Big-K: Special request to ALL of you in the fishing forum?

Ehh... you may be overthinking this.

I didn't read your whole question. Sorry. I'm starting to think you're some kind of super-troll. I'll assume for the present that you're in earnest, but I've got my eye on you.

Anyway, I think I get your gist, and it's admirable that you want to bring everyone together, but there are a couple things you haven't considered. So, maybe you're underthinking it.

First, the problem was never a lack of answerers here in Fishing, it's a lack of QUESTIONS. Always has been. There's simply never enough meaningful questions to go around. I mean, look around you. Here's one I answered yesterday: "i want to do fishing so help me to find guide". I mean come one. Mindless blathering by some newbie in Dumbassostan who'll never be back. That's why the Big Kahuna was started -- to generate questions. But they're not real questions. They're trivia, musings, not in keeping with the actual purpose of Y!A. This may be a problem with our particular category. Fishing isn't a subject in which interesting or novel problems develop on a regular basis, and let's face it -- there are only so many anglers here. The number of people interested in fishing during winter drops to a number close to zero. Interest in fishing increases in summer, but then there's the problem of a bazillion different newbies asking essentially the same questions over and over. I suspect it's different for other subjects like computer tech support or diet and fitness, where there are inherently more interested users and more aspects to ask questions about.

Second, Y!A is broken in ways we as users simply can't address -- trolls, spam, users who ask stupid questions then disappear, the use of fake accounts. It's supposed to be a community, but it's not. That's why so few people hang around. The forum is not really set up to facilitate dialog and friendship between users. In fact, questions like this one often get deleted. Any long-lasting friendships that developed here on Y!A did so IN SPITE OF the Y!A rules and they have continued outside Y!A (in e-mail, on Facebook, and in some cases, in person). When I found out I was answering questions which might have been created by users who were answering their own questions with fake accounts, and awarding themselves best answers, it all felt a little pointless. Add to that the constant noise of vitriolic bickering among the regulars and chronic trolls, and this place was a hot mess. That's when I left. The sad thing is that, even though the Y!A enforcers will delete your stuff real fast when it gets reported as "not a question" or "not an answer," the Y!A rules don't deal very well with chronic trolls and cheaters, who can simply respawn with fake accounts.

Finally, there is the existence of the Real World to acknowledge. Some people just move on with their lives and leave no forwarding address -- that old fellow in the cowboy hat and droopy mustaches may have passed away for all we know. Or maybe he hooked up with BAIT CASTIN BlTCH and they're on a houseboat somewhere subsisting on a steady diet of Jack Daniels, chewin' tabaccky, and rough sex. Maybe the other regulars were unemployed and now that Obama's in charge they all found jobs. This is not a true social networking community, so we may never know.

It's great that you want this to be a cozy, online community. However, understand that the website itself isn't set up to foster that sort of setting. What's worse, Y!A isn't popular or innovative enough to change. It'll probably always be this way -- odd, marginal, always slightly dysfunctional, and never seeming to reach critical mass.

This topic came up several times while I was a regular, if you could even call me that. We were always asking, how do we make this place better? How do we get the old regulars to log on more often? How can we keep trolls from ruining the fun? I hate to be cynical, but, you really can't do that much. Sure, you can try to have some unofficial rules and report trolls and all that, and it might get better or it might not. All you can really do is answer the questions you know something about and hope more come along.

Chadd nailed the Q.

YAnswer's can never be a "true fishing forum" like it was when I, (Rion, FSH, Exert, Etc) started.

Why?

This forum isn't dedicated to helping people learn how to fish. It's dedicated to a "point system" that can easily be manipulated by whomever wants to cheat. It's a "game" where there are no rules.

When a knowledgeable "real world angler", (VS a person that is excellent at "researching" fishing topics) writes a thorough answer about something they "know" and the Asker chooses "Get an Ugly Stik" or "Zebco is the best reel on the market" as his/hers "best answer" it becomes counter-intuitive to place much emphasis on whether our answer's are actually helping people.

Which brings us to- "Who IS right?" "Who SHOULD win the Q"?

Answer- Fishing is too "open-ended" to always allow for ONE factual answer. Yes, there are certain things that everyone can agree on, but, not always. What works for some, may not work for all. Many answer's are based on personal opinion's.

At times, even Regular's cannot agree on "specifics" and "generalities". It's a slippery slope. Add in the common "discourteous attitude" attributed with the Internet and you've (eventually) got anarchy.

The best we can do is try to answer people that actually "seem" to need the info we have- choose wisely whom you answer.

Bruce- it's admirable to see you liking the camaraderie of this forum/Big K, and it would be nice to see YAnswer go back to "how it was"- but that takes trust. And (unfortunately), in this current format, trust and loyalty is something this forum does not breed.

Chadd gets my vote for BA.

Sorry, can't happen.. You cant control Yahoo Answers.. and to be honest, i don't want this section controlled by anyone.. it's an open website for people inquiring about fishing advice.. its not really a "forum" so you can't really control these kinds of things .. People come and go, ask questions, and answer questions.. I like coming on here because its great to learn and find out information.. And if i think i can help someone on a question or make them laugh ill answer it.. I also like the dramatics that happen in here, theyre entertaining.. If you want your Lord of the Rings, Gaurdians of the Earth, do it on a private website.. Your very passionate Bruce! ill give ya that

I wouldn't set it in stone that GMB was taught from his father. I learned the basics about fishing, but ME, MYSELF and I made me the fisherman I am. Best fisherman this side of the Mississippi to be exact. *Sarcasm* But yeah, I like to recommend a bunch of expensive stuff that I wish I had my hands on. I just look at a lot of gear and read reviews, etc. It's an addiction; kind of like my Japanese tentacle porn fetish but that's a WHOLE different story..

I'll leave the votes for someone else. It isn't a bad idea, but I don't know if many will participate.

Archive Keeper huh? Exotic Species Expert? That's priceless. I see you've been doing homework on the Y/A folk...looking for an edge? Son, slow your roll, we've been down this path before, long before "your inspiration." ~good luck catchin'.

Is there a smallmouth slot open? Pick me! Pick me! haha

Its a good idea nevertheless!

Edit: I suppose I could do kayak fishing also.

Sure why not it would be cool if only the other members participated