Fishin’ Trash

Imagine you are having a peaceful day on your boat in the river. You are trying to catch a HUGE fish, but you have had no luck. Later, you get to the boat ramp and you have a bunch of broken line and lures. You decide it would be easiest to just throw it out into the river, rather than carry it back home and throw it in the trash can.

Wait, hold on a second! That lure and broken line could hurt you, the environment, and that huge fish that never bit your bait. Soon there will be no fish left if everyone is polluting like this!

Okay, maybe I’m being a little too dramatic, but here’s my point. If you do a simple thing like take your trash with you off the river and properly dispose of it, then our environment will be healthy. Every little thing makes a big difference! If we work together, fish and wildlife will be able to thrive in our rivers! Now let’s take a look at when some people took simple actions to conserve our rivers.

May 3, 2019…

I set up a booth at the A.J. Strickland “King of the River” Fishing Tournament in Blackshear, Georgia. It was my first time there and I was super excited, but I wasn’t there for any ordinary reason. I held a raffle to win a stainless steel straw set, a Pura Vida bracelet, and my new Love, Protect Save tee-shirt. In order to get a raffle ticket, each angler competing in the tournament had to bring us trash they collected from the river (their trash, or other people’s).

In all, I had four total participants. I know that’s not a huge number, but that’s a start (remember this was my first year)! I had two people bring a bag of their own trash, one person pick up trash at the boat ramp, and someone even brought us a toddler car! That last one was absolutely awesome!!! When I did the drawing, that person was the winner, too!

Thank you to the Satilla Riverkeeper and everyone who participated! I hope you remember to keep your trash with you all the way and don’t pollute! It is our future that we depend on!