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OMG Are you people serious!? Is this truely news to you? To each of you who have proactively addressed this issue by having the slightest bit of common sense and having NOT thrown your left-over worms into the water (I mean are you serious, people actually do that?) I salute you. The coffee can idea is an oldy but goody. Your pockets are a pretty good place too. Certainly better than the water (insert dim-at-best lightbulb here.) The guy who pulls the plastic lure out of the fish and actually throws it back in the water- nice one dude, you are a winner. It saddens me that even in this day, people in the outdoor activity community would have to be educated about issues so boldly full of common sense and respect for the environment you claim to enjoy so much. Again, are you kidding me that you would first, toss your trashed lures into the water, and second, write about it on some forum expecting that everyone would just say, "It's Ok fella, how would you have known that was bad for the fish, the lake, the creek, the river, the sport, the public's view of the sport, your fellow fishermen, the environment?" It's like this, if you didn't know that a plastic lure molded into the shape of something a fish eats would possibly get eaten by said fish on OR off the hook (you go figure which is the more sporting of the two), should you be licensed to fish in the same waters I try to take care of and imrove each time I'm on them? I think not. This one is for free: Many of the weights that you use are made of lead. Lead is not good therefore you should never toss your sinkers into the water. And, you should always do whatever it takes to retrieve hung and snagged rigs. I know, I know, it's not always possible and these are the adversities that we as a community need to figure out how to remedy through innovation (better lines, and better knots, biodegradable/digestable softies, and lo and behold quite possibly getting yourself out of the boat and getting wet.) A fish shakes it or breaks it, or your cast sucked, and your attempt at retrieval was even worse snapping your line, it happens to everyone. This, I hope you all can see, is TOTALLY different than blatant littering. And it is blatant littering that I am ranting about. Every effort should be made to retrieve all snagged lines and lures even if your lure is made out of food compounds, your line is made out of all natural silk, and your weight is a creek pebble. Why? Because I don't want to see it dangling from a tree even if it will eventually disintergrate. People have said, ah heck it's a banana peel, if I toss it out of my car window, it'll biodegrade. No, if you toss it out of your car window, organic product or not, it's called littering. If you dump lawn clippings in a spot where you shouldn't dump lawn clippings, it's called littering, not mulching the side of the road, but littering. The Owl in the 70's should've told ya so.
At least people who haven't thought about it are going to think twice now because of this thread. 