The issue of "naming names" of trout streams is endlessly debated forums and fly shops. Here's my take on it, along with the Troutnut.com policy, old and new.

Site History


Shortly after I started this site, I learned that several local fly fishermen were furious that I had mentioning their home rivers on the Internet, because they thought it increased the fishing pressure. I disagree, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and removed the contested "specifics" in the interest of diplomacy.

Their complaints were well-intentioned and based on their concern for the fishery. As a student of ecology I'm acutely aware of the danger excessive publicity poses to a river, and the last thing I want is to harm the ones I fish. So when I first published this site I decided on a level of specificity which struck the proper balance of documenting my adventures without advertising my local rivers on a harmful level.

However, I failed to foresee another problem--that many people with limited Internet experience would overestimate the danger posed by a small amount of online publicity and see it as a major threat to their rivers. I'm not out to make enemies, and it seems that these conflicts outweigh any potential benefit of documenting where various insects were collected. So I decided to err on the side of safety and remove every mention of locations more specific than broad region like "Upper Midwest" or "the Catskills."

New Site Policy


As with many things, technology provided a way to have the best of both world. The new Troutnut.com is able to hold all the picture locations in a private section of the database, which is unavailable to the general public. This allows meticulous
documentation of where specimens were collected and pictures were taken, without so much as mentioning the river names before an audience of thousands.

In contrast to the main site, the forum allows contributors to mention locations in their conversations, just as they are everywhere else on the Internet. They are urged to use discretion, but there is no restriction.

I do show the names of well-known medium to large rivers in a few places in the print and gift shops, because scenery prints make the most sales to people who know the rivers they show. Such publicity is absolutely negligible compared to the exposure these beautiful streams receive every single day when motorists pass them on bridges.

Rationale


Even though my policy takes the safe road, I don't believe such caution is really needed.

Many anglers view the Internet with too much suspicion, as though thousands of people just lurking around it for any hint of a clue about where to go fishing. But reality is not so sinister. Most people aren't going to fishing websites; those who do are overwhelmingly looking for information and tactics to apply on their own home waters, or for simple entertainment. Very few are looking for where to go fishing.

When people look for new places to fish, the vast majority discover new spots on their own or learn by word of mouth from friends. Some might be swayed by feature articles in fishing magazines or television shows, or by books about fishing destinations. Others ask around in bait shops, or just pick up the trout regs map and start exploring. Some might even refer to websites that discuss where to go fishing.

But this is not such a website; it is first and foremost about entomology. My own fishing pictures are just a side note, and now-removed locations were listed incidentally. There are literally thousands of websites on which people have shared pictures of trout they've caught; nobody is going to travel across the world to fish one of these rivers because they saw I caught a few 20 inch browns.

People traveling far are going to base their decision on much more than a few pictures of medium-large trout on one of the thousands of websites featuring such pictures. And people who wouldn't have to travel far, who already live near these rivers, are sure to already know about them. If they don't, then they're probably so new to trout fishing that they wouldn't be likely to threaten the population or crowd secret hotspots.

Many of the rivers shown are already world famous. They appear in the writings of every major American angling author from Bergman to Caucci. They're featured prominently in books about local trout destinations, as well as canoe maps, DNR and park service brochures, and hundreds of other sources. Their mention on the occasional website is an insignificant drop in the proverbial bucket.