Spin Fishermen

[turkbiggums]

I noticed over the last few years that my home river has become polluted with rubbish (empty crawler containers,these clearly state DO NOT LITTER,Bud and But Light bottles,bobbers and line that you could haul in whales with!)Any stretch that is fly only doesent seem to have these problems, but my river has no such thing anymore.Lastly its not just the trash but also any fish CLOSE to the legal limit is kept.Any feedback on this topic is welcome

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[J Castwell]

The 'Grand' your home river? Mine is the Ausable. What you say is true. There is a long learning curve for some folks. Our job; teach 'em.

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"How long does it take to learn fly-fishing?
No one knows."
Grand poo-bah

[turkbiggums]

Good lord NOOO< not the Grand.Mine is the Rogue, not as pristene as the Ausable but a jem in its own right.

[Diane]

Is trash bad? Is that the question? Yeah, trash is bad. I admire most those who clean up after themselves and others. But the subject line of your post is misleading. Just this week we've learned that some people cast corn and worms on fly rods. And I, for one, never use live bait when I spin cast. And I do use spinning gear sometimes.

What was the question again?

[J Castwell]

Turk, we have spent many enjoyable hours cleaning areas of the Main Stream and the South Branch. 'A Sand County Almanac' should be required reading for all fishing licenses.

[jklett]

It's not just bait fishers that are slobs, they exist in every corner of society. I've fished in flyfishing only sections around my area and found water bottles and tippet spools thrown around. And don't get me started about the crap that people leave on the beaches! I always pick up whatever trash I see whenever I am out anywhere(not only fishing) and get disgusted that people can have so little respect for nature that they throw their garbage wherever they want. How hard is it to stuff your garbage into a pocket until you get to a garbage can? Slobs like that are what makes folks want to close off areas to the public, fishing or otherwise. As mad as littering makes me and as frustrated as I get picking up the endless piles of trash, I'll still pick it up wherever I see it and I can only hope that there are others that do it as well.

[J Castwell]

jklett,,, wow, just checked your 'profile'. Looks like you're into everything. Agreed on the picking up thing, we still do it too. Guess that's the way it always has been and always will be.

Some just think their 'mommy' will keep picking up their underware. Most have only just finished toilet-training. Almost.

I bait fish and fly fish. I can tell you that the last thing the spinfisherman want is there bobber to get caught in a tree or his line to get snagged in the bush.

If it is just sitting on the ground, then no doubt thats not right. But if it is caught in the tree ot something, try not to blame them. Spinning tackle loves to snag onto things

[OLB]

I've noticed that waters open to any type of fishing have more litter than flies only water. I think it's mostly from people who aren't really fisherman, but people who are just "going up north camping" They'll be canoing, camping, and getting trashed before they have to go back to work on Monday. Other than this trip, and a couple more they might make during the summer, they won't fish at all during the year. Many bait fisherman are just as concious of keeping the river clean as fly fisherman, it's the ones who aren't fisherman at all who don't give a dang.

I think another factor is that rivers that are open to any type of fishing get more traffic from these types, as well as real fisherman than stretches of water with gear restrictions. More people=More litter.

Thankfully most flyfisherman, even if they are a weekend warrior, are aware of the importance of taking out whatever you bring in. Unfortunately, there are the exceptions to that too.

Even while fishing the flies only stretch of one of my local rivers, the AuSable, I'll run across a pile of beer cans, or a cooler, etc. Usually from a group of people partying on the river. But I think that most of the litter on any river isn't from anglers(bait or fly), but from people who aren't fishing at all such as canoers

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[J Castwell]

Good point. Will we see you at the 'Fish-In'?