It's been my observation that there is trash at every public bank fishing place I can think of. Some typical examples: foam drinking cups, fast food wrappers and plastic sacks, packages of rotting liver, worm containers, cigarette packs and butts, lure, hook, and sinker packages, wads of monofilament (really bad for birds), water bottles, beer cans, etc, everywhere. If at a river, when it floods, this gets washed up into the gravel bars, bushes and fields downstream.

Why do people do this?

I can tell there has been no unauthorized fishing on my pond because I have found none of these telltale signs that any slob that would sneak in would leave.

What's the solution?

Call me frustrated. When I pick it up, next time it's back.

Because the world is full of half-wits that have no care or even awareness of others.

A few times contractors have left empty water bottles and fast food wrappers at my place...to me it is an indication of sloppy management when workers think it is ok to do stuff like that. I even had some concrete workers write gang signs in wet concrete because they knew I was soon over-laying the concrete with flagstone....but still that's pretty lame if you ask me.

Yeah amazing isn't it. There was a place here in Arkansas I used to fish back in about 1992 to 1995 or so and you actually had to walk about 1.3 miles back into the woods to get there. There was a small trail but it was major bushy and no one really knew it was back there.

I caught some sweet bass back there one is on my wall. 7.5 lbs. Till one day some yahoo at the news paper wrote an article about it and the headline said Arkansas Best Kept Secret OMG I was so ticked off. Well you guessed it. It took about 6 months and that place was so trashed and junked up it was pitiful....

Bottom line is you can dress up a pig all nice and pretty but it's still a pig. We just have to many humans that don't care period. They are the leaches of the world, take, take, take and never give back and destroy everything in their path... Sad but true.... Ugh

RC

Often times, the only sign that your pond has been trespassed on and your fish stolen is the trash they leave. You would think they would at least pick it up so no one would catch on to them. It just goes to show you that litterbugs, trespassers, and thieves are from the same mold.

Yes, that's exactly what I was saying. The kinds that would steal your fish just cannot help themselves but to litter and/or make some kind of a mess like leaving cut BG or such on the bank. They carry their trash in, and don't bother to carry it out.

A lot of anglers I know bring a separate bag with them and once they're done fishing, just spend another half hour or hour picking up what they can. Figure if enough get into this habit, it might make a difference. I practice this now as well, and it's frustrating if you ever return to a place you recently "cleaned up", and it's basically right back to where it was. A local organization I volunteer for has installed line recycling bins for people to dispose of their wads of fishing line. We send it off to Berkley to recycle into more line. A great organization for anyone interested in helping our waters is Recycled Fish (recycledfish.org). Founded by a wonderful man and a friend of Pond Boss.

For memories sake; by the great Bruce Condello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juEZ7OQJCQs

Neat video.

A reminder, Dr Condello will be presenting at the Pond Boss VII conference. I look forward to meeting him.

Pond Boss VII

Bruce is an original. And I mean that as a compliment. Forgot more about fish than I will ever know.

We follow the same practice except we typically police the area when we first arrive to make our nature experience more "pleasing to the eye."

I'm curious, since most here have their own water, are you guys traveling someplace else to fish? Myself, I would be on board to take a trip somewhere to fish, as a once in a lifetime special event, but would never entertain the idea of visiting public water regularly so I could fish. That's the reason I own my own water...so great fishing is within walking distance?

sprkplug, when I got my main pond some (20) years ago, I never went anywhere else to fish except for Steelhead up near Lake Erie.

Pretty much the same holds true today as I now also have a 4-year old 1/4 acre pond in our neighborhood that I manage.

Mine's only 1/4 acre, and I have been taking out eater CC. I occasionally fish public waters for the challenge and variety. The White River runs along the east side of a 10 acre public park about 1/4 mile from my house. There is a 250 acre lake about 5 miles down river, and the 70 mile long COE Beaver Reservoir starts about 8 miles downstream from that.

One barrier on public fishing that I kind of self-imposed was that I usually never had a PA fishing license.

Actually, I haven't even gotten one this year.

Now, in PA, if you are a direct owner of a body of water, you don't need to have one.

I'm not the direct owner of this 1/4 acre 'hood pond, so I'm in violation.

I always buy a state license, as I fish public waters unpredictably.

You don't need a license here on any private waters. If a pond is owned by multiple owners, and not by a government, and not open to the general public, it is still private waters.

There are ponds around here where people other than owners were formerly allowed to fish, but most of them have been closed off due to littering (except to a select trusted, very few).

I think anyone caught littering on or near public waters while fishing or camping should lose such privileges for a time, and be required to pick up litter for such time as suspended.

My place sits about one mile, as the crow flies, from Mark Twain Lake in northeastern Missouri. I've got a 19' jonboat in the barn. We used to go over to the lake almost every time we came up in the summer. Since we built the pond, we've been over once. It's just too nice being on our own water.
We haven't run into much litter over at Mark Twain, but it's a big lake, and we were fishing out of the boat.
It seems like the empty worm cartons are most often found around public waters. I used to fish at the ponds in Bush Wildlife area near St Louis. Empty beer cans are right up there. I enjoy a beer or two, but hate seeing empties all over the place.

I was just talking to my wife about this. Its not just the ponds its the roadways too. I picked up 10 bags of garbage along my road last week. My wife was talking about it in a forum and 83 people replied. I told her if everyone cleaned up 10 bags of garage it would make a difference. I have my kids out there and their friends so they grow up knowing it is not right. I am truly saddened at what this country has become.

One positive (???) about litter: It tells you if you've had unwanted guests at your BOW. I find that poachers & other no-goods are very careless about trash.

We're watching you, Mr. R, always watching you.

Agree about that!

i wonder if we should leave trash cans out for our trespassers so they don't litter our properties

Mark, you could do that, or set a frosty Old Milwaukee on a 330 conibear just in case an otter gets thirsty.

Ha Ha...true Al.

Have not commented so far. I have no sympathy for pigs. Pick up trash along the road periodically to clean up for pigs. In our area pigs are vermin. Sorry to be so mean, but I really hate having to clean up other's trash on my property near the road.