One less pond to fish.

[Glenn]

Well, let's not get into stereotyping.... or complaining/ranting.  Focus your energy on solutions.  I've seen all walks of life litter - sometimes by accident ("Hey there, you dropped something!", "Oh, Oops!  I didn't realize it fell out of my handful of stuff I'm carrying.").  And ya, some folks are just plain rude and don't care.

So.... what do you suggest to solve the problem?

[RoLo]

We are raising up a whole culture that takes no responsibilty for their oun actions and could care less about anything other than their own selfish gratification. One of my favorite things to do is, when I see someone throw down a piece of trash I go immediately and pick it up right in front of them. It's like handing them a STUPID sign. LOL

I'm with you buddy.

Years back, a farmer gave my wife and I permission to hunt deer with bow and arrow.

One day after work I took my buddy along to get in a couple of hours of hunting before dark.

While suiting up to go on stand, I noticed that my friend tossed the wrapper of a candy bar onto the ground.

Not to embarrass him, I picked it up when he wasn't looking and tossed it into the trunk of my car.

On the next trip with me, my friend spotted and apparently identified the candy wrapper in my trunk.

With a very red face he asked, "Was that mine Rog?". I replied, "Yah Jim, it was yours".

Not another word was spoken, and I have a feeling that Jimmy learned a little something that day.

Roger

[BASS fisherman]

Well, let's not get into stereotyping.... or complaining/ranting. Focus your energy on solutions. I've seen all walks of life litter - sometimes by accident ("Hey there, you dropped something!", "Oh, Oops! I didn't realize it fell out of my handful of stuff I'm carrying."). And ya, some folks are just plain rude and don't care.

So.... what do you suggest to solve the problem?

I fish a couple ponds where the litter is BAD. You would need to leave several hours early, just to pick-up all the litter that you'd see. And you would need several bags. Needless to say with the amount of trash there, it really is useless to grab what you could because there is so much more, unless you have a couple days. So I decided to do something about it. I contacted the county parks maintanence director, and Chris Horton from B.A.S.S. and have started the wheels turning for a clean-up project for both parks, and possibly a few more. I would also like to construct used line recepticles to place down on the water so anglers can throw the line into something instead of on the ground which is also a big problem at the ponds. Maybe the effort will carry over to other parks, and folks will stop littering all around the ponds. It really is NOT hard to put it in your pocket to throw away later, or walk to one of the numerous garbage cans to toss out your garbage.

I'll try and post pics if I can. I think it should be alot of fun.

Just to throw this out there, While the folks are helping to pick up litter and someone falls, who would be liable if they decide to sue?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

You are definitely going to want some type of waiver form for that exact purpose.

[BASS fisherman]

Anyone else have an opinion?   :-/

[fisherboy]

sucks man. i feel ya. i had a pond that i could catch 25 bass a day at times on. its were i caught my PB. well it was empty during the cold winter when i fished it but this spring has ruined it. theres an old man that takes 4 five bass out a day. big pregnant ones aswell. some a-holes poor in there old car oil, and a bunch of others take the bass home to. lets just say i strugle to get a bite anymore. im really mad

[woodpro1102]

What if we had some kind of event at the big lakes in our areas for fishermen or people that just want to help out.  Whoever brings in the most trash gets a new rod/reel or something like that.  It would be cheaper for the city to buy a nice rod and reel then it would be to pay their guys to do it.  Its just an idea and probably wont happen but I just wanted to throw my idea out there.  I wont even get into people taking fish that they shouldnt be taking.

[Guest avid]

Yes, I have an opinion.

There was an old saying about going afield.  

It stated "carry out what you bring in"

It has been updated to

"Carry out more than you bring in"

Try it.  You might like it.

[BucketmouthAngler13]

My grandpa would always say when we went camping: "Leave the outdoors in better shape then you found it."

The other day I was fly fishing near this dock and some idoit threw his wawa bag into the lake. Well that really ticked me off so I went over there with my waders and got it out of the water right infront of him. What are people thinking when they toss their trash into a lake when there is a garbage can 20 feet away? Geez I felt like giving him my peice of mind. I dont mean to sound proud, but I hoped it knocked some smarts into him to see that a 14yr old that acualy had the right outdoor morals than he didn't.

I mean DUH there is a garbage can right over there. Some people are just too lazy, other people just don't care, and most people dont do anything about it. The number 1 reason why people do not let anglers fish their ponds is becuase of litter.

Litter bugs drive me crazy.

[woodpro1102]

One word.  IGNORANCE.

[RoLo]

It's a shame that people need to be reminded how to behave.

We've all seen the sign, but you wonder how many people really get it:

"Take nothing but Pictures, leave nothing but Footprints".

Roger