(Originally appeared in Tail 36 – July/August 2018)

As fly anglers, we are some of the luckiest people on the planet.  We have a great privilege that allows us to access the wildest and most untamed environments.  We get a front row seat to the beauty of this delicate world.  Fly fishing has become synonymous with conservation, environmental protection, and stewardship, which is an honor for anglers to take part in, but comes with a great responsibility. As stewards of this earth, we have the opportunity to lessen our impact everyday as we continue to learn how our habits affect the world around us.

Plastics are silently taking over our oceans and waterways.  Our current trajectory supports a staggering projection: there could be more pounds of plastic in our waters than fish by the year 2050.

Single-use plastics are consumed everyday with the major culprits including plastic bags, single-use water bottles, to-go containers, takeaway cups and straws (5gyres.org).  As consumers, we have the power to make changes that protect our waters and the marine life that depend on them. These changes only require a small shift in thinking and, of course, action to back it up.

The anatomy of our plastic problem is as complex as it is simple.  We use far too many single-use plastics. Eight million metric tons enter the ocean every year (5gyres.org).  You may be thinking “well, I recycle,” but the truth is less than 30 percent of plastic single-use water bottles are actually processed in the recycling system.  These wasted plastics enter our waters, begin to breakdown into smaller pieces, and act as sponges for toxic chemicals that have accumulated in the environment.

A single microbead of plastic is a magnet for pollutants, and can be one million times more toxic than the water around it (5gyres.org).  The compounding toxicity levels of our plastic trash can have big implications as they invade the food chain. They show up in fish markets and end up in our bodies.  “Microplastics have been found in mussels wherever scientists have looked,” says Amy Lusher, a NIVA researcher. According to Lia Colabello, Costa Sunglasses Kick Plastic Cause Ambassador, a single plate of mussels can contain up to 90 pieces of microplastic.

Plastic is an amazing material, but it never truly biodegrades, so why are we utilizing it in so many single-use applications?  The answer comes down to economics: it is cheap for corporations to package in plastic, and our environment is paying dearly for it. It’s not all bad news though; we can reduce our dependence on plastic and take back our oceans by making some small changes in our daily habits.

Americans use three million plastic water bottles every hour of every day (5gyres.org), so let’s start there.  Fishing guides all over the world have relied on plastic water bottles to keep clients hydrated and happy on the water.  Typically you’ll find a cooler stocked with single-use bottles, so let’s track that plastic across the guide season.  Let’s say a guide spends 150 days on the water with an average of two clients.  This single operation has the potential of producing 1,200 plastic waste bottles every year. When you magnify this footprint across the worldwide guiding community, it’s easy to understand how big the impact is.

The barriers have never been so low to incorporate reusable water bottles into every guide’s routine. Through its Kick Plastic Guide and Outfitter Program, Costa has rallied companies like YETI and Klean Kanteen to provide guides with the tools to NEVER purchase a plastic water bottle again.  It just takes a shift in thinking and a small initial investment to switch to reusable bottles. Nick Colas estimates that consumers are buying bottled water for 2,000 times the cost of tap water.  Over a single season, guides could be saving hundreds of dollars by switching to reusable water bottles while protecting their fisheries in the process.

Guides are in the perfect position to inspire progress on this issue.  As role models in the fishing community, they have a vested interest in the resource and have the power to influence change. We are at a crossroads and our choice is clear. We must reduce our plastic intake if we want healthy waterways and oceans throughout the world. And we all need to think about how much plastic we are consuming, whether it’s water bottles, plastic bags, disposable utensils or anything else, and find reusable alternatives.

In 2016, Costa helped facilitate the removal of plastic water bottles from the largest guiding operation in the U.S., WorldCast Anglers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The successful elimination of plastic water bottles across the 43- person guiding staff has had a huge impact and sets an important precedent.  More and more companies are taking steps to reduce plastic consumption, and we all need to play our part.

Costa Sunglasses has been a major advocate for the issue and has invested a lot of energy into their #kickplastic initiative, setting a goal to kick plastic in every guide operation in North America by 2026.  Let’s all join the fight to take back our waterways and oceans: the fish deserve a plastic-free ocean and so do our children and grandchildren.

Costa has continued their mission by looking at their own footprint, analyzing everything from packaging to manufacturing materials and taking steps to mitigate their impact.  Recently, they teamed up with Oliver White to help eliminate plastic water bottles from Abaco Lodge and Bair’s Lodge in the Bahamas.  Oliver said, “it was a no-brainer to participate in the Kick Plastic Campaign with Costa.”  Ultimately, he is saving money while protecting the environment.

Bringing awareness to this issue is the first step.  Look around the grocery store, your coffee shop or any retail environment, and note the epidemic of single-use plastics that surround you. These plastics may end up in the ocean and negatively affect our waters for countless years to come. We all need to take a stand against it today.

What action can you take?

-REDUCE: Find reusable alternatives for water, coffee, grocery shopping etc. and always bring them with you.

-INFORM: Talk to your friends and family and become an influencer on this issue.

-BE AWARE: Continue to be aware of the single-use plastic you consume everyday and take steps to reduce it.

-CHOOSE: Spend your dollars wisely. Place a higher value on the environment than short-term conveniences and look for products made from recycled materials (check out this issue’s gear guide for some reusable and recycled products we love).

-ACT: Support responsible brands and check out the plastic-free shopping guide.

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The post The Plastic Plague first appeared on Tail Fly Fishing Magazine.

The post The Plastic Plague appeared first on Tail Fly Fishing Magazine.

(originally published in Tail #30 – July/August 2017)

Chasing yellowtail kingfish is as challenging as it gets. They are apex predators, and at a special time of year they roam the flats of New Zealand tearing ferociously through baitfish schools like nothing you’ve ever seen, offering ample opportunities to catch them on a fly rod.

For years, I had been talking to Alex Waller about heading to New Zealand to experience the mayhem and see firsthand what Alex and his crew had going on with their tag-and-release kingfish program. I talked my good friend Ben into tagging along and we packed our gear and jumped on the big metal bird for a short three hour flight.

After landing and packing the car full of gear, we hit the road for the next six hours. The drive was remarkable: the New Zealand countryside is breathtaking, with huge rolling mountains and crystal clear rivers. We felt like we had stepped off the plane and straight into Jurassic Park, thankfully minus the dinosaurs.

Once we had crossed the mountain range and had the flats in our sights in the distance, we were like fat kids in a cake shop. We made it to the cabin just as dusk approached, and it was time to go through the usual ritual, pulling all the gear out and spending the night rigging up for the week’s adventures. After catching up over a few Sailor Jerrys and getting everything ready to go, it was lights out. The next morning couldn’t come fast enough and we were all up after less than five hours of sleep. After a few cups of strong coffee and some cigarettes, we jumped in Alex’s whip and headed to the flats as light came over the long sandy straits of Golden Bay, the anticipation building with the rising sun.

We were armed with 9 and 10-weight rods loaded with floating lines, and Alex was nice enough to bring us to one of his favorite spots first thing in the morning. As the tide started to roll out, we made our way into the water and onto the flat, looking for stingrays flapping their broad wings over the sand, leaving muddy trails behind them. The kingfish are known to follow the stingrays as they feed, because the stingrays stir up extra baitfish and crabs, providing a potentially easy meal. Upon spotting a ray, we had to move quickly across the flat and make as long of a cast as possible. Sometimes with the wind you have to make the shot really fast; once the rays see you, they are off like a light and you can say goodbye to any kingfish behind them. When it all comes together and you see three or four green backs swimming aggressively towards you in a meter of water while hunting down your fly, you know it’s going to be fish on. The fastest fish hits the fly hard and fast, and the next 25 to 40 minutes are pure mayhem.

Upon getting a fish to hand, it was time to tag and release it. Alex and his friend Paul Mills from Revolution Fly Fishing New Zealand established a great tagging program, wanting more information about where these fish went, what they were doing once they left the flats, and how far they were traveling before being recaptured (or whether they stayed in the same general location). This was a truly valuable part of our experience on the trip. With over 150 kingfish tagged and released (at the time of writing) and 10 fish recaptured and released to fight another day, the project is a great way to learn more about these bruisers and assist in conservation efforts.

After spending a few days roaming the flats in search of these predators, it was clear that the guys had stumbled across something that would keep anglers coming back year after year. The fishing is amazing, but the backdrop that surrounds it–from green mountain ranges to the vast flats–makes this place a small piece of heaven, and provides an experience that will stick with you. After a few crazy encounters with these “hoods,” it was clear to me how much angling ability and fitness plays into it. Running through waist deep water just to get close enough to the rays and get your shot at a fish is very physically challenging, but provides for some insane fishing moments that won’t be forgotten.

After a few days of great conditions and even better fishing, the weather gods decided to rain down on our party. The temperature dropped over 10 degrees and it rained non-stop for three straight days. We had few other options, so it was off to the local pub to take over the pool tables and pass the time. The next day, we awoke to 25-plus mile per hour winds and strong rains. With relatively low expectations, we packed up the gear and headed out to the flats, just to see how bad the conditions really were. Sleeping in could have been a better option. The water had turned over and it was muddy as hell. Since we were already out, we headed over the range to a remote little bay with some sheltered flats and bays that looked fishy.

We pulled up to some cool looking water, and as the tide turned and the water started to move, we could see schools of baitfish getting harassed by kingfish. We couldn’t believe our luck as we pulled the gear out. We put some flies in the water, and within a few minutes had raised a few fish and felt better about our chances. Ben got lucky and got the first eat to break the skunk, and we managed a few more fish in some pretty poor conditions. We spent the last hours of the tide casting at the local kahawai, all while enjoying a few beers and some laughs about the ups and downs of the week.

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The post Tag, You’re It! first appeared on Tail Fly Fishing Magazine.

The post Tag, You’re It! appeared first on Tail Fly Fishing Magazine.