Unfortunately many of them are fishermen.

Been to several different places the past few weeks, and saw some disgusting sights.

Trash, discarded coffee cups, bait containers, boat parts, old shoes, tires, paper, bags, broken boat seats, etc.

I do not understand how some can be such low life, inconsiderate slobs, with no respect for others who also use the same areas to fish or launch their craft.

How difficult is it to take a plastic grocery bag, or some other container, and stow your trash in that to be disposed of properly?

It really ticks me off to see such a blatant disregard for the law, and the rights of others.

There should be a law which allows for the confiscation of a fishing license and boat, to be held until a hearing or trial is held.

Some of the ramps looked like dumps.  At some point, these points of access will be closed due to the actions of the slobs.

Heck, some of these areas have trash barrels, but it is apparently too much effort for some to take a few steps and stow the trash in those barrels.

I have a small plastic barrel that I take with me, and a box of latex gloves.  I pick up some of the trash, and place it in the barrel to take home and dispose of.

I know a few other guys who do the same thing.  

I know what you mean, I work at a lake, and my first hour of work in the morning is cleaning up the junk...but I do make a small pfrofit from the beer cans when I turn them in( last year it was a little over 500 lbs.) There are dumpsters at each end of the launch. But if people want to pay me bokoo bucks to pick up trash, so be it.

you can't litter on litter....

I hear ya Rhino. I get very ticked off also when I see trash on the ground. I left the dock for a tourny and returned 4 hours later only to find a box with a discarded squeeze gas flow ball, clamps and other junk just sitting on the edge of the dock. The fricking garbage can was less than 15 feet away. I ended up throwing it away but it really ticked me off.

My tourny buddy caught a Converse sneaker > the other week. The following tourny I caught an anchor.

I'm convinced you could bungee cord a trashcan to some people and they would STILL find a way to litter.

It's part of the 'no responsibility' society we live in.

I find myself constantly cleaning up other peoples trash on the lake I fish. Beer bottles, old fishing line, bait containers, etc. I clean it up if I see it. The whole point of state parks is to preserve the small amount of lands that we have and people still think it's ok to make it their personal waste land.

I'm with you Rhino.  I really wasn't completely aware of how much trash that was dumped into lakes until we lived lakeside for about 3 years.  I got SO tired of picking up worm containers, ice bags, cans/bottles, etc.

And you are right. . . most are fishermen.  How can you litter the same lake that you are catching and consuming fish out of?  Makes NO sense to me at all!!

  You are right on Rhino. I can't believe how many people litter like that. One of the lakes I fish at they will sit at a picnic table then just leave their soda cans, worm containers etc.

 Lets face reality though guys the fishing crowd does not always attract the pillars of our society.

I'm with you RHINO.I can not stand to see trash on the lake.Some people are just some lazy slobs.I wish there was more enforcement for people who trash our fishing holes.

Amen Rhino! Its only a matter of time before these lake associations and home owners on the lake get upset and shut down the access to the lakes. Then we will have one less body of water to fish on.

I'm with you Rhino. I really wasn't completely aware of how much trash that was dumped into lakes until we lived lakeside for about 3 years. I got SO tired of picking up worm containers, ice bags, cans/bottles, etc.

And you are right. . . most are fishermen. How can you litter the same lake that you are catching and consuming fish out of? Makes NO sense to me at all!!

I hear ya FOM. That's usually the first thing I do when I get up to my place is pick up the cans, butts, bait containers etc. Then there are the weeds that get chopped up and float onto the beach. That's part of the game though. The worst is pulling line out of either your trolling motor or big motor. I check the big motor after every trip. If there is a bright side, I have found alot of good lures through the years, but the trash bugs me. I saw a guy toss his pop can overboard a little while ago and asked him why he didn't just toss it out when he got back in. He said it would rust away in a couple days. I informed him cans have been made from Aluminum the last 50 years or so and I actually saw him fish it out with his net. Probably threw it back in later but at least I felt good.

I would make them worse than vandals. I wish I could carry a torpedo and a large caliber machine gun on my boat for those I see littering.

Even worse than the lakes for me is fishing trout streams. Nothing makes me want to end someones life more than when i get 2 miles back into the wilderness and find a section of shore all tore up with beer cans, styrofoam worm containers, and other trash next to the stream I am wading.

There was a launch near me they closed part othe summer cause the dude that had been maintaining it said he was done picking up after people. They have been majorly closing off a lot of the shore access in my area because of slobs. You go by the shoreline in some areas and it looks like a dump with broken lawn chairs, sheetrock plaster buckets, half burned trash, garbage hanging from trees (where the machine gun would come in).

Makes me sick, absolutely sick. There is enough stuff that gets in there accidentally that we do not need folks deliberately throwing stuff in there.

The littering laws have never been enforced and never will. WHAT A SHAME !!!!!!!

Well they can't be. Really. I mean on Wylie we have 1 resource officer to serve all of Gaston county. 1 County boat, I think overall I have seen a total of 3 police boats 1 from Gaston county, 1 from meck county, and 1 from SC. Given the size of the lake it wold be a miracle if they saw someone littering. Likewise in the mountains there simply are not enough officers to ever enforce it.

What I would LOVE to see if some type of volunteer auxiliary formed to help them out. Get some citizens to sign on, train them a little bit and give them EXTREMELY limited authority to back up officers. Give them some type of decal to clearly denote their boats as part of the auxiliary. I would not arm them, but I have seen police departments do such things.

Just having more boats out there with police emblem would make a HUGE impact on folks behaving.

People are truly thoughtless and inconsiderate. My lake has a beach that is private in the winter time the gate opens to allow people to bring their snowmobiles out onto the lake. However outsiders find their way thru this open access as well.

A few years ago they were drinking beer and throwing the beer bottles out onto the ice. These Idiots, threw their beer bottles out onto the ice into the swimming area. Sure enough people were pulling pieces of glass out of the swimming area. Along with some kids and adults that got cuts on their feet from the glass. The rest of the summer all visitors to the beach were wearing shoes/sandals into the water to prevent from being cut.

Thoughtless actions like this make it so others lose out, or become harmed.

i fish in alot of forest preserve lakes around my house an am amazed how people leave the garbage all around most of the time within 30ft of a garbage can. i also belong to a private club which at least limits alot of the garbage but even there Ive noticed some beer cans at the bottom of the lake . i don't understand people sometimes.

What a shame.

It's not like that on Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend. Not saying they are better in this area(They are Not), but the lakes being out away from the larger cities have not become a dump. It is unusual to find trash floating around the ramps or anywhere else on these lakes. I know there is some, but not like ya'll are describing.

I hate garbage. So I throw it out my window....

I hate garbage. So I throw it out my window....

LMAO!!!  

They may be no better than vandals, but normally, litterbugs don't cause you to have to use insurance polices.

  Big difference is in the wallet.