Anglers beware, 'web-fishing' can backfire on you

Last week I noticed a photo someone had posted on a social media site of a bunch of clams they had recently caught somewhere in our coastal bays.

For obvious reasons, more people are inclined to go clamming during the warm weather months, but it’s nice to know that even in the middle of the winter locals can venture out to a sandbar on a low tide and dig up a bunch of bivalves for dinner.

Unlike the fish we chase all summer, it’s not like clams can pack up and head south for the winter.

Besides being somewhat envious of the fellow who actually caught the clams, my first thoughts when I saw the online picture was more about the irony that, traditionally, anglers would only get their 15 minutes of fame if they caught an unusually large fish or pulled off a tournament win.

But now all you need is a bucket of clams and you might be in a position not just to do a little bragging, but also to entice some of your loyal “followers” to literally “share” the story of your conquest all over the world.

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Please don’t misinterpret my message here, I’m in no way suggesting that the clammer shouldn’t have posted the picture of his “catch” or “grab” or “dig” or whatever the proper term is for procuring a bunch of clams from the mud and sand.

In fact, whether it be clams, fish, seaweed or snails, in these parts the winter is the best time to show off what you just brought home for dinner because right now there’s less of a chance that thousands of fellow anglers will react to the news by heading out on the water for their own seafood conquest.

As multitudes of hip-boot wearing locals haven’t been reported marching in procession toward the water with clam rakes over their shoulders, I’m guessing that, at least for now, the clamming grounds are just as fertile as ever.

But this is winter, not too many folks have their boats in the water or even the gumption to poke about the back-bay shoals for buried clams.

Come summertime it’ll be a different story altogether, make a catch, post a post, and before you can get your line back in the water you could be surrounded by your social media “friends” who are all so happy with your success that they just couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

No one can dispute that technology hasn’t made it a lot easier for fishermen to find and catch their quarry.

From GPS that allows us to return to fishy locations with pinpoint accuracy, sonar that helps us see and track fish under the surface, to radar, satellite imagery, weather and sea temperature mapping, night vision, global communication capabilities, and anything else one can imagine, fish simply don’t have as much of a chance against fishermen as they used to.

Now that we’ve slipped into an age where it’s not only possible but also very commonfor someone to hook a fish, and before it’s even brought to the boat send news, photos, precise location, even live videos of it all over the world with nothing more than a couple strokes on their phone. 

It’s not hard to imagine that many of the age-old skills that anglers have relied on to locate and catch a fish will have less importance to folks who will be willing to wait for a tone or vibration from their pocket indicating they’ve received notification that someone, somewhere just caught something.

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”Radio fishing” used to be the term given to anglers who, rather than seeking out their own fish, would monitor their VHF radios until they heard someone talking about making a catch somewhere and then off they’d go.

Loose lips still sink ships and make the world privy to what’s being caught where, and internet postings are the new grapevine of fishing news and certainly reach a much larger audience.

As I mentioned before, there’s noting wrong with all of this. After all, sharing catch information is the neighborly thing to do.

But anglers must also keep in mind that a little bit of “look at me” bragging online can end up in a big backfire if it prompts the whole world to descend upon a little corner of water (or sandbar) that you’d prefer to enjoy mostly by yourself.