[Jared]

There is something that I see from time to time that drives me mad! That is people littering while on the water. I see cans floating, nests of line stuck in trees, wrappers, cigarette butts and all other sorts of garbage when I go fishing. Granted it, its not concentrated in one large pile but still it adds up.

Aboard my boat I am always sure to carry a small bag for any of my days garbage. Some people may think that if one wrapper flies out of the boat what harm will it do. Well, figure out how many people are on the water fishing across the country. A million or more perhaps? Now what if each of those people felt the same way about a wrapper. That adds up now doesnt?

What brought this thought on was 2 fold. One was just seeing garbage on thebeautiful lake i was fishing this weekend. The second trigger was the radio station i was listening to this morning and their discussion of the old commerical with the indian by the side of the road with the tear in his eye because of all the litter.

I really think that us, (bass anglers) of all people, should be concerned about our trash and do our best to keep our waters clean. We may think "but im only one person, what impact can I make by myself?" You can make all the difference in the world by keeping your corner of the lake clean and free of your trash. You can also make a difference by spreading the habit to everyone you meet and fish with. It takes only a second more to put that wrapper from your crackers in a bag or in your cooler rather than tossing it into the lake. And that snarl of line you put in a bag on your boat instead of tossing into the lake, may keep some poor animal from getting all tangled up in it and will save it's life.

Catch and release is one way to preserve our sport. Keeping our garbage and disposing of it properly is the other way to preserver our sport.

So remember:

Catch N Release
Keep N Dispose

They go hand in hand :cheers:

 

[Bass Kisser]

DITTO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> :cheers:

 

[KeithsCatch]

Well said Jared. I even pick up liter I find near me if I can.

 

[fish4funinfl]

Amen

 

[Oldfart9999]

Ditto!!! I had my trolling motor jamed to the point I couldn't use it in a tournament by a big wad of mono. I hope the guy who left it learns to clean his own mess up the easy way.
Rodney

 

[dave0331_69]

Ive made it my mission to pick up any trash i see floating, or catch for that matter. It disgusts me that people have no respect for nature. Dave

 

[TampaCountryBoy]

Agree,

Catch N Release :thumbup01:
Keep N Dispose :thumbup01:

I have on several occasions, helped birds who have been wrapped up by line. I can't understand why folks can't see the damage they cause by littering.

 

[mary dean]

I think the biggest majority of anglers try to keep the lakes clean. I may be wrong. Who knows? I want to believe the best of all. Me and my ex-husband used to pick trash up from every place we fished(bank fishing). There was no question about it looking better when we left. I have learned a lot about boats and trash in the last couple of years... I now carry something to put all of my line, torn up plastics, cig packs, cracker wrappers, chip & sandwich bags, coke, water, & Gatoraid bottles and feminine products in :lmao:. Yea, I have a damn big bag... :thumbup01:
Please keep our water clean ya'll!
Good subject Jared!

 

[Jared]

I went fishin with some folks a while back and we saw a sun bathing gator. He was so content that he didnt move when we approached. Well these knuckleheads wanted to throw a plastic bottle at him to "wake him up" I protested and began moving my boat away so we were outta range but i wasnt fast enough and they threw a 16oz plastic mountain dew bottle at the gator. The gator didnt give a damn but I chewed em out for 1. trying to hit the gator and 2. throwing their garbage into the river. They littered a couple more times that day. Man did they tick me off!

I see all of you feeling the same way I do about littering and therefore I hope that the two mentioned above are the exception and not the norm.

 

[Ouachita]

it's shocking to boat into pockets and coves while water is falling from a high pool. Here's a lake where you can only see a couple of homes from the water, up on mountains, mostly a wilderness. But the mounds of matted trash are alarming. I get out and collect pounds of lures a trip, totally helpless concerning the tons of stuff washed up. The Corps does some prescribed burns that eliminate a lot of it, but that sometimes exposes mounds of metal propane bottles. Some explode. An annual lake cleanup hardly touches the bulk of it. There's just not much respect for anything these days. People walk away from complete camps, leaving tents, stoves, sleeping bags, everything but the most personal like wallets and purses behind. Trash rolls around , excrement piles all over. They won't even scoot leaves over the stinking mound. Teenagers putting gallons of paint on rock outcrops, prying boulders to see them crash into the lake. What else in those coves? Line spools. Cigarette lighters. Tackleboxes, some full of good stuff. PFDs galore. Bobbers, topwater lures, and styrofoam in giant blocks down to millions of little pieces. I found a truck camper shell in a cove, floated off while launching probably, they just let it go (??).

Ah, America....

Jim

 

[Oldfart9999]

It's the same up here, trash upon trash. Sometimes you can pay for a trip with bottle deposits. Wrappers, femine hygene products, condoms, paper plates and other junk, found it all. Where my wife and I camp in the Adirondacks, this place preserved for it's natural beauty, this place you can camp in pristine wilds are left littered. We always police a site when we go in and when we leave. Sometimes I wish I could leave the trash, and excrement on the peoples front lawn or in their car, it makes me so mad.
Rodney

 

[Richard]

I got to go fishing with my father on saturday at the galion resivoir.The huge smile of pride i got to see on his face when he saw me picking up others, crap made me proud to be his son,he has taught me to be proud of who i am and what i have.When you leave an area whether camping or fishing or just hiking in the woods,He always said to make sure the place is cleaner then when you got there.I love being outdoors and can't imagin the type of mentality it takes to leave so much trash where you like to spend time.
We also noted that someone is catching the bluegill and crappie and throwing them on the bank.there were piles of dried out bluegill and crappie in several places we stopped to fish. :cussin: :cussin: :cussin:
they must figure the big ones have always been big and the little ones never grow? :cussin: frickin idiots.
later
rich

 

[dkinder605]

Another thing that gets my goat along the same lines...is untagged old jug lines and trot lines...untagged adn unchecked...Everytime i see one i cut it down and file it in my garbage....those things are dangerous as well as an eyesore...Makes me sick i normally leave one compartment empyt in my boat everytime i go out just for garbage i pick up....how hard is it to put an empty can back in te cooler when your done with it and throw it away or recycle it...All the aluminum cans i pick up and drink myslef pays for a week trip of fishing every year....one whole week just from scrapping aluminum cans...i can only take 2 week long fishing trips every year one is paid for by saved and picked up spare chnage that i put in a jar and the other is paid for with garbage(aluminum cans, and any other type of scrapable metal)...
Good topic

Makes my blood boil but good topic to talk about and open some eyes

Dave