The impact of breaking off.

[FishDewd]

This is one reason I like to go lure hunting when the bite isn't on that day... put my gear up in the car, grab a trash bag, and my lure retriever and start pulling it whatever my 16' retrieval pole can grab. The park rangers in the areas I frequent seem to like that I do this, cause often times I'm not just pulling lures out of trees or underwater snags, but also pulling in dozens of feet of line that has zig zagged through tree branches, or through common break off areas in the water. I also retrieve abandoned bobbers, bottle, cans, all sorts of stuff while trying to get free lures. Usually I'll head back when finished with a decent bag full of lures, and a huge bag full of trash and fishing line that I've also cleaned up. I figure it's a good way to do my part since I also fish these waters and want them to remain in good condition for a long time, as well as keeping animals from getting tangled up in broken off fishing line and being injured.

[Sam]

21 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?

Never.

 

Hooks too small and lakes too big.

 

At my American Legion Post on the Historic James River, people pay to try to hit a golf ball across the river.

 

We have been doing this for over 20-years.

 

We figure it is about 230 yards across the river to the other side.

 

I guess there are about 10,000 golf balls at the bottom of the river, but so far no fish have been caught with a golf ball in its mouth or stomach.

 

So I would not be concerned about the tackle that ends up in the lake.

[Glaucus]

22 minutes ago, Sam said:

Never.

 

Hooks too small and lakes too big.

 

At my American Legion Post on the Historic James River, people pay to try to hit a golf ball across the river.

 

We have been doing this for over 20-years.

 

We figure it is about 230 yards across the river to the other side.

 

I guess there are about 10,000 golf balls at the bottom of the river, but so far no fish have been caught with a golf ball in its mouth or stomach.

 

So I would not be concerned about the tackle that ends up in the lake.

I guess of all concerns (for lack of a better word) my main one was humans catching a hook.

[papajoe222]

My main concern is the line left in the water that fish, turtles, birds and outboard/TM seals fall victim to. I understand shore anglers cutting of yards and yards of line because of a snag, but I've seen anglers in boats do the same rather than motor over to the hang-up and cutting the line there.

[LCG]

12 hours ago, WRB said:

If you see trash or line in or near the water pick it up and do your part.

This. Lead by example, others will follow or at least maybe think twice. 

[Johnbt]

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

 

I worry more about the broken glass. It's everywhere, even if fishing isn't allowed. That's why I wear shoes. I've never found a hook embedded in my shoes or waders.

 

Broken glass lasts a long, long time in freshwater. Nearly forever in still water I suppose, unlike hooks.

 

 

[NYWayfarer]

The break offs concern me for the multitude of dog walkers in my area. They let their unleashed animals splash right in the river to swim and drink (often right next to me...) without a thought of the dangers of lost hooks and line.

 

I carry a bag with me when ever I go fishing. The sole purpose for this bag is for trash I find along the bank.

 

Sadly I have not had a trip where I have not completely filled the bag with OPT (other peoples trash) Even sadder is empty worm and chicken liver cups which you know came from folks who fish.

[N Florida Mike]

21 hours ago, lo n slo said:

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

I had one break me off the other day too. Have no clue how it happenned. I have gone home from losing a fish 3 times ever. I might have done it the other day if I had seen it and it was real big.

[JLindsey]

Breaking off doesn’t trouble me so much. What bugs me is seeing nightcrawler cartons and dead minnows all over the bank. 

[TnRiver46]

On 4/1/2019 at 12:01 PM, WRB said:

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

The ratio is 1000 bass fishermen to 1 person against it here 

[Bluebasser86]

11 hours ago, JLindsey said:

Breaking off doesn’t trouble me so much. What bugs me is seeing nightcrawler cartons and dead minnows all over the bank. 

Dead minnows will be dealt with quickly by the local wildlife and a lot of states prohibit dumping leftover baitfish into the lake and actually instruct fishermen to dump them on the bank instead. That's what we're supposed to do here.

 

K.A.R. 115-8-12: Don't dump bait. You cannot stock or release wildlife on department lands or waters, navigable publicly-owned waters and federal reservoirs unless authorized. Dispose of unused bait on dry ground or in an approved bait receptacle.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Dead minnows will be dealt with quickly by the local wildlife and a lot of states prohibit dumping leftover baitfish into the lake and actually instruct fishermen to dump them on the bank instead. That's what we're supposed to do here.

 

K.A.R. 115-8-12: Don't dump bait. You cannot stock or release wildlife on department lands or waters, navigable publicly-owned waters and federal reservoirs unless authorized. Dispose of unused bait on dry ground or in an approved bait receptacle.

 

 

We can't even do that in MN - all unused live bait MUST be put in the trash unless you're taking it home. Then Minnows must have the water in the bucket replaced by bottled water.

[Glaucus]

So much of this is tough to enforce. Typically someone doesn't like to be seen leaving trash (when I do catch a bonehead it's just unbelievable that they really just don't care) so they do it sneakily or away from people, or they are alone. And nobody would ever know if minnows were given bottled water. Honor code is broken anymore.

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

So much of this is tough to enforce. Typically someone doesn't like to be seen leaving trash (when I do catch a bonehead it's just unbelievable that they really just don't care) so they do it sneakily or away from people, or they are alone. And nobody would ever know if minnows were given bottled water. Honor code is broken anymore.

I don't know about other states, but here (at least on Minnetonka), there's DNR Officers at all the major launch points, checking the boats, trailers, live-wells, etc for compliance with the regs. Sunrise to sunset, there's someone there making sure people follow the law.

[Glaucus]

4 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I don't know about other states, but here (at least on Minnetonka), there's DNR Officers at all the major launch points, checking the boats, trailers, live-wells, etc for compliance with the regs. Sunrise to sunset, there's someone there making sure people follow the law.

I've only had one encounter with an officer here and she was just checking licenses of people fishing the Kankakee River at the Kankakee State Park. I've never had an encounter with one at any other river at any other time. I've never had an encounter with one at any of the lakes. Illinois is a deeply flawed and troubled state however.

[WVU-SCPA]

The most concerning thing I see in my waters is long strands of braid.  Every trip I'm pulling a 20' section out of the water that is either wrapped up in timber or attached to a catfish rig.

 

The havoc braid can create for humans and animals is scary.  

 

 

[GreenPig]

On 4/2/2019 at 11:47 AM, NYWayfarer said:

The break offs concern me for the multitude of dog walkers in my area. They let their unleashed animals splash right in the river to swim and drink (often right next to me...) without a thought of the dangers of lost hooks and line.

 

I carry a bag with me when ever I go fishing. The sole purpose for this bag is for trash I find along the bank.

 

Sadly I have not had a trip where I have not completely filled the bag with OPT (other peoples trash) Even sadder is empty worm and chicken liver cups which you know came from folks who fish.

I also carry a bag for that very reason. I pick up way more trash than I leave in lures. I've witnessed the death of two engines due to minnow bags. Non boaters seem to be the worst offenders around here. I just love trying to climb out of the boat on a dock covered with fire ants feeding on chicken liver.

[waymont]

Last year I hooked some line and couldn’t get loose. I went over to the snag and pulled up a log with about 15 different lures and a giant tangle of line all from one submerged log. I felt great throwing it away back at the ramp, but it did make me think about all the tackle lost in the lake.

[TnRiver46]

The craziest wads o gear I find are right below dams. I caught about 15-20 striper jig heads from 1/2 oz and up on one cast! All stuck in a ball of line with a bunch of egg sinkers too. The hooks snapped off but I kept the lead for “finders keepers” catfishing purposes 

[Glaucus]

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The craziest wads o gear I find are right below dams. I caught about 15-20 striper jig heads from 1/2 oz and up on one cast! All stuck in a ball of line with a bunch of egg sinkers too. The hooks snapped off but I kept the lead for “finders keepers” catfishing purposes 

I caught a child's life jacket at a river dam last year and it really messed me up for awhile. Probably nothing bad happened, but just the thought, and why it was there...

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

I caught a child's life jacket at a river dam last year and it really messed me up for awhile. Probably nothing bad happened, but just the thought, and why it was there...

That’s spooky. I’ve seen more than a few chucky looking type baby dolls wedged up in log jams. I always paddle by and say “I didn’t just see that.....” 

[hawgenvy]

Lead is particularly toxic to birds (and I don't mean from hunting). Just one split shot eaten by a duck can supposedly kill it, and lead poisoning by fishing weights is reportedly a relatively common cause of aquatic bird deaths. After reading some reports on the matter I have severely limited my use of lead weights, including in jigs, and have been dishing out for tungsten. If any of you can dispute the hazards of lead weights I'd like to hear it, especially given that the use of lead in fishing weights and lures is nearly ubiquitous, except in states that that have banned it.

[Glaucus]

1 minute ago, hawgenvy said:

Lead is particularly toxic to birds (and I don't mean from hunting). Just one split shot eaten by a duck can supposedly kill it, and lead poisoning by fishing weights is reportedly a relatively common cause of aquatic bird deaths. After reading some reports on the matter I have severely limited my use of lead weights, including in jigs, and have been dishing out for tungsten. If any of you can dispute the hazards of lead weights I'd like to hear it, especially given that the use of lead in fishing weights and lures is nearly ubiquitous, except in states that that have banned it.

Thank you for your post, thoughts and insights. Not wishing to be political, the fishing industry, meaning the people involved, from marketing to fishing, makes it hard for people to speak about environmental issues. This forum is thankfully full of the most amazing people. Elsewhere that is ridicule for caring about how we impact the environment, and from another side there is the "you're a monster for fishing" crowd. It makes a no win situation. That's what makes this forum so great because we care so much about being good stewards of the earth and caring to be a least harmful to the animals we catch as possible.

[BassThumb]

Break-offs are going to happen. Nobody tries to do it. What we can all do is try not to litter the lake with waste that's preventable. This being plastics, short lengths of cut-off line, miscellaneous stuff that likes to blow away, and cigarette butts, which are especially trashy to toss in the lake

[RB 77]

Break offs? Nah, not so much. Littering? Well, for what ever reason, this might be my biggest pet peeve in life. Yes, even more than all the driving and parking related ones, and believe me there  are plenty of those. Rolled up to a small pond ages ago and saw it was destroyed by litter. Went home and got a trash bag and went to work. The very next time I came back, it was destroyed again. I realize I was fighting a losing battle. Still do my part though. Still pick up trash. Goes all the way back from doing it on the beaches from decades of surfing. My golden rule these days is; pack out what you pack in and take a little extra on the way out.