Want to do your bit in keeping the planet green and preserve your great fishing spot for generations to come. Then brush up on your knowledge by reading our advice on eco friendly fishing...

YOUR TACKLE

The market today has many soft lures that are easily ripped off the hook and mostly end up at the bottom of a river. Plastic lures are mostly made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastisol and stabilizers with phthalate (the stuff that adds flexibility to the lure). This phthalate stuff is at least half of the weight of a plastic lure does not bind chemically to the PVC resin. Every year the phthalates leach out of the plastic baits. This makes it bad for the ecosystem so in order to protect your own tackle look for lures without these chemicals.

One of the worst polluters of water is lead. In the context of humans, lead poisoning is cumulative and it affects the reproductive health of human beings. It may lead to heavy-metal poisoning and this may lead to cancer. Due to these reasons you can see why it is extremely unfriendly to the marine eco-system. There are sinkers now that are called easy sinkers that are made from eco-friendly materials such as urethane, glycerin and iron which are elastic and this means that they can escape from being trapped from things such as rocks. There is also another option called environ weights which are made entirely out of biodegradable material, so if they do get lost, they are able to degrade easily and safety for the environment.

A type of bait called Mold A Bait is hundred percent biodegradable and will not harm fish, waterfowl or wildlife. It is made out of an organic-based material which has the properties as silicone rubber without the adverse effects. It is also able to save energy by taking less than a minute in a microwave to melt into a moldable consistency. After it regains room temperature it will reset back into its rubbery-like state, so no further energy is required to finish a casting.

TECHNIQUES

1. Only keep fish that you intend to eat. Don’t be greedy with the fish but if you do intend to keep a fish, know what the legal size of that fish is too keep.

2. To make the release easier make sure that you use pliers in order to flatten the barb on your hooks. Fish do break off hooks so make sure that you don’t use stainless steel hooks because the fish will have a chance of surviving as the hook might rust out.

3. The least environmentally invasive fishing is artificial luring or fly-fishing. These methods ensure that the fish are usually hooked in the corner of the mouth rather than swallowing the hook.

4. When you do catch a fish handle your catch carefully and with wet hands.

5. When you are releasing the fish, make sure you hold it in water gently and move it back and forth until it is able to swim away.

6. In fishing areas you must not release live bait.

7. If you move fish make sure you don’t move the fish from one body of water to another.

8. You are fishing in natural environment of fish so clean up after yourself. This means don’t leave evidence that you were there including hooks, lines and bait boxes lying around.

FAIR FISHING

1. If you do intend to fish make sure it is from the side of a dam or river rather than relying on a motorized vehicle to get you where you want to be. If you do intend to fish in a middle of a dam or river don’t be lazy and rather use a row boat, float tube or kick boat. If you going to need accommodation rather pick a lodge that specializes in fishing activities.

2. When you do fish make sure it is a well stocked venue and the type of fish is not on any endangered list.