Zack,
I too understand your point. I know I, and Pete, give a lot of reports on spots that people probably wouldn't normally hear about (the wsb in the harbor, goleta beach, red rock, etc.) and often we turn a lot of people on to hot bites. I support Rob's "theory" of holding nothing back, and in so doing I often even tell people what to use, where to use it and how to use it. We don't normally ask anything in return, however, sometimes when we know an area can't take a lot of pressure, or whatever, we strongly encourage catch and release, or to abide by the DFG regs, or throw back the squeakers that are barely 28" or barely 22". That's it. I personally do not think that's too much to ask. Granted, there will be the occasional poacher who may find this site and set up a gill net in front of the bait receiver. I guess that's a chance we take. This site really isn't that big (yet) and there are much bigger sites that people can get more information from. So, don't be under the impression that once it's on the internet everybody and his mom knows about it. I guarantee you just as many people will know if I tell Paul (and I do) something at Harbor Tackle. He'll in turn tell guys that come into the shop and they tell people etc. The difference there is that it's more selective on the people who know about it. So, I guess all we can do is push catch and release. Like Rob said, I'm not gonna stop reporting (and I too don't know why people have such a problem with my reports... ;-)) so, since I'm giving "so much" information out, all I'm asking is to catch and release the bass, and follow the law after that. That's it. On occassion I may ask that folks don't bother with the barely legal fish at the harbor. This issue of giving out info vs. keeping secrets has come up more than once on this site. There's really no way to avoid it. If I were to stop giving reports, and everybody else were to stop, there'd be no website. On the other hand, if we all continue giving reports, will there be no more spots??? I don't think so. You'd be surprised how few people show up in the harbor that have heard about it through the website. We posted all last year after just about every trip, and I've only met MAYBE half a dozen people that have heard about it through the site. So, things are getting a little blown out of proportion, and I think you need to go ahead and have that TPS report on my desk by Monday, and that'd be great... j/k (inside joke...)
-Brian