(Image: Volunteer Park Trust)

Bogus reports from Fishbrain

Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. That is probably not news. And the idea that people have fun by posting bogus information on the web and fake reviews? Also not new.

Finding a couple of confused fishermen carrying fishing poles and a box of new lures in search of reported smallmouth bass in the middle of Capitol Hill? That’s a CHS blog post.

You might not be surprised that jokers are using online fishing community Fishbrain to have a few laughs posting trip reports for Capitol Hill bodies of water including the 22 million gallons in the Volunteer Park Reservoir.

But CHS was surprised — and felt sorry to be the bearer of bad news — for two would-be fishermen wandering around the road below the barbed wire fences of the Volunteer Park reservoir looking for an entrance after seeing a catch report from user mindy.a showing a smallmouth bass reportedly caught in the off-limits Seattle Public Utilities facility.

The men said they were on a break from a nearby construction project and were only a little disappointed — they still had time on their break to make it to Green Lake for a little fishing. They said a report on Fishbrain caught their attention when they were looking for a place to fish near the work site.

That report and 21 other “logged catches” at Volunteer Park Reservoir are 100% bogus. The water remains part of the city’s emergency supply despite years of discussion about possibly decommissioning. Sorry, there are no fish in Volunteer Park beyond the occasional koi.

Same goes for Cal Anderson Park where Fishbrain users have reported “22 logged catches” including smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and spanish mackerel from its Lincoln Reservoir. Those reports are also, of course, bogus. The reservoir is underground, covered by the park, and, most assuredly, fish free.

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