One of the more enduring national forest images I\u2019ve carried in my mind for years is of a Grandpa teaching his granddaughter to fish. The pond small and not very clear but there on the bank was grandpa, wearing coveralls, kneeling next to a little girl with pigtails and dirty sneakers. Their heads were close together, all attention focused on baiting a hook with a squirming worm. I don\u2019t know if they caught any fish that day but they must have taken home something better than dinner.<\/p>\n
I remember as a kid, digging up worms to use fishing and than dump any leftover worms in the water or woods before heading home. Never did I give it a second thought until reading about the destruction of duff around the lakes in places like Minnesota that I might be causing ecological upheaval in the duff.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s duff? Basically, duff is that soft thick plush carpet of decomposing organic material you walk on getting to one of the bzillion lakes scattered across Minnesota landscape. Duff is nature\u2019s munch, returning nutrients to the soil, providing shelter of birds and other little creatures, protection for plant root systems, and helping to reduce erosion.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the connection between duff and fishing bait? Aren\u2019t worms good for soil? Isn\u2019t that what everyone who has tried to grow vegetable garden learns? True but what is good for your yard may not be such a good thing for a forest environment.<\/p>\n
One reason anglers fishing in the lakes of Minnesota bring their earthworm bait from home is because there aren\u2019t any such critters native to the lake area. So here comes your friendly fishing person to spend a day trying land the \u201cbig one.\u201d Maybe they do, maybe they don\u2019t, but for sure, any leftover bait isn\u2019t brought home. It’s probably dumped right there at the lake.<\/p>\n
These worms now have everything they need to get big and fat and produce lots little baby worms who in turn spend their lives munching away at organic material all around them, causing serious problems to the area\u2019s ecology.<\/p>\n
Who knew? I didn\u2019t know. Never give it a moment\u2019s thought, or considered the consequences. But now we have a great excuse to stay an hour long, \u201cBut Honey, we can\u2019t leave yet. I still have some bait left.\u201d I like that<\/p>\n