Fished the Kalama yesterday and was walking along the guard rail below the begginers hole.
As I walked, I couldn't help but notice the amount of trash along the rocks!
Thank God for high water and floods. What's the matter with the pigs down there?
I know alot of people are thinking, why not just pick it up yourself if the site of it bothers you so much.
I bet you could fill up a 40 yard dumpster with the trash!
Not everybody that fishes there is to blame. The people who do it know who they are and should be ashamed of them selfs!
What a great outdoor lesson for your kids!

Same way up in the canyon, although not quite as bad. I would tell all those maggots to pick up there garbage from this website but most of them probably don't have internet hookups in their trailerparks.

We did a number of Kalama Cleanups in the past. Where is Kalamabama? Tony you out there?

I was at the Beginners hole today. I was disappointed with all the trash myself. I picked some up before it got light. It also smells like a toilet down there. There are alot of lazy people that fish.

Thats pretty typical for most of the rivers in this state, and it's not even salmon season. Just wait till all the slackjawed salmon maggots get done with their snagfest. So many of these so called sportsman have no respect for property, nature, wildlife, or anything else for that matter.

Last Sunday my buddy and I floated the kalama from guard rail down to Camp Kalama. We were fishing the hole downstream from beginners and watched in disbelief as several styrofoam containers floated past us, which we grabbed on our way out, there was even a roll of toliet paper still on the tube that was floating just under the surface. It just makes me sick when I see this kind abuse on our rivers.

we should make the snaggers we catch dress in orange overalls and chained leg shackles and then clean all the $hit up..... chances are they left it in the first place.....

this is how some bank anglers earned there names.

BANK MAGGOTS

I like that idea! Because of the distance, about 6 hours drive, I only get to visit the Kalama once per year. I always take pictures of this river as it has to be one of the most beautiful rivers I have ever seen. I didn't realize people were dropping that much garbage, it's sad.

RM

Hate to be the one to state the unpopularly obvious.. lots of big hatchery fish available for harvest = trash on the riverbanks... hatchery fisheries just draw that crowd...
may not like it but that IS the truth

RA3 Some of the things you come up with crack me up you cant be serious.

absolutely 100% serious. didn't say you had to like it but it's true. you don't see fishing related garbage on the Nehalem, why? cause all the steelhead are wild and you have to let them go. How much fishing related garbage do you see on the Hoh river above 101???
how much fishing related garbage do you see in the Upper Kalama where the release of all steelhead is the law?
There is a direct correlation between harvest fisheries and garbage...

I generally don't agree 100% with RA3, but I think he is right on with this one.

RA3 No hatchery fish= no garbage, don't reach to far you'll fall off your chair. You don't see a correlation between ease of access and opportunity = more use, fisherman and (non fisherman) = more lazy people = more garbage or how about different generations being raised with no discipline or regard to their surroundings and sometimes unfortunately themselves. I don't think whether you are a fly guy, gear guy,bonker or releaser has anything to do with it if you are raised properly you don't throw garbage around no matter where you're at or what you're doing.

BTW I have picked up bait containers and misc trash on the upper Hoko(shrimp flys ) and the upper Hoh granted theres not as much but it still happens.

There is a lot of truth to what Rob says. The upper part of the river is C an R only and you don't see near the trash up there. I grew up fishing the Kalama and it like most rivers with easy access is getting worse and worse every year with the trash.

I think I agree with Robert and Stlhdfishn too.

It is a lot of factors.

One being that a generation (or 2) of people have been raised by parents who, themselves, don't give a crap about the environment (or anyone else) and just leave their trash behind thinking "someone" will pick it up.

Likewise, a hatchery run of fish brings out far more anglers than does a CnR fishery, ergo, more people, more trash.

Often, the leavers of the garbage are not fishers, but campers and gangs of kids partying on the river banks.

We had a group of 3 kids (maybe 17-18?) camp out on the beach across the river from our home on July 4th. They got in there about 11:00 p.m., and proceeded to start shooting bottle rockets across, and into the river, blowing up firecrackers till 2 am. I called the Sherriff, but this far up river it takes a while for them to get there (they never did), and Concrete cops aren't much help (unless your speeding).

These kids got up the next day about 9 am, took down their tents and the one guy that was there started tossing the garbage (big stuff) into the river. I shouted at him to take his damn garbage out with them and keep it out of the river, he gave me the finger and walked away. ( I wanted to drive over there and kick his butt...but then I would have been the one in trouble).

That area was clean before those kids camped there, and there have been dozens of people fishing that bank. I took a bag of their garbage out with me yesterday when I was over there stalking sockeye. There's at least another full bag of their garbage left...guess that will be taken out on my next trip.

Media (TV and music) today has taught these people to not respect anyone or anything, beginning with themselves. Their own personal wants and needs are all they care about, and the rest of the world can go to blazes if it gets in their way.

Not all are like that, of course...some of them had decent parents who taught them right....

I have seen people that were poor, had little or nothing, but whatever house they had and their kids were clean. There is no requirement for anyone to be a pig...rather it is a learned behavior...learned from their parents.

My 2 cents...

Mike

If you pack it in you pack it out.It's bad on the Cow to people are pig thats a fact we just have to live with. At the end of the day my DB look like a dump but it all go in the can.

As much as I love to keep fish, in the interest of preservation I'd be happy if the Kalama (for its own sake) became strictly catch & release. This is a great river--I sure hope my kids and grandkids will someday be able to enjoy it...

Until society allows one to kill these "people", hang them at the trailhead and nail a sign to thier forehead that says "litterbug"or "snagger" or whatever. There will continue to be unpleasantness experienced on the rivers.
Shoot, shovel and forget is beginning to make more sense. Or maybe we should just ask them nicely not to crap in the parking lot.
You might get the impression I'm just about fed up with some of the pigs that I have to share the outdoors with.