I went up to Muskegon, MI for the walleye opener and stayed at a friends place. I took him out on the water at midnight and I hooked a beauty of a smallmouth, 4lb.12oz. 

He landed it and I took a photo with his smartphone. After weighing it and before I could get a pic of myself and the fish, he released it!  What's worse, he posted the pic on social media saying HE caught it. 

He has up to his place a couple of times a year, but I'm thinking of declining next time. Thoughts?

doesn't sound like much of a friend to me. I wouldn't have anything else to do with him after that. 

Geez Louise. That's crass of him.

 

Probably decline next invite. Perhaps confront

him on the matter and ask why he did it...or

don't. Whatever will soothe your ire.

Sounds like someone I'd stop calling or returning calls to.  Is he an actual friend or a fishing acquaintance?

Yeah man that's definitely not cool. I would have been upset. My younger brother used to do that to me with deer. I'd kill a deer and he'd take a picture and post it on his social media and say he killed it etc etc. I started commenting on all his post saying it was mine. Fixed that problem ??.  If you're not up to losing a friend I'd talk to him and tell him you think it's messed up 1st off to release it like he did and especially the fact he's claiming it. 

 

I'm afraid he'd be my X friend

I could overlook the quick release,

but not false representation (dishonesty)

 

Roger

 

Didn't happen.

LOL , yep . I have a friend like that . 

Maybe it's some kind of joke ? ? ? 

Either way, sounds like real nice fella ~ inviting you up to his place a few times a year and all.

In return,  I suppose it's only right for you to repay that kind of generosity.

Perhaps you could help him out by advertising his place there in Muskegon, MI for rent at a super low price.

Don't forget to state that because he works  very off hours he can only take phone calls regarding this between 2 - 5 AM.

I'm betting he'll appreciate this gesture quite a bit.

A-Jay

 

 

I'm from Muskegon.. visit there every year and spent most of my life there. I can tell you there are alot more shady things going on in Muskegon than taking credit for someone else's fish. 

 

I had a buddy like that once. Except he did catch the fish. It was the first season I used a stickbait. And it was hot everywhere we went. I was having an awesome night and after he was getting skunked I lent him a senko and showed him how to use it . He caught one 23" . And bragged on dramabook how he was Mr BA at bass fishing. Also ran to the truck with the bass and acted a fool. I was not pleased and never went fishing with him again. 

 

Live and learn. Dude is not your buddy. 

 

Should have took me 

That's... small.

Sounds like a story made up to get reactions. Just my,sometimes silly, opinion.

8 minutes ago, deaknh03 said:

Sounds like a story made up to get reactions. Just my,sometimes silly, opinion.

egads, have we been duped?

 If he was a true friend of yours, I do not think you would have posted what he did. But I am a southern boy and look at things a bit different I guess

I would have clogged his toilet and called a bunch of 1-900 numbers on his phone.

He is a friend, but as such I accept him 'as is'  I just wasn't aware of this side of him.  I've had fishing partners pull some crazy dodo, but this really through me for a loop.  I really don't know how to react and I'm what you'd call non-confrontational.  I could care less about the quick release and lost photo op. I'll likely just rib him about it in front of his other friends, but not at his next get together up there.

There's part of me that wants to believe that no one could possibly act like that and that this is a joke. Nothing should really surprise me anymore though. There's part of me that wants to make some retribution suggestions. I'm not going to.

 

From the sounds of it he's got some issues of some kind. Self esteem maybe. Maybe just something he's got going on right now where he craves attention. Might've just been a lapse in judgement on his part though. 

 

Only you can make an informed decision about whether you need him in your life or not and whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. You're the one that knows him. If he's going through something and you accept him as is then maybe just let him know you're ticked and why. If he's just a ***** either call him out or just cull him. 

 

We fish cause we love it l, and for a lot of us it's an escape. You don't need the drama. 

No normal intelligent person pulls something like that. Sounds like a major dummy with some issues.

 

Just boat flip all your fish so he doesn't have a chance to touch them. 

At least he should let you take some picture with that fish, so you both can claim over that fish.

Posting a photo of himself with a fish caught by another person is fraud.

 

I would write him off.

From your picture and the number of posts that you have, you've caught fish as big as the one in question and will probably catch more in the future.  So in the overall scope of things this is so small as to be laughable.

So your friend posted this on social media; he maybe has integrity issues or maybe just having fun with you.   Social media is nonsense anyway, so take that part of it with a grain of salt. You know more about the overall relationship you have than what you have summarized in 3 sentences; so you already know the answer as to how to deal with this without broadcasting for advice on this site.  Since you're asking, I would talk to this friend directly.

On the positive side, he is nice enough to let you stay at his place a few times a year.  How was the walleye fishing?

It works both ways.  If he wants to put false information on social media in order to look good then he better be ready to get called out and embarrassed on social media.

Maybe next time , don't take a picture of him holding your fish? problem solved....

Do you care about catching fish or what he posts on social media?

 

Sounds like he's got a good fishing hole. I'd lean more towards the first opinion.