The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

The rise and fall of a great place is hard to watch.

When I first found this place it took a week to get a dozen posts. I don't know the details but I think it was a school project for Jeff? It had UC Chico in the addy. You could say anything you wanted. People talked about where they fished, what they used, things of that nature. Nobody was rude because there were only a dozen or so people posting. There was witty banter and fun trash talking, but nothing out of hand. That was when bashes started(tried to make the 1st bash but didn't know which camp site was them and was too shy to ask around.)

Then the board grew. The reports were too good, and people soon found this was a great place to figure out where/when/how to catch more fish. I was just getting rolling in FFing and didn't contribute much except for some reports and a lot of questions. I learned a TON of things. How to tie flies, how to get my flies in front of fish, etc.... I found myself thinking about what I would ask on the board while I was still out fishing. The golden era.

But it kept growing. Soon there was too much. People were trolling when they got bored. Fights were everywhere. Good reports led to crowded spots(Yuba). The fall....

As it got out of hand GM and others stepped up and refocused it on the basics. Trolls were moderated. People were reminded this was supposed to be like sitting around a campfire(hence the name)

But it looks like things have slowed back down. Posts are fewer and further between. Less info is passed around. Less and less people are comfortable joining in and asking questions. Notice its the same people posting over and over again?

Now it looks like the trolls are back out. If there isn't anything else to do then stir the pot(no pun intended). Somebody is following me around posting under my name. Sad really.

That said I do appreciate what GM, Dawn, etc are doing. They have a view of what cold be. It is a great idea. They work very hard to make it happen. But for whatever reasons it seems to be going backwards right now. Makes me feel like just checking out. But thats not my style. I believe in this place, even if I only show up every once in a while. I hope there is another rise left in the old girl.

steps down from the soap box.

Sierratrout,

There is some truth in what you say. I don't think we are exactly in "the Decline and Fall of NCFFB", but things are neither as good as they once were, nor as good as they could be. Things are also not as bad as they once were, and not as bad as they could be. Things kinda go like that. Hang around, contribute when you feel like it, and maybe you'll get a bunch of karma.

If you choose to create a profile (or use the one that I hear exists for you) and Password it, you won't have any ardent admirers posting under your handle. You can set it up so when you just hit the board from your usual computer, it automatically logs you in.

See you sometime, somewhere - you'll probably be expecting it though.

Hmmmmm... I see that some of the Sierratrout posts have a profile, and some don't. THAT is a bug - I'll drop a note to Greg.

Ed, true enough. Didn't mean to say its dying, just falling....
I contribute when I feel like I can. Being self taught I tend to not say too much. I did respond to Bruce, and gave some info on sunglasses(something I actually know about!).

Always had a profile. The posts sans profile would be Fishhawk trying to be cute.

I added a pic. That better? Camping on the Yellowstone drift this summer.....

Heck, look what's happened to photography in the past 10 years.

I've been on the board about 6 years. Not an old-timer, but I've gained a lot on this forum and hope I've contributed nearly as much.

As you mentioned, there's less info on the "where", but that's out of necessity.

With the board's new "look" and monitoring, there's a more civil feel here, although there has been a bit of a relapse lately.

The board isn't finished growing or morphing. It's got a hell of a lot of potential. Be patient, Grasshopper.

Ed is right.

Hey, look how Shawn helped me out, and that valuable info will make my upcoming trip a bit better...I hope.

God save the Queen! (Thanks for that one, Ed )

The number of posts has definitely dropped off since the move. I think there are a couple of possible explanations. One would be the fact that you have to register before posting. Registration has killed a couple of boards I've been on. One is the old VFS board. That's come back to a large degree but when they went to a registration system they lost most of their posters. A few regulars stuck around but most left. Eventually new folks came along and the place came back a bit but it's not what it used to be. Folks don't like to register for some reason. I don't mind registering here because I like to hang out here and I know a lot of people but you won't see me much on other sites that require registration. It's funny, I don't really know what it is about registration that bothers me but I don't like to and it seems like others don't either. Another possible reason for the decline is that it might be difficult for some folks to figure out how to log in. If you click on "log in" it takes you back to the home page. The little log in box is way at the bottom and off to the side. I can't remember now how I found it the first time but I had to search a bit. This isn't a problem if you stay logged in but if you log out or your computer loses the cookie for this site it's not easy to find the little log in box. This may explain why there are so many folks that have registered but never posted. There was a post from Al Redlhammer just the other day asking for help and from the looks of it he had responded to a story on the front page with his question which suggests that he was having trouble even finding the board. He hasn't posted since so I don't know if he's figured it out or not.

Hey Shawn,

You no longer have to be registered to post on the board. You don't have all the bells and whistles if you aren't logged in, but being logged in or registered is not a requirement to post. Al Redhammer found a couple of new bugs in the software that wouldn't let him retrieve his password, but they were quickly fixed once they were discovered, so he is all set up now.

Thanks for the input on the ease of using the log in box and registration. I know we all want the board to be as easy to use as possible, while having the all the cool new features as well. I have always felt the same way about registering as you do. There are very few boards I am willing to participate in if I have to register. The board is evolving, and change is never easy, but we don't want to turn people off either. If you have any other ideas, please post 'em!

Dawn

I didn't post on the old board with any regularity but I read it frequently.
It isn't the registration process that deters my visits here, it's that the new board takes forever to load on my aging system which still utilizes a dial up connection. I simply don't spend enough time in front of a keyboard to warrant upgrading anything, especially when " all " of the other boards that I visit load in a blink, when compared to this one.

Best, Dave

Dave E.'s got an excellent point. New board is cumbersome and slow compared to the old board, even with broadband. Nearly impossible to deal with on dialup.

Pretty much agree with DaveE, slooow. I also find it a little strange to be reading last post first. If the header is short, you often don't know what the subject is until you've read a couple of posts, and if its a long post you may have to scroll to the bottom to get to the first post to find out what its all about. The other problem I have is that it only shows the last 10 post. If I'm out of town for a few days and the board has been busy, I end up missing a lot of posts. I'm sure if I were more computer literate, I might be able to solve some of these problems, but I'm a computer dummy and need something simple. All in all, a good board with great people(at least the ones I've met). It can get entertaining at times.

Trouttickler wrote:
The other problem I have is that it only shows the last 10 post. If I'm out of town for a few days and the board has been busy, I end up missing a lot of posts.

Sounds like you are on the recent posts page. Go up above that and click on the Campfire link and it will take you to all the posts.

Thanks Shawn! Like I said, I'm computer dummy and ya got to keep it simple cause I'm stupid! Thanks again.

Hey Trouttickler,

You can also try changing the order in which you see the posts. You can click on "My Profile" at the top of the page, and Edit your forum settings (I think clicking on "My Profile" above takes you directly to the Edit and Forum Settings). I have mine set on "Oldest post first" and "Threaded View" which is most like the old board. It sounds like you have yours set to "Newest post first".

Always feel free to ask on any questions you have on the board. We would be happy to try to make it easier for you. We want feedback on how to make this board a better place, so everyone please chime in with your suggestions.

Dawn