bronc-

Couple things here

1) Turn the microphone down. Yer blowing my speakers out over here.
2) If I were a riverfront landowner I wouldn't want my property split by public access every 100 yards and have 200' of trash between me and the river I loved enough to move next to. Local government doesn't have the manhours available to clean all this property, and when the landowner owns it they tend to keep it cleaner than the general public does.

I'm sorry, but it has been shown in the past that anglers as a group cannot police their own ranks enough to keep the riverbanks clean from trash and the trash that the trash leaves behind. Nor do they <I>generally</I> leave the river cleaner than they found it. Thus begins the downward slope to environmental distruction.

Now, with the combatative attitude that many anglers possess when it comes to riverside property owners it is no wonder that these folks see us hookers as a detriment to the environment. Instead of marching through their property with the attitude "my tax dollars make me part owner of this river, to hell with the property 'owner'", we need to instead make it a habit of approaching the landowner beforehand with the promise of carrying out more trash than you brought in with you and sharing of your catch (if they want any at all). Most land owners would be more than happy to agree to such a sportsman.

Heck, when you know that you are going to fish a particular stretch of river in the wee morning hours head up there a week or so early and "scout" out the area by stopping by the home owners house and introducing yourself. Tell them your intentions then, and you may just get some inside info about if there have been any fish passing through and where they tend to sit.

You'd be surprised at how far a dose of humanity will get you.

***EDIT*** What, UBBCode won't let me italicize? *******s.

[ 07-25-2001: Message edited by: Heywood Jablomie ]