Faux Anglers

[Guest]

I have been on literally countless steams and rivers in my short thiry years. I've fished in 13 states. I have fished with pros and i have fished with children. And from all my experiences, nothing frustrates me more than a faux angler.

 

To me, there is a difference between and angler and a fisherman. A fisherman fishes to enjoy himself, to enjoy the day, to catch, and usually keep, fish. An angler has a love affair with the sport. An angler is completely and utterly pass the point of just catching fish. The angler understand the fish, how he thinks, what he eats, how he breeds, and where he lives, and why. An angler is in love with the idea of angling. He is in love with the water, the trees, the rocks, the woods, the bugs, and the smells of the river.

 

SO......why is it that so many "anglers" leave thier shit in my stream? Why is it that those who enjoy the stream the most, also cause the most damage? I have walked the trails along countless waterways, only to find tippet material, leaders discarded in the brush, beer bottles, any other various and assorted litter left behind to pollute, no, CHOKE, my rivers to death. I know this not just common in my area, but everywhere the public has access to our beautiful streams.

 

On every trip, I pack a small 13 gallon trash bag into a pocket and on my way out, try to leave the stream a little better than i found it. I do not do this to make myself feel bigger than anyone else. i do it so the river can breathe. So it can survive. So it will be here, full of fish next year. So my children and thier children can come to the river and still catch fish.

 

Please, for the sake of our shared heritages, for the sake of our rivers and streams, for the sake of our sport, let's all be sportsmen. Pick up what you can, when you can, even if it's not yours. If you see someone littering, destroying what we cherish, do something about it. Ask, "Hey buddy, you drop something?" Sometimes just having a witness makes someone guilty enough to pick up thier shit. If you are not the confrontational type( I just happen to be) pick it up yourself and be the sprotsman. Without sportsmen, their is no sport.

 

 

leave it better than you found it. The only things we should leave behind are the sunset and footprints.

[Guest]

Big Daddy you hit that one right on the nose. The waters I fly fish don't have my flyfisherman but one thing that drives me freggin crazy is worm containers. I don't know how many worm containers I've seen on the side of a creek bank over the years. Come on how hard could it be to pick up a worm container? There is no need for that shit, and it is uncalled for. If I went to their house and threw trash on their couch they wouldn't appreciate it very much would they, so why do they throw their trash where a wide variety of animals try to make their home. Then they complain that they are not catching any fish, I swear some people just make me sick. Maybe BDH it's just our area and all of the morons that seem to live in this part of the country.

[Guest]

maybe you're right......land owners in Missouri have been known to walk the stream on thier property with shotguns and trash bags and ask anglers to pick up the trash. Might work here, too!

[Guest]

Actually, I'll disagree on this one. I would NEVER call myself an "angler". I am a fisherman. Am I what you discribe as an angler? Yes. But there are days I keep what I catch. THere are days I don't. Depends on where I'm fishing, and what I'm fishing for.

 

You can still be fanatical about fishing. I go as far as tying my own flies, building my own spinners, I occasionally build my own rods, build my own drift lures, have fly boxes set up for certain river conditions AND rivers. I have my rods setup in racks for similar reasons above (conditions, fishing styles, etc). But am I an angler? Well, it's simply a name.

 

For myself. I don't overtax the fish. I know too many who use 6wt fishing for steelhead on the Hoh/Quilyute system. These fish get up to 30#'s. You can land one with that rod, but by time you release it, you've written it a death sentence. I know guys who are die hard anglers/fisherman who love to keep fish because they EAT fish. THey are very fine tuned to their sport, and also keep the rivers clean. It's not what type of angler/fisherman they are, it's what type of PERSON they are. I know, and have fished, with alot of well known fisherman in the steelheading world. Some have columns in STS, or have written for these publications. I have also fished with your average every day Joe. I've seen as much littering, and missuse from the "occasional" fisherman as I have from the "creme dela creme" who are "anglers". It's what's INSIDE and how they were raised that sets them apart. I do my part. I always carry a garbage bag with me in the boat, or when I wade in. I clean up as I go along. My Dad owns property on a steelhead river here in WA. We consider it our home waters (though we live away from it). We spend the summers cleaning up the riverbanks, and also diving into the holes and retrieving beer cans and garbage left on the bottom. This is all being done by a "fisherman".

 

But, it's hard to label someone in those catagories. Why? Because in your description, I fit BOTH. I have days I walk into that river dialed in. I have my game face on, and I'm zoned in to catch fish. But I also have days I just love to take the boat down the river. Enjoy the friends I have with me and wet a line. On both days, I'm no less of an angler/fisherman. It's how you present yourself, and the courtesy you show on the river. I've seen top notch fly anglers (some famous, but will not name names) that were rude and obnoxious. Thought they owned the river. Have met gear guys who had antiquated rod/reels and looked like they just came out of a logging camp who were friendly, down to earth, and willing to gab your ear off WHILE they were hooking fish AND releasing them (yes, gear guys do actually C&R).

 

I'm not much older then you (33), but I've put my dues in. I've fished almost half the US states, and about 10 foreign countries. I've met my share of people doing this. I can say, that what I posted holds true. It's not what kind of fisherman they are, it's how they were raised. I've seen guys in the terms you stated above on both sides of the coin. And to add my experience, before my injury, I was putting about 200 days a year fishing. I did alot on route (had prime salt spots) and would fish easily 2 weekends a month. So I have put alot of hard time on the water (and have caught alot of fish to boot). But I feel this as well. You HAVE to have a want to catch fish. I know I now have 30 years of fishing under my belt. There are days I could care less. But I do have days I want to catch a fish. I think once you lose that desire, you've lost part of YOU. Why even wet a line with a hook at that point. Why not cut the hook off and use simply a dry? This way, the fish can come up and grab it, and you've had your fix. I'm not saying you have to kill, but you should want to have a fish on, and reel it in. Let me put it this way. Sorry if I'm letting this run WAY too long.

 

There is nothing better then me then running over to the westside Olympic Peninsula. I love to fish the Upper Hoh. There is a spot I will grab my spey rod and work a run. I'm surrounded by old growth rain forest. The moss drapes from the trees like a long beard. I'll see from time to time a large herd of Roosevelt Elk with a BiG bull who stands majestically. Nothing adds to this more then working my fly, and having a 20+# native steelhead slam my fly. I love the feel as he beats my arm up, and takes me for a ride. Watching a 14' 9wt buckle in two is a site to see. The best part of all is cradling that fish in my hands IN THE WATER, and letting him back to swim again. BUT, if that was a brat, I'd be bonking that baby and having him for dinner.

[Guest]

Steelheader69, I think you might be objecting to the least important part of the post. The main point was, why can't people pick up after themselves, especially those who claim to love the sport so much? I don't agree entirely with the Fisherman/Angler definitions, but that is just semantics. The main point is dead on the money, and is one of the key issues that is shaping the public perception of fishing. We need to clean up the act of the fishing community, whether we wear our hoity-toidy big $$ outfits or a pair of cut-offs and Ramones T-shirt, or we will continue to lose access to the water we love. And it will be our own fault. Unfortunately, we will never be able to control the uncaring elements of our ranks, so the short term solution is still people who care cleaning up after those who don't. Remember, our identity is formed by ALL who pickup a rod.

 

Interestingly, I recently did some fishing at Corson's Inlet State Park in NJ. At the trail head was a sign explaining the idea of carrying out your own trash and a dispenser for free plastic trash bags to be used for this purpose. I saw virtually no trash in the park, save that which washed up on the beach. This was at the height of the summer, no less. Point is, it works. While I try to carry a bag at all times, sometimes I forget in my old age.

 

We need to do more as a visible entity, as well. Groups do highway cleanup. If we held clean-up days along waterways, with participants identified to the public as fishermen/anglers, we could start to take control of our public image, increase public awareness, AND improve our waterways. Just a thought.

[Guest]

I have to agree with you guys about the way folks leave a mess. I hate to see trash in or along the shores of any waterway. I also try to pick up whatever I can. Face it too many people are just plain slobs who have little respect for what nature has provided. Makes me mad & I don't have a problem telling anyone to pick up their mess or reporting them if they don't.

 

I feel the same way about throwing trash along our roadways, or anywhere else for that matter. It don't take much effort to discard garbage properly, but take a good look at the side of the road, people are just slobs.

 

As far as the angler/fisherman definitions, to each his own.

[Guest]

Lunk, I FAR from miss the point. My point was that it's not a label, it's HOW you were raised that shows your character. I've seen as many guys litter on both sides of the spectrum. It's just that some can walk the walk, besides talking the talk. That was my whole point. You can't label in any aspect. I've spent many days next to guys who complain about guys dumping beer cans, and tons of line. But toss a sandshrimp container overboard. I've seen this in both spectrums of the "labels" in the original post above.

 

In the end. It's not how you fish, it's how you're raised. I was raised to respect the area I am in (whether it be fishing, hunting, hiking, or camping). Pack it in, pack it out and leave it like you found it. I've packed out MORE then I pack in. But I care for the rivers I fish, and the areas I use. So find no problems doing it. It's the way I was raised.

[Guest]

Point taken, Steelheader69. I think we are on the same page, but I read your post differently than you meant it. Thanks.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Bigdaddy i know exactly what you mean...and you should see the way some of the beautiful rivers here in michigan are treated by some people.

I do the same thing when i fish....i will fish up stream and then pick up the trash i saw on the way back. In july i rolled a manhole cover about a 1/8 mile down a trail to the parking lot at an access. It was in the river can you tell me how or why a manhole cover got in a river because i dont know.

 

Steelheader69 i think you are 100% correct it is the way you were raised....i was raised to respect the outdoors and i always make sure to keep my junk in my vest. I even put my cigarette butts in my vest pocket after i put them out. Some people are just plain slobs and dont give a damn and then there are the people that just think ...well someone else will pick it up.

 

The best way to combat the junk on the rivers is to help on river clean up days......and to raise your kids with respect for the outdoors!

 

Good post guys

 

[Guest]

In the past week I spent at camp, I fished out half a bag of garbage from within twenty feet of shoreline in a distance of three hundred yards in length, from the lake we're on. Now, that's not from 'lake people' per se - not that they aren't just as guilty as anybody else, but it's also from day boats, lazy parents, unsupervised kids, ignorant, uncaring, slovenly, self-centered and totally disinterested FISHERMEN! and all the others who come, park in the recently enlarged fishermen's parking lot, unload their day's worth of food, drink, assorted crap, lug it all down to an area next to the dam, set up for the day, drink, scream at their kids, throw their shitty diapers along the road and in the brush, leave their empties and assorted food packaging wherever they end up, and go back where they came from.

 

Fron the water alone I took empty beer cans, plastic cups and bottles, waterlogged styrofoam worm container pieces and covers, bottles, empty snelled hook packages, lost plastic baits, mono snarls cut off and thrown in the water or snagged so badly in trees they broke off and just hung there, lost lures, braided poly dock-type line, tee shirts...you name it - I pretty much found it.

 

Walking back and forth over the road I picked up at least another half-case of assorted beverage containers, a bag and pieces of broken bottles, various fast food bags, wrappings - again, the laziness and total disregard for other people's property.

 

I have no great affinity for Public Access to what, before now, was essentially a well looked after lake. The Lake Association can bitch till the cows come home, and it falls on deaf ears, now that the state has control of the access. Trash along the road belongs to the group as a whole. Everyone is responsible for their own cleanup - or, should be, which is the way I learned it.

 

I blame fishermen, day-trippers, local and state law enforcement, state legislators, et al. You sure wouldn't know the economy supposedly sucks, to see the degree of disposed crap I do in one summer

 

on one lakeside shoreline

 

in New Hampshire

 

In areas where there is high fishing pressure and continual use of resources by fishermen, Yes- fishermen are responsible when there are way too many visible signs fishermen are slobs and ought to be walloped with a baseball bat a few times so they get a clue, even if they weren't taught to pick up after themselves. But, as this rant indicates, fishermen aren't the only ones who need a good ole-fashun ass whuppin.

 

Rant over for now.

 

Addendum: To steeldrifter's point on how to combat junk - I partially agree with cleanup days. The other key to less volunteer cleanup days is enforcement of existing laws/regulations for unlawful disposal of trash along ways and such. Dammit, why is it everybody gets away with this crap? - because this friggin' liberal society we live in allows it to happen!

 

The last generation that had one iota of consideration or respect for anything and anybody across the board, as a whole, in general, for whatever reason -

 

is my own.