7 Easy Ways to Give Back to Your Favorite Stream
Conservation has become a large part of the sport that we love today. With a variety of organizations focusing on different ways to protect and preserve the waters we love, it is easy to do our part and help protect them as well.
For myself, I feel strongly that doing your part is the best way to feel connected to your water, so doing a tangible act resonates with me the best.
Within the last couple of weeks I have had lots of people reach out and ask how they can protect their local stream or river. Here are a couple of ways for you to do that, whether it be donating, changing your fishing tactics, or something else.
Ways To Give Back
Organizations and Donations
Organizations that focus primarily on preserving and protecting waterways add contribute to a very important and unique piece of the fly fishing industry. Trout Unlimited, Rep Your Water, Waterkeeper Alliance, and others are some that come to mind.
With those, along with many others at the forefront of conservation in the industry, I find it important to become a member, regular donor or follower of their work. I became a member of Trout Unlimited as soon as I heard about the organization, and make a monthly donation because I believe in the work that they do.
Donating or partaking in a chapter or group is a great way to start, but there are so many other ways to protect your waters and keep them around longer. After fishing in the Driftless and in the Western U.S., I figured that the it would be a good idea to change a couple of my personal tactics to add to my participation with Trout Unlimited. I have started to fish barbless hooks, use a net to limit the handling of fish, and practice safe wading techniques.
Fishing Tactics and Practices
When fishing barbless hooks, I find that it allows for less damage to the mouth of the fish and it is easier to remove when in the net. I don’t lose very many fish either which deters many people from going barbless. This is an easy change to your fishing tactics that make a big difference long term for the fishery.
Using a net is great for minimizing the time the fish is out of the water and the amount that your handle the fish. Every time you handle a fish, you are damaging its epidermis and dermis, the two layers of skin that protect the fish and contain tough connective tissues.
Aside from using a net to minimize handling and time out of the water, I have made a deliberate effort to watch where I am stepping when close to the water. It is eye-opening to see what water can do to the topography of a stream, so doing your part and not sliding down banks or moving lots of rocks will help the fishery.
Last summer I visited one of my favorite streams in Iowa, and could not believe how much it had changed. It had been a particularly high year in terms of precipitation, and the stream was much more shallow and wide.
The owner of the land along with Trout Unlimited did work to improve the structure of the stream, and even made attempts to prevent further erosion on the banks. Since then, I have seen the stream maintain its form and fish very well.
All of these things make a big difference in the long run for your favorite fishery, and adapting to them as soon as possible is the best way to do your part in preserving that stream or river.
When to Fish, and When Not to Fish
With water temperatures warming up as the summer continues, it is important to know when to fish, and when it set down your rod and prepare for your elk hunt or tie some flies. With the higher temperatures and lower flows, the fish have a harder time finding oxygen during the day. Fishing during those high hours of the day can be dangerous fish those fish, and put pressure on them that may lead to fatality.
Out West it is typically pretty easy to know when not to fish due to the Hoot-Owl regulations that get set in place when temperatures get too high. I think that this set of regulations are great for streams and rivers because it gives those fish a break. Besides, sweating through your shirt isn’t too fun either.
I have made concentrated effort to shift my fishing practices to ones that have the fish in mind. I do my best to pinch my barbs, pick up any trash that I find, and release the fish as quickly as I can. Doing your part may not seem like it will make a difference, but if everyone does their part it will.
So go become a member or Trout Unlimited, pinch your barbs, stay off the water when it gets too warm, and pick up a couple pieces of trash the next time you are out on the water. Some of these actions are larger contributors to the overall health of the stream or river than others, but all of them play a role in the long term preservation of that watershed.
Trout Unlimited: https://www.tu.org/