Most avid smallmouth bass anglers don’t leave their trash behind.
I realize I’m preaching to the choir here because you are most likely not guilty of leaving garbage where you have been fishing but I’m asking for your help.
Recently, I took a 25 minute drive from where I live near Reading Pennsylvania to do some wading on the Little Schuylkill, just north of the Cabela’s store in Hamburg, PA. The area had changed quite a bit since the last time I was there as the DOT was replacing a bridge right where I usually wade in. The guys working there were very helpful in telling where I could park and clearly didn’t want to interfere with my angling, which was fantastic.
The smallie fishing was great, with them hammering wacky rigged Senkos and my Keitech Swimbaits .
The annoying thing I noticed however was there were chicken liver containers, worm containers and crushed beer cans along the bank and in the water. I had my waders, a fishing vest and 2 rods in hand (yes, even wading I have to have more than one rod, lol). It pissed me off because most of this junk was carried in by idiots and discarded with no concern for leaving a mess behind. Beer cans are heavier when carried in. Garbage along the bank easily gets carried in to the river during high water conditions.
Lately, I have been bringing a garbage bag with me so I can pick up some of this trash. I generally wade in and then wade out in the same way I came in, picking up stuff on my way out. Even if we pick up some of this trash, every little bit helps!
Next time you head out to the river or lake, would you make a commitment to pitch in and clean up after the A holes that leave their stuff behind? We can complain about the problem or we can do a little to help solve the problem.
Also be sure to properly discard or reuse your soft plastic baits. Environmentalists are setting their sights on soft plastics as an environmental hazard just as they are going after the lead in sinkers and other lures and jigs but that’s a discussion for another day.
Tight Lines and let’s keep our waterways looking like this!
