I want to take the time here to talk about Ethics. I spend many hours on the water and am always seeing fishermen do unethical acts that bring a bad image to anglers worldwide. Simple acts that are second nature to most anglers are considered acts against humanity and nature by the majority of the populous nowadays. Most of the time it’s small and unthought of actions that cause the most scrutiny.

The act I see most is littering! Many anglers don’t think of the little nab wrapper, or the honey bun wrapper that flies out the boat while the boat is on plane going from one fishing hole to the other. I see anglers sit a soda can down on the boat and it fall off when they take off. The little things that they don’t think of are the very things that bring the world of the media down on our heads. I am going out on a limb here and say that littering is the number one cause of river and stream pollution next to run off contamination. I have not looked at the numbers on this but if it isn’t then it isn’t far off. This is something that we all need to be more mindful of. I always have a trash bag or box in my truck and always clean my fishing area better than what it was when I got there..While in the boat, all trash goes in a bag and the top tied up so as not to blow out. I do not allow anyone to throw any trash from my boat and if done the trip is over and that person is not welcomed back on my boat again.

I want to list some things that we all need to keep in mind when on the water. I call it my "CODE OF CATFISHING ETHICS" Keeping these simple things in the front of your mind while out enjoying our waterways will help to preserve them for many generations to come.

#1: Always clean up, make your fishing site cleaner than it was when you arrived

#2: Keep only the fish you intend to eat, don’t have 20 5 pound fish on a stringer and throw 10 dead ones back at the end of the day just because you don’t feel like cleaning them.

#3: Don’t throw the guts and skins on the shore, this will cause the other critters to come in and make the spot nasty for the next person. Either put the guts and such in a bag and throw it in the trash or pitch it in the water to "chum" the hole for the next time.

#4: Watch the language, Your mouth can make a good trip bad just with some thoughtless words. Remember that there are kids and women out there trying to enjoy the water also. They don’t want to hear bad language

#5 : Watch your actions, no one likes a drunk loud mouth when the family is trying to have fun fishing.

The key here is to remember that we are all the image of catfishing. What the public sees in us is the image they have for a life time. We need to change that image from the back woods tobacco spitting, foul mouthed hick of yesterday to the respectable, conservation minded, informed angler of today. We all must take a major roll in this to show the public that we are just as concerned for the fisheries as the rest of the people and are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.