Posting a picture for anything other than a specific reason (species identification, unusual marks or deformities, ect...) is all about bragging - feeding your ego. Look how BIG my fish is! Then there are some that will do this to be socially accepted into an online community. In any case, when you post a picture, you cross a line (public display on the internet) inviting all kinds of responses, one of those being a deluge of anglers descending on your favorite spot. If you don't want to risk the opportunity, don't post the picture. Period. Personally, I couldn't care less if someone decided to try and catch fish where I've been successful. Our local angling opportunities face much bigger threats than a few hooligans with bad manners.
What on Earth did I just read?
Sharing photographs goes way beyond fishing. There are so many sports and hobbies that involve sharing photos and videos. You just insulted millions of people. Not just professional photographers and movie directors, but anyone who has shared photos of their first fish, their new PB, a snowboard trick, a mountain bike jump, the list goes on and on and on.
How could you possibly think that posting a picture is "all about bragging"??? Do you have any heart at all? I don't just strongly disagree with you, I completely disagree with you.
Even if the most self centered, cynical person on the planet caught a fish and shared a pic of it on a forum, he could not help but feel some joy from sharing his catch and connecting with other anglers.
There is so much to sharing pics on a forum. For some posters, these pics are a beautiful art form in and of themselves, and you have doubly insulted them. The beauty of the catch, the beauty of our Earth, the river, the trees, the colour of the water, perhaps fresh snow blanketing the river banks.
Many of us on this forum are friends in real life. When we share photos on this site, we are sharing them with perhaps a dozen or more friends in one post. We are also sharing them with those we have not yet met. Even if every person on this forum was a stranger, it would still be insane if nobody shared pics.
First of all, just seeing a pic of a fish is fun, regardless of where it was caught, when it was caught and by whom. This forum allows us the opportunity to see recent local catches by friends and perhaps soon to be friends. Have you zero empathy not to see a purpose behind this, beyond "bragging"? We don't all get out everyday. For the days we missed, it's fantastic to have friends to share the day's adventure.
Would you ever go see a movie, or do you just consider it to be "bragging" by all of the writers, directors and actors? Do you listen to music, or is Mick Jagger just "feeding his ego" on stage? Would you read a riveting novel, or is the author just "showing off" their literary skills?
Would you even read a fishing report? Or is the author just "showing off"?
I just can't believe anybody in this Universe would make such a post, let alone someone who belongs to a fishing forum!
