iStockphoto / Tero Vesalainen/joshuaraineyphotography
The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, the Freemasons, none of these secret societies have anything on fishermen trying to keep their favorite fishing spots secret. That is, until a fella gets interest on a dating app and then he is apparently willing to spill the beans to a complete stranger.
These aren’t hypotheticals, these are very real-world scenarios unfolding right now on dating apps in Oregon. A user who goes by the name ‘@central.oregon.fishin‘ on TikTok has grown a massive following by catfishing guys for fishing spots and then making videos about it.
Catfishing Guys On Dating Apps To Steal Their Fishing Spots, Does It Work?
Yes. We know it works. And we know that because @central.oregon.fishin has been crushing it all across Oregon by doing this.
His videos are great because they lure you in with some sort of animation or clip from pop culture. Then once you are hooked, the video flips over to him at a new fishing spot that he’s secured through Hinge or another dating app.
For some reason, guys are just willing to give up the GPS coordinates to their favorite fishing spots when they believe they are talking to a woman on Hinge.
He now has 10 videos on TikTok with a million or more views. But his most popular yet is from ‘Day 34 of catfishing guys on Hinge to get their fishing spots.’ It has 1.8 million views. Interestingly, he doesn’t catch any fish at that lake despite getting a ton of bites.
This video below with 1.4 million views was shared in late July. This is an ‘S Tier’ fishing spot and he caught 20 brook trout in an hour which were then made into burgers.
@central.oregon.fishin Exploring new waters, chasing the perfect catch! Sometimes, the best fishing spots are the ones you’ve never tried before. Adventure, patience, and a little bit of luck—let’s see what bites! 🎣🌊 #FishingAdventure #NewFishingSpots #GoneFishing #CatchAndRelease #FishingLife
If it works, it works
Hand on heart, I’m jealous. I don’t know if I have it in me to get on Hinge to catfish anyone. I’m not even sure where to begin with that. But his approach is working, he’s catfishing fishing spots out of guys all across Oregon.
At this point, word has gotten out. Before I even came across this account I saw a video from another fisherman saying his favorite account on TikTok at the moment was the guy in Oregon catfishing guys on Hinge to steal their fishing spots.
From there, it only took about 3 scrolls before I saw my first @central.oregon.fishin video and by now I’ve seen them all.
Not every spot produces. Sometimes people send him to frozen lakes. But other times he secures the GPS coordinates for lakes full of rainbow trout.
Are people mad about the catfishing?
Funnily, many of the top comments on his posts are from people claiming they don’t fish and they just love the intros. So he has definitely captured lightning in a bottle with the video edits.
As far as the morality of this goes, I’m on his side. I think fishermen are way too secretive with their spots. Gatekeeping in fishing is infuriating in areas where there are an abundance of fish. And it can be as minor as not telling someone what bait/lure you are using.
Maybe it was the way I was raised but with fishing, I have always been ready to share any and all knowledge I have. More educated fishermen is good for the fishery. What you don’t want is someone showing up at your spot at random and spooking the fish with god knows what on the end of their hook.
You want a fishermen who will respect the fishery, and that takes a transfer of knowledge and respect. So I’m all in on this approach by @central.oregon.fishin and I hope at some point that fishermen in Oregon catch on and become less guarded with their spots and start sharing the wealth.