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SHARING FISHING SECRETS
To stay on the good side of fishing buddies, you will need to share your fishing secrets. But not all of them!
by Terry Lacoss

Obviously to be a successful fisherman, or fishing team, you will need to communicate with fellow fishermen and hope to obtain the latest fishing information and more importantly where the hottest fishing action is taking place.
In return, they will expect you to tell them where you just caught that tournament winning kingfish, or trophy catch!
This becomes the sticky part, when are you obligated to tell fishermen where, when, and how you landed that big catch.
"One thing that I would never recommend fishermen doing is leading fisherman astray with wrong information," Rick Smith said. "I will never tell anyone the wrong information, that can lead you into a whole lot of trouble. And the one thing that our "Wild Turkey" fishing team does not wish to do is send anyone on a wild goose chase."
Rick Smith is without a doubt one of the more respected fisherman in the southeast, along with fishing team members Jim Mancil, Tony Thaw and Carl Alexander. They have massed several honors while fishing the competitive Southern Kingfish Association tournament trail, including 1996 "SKA Angler of the Year" and 2004 "SKA National Champions".
"Our Wild Turkey fishing team is actually participating in three fishing teams during the 2005 tournament fishing season, which requires quite a bit of communicating between team members," Smith said. "And when it comes right down to it, if there is a fishing spot that can only handle two boats, we might just draw straws to see which is the second boat!"
"However if it is a fairly large area, like Georgia's Grays Reef, we will all fish the same area. And we also take into consideration how much fishing pressure this particular area can handle. For instance it may be a fairly large area, but there may only be a few tournament size kingfish holding on the structure."
Roland Martin probably has the most knowledge about sharing fishing secrets and waters. Roland has nine Bass Master "Angler of the Year" titles and is regarded by many avid fishermen as one of the best tournament bass fishermen in the country.
"We often share information after a day of practice or even a day of tournament fishing with other fishermen," Martin said. "However, most team members are not obligated to tell exactly where they are fishing. In many cases these fishing spots are just small areas and won't handle more than one bass-boat. What we do share is what lures we may be fishing with, water depth, and even the type of structure."
Sharing general information on fishing certainly can be found true with many tournaments fishing teams, particularly when fish are holding in small areas like a submerged rock offshore, wreck, or even a small offshore ledge.
Fishing teams are more likely to share information on fishing waters when they include a large area like a live bottom, series of ledges, or even a tide line.
Ironically, fishermen will often take the stage with their big catch and when asked where they caught their winning fish, will reply, "right in the mouth"!
I even interviewed a fisherman once that had just won a tournament and he told me that he caught his winning fish south, at the Nassau Inlet. Later that day, several fishermen said they saw the same boat fishing at the St. Mary's inlet and actually saw him land his winning catch!
So a word to the wise, don't always believe what fisherman tell you. There are a few fishermen that have in the past led fishermen astray and sent them fishing in the wrong direction! However it doesn't take long before their wrong doings are discovered and hardships are often the results of their trickeries.
One thing is for certain: if you wish to find out where the fish are biting, I would strongly recommend showing up for the Captain's meeting early. You don't actually have to be a member of a fishing team to gain valuable information on where the latest bite is taking place. In many instances, a friendly conversation is started that leads to sharing fishing information with other Southern Kingfish Association members. A tip of advice here is to make sure that you bring a chart of the fishing waters with you to the captains meeting so that you can pinpoint the waters with other fishermen. Obtain specific information such as the exact GPS coordinates, the general time of day that the major bite took place, where the majority of the baitfish schools were holding, and water temperatures and depths of water where the biggest fish were holding in. In fact the more information that you gather, the more helpful it will be out on the water when you are fishing.
Don't make the big mistake of learning where the fish are biting without learning all of the secrets in order to catch that winning fish. As many fisherman know, you can be sitting right over the top of a big school of kingfish that won't eat anything but double pogie rigs with a blue skirt. Learn all of the particulars!
I would safely say other tournament fishermen have shared many of my best fishing waters with me. I have on occasion found a few "Honey Holes" on my own, but all and all, fishing acquaintances have guided me to most of my more successful fishing trips.
One in particular happened several kingfish seasons ago as we were weighing in our largest kingfish of the day at the SKA John's Pass Kingfish Tournament. Our Amelia Angler Fishing team was actually in contention for the SKA "Angler of the Year" award and we hoped to weigh in a much larger fish than we had hooked.
"Terry, as you leave the John's Pass tomorrow morning, drive about five-miles straight offshore and you will see several kingfish boats fishing an area that is more commonly called the 'Rock'," Dave Workman said. "I think you will find your big tournament kingfish in these waters."
The next morning we gathered a livewell full of greenbacks just off from the beach and headed straight offshore. After running a few miles, several kingfish boats started to show up on the horizon and we knew right away that we were headed in the right direction.
As we approached the fleet of Southern Kingfish Association tournament boats, we could see several boats had fishermen on the bow fighting kingfish. This obviously gave us more encouragement and good direction to where we should be trolling our kingfish baits.
Luck was on our side as we landed a beautiful Gulf Coast king mackerel weighing 43-pounds, all thanks to Dave Workman sharing his kingfish secrets with us!
Back then, kingfish bags were fairly new and we had placed the king in our boat's fish box and iced it down. At the weigh-in site, we simply dragged the king up to a long line of fishermen weighing in their kings. Clayton Kirby was in line as well and had a nice king, all bagged up.
"Terry, that king is mighty big, but it's also losing weight out here in this hot sun," Kirby said. "This weigh-in line is moving slow, too. Hope you don't lose any points for the SKA tournament."
That was also a good tip coming from one of kingfishing's top anglers. During the very next event we came to the weigh-in with a "Dave Workman" kingfish bag!
Our big king did take 1st place daily, but lacked just a few pounds for Angler of the Year.
I can also remember fishing in a B.A.S.S. bass tournament in North Carolina where my fishing partner for the first day offered to have me follow him to a bay filled with weeds and bass. During the first day of the event the winds were blowing too hard to reach the open water bay. However, the next morning the winds had calmed down, allowing me to follow my first day partner. The results were a limit of bass for the next two days and a nice paycheck.
Probably the one key to being a successful fisherman is being able to communicate with other fishermen and obtaining valuable information. I deeply appreciate all of the fishermen that have shared their fishing knowledge with me, particularly Dave Workman!