G'day fishos. I know it's a pain of a subject - it's been pushed on all sorts of media and has been for years, but it seems there's a big percentage of people out there that just don't get it.
How hard is it to take your bloody rubbish home with you?
I know we've pushed this issue in this column in the past, as have thousands of people in articles and ad campaigns for decades.
I just don't know how we get through to these pigs or how to make them understand it not only looks crap, but it can also be dangerous to wildlife.
It was brought home to me again one morning this week when a mate and I noticed a Nankeen night herron hanging upside down from a dead branch in a tree below the Hume Dam wall.
Looks like some discarded fishing line had got tangled around its feet.
It's flown up and landed in the tree, the line's got tangled around the branch and the poor old bird got stuck permanently to the branch.
It was exhausted! It would fall from branch and end up upside down until it got the energy to beat its wings a few times and land on the branch again.
Luckily for him, there were a few of us there and we were able to muster up enough stuff to "MacGyver" a solution to get the branch down and save him.
It's not hard - simply put your unwanted packaging or tangled line back in whatever it was you took it out in.
Here's a little challenge for all of us.
Take out a shopping bag with you next time you go fishing.
I reckon it will take you two whole minutes to fill it. If even 50 per cent of fishos did this, imagine how quickly we could clean up our popular fishing spots.
AT A GLANCE
Dartmouth (79 per cent) - had a fair few visitors' last weekend, and most did OK.
Fenders and worms were a popular and successful technique as was simply flatlining Tassies again.
Most fish reported were under the kilo mark, with only the occasional one higher.
Mulwala - is still on the doughy side and, after this week's rain, it'll now take a little longer to clear up.
Blowering (94 per cent) - was a happy hunting ground for Brandon Coggan and Jamie Densley last weekend, with the boys landing a 110cm and a 106cm respectively. Both were angled on bait.
There's also been a few yellas starting to move up that way too, with a couple of belters trolled up at the wall end of the dam.
Snowy Lakes - fished really well for some of the Albury Wodonga Sportfishing Club members who headed up last week.
Jindabyne (84 per cent) - was the destination, and most boats had no problems bagging quite a few trout and the occasional Atlantic salmon.
Kel Smith and Mick Zanardo also hit Jindy and landed 77 trout between them from Thursday evening to Monday.
That included a quick arvo session to Eucumbene (37.25 per cent), where Kel managed a 4kg brown too.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the Eden/Monaro local government area, in which both lakes are situated, is in another lockdown.
So, if you were thinking of a rush trip up that way, you might have to change your plans.
Hume Dam (97 per cent) - fished well again, but reports dried up as the rain settled in mid-week.
I dare say it'll be on again as soon as we get some reasonable enough weather for the average punter to venture out and about again.
The yellas had certainly improved and the reddies and trout were still being picked up regularly, to the delight of many.
The Wall - produced plenty of big trout again this week in fluctuating water conditions. There has been a lot of water released due to those predictions of high rainfall mid-week.
There was and a bit of a mix too, between the valves and the turbines, which kept it interesting for fishos trying to pick the best lines to fish. The bulk were caught on lead fish or plastics, but a few fishos also had success on vibes. Don't forget a good rain jacket if you're planning a trip out.
The Murray - downstream of Albury is running hard and was a reasonable prospect for a yella or two.
But those water levels moving about, and the weather of course, made it tough. Once levels stabilise a tad, we'll see some improvement.
Streams - were OK, if you found one not too high or coloured. One small crew of customers reported a very good bag, all caught flicking Celtas and Vibraxes - nothing huge, just streamies.
Another fisho reported a couple of better fish from the Ovens, which he'd picked up drifting worms.
