ABEL’S ‘GIMME FIVE’ PROJECT ACCOUNTS FOR TON OF TRASH

Abel’s “Gimme Five” project, in which anglers agree to spend five minutes picking up trash at the end of each fishing day, has accounted for an estimated 2,500 pounds of garbage, according to spokesman Don Swanson.

Some 5,000 fly-fishers have registered and agreed to pick up bottle caps, cigarette butts, leader envelopes, empty tippet spools, monofilament line and other debris streamside and in parking lots adjacent to fishing areas. “With a conservative estimate of eight ounces of trash per volunteer, it comes to well over a ton. Additionally, we feel certain there are thousands of fly- and conventional anglers picking up trash who never bothered to register for Gimme Five,” said Swanson.

The conservation project asks that as fly-fishers leave the stream, climb out of a boat or float tube, break down a pontoon boat, stop for lunch, walk up the beach, or stow gear in the car trunk, to take just five minutes to pick up any litter and leave the area cleaner than they found it.

Abel suggests that anglers carry a small trash bag or “baggie” to pick up streamside or parking lot litter. For information, call Abel Quality Products at 866 511 7444 or e-mail [email protected]