The impact of breaking off.

[Glaucus]

Have you ever wondered about the environmental impact of breaking off? When you consider all of the hundreds and thousands of people doing it? Is there an impact? All of the plastic, rubber, metal, lead, tungsten, etc littering our lakes and rivers? At what point is the lake or river so full of hooks that you can't step in them?

[Bluebasser86]

Hooks don't last forever. I've lost baits and found them a week later, already showing signs of rust and corrosion. When I find crankbaits that have been in the water for very long and try to remove the hooks, they'll often crumble into dust basically. I don't know that tungsten ever breaks down. I don't break off much and make sure not to throw old plastics in the lake so they can be disposed of properly.

 

I'd be much more concerned about all the bottles, plastic bags, and just general litter than specifically fishing related waste but we should certainly do our best to clean up after ourselves as well. 

[Glaucus]

10 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Hooks don't last forever. I've lost baits and found them a week later, already showing signs of rust and corrosion. When I find crankbaits that have been in the water for very long and try to remove the hooks, they'll often crumble into dust basically. I don't know that tungsten ever breaks down. I don't break off much and make sure not to throw old plastics in the lake so they can be disposed of properly.

 

I'd be much more concerned about all the bottles, plastic bags, and just general litter than specifically fishing related waste but we should certainly do our best to clean up after ourselves as well. 

Very true about hooks. I just don't know how long they actually take to rust like that. A common moral response to someone saying to just cut the line on a gut hooked fish because it will rust out, is to put a hook in a jar of water and tell us how long it takes for it to rust enough to corrode away. But you are right. I've pulled up old crankbaits and wacky rigs that have basically had dust for hooks.

 

I get so mad at people when I see all the trash in and around our water systems. One of my ponds is so clear right now that I noticed a bunch of beer cans in the water. Unbelievable! One of these days I'm probably going to get my jaw broken because if I notice someone leaving trash I tell them they should pick it up in a tone that says I'm not asking and I don't think fondly of them.

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, Glaucus said:

Very true about hooks. I just don't know how long they actually take to rust like that. A common moral response to someone saying to just cut the line on a gut hooked fish because it will rust out, is to put a hook in a jar of water and tell us how long it takes for it to rust enough to corrode away. But you are right. I've pulled up old crankbait hooks and wacky rigs that have basically had dust for hooks.

 

I get so mad at people when I see all the trash in and around our water systems. One of my ponds is so clear right now that I noticed a bunch of beer cans in the water. Unbelievable! One of these days I'm probably going to get my jaw broken because if I notice someone leaving trash I tell them they should pick it up in a tone that says I'm not asking and I don't think fondly of them.

Just don't ask them to take a polygraph.

A-Jay

[Glaucus]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

Just don't ask them to take a polygraph.

A-Jay

I don't get it.

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I don't get it.

Forget it.

A-Jay

[Bluebasser86]

We've had local lakes close areas to bank fishing due to people leaving trash, I'd like to see more of that. Teach people to take care of their resources or they'll be taken away because if we don't take care of them, they will go away whether we like it or not.

One of my favorite river ramps in the headwaters of a local lake is closed probably forever due to lowlifes that turned the road into their own personal mud run and destroyed the road. The state isn't going to fix it just so they can do it again so they put a gate up and a road closed sign. I can still cart my kayak in, it's just a lot more work now, but I'm fine with that because it greatly reduced fishing pressure in the process. 

People can be real jerks with no concept of the effects of their actions, and unfortunately, it's usually not them that suffers the repercussions of their actions. 

[Glaucus]

2 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

We've had local lakes close areas to bank fishing due to people leaving trash, I'd like to see more of that. Teach people to take care of their resources or they'll be taken away because if we don't take care of them, they will go away whether we like it or not.

One of my favorite river ramps in the headwaters of a local lake is closed probably forever due to lowlifes that turned the road into their own personal mud run and destroyed the road. The state isn't going to fix it just so they can do it again so they put a gate up and a road closed sign. I can still cart my kayak in, it's just a lot more work now, but I'm fine with that because it greatly reduced fishing pressure in the process. 

People can be real jerks with no concept of the effects of their actions, and unfortunately, it's usually not them that suffers the repercussions of their actions. 

People like that are why so many ponds have "No Trespassing" and "No Fishing" signs.

[Hower08]

7 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

We've had local lakes close areas to bank fishing due to people leaving trash, I'd like to see more of that. Teach people to take care of their resources or they'll be taken away because if we don't take care of them, they will go away whether we like it or not.

One of my favorite river ramps in the headwaters of a local lake is closed probably forever due to lowlifes that turned the road into their own personal mud run and destroyed the road. The state isn't going to fix it just so they can do it again so they put a gate up and a road closed sign. I can still cart my kayak in, it's just a lot more work now, but I'm fine with that because it greatly reduced fishing pressure in the process. 

People can be real jerks with no concept of the effects of their actions, and unfortunately, it's usually not them that suffers the repercussions of their actions. 

Are you talking about mogadore? If not this is exactly what happened there. People trashed an amazing lake and now they ***** because access is getting restricted

[Bluebasser86]

13 minutes ago, Hower08 said:

Are you talking about mogadore? If not this is exactly what happened there. People trashed an amazing lake and now they ***** because access is getting restricted

No, the lakes I'm talking about are in Kansas. 

[Hower08]

Oh ok. This exact thing happened here in Ohio it's a shame because it locked up and excellent area to the lake for shorebound anglers. But hey they're the ones destroying the place and usually the ones tearing up and down the dirt roads to get to these lakes

[J.Vincent]

Steel from hooks and leaders is made from Iron, Carbon and Manganese ....and these are naturally occurring elements . I think at some point the steel bio degrades or becomes part of the earth or sediment. The plastics and the nylons are a different story, from many documentaries I've seen, these plastics never actually bio-degrade; they disintegrate into micro-plastics and remain in our waters forever. This is why I try and recycle everything I can or reuse it in some manner or another. 

[MassYak85]

I do everything in my power to keep my own trash out of the lake, even a 2" tag end of line I will throw in my bag or pocket. If I break off it's out of my control and I don't worry about it. I usually pick up trash if I'm bank fishing, or grab floating bottles if I'm in the kayak. If we all leave a net positive on the ecosystem every time we go all our lakes will be better for it. 

[Todd2]

8 hours ago, Glaucus said:

People like that are why so many ponds have "No Trespassing" and "No Fishing" signs.

I normally am in my boat, but until this year, I had access to some private property that had several nice ponds that I'd hit when I only had a little time. My deal was through a friend of the owner. But I started noticing more people and more trash. It was to the point where I'd pick others trash because I figured it was going to get closed down for all. I guess I couldn't pick it all up because the owner has posted it now with a closed gate. I heard from my friend it was because of trash and people acting like they owned it by camping overnight.

[TOXIC]

As fishermen and women, we are front line stewards of this resource.  No matter if you are boat fishing or bank fishing it is our responsibility to promote conservation and good habits to keep the activity we cherish protected.  Line recycling barrels at ramps, don't discard plastics in the water, keep waste and trash to a minimum and overall don't be afraid to police the bank and pick up trash.  Walking right past it is part of the problem.  

 

I had a place on the Shenandoah River that I used to wade fish that was about a 1/2 mile off the main road and you needed to have a 4WD to get to.  When I fished there, I always made sure the area was cleaner than when I came but it got to the point where it just got out of control with the amount of trash that was there.  Certain people would camp overnight and leave beer cans and every kind of trash imaginable including dirty diapers and clothing.  It started looking like a trash dump.  The owner of the land finally chained it off.  Shame really because it was a good access spot for wading.  

[Drew03cmc]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

We've had local lakes close areas to bank fishing due to people leaving trash, I'd like to see more of that. Teach people to take care of their resources or they'll be taken away because if we don't take care of them, they will go away whether we like it or not.

One of my favorite river ramps in the headwaters of a local lake is closed probably forever due to lowlifes that turned the road into their own personal mud run and destroyed the road. The state isn't going to fix it just so they can do it again so they put a gate up and a road closed sign. I can still cart my kayak in, it's just a lot more work now, but I'm fine with that because it greatly reduced fishing pressure in the process. 

People can be real jerks with no concept of the effects of their actions, and unfortunately, it's usually not them that suffers the repercussions of their actions. 

Hey, which lake are you referring to? If I'm not mistaken you're talking about the one really close to you, aren't you?

[Dirtyeggroll]

8 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Have you ever wondered about the environmental impact of breaking off? When you consider all of the hundreds and thousands of people doing it? Is there an impact? All of the plastic, rubber, metal, lead, tungsten, etc littering our lakes and rivers? At what point is the lake or river so full of hooks that you can't step in them?

Have you ever wondered about the environmental impact of breaking off?

Yes. If I break off a long section of line, it bothers me. Mostly, I don't like the idea of a swimming bird or rodent getting wrapped up in, not to mention my trolling motor prop.

 

At what point is the lake or river so full of hooks that you can't step in them?

Fortunately, breaking off doesn't regularly occur everywhere. It tends to occur mostly in the same locations for most people and thus any body of water should never be so full of hooks that they can't be stepped in.

 

A highly trafficked small man-made reservoir near my house was recently drained. About 30% of the banks of this lake were lined with a felt-like landscape matting. When the lake was recently drained the number of hooks in that landscape matting was truly unbelievable; literally hundreds, if not thousands. The other place with lots of hooks were the laydowns. The laydowns also had significantly more line wrapped up in them as well. Some of the hooks still had plastics on them, but they were very few.

[Bluebasser86]

3 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

Hey, which lake are you referring to? If I'm not mistaken you're talking about the one really close to you, aren't you?

Wyandotte and a ramp at Clinton. 

[WRB]

You all need to be aware of opening Pandora’s box when discussing environmental issues related to fishing. There are 1,000 to 1 folks against harming animals or polluting the waterways by fishing.

Use your common sense and be sportsmen aware of the environment.

nobody leaves trash along the waterways yet somehow there is always trash.

Breaking off is like shooting, sometimes you miss or leave lures underwater, it’s part of the sport. If you see trash or line in or near the water pick it up and do your part.

Tom

[CrankFate]

Yeah, the 1000:1 would ban me from everything if they knew how many rigs I pollute the ecosystem with. I do not litter, but fishing rocky areas requires losing rigs. The fish are not picking their dinner off the broad flat top side of a boulder. They’re grabbing it at the base or in between.

[Drew03cmc]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Wyandotte and a ramp at Clinton. 

Which one at Clinton? 

[volzfan59]

I'm usually thinking about how much money I just lost.

[lo n slo]

here i am, thinking this thread was gonna be about the mental impact on the fisherman, namely me, as i did this just yesterday.

 

we had a cold front sweeping through yesterday morning but i thought i could squeeze in 4 or 5 hours before the big NW wind blew in. i had 8 of the tiniest spotted bass you’ll ever see by 9 am. ok, not the best day but i’m catching fish and it never really rained that much. then the mighty winds came and it came hard. i managed to fish on, seeking sheltered areas, but the next 3 hours yielded only strikes and no fish. that, and the wind, had me a bit frustrated, so i decided to hit one more secondary point before putting her on the trailer. suddenly, i had one pick up my lizard in 18 fow and was swimming off with it. oh boy!!!! i reeled down on her and swung upwards with a BASS ELITE SERIES hookset and broke my InvisX at the knot. i threw my rod down, yanked up the trolling motor, and buried the throttle back to the ramp. ? the end.

 

negative impact indeed

[NHBull]

I never leave the boat without some type of water-shoe as tetanus shots and stitches in the feet suck!  I can honestly say that in the last few years I have witnessed more pollution from non boating fisherman and pleasure crafts, than I have boat fisherman.  One growing concern that is gaining traction is the use of soft plastics. More and more articles are being written with graphic pics of dead fish with bellies full of  worms and it is getting the attention of lawmakers.

[Glaucus]

3 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Yeah, the 1000:1 would ban me from everything if they knew how many rigs I pollute the ecosystem with. I do not litter, but fishing rocky areas requires losing rigs. The fish are not picking their dinner off the broad flat top side of a boulder. They’re grabbing it at the base or in between.

I break off so many squarebills and various jig heads in one of the rocky rivers I fish. Part of what got me wondering. I spend time with a few other anglers who love this river too and break off with the same frequency. Part of a rocky river. You're guaranteed to pull up an ancient crankbait at the dam almost every time you go.