Have been on vacation for a few days and spent the last couple hours reading these interesting threads. . .

Just wanted to agree with FF and ZL in that most of the responses have been totally misguided and off point. I don't believe that they were insulting/denegrating/bashing baitfisherfolks, but rather are trying to convey a conservation message. Conserving both the quality of the environment on the lakes/rivers (trash reduction) and the quantity/quality of fishing opportunities for all.

As a former baitfishing troutivore, I have seen too many unfortunate situations where people routinely (knowingly or unknowingly) violate the anti-'grading' law. Yes, thank gosh for cell phones, but often there just are not enough DFW officers employed in this state. Heck, we regularly see posts on this website of people boasting about 30 or 50 fish days while using worms and/or powerbait. I think many folks just are unaware of the grading/baitcaught rules.

While still an overgeneralization, after I began C&R flyfishing exclusively 10 years ago, I noticed that 'managed quality' waters were noticably cleaner and, go figure, had BETTER FISHING! There's probably a reason for that. I would guess that the people who care about conservation and good fishing (that's why they fish the special regs waters) are also the ones who care about picking up their trash.

Having said that, I agree with ZL and FF that the continued use of our state waters as grocery stores and garbage dumps will bring about the ultimate demise of the sport for all of us. The responsibility of remedying this situation lies not on flyfisherfolks or baitfisherfolks or C&R folks or troutbonkers or any group, but the ultimate change must come from the ethical behavior of the individual regardless of the fishing method used. Unfortunately, that brings us back to the need for so many laws and regulations - the ethical behavior of some individuals is dependent upon the profit they wish to derive from their behavior. If they want a cooler full of trout, then they will rationalize their behavior by whatever means necessary. If they're too darn lazy to haul their trash out, then they'll come up with an excuse for that too.

Now I'm off from the pulpit and into my pontoon boat. . .