors, why don't we reward them with some privacy to share detailed information?
I know privacy would allow us to provide more detailed information about the where, when, how, and why of our fishing, and this information can be translated to other bodies of water which leads to EVERYONES fishing experiences being better. I don't necessarily think we'll need to worry about honey holes being blown up and tactics getting overused by other members, but we definitely do from the public at large. 
I completely agree that leaving it open to the public doesn't help the people that actually put the work in and in addition there is no rewards for ever sharing information. This is just a lose-lose for every contributing member.

Nothing in life is free and there are too many people that feel entitled to everything, so let’s teach them that they need to work for it first. 
I'm still Pro-minimum post count and yes, I'm bitter about people’s feelings of entitlement. :mrgreen:


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## richg99 (Mar 8, 2012)

Since we are talking about ways to add more members, or to enable more guys/gals to feel comfortable posting at all.....I wonder about taking duplicates of ALL of the posts...from all of the sub-categories..... and posting every single one of them in one category..perhaps called ---ALL POSTS---. 

Certainly, if a particular sub-category is restricted in some way....its posts would NOT be included.

No one would lose anything as we could still keep all of the subcategories...but.... everyone who wanted to peruse the ALL POSTS category would see things they didn't even know existed. 

I know that we all have a tendency to post in the sub-category that we use most often. That means that really valuable information might be buried in hunting or photography or God only knows where. 

I, for one, only use the NEW POSTS category to get me going. An ALL POSTS category would cover a lot more ground. I don't know what the duplication would cost in terms of computer costs....but...I'd like to see it tried ....for a month or two. I would expect tht any post that lingered, without comments, in the ALL POSTS for 30 days or some time frame..would be dropped automatically.

If one was really clever, any reply to any post on the ALL POSTS sections would be instantly duplicated in the sub-category to which it applied.

Just thinking out loud here. What do you guys think? More importantly, what does Jim think?
regards, R


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