Why the "private" forum?

[mule_skinner45]

What is the problem with everyone sharing their info. or questions? What is the problem with everyone participating in the same forum. Looks like Utah is the only state forum that does this.
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

This topic has been beat to death, if you care to read all about it, go back to the 4th page on this board and enjoy the good and the bad of why.
Bottom line, there will always be those that want a private board and those that don't. The reason no other BFT state forum has a private board is because none are as big as the Utah board. There is good and bad with being the biggest forum in the state, the good is that there are is lot of info shared about fishing in Utah, the bad is that there are lots of people viewing the main utah board that never give anything back(lurkers), they just take the info that is posted. That is fine when people find BFT but over time you will notice only a fraction of those lurkers ever sign up and contribute to BFT in any meaningful way, like posting fishing reports or helpful info for other anglers. Over a 10 year period to time, some members noticed this alarming trend and quit posting, and a lot of those that continued to post, did not include valuable info in their post, that they once did. Sure info was shared threw PMs but some members felt that posting too much was causing a decline in the fishing of their favorite waters, especially smaller bodies of water. There are many other reasons that you can read about for yourself on that 4 page back, enjoy[].
[signature]