Gary C. wrote:I know that I am guilty of not posting as much as I should also. Lots of excuses, hassle to load/host pictures, Facebook is easier, I really haven't been fishing as much, ect.
I truly believe that a major contributor to the board slowing down is the way that we have restricted ourselves. I mean the board itself. We all want to protect our fishing holes, and the resource itself. In doing so we have we have chose to eliminate much of what we all enjoyed about these forums. Also our restricted access and closed lips have discouraged new members from joining or sticking around.
I'm not saying that I don't agree with these things but I do believe that new blood is the life blood of any forum. I just think that we need to loosen it up a little so that trip reports and pictures can be about more than hard to access private lakes, open oceans, and remote backpacking trips. We have all seen sites that become closed to new members and outside views that just wither away. Any site with lets say has 50 active members will loose a couple every year. Several others will have health problems. And like many of us just not fish as much as we used to for whatever reason. Once it starts we all seem to put in less effort.
I'll admit that I don't know what the answer is. But I do think that we need find a way to open up the site and ourselves to be more appealing to new members. Even I'd enjoy seeing our reports open up and be a little more natural. I'm not saying everything should be put out there with maps and high res pictures but who are we kidding it's all being posted "live" and in real time on Facebook. I'm not suggesting that we sell out our resources for the sake of what we enjoy here but I do think there is a space for us a little more in the middle.
It seems to me the posts as they are currently presented are good and sufficient. For folks that have fished an area, many photos give enough clue as to a more precise location.
Any one with a map or internet access can easily find dozens of useful fishing sites. Many of those sites may be better than the ones I prefer. So, I would prefer someone searches all 20 or 30 sites instead on my 3-5 favorites.
Information sharing occurs for forum members. At the most recent Volcano party, no one was holding back when telling their tales of the day. At other times, it seems forum members are willing to share by email or pm if the question comes from someone with a history of involvement.
I always enjoy reading posts. Some cover areas that I would never visit like the Asian and other overseas posts. FB has not yielded any useful information - too scattered.
Locally, the SSFF club changed information means when the Kern Board was closed. The alternative is Instagram with a slight repeat on FB. The club is growing since younger members enjoy the company of people of the same age. It makes the club gatherings more fun. However, no one makes an effort to post to this forum. The posts to Instagram, the club website, and FB seem to cover the needs.
Good topic to bring out different views.
Ants