I'm already assuming you always carry your own trash out with you. The question is, what about the "other guys" trash you see strewn about. You know, styrofoam coffee cups and worm containers, split shot and hook bags, potato chip bags, gum wrappers, even dirty disposable diapers! Yuk! For me, the answer is simple. Just put yourself in the shoes and eyes of the person whose land you are standing on (and you better believe it belongs to someone somewhere). How would you feel if you walked your land every Monday and found a new assortment of litter left by thoughtless fishermen or others over the weekend? Wouldn't your natural reaction be to post your land? And how do you feel on those days when you go home fishless? Like you wasted your time?

Well, you could do what I do. Take along a plastic convenience store shopping bag on every trip, hang it from your belt, and just collect up the trash you happen to stumble over. I guarantee the following: 1) you will almost always fill the bag wherever you go, 2) you will be one of the "good guys", 3) you will know you made a contribution to the community and to fellow fishermen, even of you didn't catch anything. Can you think of a good reason NOT to do this?? Geesh, I can't!

The fish and game laws are designed to do one thing and one thing only: make the fishing (or hunting) better for us all. The objective of a particular regulation might be to increase survival rates of a particular species (e.g. size and daily bag limits), keep more fish around longer in the season (e.g. catch and release areas), or protect species during their critical spawning times (e.g. seasons). People who violate these rules are either uneducated as to why these regulations exist, or they don't care. Either way, they are endangering the fishing opportunities for the rest of us -- stealing from us, in effect. And don't think you can leave the job of enforcement up to the DEC or DEP. They are seriously outmanned, and need our help.

Unlike the first two questions, this one is not an "either/or" decision. It depends not on what you do, but why you do it, and how you do it. Generally speaking, if you actually do eat the fish, take them legally (in season, within daily bag and size limits), and kill them quickly and with respect, then you are solid ground both legally and ethically. Conversely, if you "release" the fish you catch by pitching them skyward, bouncing them off the boat bottom, or playing them to total exhaustion first, you are not behaving ethically just because you release the fish.

There are several reasons one hears for keeping fish instead of releasing them. One is taking a fish home "to show your friends". Take a picture or two instead, and let the fish go. Some trophy-sized carp in Europe are caught and released several times a year, getting larger each time! Don't let peer pressure, or comments like "where's all the fish" lead you to do something that benefits no one, and reduces the fishing opportunities for us all.

Another reason you hear is, its just a "trash" fish, anyway. Killing a fish for no reason other than prejudice is like all other kinds of prejudice - just plain stupid. Or to put it more charitably, behavior based on false information. Suckers are good eating; carp are excellent fighters. Chubs often fight harder and longer than the trout they share the stream with. Taking these fish out of circulation does nothing to "make more room" for other species like bass or trout. Leave fisheries management up to the DEC/DEP, please!

Probably the most common excuse heard for not releasing fish is that the person is going to eat them. So long as the rules and regulations are followed, this is completely ethical. Nothing better than smoked salmon or trout, or fresh perch or walleye! But the ethical line is crossed when you fish out of season, take undersize fish, or (worst of all), take your catch home, put it away, and then return to the stream for a second limit the same day!

My guess is most adults who behave unethically know they are doing so, and that they just don't care. Kids are a different story, we should assume they don't know any better, at least once. Try some education by example and see what happens.