less than an hour - years of trash

Adam and I made it down to the Harpeth River in Franklin for a couple of hours on New Years Eve to see if any fish were left from the stocking on December 18th. We wound up spending about an hour cleaning up, because all we could see once we got there was trash all over the access point. You name it, beer cans and bottles, some vintage I might add, that just speaks to how long people have

Cleaning up the Harpeth in Franklin

 seen them there and left them without picking them up. There were plenty of nightcrawler container and corn cans, and other odds and ends. Oh, and there was even a surprise, a 10 foot section of a gutter from someone’s house. These are the people we share our resources with, and unfortunately, we must clean up after them. We also must clean up after those individuals that see the trash on the banks or in the water and just keep walking.  Remember folks, we as anglers must work together to clean up and protect our natural resources.  we cannot make a difference without first setting the proper example to follow.  It does not take long, everything we cleaned up was in less than one hour! 

Once everything was as it should be, we even had some time to chase some of the stockers they put in the river, now that they weren’t swimming in as much of a dumpster. Adam managed a few of the fiesty rainbows on some streamers along some cover. Although the bite wasn’t what we thought it would be, some fish were still fooled, and it was a good way to close out 2009.

One of the Harpeth's Fiesty stockers

-Productive flies at the Harpeth were wooly buggers in brown, olive, and black with some flash. Cast on top of or right against the cover in the bubble lines and seams and switch up your retrieves to see what the fish are keying on. When you find what they like, just stay put and keep wearing them out.

-  Back us up out there folks, leave it cleaner than you found it and be safe! Happy New Year!

-Braton

This Saturday we will be out in Normandy at the Duck River for our November cleanup.  This will be our first cleanup out there other than what we pick up when we fish. I have no doubt it will prove interesting, and I am sure that we will find a ton of stuff to recycle! Good luck if you go fishing, or if you’re out hunting for that matter, dont walk by any trash without picking it up. If you see my truck out there with a bunch of trash in it, feel free to put yours in there as well. I would much rather have it in there than on the ground.

If anyone isnt hunting or fishing, feel free to join us!

- Braton

• Saturday, October 3rd
• Braton
• Gav

Most frequently picked-up item: Plastic nightcrawler containers. I know, you were all hoping for cans of corn, maybe next month!

We got to Happy Hollow at about 7:30 Saturday morning, and needless to say there was plenty of trash just laying in the parking lot to keep us busy for a while. The water was up of course, and we could only see one boat upstream of the ramp. No one showed up to fish the banks until about 8:30. We decided to start with the hardest part first, the hillside in front of the parking lot. It is really amazing the things that you find in a cleanup. Not to mention the amount of things that can be recycled. A ton of glass bottles came out of the woods, some that have been there for decades, we probably could sell some to antique stores. We will have to look into that next time. Cans were quite a popular item too, and the giant contractor bag that we have full of them will be recycled this week. Beyond that, it was a regular wal-mart on the hillside. Fishing line, candy wrappers, plastic bags, socks, cigarette packs, dip cans, and yes, the occasional diaper. We covered all the bases on all your domestic beer cans and bottles, I thought we were cleaning up a fraternity house after a brutal party. We also found a lot of wire mesh and rubber that we had to dig out of the ground after years of erosion. Big chunks of metal to be recycled and cashed in to benefit our veterans! Within the first two hours we had enough trash to fill the truckbed and a growing pile of recyclables on the trailer.

Just under 2 hours on the hillside at Happy Hollow

Once we had the main hillside straightened up, we started on the other side of the ramp following the trails down to the feeder creek. With the water being high and fall upon us, there were plenty of nice browns moving around in the creek to spawn, and some fishermen were in there working them. It was good to see the solid fish that we did, and especially good to see how stingy they were being. The whole time we were there we only saw one fish caught, a very nice fish that went about 22 inches. Other than that, no one was having any luck from the bank. Once we had the trailer filled up with beer cans, bottles, and plastic nightcrawler cans, we bagged everything up and headed for the dam to knock out a casting lesson and get Gav acclimated with a fly rod. The new parking lot up there is enormous, and I’m sure that it wont take long for it to be filled up on the weekends, but as long as it’s full of anglers who abide by the regulations and don’t trash the river, I should be fine with that. Gav took to casting much easier than most people, it was just easy for him to pick up, he just needed the particulars of the cast, and end of story. From now on the casting practice he  gets will be casting to fish on float trips and wading in low water. Another fly fisherman is born on a bright October day, helping to clean up the river and learning to cast, all in the same day.

Oh and in case anyone was wondering, we did not find one leader packet, floatant bottle, or tippet spool in the course of the cleanup at Happy Hollow. Also, it still says “No littering” on the sign as you pull into the parking lot. In case anyone is confused or knows anyone that is, that means that you should leave with whatever you came with instead of throwing it on the ground.

We were able to pick so much up with just two guys, just imagine what will happen as our numbers grow with each cleanup. Remember, leave the resource cleaner than you find it and you are making a difference.

-Braton