Just got done reading FishinFool53’s post on Rainbow in Bear Lake and wondered why the DWR would ever encourage more shore angling.
I camped at Willard this weekend and had a chance to walk around the North Marina. Now I understand that I am generalizing, but the amount of trash that is left by inconsiderate shore anglers was unreal. What compels a person to drink a bottle of water, empty a box of worms, etc. etc… and then just leave? Just ranting a little, but it really pissed me off.
Just my 2 cents what really ticks me off is to see the full garbage bag thrown out of the vehichle going down the road. It kind of reminds me of being on vacation one time. Enough said
I know it Looks like I have something to say about everything and it comes across negative sorry, On this subject I’ll tell you I’ve seen every kind of fisherman from bait fisherman to fly fisherman do the “wrong thing” and I don’t think shore fisherman have the monopoly on litter bugs,(maybe they are the worst) but I do agree we need more tix handed out for littering and fish waist. There are only so many officers out there but we all (Including me) should take a plastic bag and clean up the beaches and water as we are out there. Just an idea!
“There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot.
Steven Wright”
I know it Looks like I have something to say about everything and it comes across negative sorry, On this subject I’ll tell you I’ve seen every kind of fisherman from bait fisherman to fly fisherman do the “wrong thing” and I don’t think shore fisherman have the monopoly on litter bugs,(maybe they are the worst) but I do agree we need more tix handed out for littering and fish waist. There are only so many officers out there but we all (Including me) should take a plastic bag and clean up the beaches and water as we are out there. Just an idea!
“There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot.
Steven Wright”
First off, I have to question the Fly Fisherman. Not saying they are saints, but, the masses I know don’t pack anything that can become litter.
Maybe you are referring to the ones that are usual spin fishermen that are trying there hand at fly fishing.
On the shore fishermen not having a monopoly, the trash is on the shore…where else is it coming from. I realize we get some good winds here, but the trash I see is from shore anglers and people just watching (picnic)
I mostly fly fish as FG mentioned I rarely pack in anything I cant pack out but Ive done a little bit of bank tangling and to single out the shore fisherman is a bit much.
I will admit I have seen shore anglers leave bait containers and trash and I’m the first to say something to them but Ive also seen boaters and not just fisherman wake and recreational boaters drop trash overboard. Just last week I was floating Jordanelle and I see a guy throw his soda can in the water.
I know this is probably going to piss allot of people off but I just read an article about the about the amount of plastics that are in lakes across the country plastics as in plastic baits these plastics are not biodegradable and in theory its not different than casting out a plastic Mountain Dew bottle in the water. Any way thats a whole different topic.
The reality of it is the currant floats everything to the shore so th just blame the shore fisherman is unfair.
I say instead of pointing the finger at one group take some action and either educate or pick up trash bag and and clean some of it up. I know I have taken bag and bags of trash from Utahs lakes and rivers.
I was on the end of Quail Lake where the stream comes in several months ago. It was disgusting . It looked like a large dumpster had been dumped over about a hundred yards of shore. A few plastic bags worth of trash carried out wouldn’t even had made a noticeable difference. About a month earlier the same spot was relatively clean. In the Everglades the kill a vulture and put it on a pole near parking lots and that keeps the other vultures from ripping the nonmetal roofs of the cars because they won’t get close. Maybe a similar tactic with slobs caught trashing lakes and streams could work here in Utah.
I ran into the same bull$hit this weekend! Me and the kids took a garbage bag over and picked up all their beer cans and garbage! There have always been pigs and probally allways will be! So I just pick up the mess when ever I see it. I just try to teach my kids and show the others that are watching, take five minutes and go the extra mile. I hope karma bites them in the ass, sooner or later, hopfully sooner!!!
This is a big problem - but I think everyone is guilty of leaving a negative footprint on our environment - nobody gets away scotch free really. All of us, due to the way we live our lifestyles contribute to pollution - when you throw your trash away it doesn’t just disappear. It goes somewhere.
As for leaving behind trash though - if it is that easy to carry it in - it shouldn’t be that hard to carry it out.
I need to start taking a garbage sack with me and pick up after others - I’m just selfish and would rather spend time fishing instead.
Blaming all us shore anglers is not fair. This is a pretty wide spread problem from beach enthusiast’s to fisherfolks to everyone who frequents our waters.
I for one have pulled out batteries, lawn furniture, and grocery carts from shore but the diapers, drinking containers, and food wrapers are common place. Not to single out any person or race or even type of outdoors person but yea, it is noticeable on who is realy the culprit in most cases. I dare say it is not the average angler.
Maybe you are referring to the ones that are usual spin fishermen that are trying there hand at fly fishing.
Wow.[unimpressed] That’s disappointing to read from you. Unfortunately, a lot of people look up to you and hopefully that attitude won’t filter down to them. That just places bolder lines between all of us.
The point is that there are jerks in every walk of life. This can be found in any hobby, profession, religion, culture, etc. Insinuating that any group is better/worse than the other is childish and snobby.
There are hoards of powerful people out there that would like to see OUR hobby/sport disappear altogether. Together we are more powerful than divided.
the trash is on the shore…where else is it coming from.
Where do you think the trash from the boats goes? Trash Heaven?
All that playground crap aside, I spend a great deal of time fishing any way I can be it shore, tube, flies, bait, hardware, bare hook[;)], etc. Try to classify that.
Seeing garbage piled up anywhere is irritating and the only productive thing to do about it is pick it up, set an example, and teach those around you to do the same.
It’s just plain laziness and lack of thought that anyone would leave something behind that they packed in to begin with. In many cases, these items actually weigh less and take up less space (worm cans, beer cans, bottles, wrappers) on the way out. It’s disgusting.
In my life, I’ve found that complaining about something is useless and annoying unless a plan or helpful idea is also given. So, here goes:
At the fishing hole, make it a point to pack out your trash and some bonus trash. You’ll make it that much better even if you can’t tell. You’ve helped. Pat yourself on the back.
On the enforcement end, WATCH for people littering and ticket them. With some influence, I would bet that a few judges in their respective jurisdictions would be open to a community service program for these litterbugs where they would be sentenced to clean up trash for X amount of hours at the specific water where they were cited.
County Sheriff’s depts all over the place already have vans that take inmates out for trash duty. This would be very similar and the only thing I would change is that the offenders would have to wear a bright orange vest that says “LITTERBUG” on the back in bold letters. A little humiliation can go a long way.
This would show the public that littering is being taken seriously and that itself would discourage at least SOME trash from being left behind by would-be litterbugs.
Accompany this community service with a fine and we’ve got ourselves a funded, productive effort to combat the issue at hand.
That seems logical to me. Sorry for the novel.
You must be related to our president, he has that same kind of smarmy, always blame someone else attitude.
What can I say, this is what I have seen. I stand firm in the statement that myself and my friend fly fishers haul nothing in to become shore trash.
Sinergy and Riverdog, make the same claims. Not placing ourselves on a pedestal, just a fact.
But I have seen that bait fishermen with all their gear and bait (jars and Styro worm containers), then see that the fish are on top and then try the fly fishing end. Not all bait fishers, just some. But this goes back to the “what you haul in - take out” and again, the first line. This was not directed at any ONE. Just what I have seen.
Hopefully, this shouldn’t offend anyone unless they are guilty[;)]
Read my post again, I did mention picnics and wind. The boaters are absolutely a factor as well, which I did neglect to mention.
PEACE[angelic]
You must be related to our president, he has that same kind of smarmy, always blame someone else attitude.[/quote
Here’s how I look at it. If it’s not FG, it’s not me, and with your holier than thou attitude it can’t be you throwing the crap all over, than who is it?
And what the hell is “smarmy”?
lmao. Despite your intentions you insinuated that fly flingers don’t leave garbage behind, that’s a pretty bold statement to make for the masses. However, I believe that it doesn’t matter what kind of fishing that you do that it is the individual that decides to leave their trash. I do agree that shore anglers are not to blame for all the trash. The blame should not even be placed on any group, the solution is the problem.
The whole littering thing is a real sore point with me. I always take an extra trash bag or two with me when I’m gonna be shore fishing to pick up trash after the TRASH that left it behind. Time was when I’d say enough to some of the clowns that a scrap broke out. A couple times I kinda wished I’d kept my mouth shut. Now that I’m 70 I don’t go that far but still say something.
I love the idea about making ticketed offenders wear Litterbug labelled vests while cleaning up. That’s just great. There’s a real problem here for law enforcement in that even though the litterbug types are a basically stupid lot, not many of them are dumb enough to leave trash behind when a law officer is watching so getting the clowns ticketed is pertty tough. There’s also the time element. It isn’t often that a ranger, warden or even police have time to wait to see if the clowns will leave litter behind.
Again, read my post. I said my friends and myself, and I will defend that to the end. I am not saying ALL fly fishermen. As mentioned, there are jerks in every walk of life.
If you pack it in, pack it out…we (friends and myself) pack nothing in.
I couldn’t resist..
Smarmy: 1 : revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness <a tone of smarmy self-satisfaction — New Yorker>
2 : of low sleazy taste or quality
I didn’t mean any offense, please don’t take any. As sad as it sounds perhaps we should gather forces and clean up the shoreline of a body of water. We shouldn’t even have to have that option. I will make a call and see if we can help our dedicated hunters (including myself) by donating time to clean up a shoreline or two. If nothing to gain it’s a good idea anyway. Perhaps a BFT get together in the making? It would be good advertising, create new members and get the message out that leaving your trash is not acceptable. Something to ponder about.
I agree that the resources are thin to begin with. This is something I’ve also thought over a bit.
To be worth anyone’s time, it would require some focus on the part of the enforcing agency.
What I’m talking about is the agency dedicating their time on a specific day or time of day to make a “sweep” or “shakedown” for trash heads.
I’m sure we’ve all seen or been approached by a Law Enforcement Officer while shore fishing. It’s common practice for them to walk a shoreline, checking for licenses and such. They already reserve the right to check your gear and containers for violations. If they see beer cans all over the immediate area of a group and that group has that same brand of beer in their cooler (without empties), then that’s litter. Especially if they already observed them tossing cans aside. see below
The LEO’s are already scoping people from afar, much of the time anyway (long before taking the time to investigate in person), especially at the big popular spots like Scofield and Strawberry. They’re watching for fishing related violations and certainly could notice if someone crumples up a beer can and tosses it aside.
By taking the time to focus on the litter specifically for a day, hour, whatever, they will be able to notice the violations. The usual violations will more than likely show up while sweeping for litterbugs anyhow.
This way, they write a lot of tickets in the same time frame, the offenders have court on coinciding dates, and the trash van is dispatched for a group, not an individual.
Most importantly, the public notices that an effort is being made to stop the litter. It won’t stop completely, since there’s always someone willing to litter, but it would make a noticeable impact, I believe.
Just my thoughts.
All I can say is I’ve seen a whole lot of worm containers and powerbait jars on the shore, but I can’t for the life of me ever recall seeing tippet spools or or leader packages left behind. I think that says something.