The Clean Angling Coalition is the only organized group of businesses, agencies and organizations that are working together to promote clean angling practices. Clean Angler is a program of the Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the human-caused spread of aquatic invasive species by promoting voluntary behavior change. The Clean Angler program was created in 2007 and continues to unify diverse partners in the fight against aquatic invasive species.

Check out the Clean Angling Coalition website to learn more about the issue of aquatic nuisance species, things you can do to prevent the spread of ANS, and make sure to like the Clean Angling Facebook page and help spread the word.

I PLEDGE to Inspect, Clean and Dry my gear after every use.

This episode's special guest Brian Snowden had a heck of a year. He’s a professional bass angler from Reeds Spring, Missouri. That’s the Ozarks – Table Rock Lake Country. He recently won what is arguably the biggest bass tournament in the world – the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. Sure, the Bassmaster Classic is called the “Superbowl of Fishing,” but only the B.A.S.S. guys fish it. The FLW Tour and the PAA Tour, they have nothing to do with the Classic. At the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, the best anglers from the FLW, the best from BASS, and the best from the PAA come together to duke it out on Lake Conroe. And this year, Snowden came out on top. He ended the year strong too, taking third on his home waters in the last PAA Tour event of the year.

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As it turned out, fishing line pollution poses a real threat to wildlife, not to mention a hazard to boaters and divers. The most common type of fishing line, nylon monofilament fishing line, is made from various types of polymers which take a very long time to break down. Discarded fishing line can last for hundreds of years in the environment. There are some simple things that we can do, as anglers, to help reduce fishing line pollution.

Fishing Line Poses Threat To Wildlife

Wildlife can become entangled or ingest discarded fishing line, injuring or killing the animal. There are numerous cases of birds, ducks, turtles, dolphins, seals, sea lions, fish, coral, whales, and many other animals being entangled in discarded fishing line.

Searching the Internet, you can find numerous images and videos of the effects of discarded fishing line on wildlife.

Anglers Can Help Reduce Fishing Line Pollution

As anglers, we have the power to reduce fishing line pollution with just a few adjustments to how we use and dispose of our fishing line.

Recycle Monofilament Fishing Line

In the last decade, monofilament fishing line recycling programs have sprouted up all over the world. Many U.S. states have initiated monofilament recycling programs and installed fishing line collection bins at popular fishing destinations. These bins are typically made from white or black PVC pipe (see photo to the left). Look for these bins at your favorite fishing spot, or ask your local department of fish and wildlife about monofilament recycling programs in your state.

Additionally, most sporting goods and tackle stores have collection bins for your old monofilament fishing line. Save your old fishing line for recycling when you are changing line. When you're out in the field, store all the clippings and snippets of fishing line that you can. Next time you're in the sporting goods store, drop off your old fishing line. Using a device such as the MonoMASTER (see photo to the right) can make storing fishing line clippings much easier.

If you are in a location where fishing line recycling is not accessible, you can mail your old fishing line to Berkley Fishing for recycling:

Berkley Recycling
1900 18th Street
Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360

If you would like to learn more about getting a fishing line recycling program started in your area, check out the Reel In and Recycle! program from the BoatU.S. Foundation. A video of this program is provided below.

Use Biodegradable Fishing Line

In 2008 we were introduced to a revolutionary innovation in fishing line technology. Bioline Biodegradable Fishing Line is based on the same technology used in soluble stitches in the medical industry. This fishing line boasts features seen in premium quality fishing line, but, it's 100% biodegradable.

Bioline comes in spools of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 pound test, as well as fishing line leaders and fly fishing tippets.

Use this biodegradable fishing line for applications which do not require a specialty line or lines exceeding 20 pound test. Bioline works great for most freshwater fishing and light saltwater fishing.

Spread The Word

In addition to reducing our own fishing line waste, we can help spread the word to our fellow anglers and pick up other anglers' discarded line. I typically come home with a bag full of line, tackle, and trash I find along the banks of my favorite river. Let other anglers know about the problems discarded fishing line can pose and how they can reduce their own discarded fishing line.

Additional Information

• Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program
• Berkley Conservation Institute: Fishing Line Recycling
• NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
• Reel In and Recycle! (BoatU.S. Foundation)
• Monofilament Fishing Line Recyling Brochure [pdf]

Our primary reason for advocating the siwash hooks is to improve catch and release mortality rates. However, there are also several potential benefits for the angler as well. Let's look at a side-by-side of the pros and cons.

Single Hooks vs Treble Hooks

We feel the single siwash hooks have not significantly decreased our hookup ratio (we have not noticed any difference at all in this regard), and that our hookups on trebles are nice and solid and are less likely to lose fish we hook. While we would not say that using a single hook will catch more fish overall, we feel that single hooks don't catch less fish either. Thus, we can get all of the catch and release benefits of the single hooks without a loss of performance.

When To Use Single Hooks

Before you go and replace the hooks on all of your lures, there are a couple of things to know. First, the size of the lure is important. Inline spinners that are small or light weight will wobble with a single hook due to the offset weight as opposed to the symmetrical treble hook. As a general rule, you should stick with trebles (we recommend you bend down the barbs) on small spinners (#2 and under). Personally, I still use single hooks on #2 spinners but nothing smaller. We recommend single siwash hooks on all spinners (#3 and above) and all spinners and wobblers.

Some lures, such as crankbaits may have an action that shakes the hooks around quite a bit. Pay attention to how long the hooks hang down and if they can touch each other. Since siwash hooks have the longer shank, the appropriate sized hooks may now be able to tangle around each other--you won't catch fish like that. With crankbaits, I often use a single hook in the rear and either leave front treble as is, put on a smaller single hook, or remove the front hook entirely. This would depend on whether or not the species you are targeting is likely to strike from behind following the lure or from the side.

How to Replace Treble Hooks with Siwash Hooks

First, you will need the correct size siwash hook. You can buy Gamakatsu Siwash hooks here at Green Tackle. You want the gap width of the single hook to be about as wide as the treble hook's point-to-point width as shown in the photo below.

Sizing: The siwash hook has same gap width
as the point-to-point of the treble.

Depending on the type of lure you have, you may need a pair of strong wire cutters (your local hardware store will have these for under $10) to cut off the old treble hook. If your lure uses a split ring to attach the hook, you simply remove the hook from the split ring.

Use a pair of strong wire cutters
 to remove the treble hook.

In order to get the hook off without damaging or bending your lure, you may need to snip it in two place to create a large enough opening.

Snip the hook twice to get an opening.

Attach the single siwash hook to the lure through the opening of the eye of the siwash hook.

Attaching the siwash hook.

Use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend the eye of the siwash hook closed. A firm squeeze just until the eye makes contact with the shaft is all you need.

Closing the open eye of the siwash hook.

The closed eye of the siwash hook.

Below you can see the finished lure. (Note: Contrary to the photo below, I would not recommend leaving the shank tubing on a single hook as it doesn't quite stay in place and may effect how the hook hangs behind the lure).

The finished spinner with single siwash hook.

As mentioned above, many lures have the treble hooks attached using a split ring. At times these split rings can be a real challenge to get open. A good pair of split ring pliers is a great investment if you are replacing hooks frequently. The photo below shows a pair of split ring pliers from Texas Tackle--our favorite--opening a split ring on a Kastmaster lure.

Using split ring pliers from Texas Tackle.

Below are a few popular lures with single siwash hooks instead of treble hooks. From left to right they are: Blue Fox Classic Vibrax Spinner, Panther Martin "Big Belly" Salmon Spinner, Acme Kastmaster, Panther Martin Spinner, Mepps Aglia Spinner.

Several popular lures with single hooks.