Cleaning house

[wade]

Was hanging out with a buddy @ one of his hidden treasures he so kindly shared with me.
First day of prefish, we didn't bring the yaks, only poles.
After noticing a poor small snapping turtle that most likely was killed to careless discarded tackle..I came back to clean house..


Tules lined the perimeter with only a couple openings to pitch from. Submerged brush and limbs provided plenty of structure to target, but upon every cast I become ensnarled in a minefield of every color and line class of spectra & monofilament strictly due to careless anglers compounding the problem upon every trip..
So...after losing about sixty dollars in tackle, I decided to call it quits for the day.
Upon packing it up & being half the weight I originally entered with, I returned bright and early the very next day with a large metal rake with a long fiberglass handle to clean up. I found a ton of tackle too at the other end of the snag-city of lines..Countless creatures and craw-trailers, senkos, rapalas, roostertails, buzz baits, spinner baits, grubs and more...
All for the low low price of nothing..


the place is remote and has deep recessed pockets to say the least.. Launching my loaded PA into the lake wasn't much of an issue. I simply held the stern handle and dropped it down a vertical drop into the water. Getting it out would be more than difficult I soon learned the hard way, but I knew this from the beginning..After many failed attempts barely able to get the bow 2 feet out of the muck, I enlisted the help of my Dakota to winch my plastic hog out of the drop. Had I not had two extra long tie-downs, the submerged 'on site bass boat' would have had a new friend..Got a little over a bakers dozen for my janitorial services.



dragonfly caught in the frame

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[makobob]

Taking the time to come back and clean up is AWESOME, if we all did a little our environment would be much better. Thank you for your fine example, may we all follow in your steps!

[CKallday71]

Curious as to the location of this pond/lake. Snappers are not native to California at all so it was either released or it's possibly an introduced population which isn't a great thing for the habitat.

The only native species of aquatic fresh water turtle in California is the Pacific Pond turtle which are endangered.

[CKallday71]

Great job cleaning up after the people that aren't nearly as hospitable.

[GregAndrew]

WTG Wade all around. I try to remember to leave each place I fish a little cleaner than I found it.

[kobra]

Kudos to you buddy.

[RobFish]

Well done Wade! My hat is off to you and your efforts.
I was always taught as a young boy to take only pictures, leave only footprints.

[blitzburgh]

Nice work Wade! I try to p/u trash and other items on the water everytime I go out. It seems like I see way more yakers cleaning up than powerboaters.

[taggermike]

Thanks Wade, good fishing and a good deed done. There are some little ponds here in Chula Vista that just get trashed. I can not understand the need to ruin beautiful places. I always end up walking out with a few bags of trash. Mike

[taggermike]

Forgot to share this. There's a tree that over hangs one of the pond down here that has enough spinner baits hanging in it that it sounds like a wind chime on breezy days. Haven't been brave enough to climb bit. Mike