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Stewardship Tip – Make the effort to recycle mono
By Arshia | March 1, 2011
You give the line a tug before you sense the pause and feel resistance. Your first thought is that there is a fish on the business end of your line. When the rod bends deeply, the optimist in you thinks that you’ve stuck a really big fish. That delusion vanishes almost immediately and in that instant, you know that you’ve hit a snag.
“What do I do?”
It’s the typical quandary. Break it off and keep fishing or walk out, scatter the fish, and retrieve the lure.
If you want to keep fishing the area, attach your line to a bobber securely, let out a little more line and cut it off. Let the lure and the line sit while you fish out the area. Retrieve your line and lure when you are done.
Whichever road you follow, it is important to retrieve any debris such as snagged lures and monofilament before you leave the water. Marine debris is a real danger to wildlife and humans. And, unfortunately, discarded fishing gear constitutes a great percentage of marine debris. In the 2008 Mississippi Coastal Cleanup, fishing line ranked 16th of the 43 types of debris collected. Fishing lures ranked 9th on the top 10 list of debris items that were considered most dangerous to marine life.
Fishing line can be recycled. There are numerous organizations who facilitate the recycling of monofilament including
The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program
Berkley Respool and Recycle Program – Berkley will accept line for recycling through their mail-in program.
Reel in and Recycle – The Boat U.S. Foundation will supply outdoor recycling bins for monofilament for groups that will place them in high traffic areas and monitor them.
There are a number of tools that are helpful in an angler’s vest or tacklebox. A lure retriever is a nice addition and can help retrieve lures in deeper water. An old bag, film canister (if you can find one), or a tool such as a monoMASTER can be used to store spent mono for recycling.
This week’s sponsor-partner:VentaFish
Winter fish are often deep – more than 20 feet – and may need to be “fizzed” or “vented” to survive after release.
Use code VFRSPRF0910 at www.Ventafish.com for FREE shipping, a $2.50 discount, and $2.50 is donated to Recycled Fish.
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