Willard Bay

[killerhook]

Spent a couple days this week fishing Willard. It was hit and miss for Wipers. I was shocked to see how badly littered the lake is. It is worse than anything I have ever seen. Most of the shoreline can be accessed by road and the fishermen who are going out there are leaving tons of garbage everywhere. As a fellow fisherman I am ashamed. If this can't be voluntarily be stopped Willard shorelines should be closed to fishing.
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[RockyRaab]

The Happy Harvester Brigade cares about nothing except hauling home all the fish they can get away with. Certainly not about leaving garbage behind. It's all part of the same mentality.
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[gmwahl]

Glad you had some success.

Man, I agree with you 100% about the trash! It's not just Willard though, it's everywhere that people have free access unfortunately. I've also noticed that I rarely ever find Pepsi, sprite, etc cans laying around, but I find tons of beer cans, empty cigarette packs, bean dip containers and worm containers....along with half burned pallets and their nails scattered everywhere!

What is it about these scummy dirtbags that makes them want to smoke, drink, burn pallets, leave used toilet paper and then leave the empty cans, cigarette wrappers and other trash on the shorelines? I'm thinking that because it's not an area that they are being charged to use then it doesn't get patrolled much by any law enforcement and they can carry on and act like as big of B-holes as they want without getting any flack for it. The rest of us pay for it, however, with loss of access and polluted recreation areas. The knolls on Utah lake are a prime example.

Just my .02 cents and rant for the day!

Mike
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[cat-tech]

I fish the shores of Willard and Utah lake I see it all the time even diapers if I see someone leaving there trash I tell them they better hall it out most of them don't but some will. Dogs are another problem one day at Willard I had a wiper on and this guys dog ate my lunch and he was laughing about two weeks ago I had a big cat on my line and when I got it near shore this guys dog jumped in the water and was biting the fish and my line I almost lost the fish the guy was just standing there doing nothing about it tell I yelled at him then took his time getting the dog. Anyway I pick up a bucket full of garbage every time I leave the lake its pathetic people that litter the shores should have their license took.
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[Watershadow]

this isn't just prevalent at Willard, but at most Utah waters unfortunately. Its not just beer cans either, plenty of soda cans, soda jug plastic bottles, chip bags, disposable diapers, whatever. Seems people don't care about the natural world as much as they used to.
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[PACKFAN]

I noticed a lot of trash including some big chunks of wood floating in the water yesterday
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[ChasinFins]

There's been days where I net more trash than fish! I can't just watch it float by. Walking the banks makes me sick...
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[k2muskie]

Its but what you're seeing is everywhere...lakes, reservoirs, rivers...my son who is an avid fly fisherman says the Weber is horrible...has got some stuff though while cleaning up...nice sun glasses, oars, etc...but lots of the items mentioned in previous comments...like most anglers we carry trash bags and also on water the net has fished some stuff out when we see it...we can only do our part if we see it...and yes while fishing from das-boat I get dropped off with trash bag and walk the shoreline. The least we can do as one who appreciates Mama Earths resources...
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[mtncat1]

it's a pretty state of affairs when people treat our natural resources like they do . maybe they should require a bag of litter to get through the gate befor they are allowed to leave the lake.
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[ducksfresh]

Well we can sit here and complain or we can go out and clean it up.

I think I will go to the south shore the next sunny day and just pick up garbage. Nothing like good positive action to persuade others into good positive action.
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[RockyRaab]

It pains me to say it, but the folks who trash a place do it because they expect others to pick up after them. We probably reinforce their expectations when we clean a place up - but that's not a reason to ignore the mess.

Kudos for trying but just realize that the ones who don't about littering don't value your efforts.

Good thing the rest of us do.
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[FishSlayerMP]

Yea makes me sick too. Even in the Boulder mountains I hauled out a bunch of trash and its HARD to access those areas... The inlet at Willard where everyone lines up to snag walleye during the spawn is the dest display I've ever seen.

CLEAN UP YOUR TRASH...... dirtbags.....
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[RockyRaab]

We are expecting the social trash to pick up their literal trash?
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[Madplumber]

If I see the trash I will pick it up and put it in there vehicle.
You leave trash you are trash
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[FishSlayerMP]

Now your using big words []
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[ratnest]

+1 for ducksfresh- we an moan and groan, but that will not help the situation. It takes work, and if many of us played a part in cleaning up the mess, it would not take too long to see an impact.

My guess is that those making the most mess are not frequent fishers.

When backpacking I regularly pack out others garbage as well, including gobs fishing line strewn about. A fire ring is not a garbage can, not is the shoreline.

We all play a part, it is a matter of which part are we going to play.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Many of us on the board share your disgust for the trash others leave behind. I have been around Utah to have seen several areas closed to the public because of it. There will be more.

Just an observation. You do not see this nearly as much in parks and marina areas for which there is a fee...and which are patrolled. It happens mostly where there is no admission fee and no regular visits by sheriffs or other authorities.

The people who are the worst offenders are simply "human trash". They care nothing about the environment or the feelings of anyone besides themselves. In fact, some of them go out of their way to "mark their territory" whenever they visit a spot...cleaning out their cars or trucks to leave even more trash than they created on site.

There are those on the board...myself included...who have observed certain identifiable "groups" who are the worst offenders. But, ly, there are plenty of trashers from all socio-economic groups and all ethnic backgrounds.

A lot of concerned outdoors folks have made efforts to keep some of the worst areas cleaned up, to help prevent losing public access. That is admirable. But it doesn't always work. The best current example is the Knolls area...on Utah Lake. It has been a popular free access area for generations. But it has also suffered greatly from trash abuse. After one organized BFT cleanup day...on a Saturday...the whole area looked like a trash bomb had gone off there...less than a week later.

There were several land owners involved. They all got together and totally closed all public access on both sides of Hwy 68 for several miles. That really impacted a lot of us who loved to fish there. But the folks who caused the problem simply took it somewhere else.

Thankfully...after about 3 years...DWR is getting closer to a final agreement with the landowners on once again making the area available...on a more limited basis. I wonder how long it will take the idiots to ruin in for us again.
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[Bad_Crawdad]

I had an experience with this a few days ago. I had a day off and a kitchen pass to go fishing. I didn't have my toon so I fished from shore at lost creek and easy canyon. Both places were littered with beer cans, food packaging etc. I got skunked at both places and left the garbage where it lied, as I share the same sentiment of some of you on this forum. That is "what good will it do to pick up garbage when the next guy will trash it anyway." Anyhow, I decided to go to a community fishery to get the skunk off, and managed to have a great conversation with an older gentleman (you know, fishin stuff). While we fished I watched people crowd in for a fishing spot as the evening progressed. There was a few families, but it was mostly filled with trashy people. The pond was recently filled with broodstock. Wouldn't you know, the only people who caught broodstock rainbows were the trashy folks. Would have been awesome to see one of those young kids reel in a giant bow, but they were barely catching fish at all. My new friend and I stayed long enough to see people come and go until it was too dark. I couldn't have met a more generous man that day. He interacted with little kids, and let people borrow tackle. And as we left he picked up trash left behind by you know who. I've got to say that I have been inspired by his attitude.

I don't believe trashy people are capable of changing without being forced, but you never know who you will impact by doing simple things.

As for the problem at hand, I wouldn't mind paying for a state park pass at all access points. That kind of expense might cut down the freeloaders and their trash. Also, I remember growing up in Green River Wyo, there was a community pond outside of town. It had an age limit for fishing. It wasn't a garenteed fish but it was better odds than fishing the Green or the Gorge from shore. I think reserving those fish for little kids and their families would improve their experience outdoors, and exclude the trash folk.
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[Fish-or-die]

What if the DWR just put a sign up saying "pack it in, pack it out"? If it continues to be a problem we may lose the privilege to access the area. I know people will ignore it but a few may help. Also a sign establishing the fact that it's littering and against the law to leave garbage. Violators can and will be punished to the extent of the law.

Just my $.02.

They may get ripped down or shot up, though if replaced quickly will worry people that are in the wrong...
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[CVfisher]

For what it's worth, the "Happy Harvester Brigade" can and does include its fair share of boat, yak, and toon fisherman. Not all of us relegated to the shoreline are guilty by association. The theme that pops up on here daily is that if you don't have some sort of water craft, you are trash. With that said, yes, the garbage is a problem...
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