How to Keep Your Fishing Spot Secret

Keeping a fishing spot secret is pretty hard these days – and it’s even harder when you want to post a picture of your big catch right after you catch it. If you’ve got a favorite fishing hideaway that you’d like to keep frequenting, here are two simple rules you should follow.

1. Turn off Location Tracking on Your Social Media

When we post to social media, it uses geo-locational tagging, which means it gives away our exact location with a map when we post. People can use this feature to find exactly where the big catch was made. It’s important to disable geo-location tracking on your phone before you upload any pictures while fishing. This can be done both inside a platform and on your phone settings.

For Androids, open your settings and go to the personal tab. Click on privacy and disable all apps to ensure none of them will reveal your location. For iPhones, open the Settings app, tap the privacy section, and click on locational services. Look for system services toward the bottom of the screen and tap to open. Next, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click frequent locations. Switch the frequent locations button to off to disable the tracker.

This process will guarantee that, even if you post a picture at your spot, it will stay private. However, a better option would be to wait until you return home to upload your pictures! Don’t waste valuable water time on your phone – turn it on airplane mode and relax.

A SECRET SPOT IS NOT ALWAYS A SECRET

It’s almost impossible to be able to keep a fishing spot secret these days. Whether it’s in Estero Bay, the river, or coastal. There are people who have fished in the same spots for generations.

But now that we have seen a healthy increase in people moving to Florida, more people means less places to fish. The hard part is sharing a spot once it’s found out.

Some basic protocol to follow is no different than fishing anywhere else, but there are simple strategies to keep other fishermen uninterested. Don’t set the hook when a boat is coming or people are walking by because they are likely to try to fish where they saw the last big catch. If a fish does hit, keep the rod down so no one can see the rod bow. And, if people do happen to stop, don’t be shy to ask them to keep moving. Fishermen should always respect one another’s space while fishing. A good fisherman knows how to find the fish and catch some keepers without crowding someone else.