Fish, Hunt & Ride – Spring 2016 | Page 33

THE ORIGINAL Lake Clear Wabbler® Everyone is fed up hearing about climate change, global warming, acidification of oceans, islands of plastic, etc. We know as much as we need to about how our built world is conflicting with nature. What we don’t know is what we need to do differently or better. That’s where this column comes in. Thankfully, eating locally produced food has come into vogue. What could be more natural than catching and eating local, organic, free-range, wild fish? It’s a sort of return to our hunter-gatherer roots, learning from the past and incorporating the best science has to offer. This column will provide solid information, instructive anecdotes, the wisdom of many, and simple tips to discover and sort out what’s really going on underwater. A mix of skills to catch fish, release fish and harvest fish with the confidence that you are doing it in ways that will be good for the fish, the anglers and the world we share. There are simple things we can all do now. Know enough to judge when it’s OK to keep the legal limit, and when to limit your catch. Think about how “lifestyles flow downstream” – until there are really effective controls and waste-water AUTHOR LAWRENCE GUNTHER and his patented Blind Fishing Boat, the first-ever capable of being operated by someone without sight treatment up and down the watercourse, it’s up to all of us to curtail any form of poisonous swill from being flushed down the drain or running off our property. It’s us anglers who are out there observing, analysing, solving the puzzle each day on where the fish are, what they are doing, and what’s happening in their world. So we need to be ready and able to report problems with water quality, threats to fish habitat, and illegal activity that threatens the welfare of fish. Part of the motivation for this column is my strong belief in citizen-centered science. So share your comments, insights and experiences with me. Even if they don’t show up here in Fish Hunt and Ride, they can easily make it into an episode of Blue Fish Radio, a weekly iTunes podcast about the future of fish and fishing. 3-1/8” x 1-1/2” 1/3 oz WTML Watermelon HSGN Silver & Gold Nu-Wrinkle LCW1 26 colors Genuine silver and 24 karat gold finishes with baked on anti-tarnish. Nothing reflects light better! Slimmer 3” x 1-1/8” 1/4 oz SBLU Silver & Blue LCW3 21 colors Multiple NY state trout records including the current record for speckled trout. Smaller 2” x 1” 1/6 oz HSC Silver & Copper LCW5 12 colors Proudly made in North America www.fishhuntandride.ca FISH, HUNT RIDE | 33