Recycled Fish: Anglers as Stewards of the Resource
Teeg Stouffer

Leaves are long gone, ice twinkles in the trees. Our views are shades of grey and white. Lakes are locked up under a scalloped shield of snow, the fish have a ceiling on their world.

If you’re like me, your blood heats up with these frozen fantasies. The other thing that gets me all worked up: big fish. Not just linebacker flatheads and mammoth muskies, but big bull bluegills and slab crappies, too. When a fish gets big for its species, things get exciting.

Enter Recycled Fish. More and bigger fish through stewardship.

We’re just people who love to fish. We’re doing what we can to make sure there are more and bigger fish today, and a legacy of healthy waters for generations to come.

To get there, it takes a “lifestyle of stewardship” both on and off the water, because our lifestyle runs downstream.

On the water, it’s stuff like catch and release and selective harvest. It’s making sure we’re never the ones leaving trash on the ice, and cleaning up trash when we find it – not just stepping over it and grumbling about “the other guy.”

9 inch bluegill and 15 inch crappie make impressive fillets, but keeping the big ones takes the best genetics out of the lake. Big fish aren’t just old, they’re genetically superior. True stewards release their biggest fish, and keep a few mid-sized fish for the table.

So when you let that big girl swim, you want to know she lived, right? When we pull fish out of more than 20 or 25 feet of water, many die after release, even if they swim away at first. Look for a shallow bite if you plan on practicing catch and release.

That’s a start for when you’re on hard water this winter, but a true “lifestyle of stewardship” means looking at our everyday choices, too.

Fish need water, and it’s increasingly in short supply. So do you have a low flow showerhead? High efficiency toilet? What does your lawn watering regime look like come summertime?

Reducing our energy use matters too. The way we generate most of our energy in this country is not beneficial to fisheries. That doesn’t make energy bad; it just means that using less is good – and using less saves us money that we can spend on fishing!

Whether it’s recycling, changing the way we take care of our lawns, or even stuff like picking up after our pets, strong fisheries require a healthy planet. Who better to lead the charge than fishermen?

At Recycled Fish, we’re making a call to our fellow anglers – to you - to help safeguard this thing we all love so much.

If you’re not on board already, now’s the time. Visit www.RecycledFish.org and take the Sportsman’s Stewardship Pledge. It’s free. (Or pony up a few bucks and become a Premium Member – you get cool gear, and you help us fund the cause.)

Be sure to look for us on the ice this winter, too. The Recycled Fish “On Ice” schedule is on our website. Be sure to come say hi, we’ll have a hot coffee or cocoa waiting for you.

Our lakes, streams and seas need not just sportsmen, but stewards – like you.