On(the)Line? (Brett Darmody)

A calm east wind stales our drift as we lazily maneuver the deck of the white Triton mothership along a stretch of some 250 linear miles of lily pad laced Army Corp of Engineered canal that is Everglades Holiday Park. Pitching jigs and creatures and chucking frogs at pad points, Maiden Cane stalks and the infrequent overhangs and lay downs are how this dark morning unfolds with a dreadful addition.
An irresponsible individual angler;

A common practice while fishing these locales are to directly pitch to single pad,cane or sawgrass stalks which appear to move contrarily to their surroundings. Always on the lookout we spot a great deal of movement ahead, certainly a large fish. As we near, the movement increases in frequency and becomes erratic. Surely upon reaching we are astonished to find what is no fish at all but the most majestic and envisioned birds of the Florida Everglades, The mighty Great Blue Heron. Its right wing(what was left of the outer portion of it) completely entangled many times over in 50 or 65lb test braided fishing line stretching many yards in either direction to a near-by tree and a maze of sawgrass.
I have no high horse or velvet robes but I do have a soap box and I'm going to use it as the vehicle for my feelings. Try as we do, WE are all guilty from time to time of an inch here or two inches there that don't quite make the waste bin. This however was a minimum of a half of a spool of this flexible flesh and feather saw.

-We Get Involved.-

Ordinarily I understand that there are circumstances where an anglers age or lack of experience could lead to an accidental irretrievable cast or the creatures' flight path found itself in harms way BUT the severity of the lines 65lb characteristics and our location (25 miles from civilization) suggest an adult and a knowledgeable angler(OR NOT). What circumstances lead to the disposal of an entire spool of this weapon in this manner?
"Ohhh duh, huh huh" Bloop, into the water the line goes.

A controlled drift finds us a couple of feet away from this horrified bird.
(and that's just the sight of me) Expecting an all out battle with this brave hunter we adorn the deck with a net pole, 2 pairs of pliers, a pair of scissors and a game plan. The bird seems more relieved and exhausted than upset as we free him from the cabled torture device by holding his face away from the work with the net pole and clipping the line at various points to unravel it. We share a moment with the bird, he looks at the two of us as it seems to understand now that we are not going to further accost him. He hobbles to a solid footing and tends to his wounds and sorts his feathers. Surely a fortunate turn of events which inexplicably found us able to be this Master of Flights saving grace.
"Tread Lightly"
"Leave it like you found it"
"Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute"
Choose your cliche' it doesn't matter. Pick up after yourselves and keep our resources clean and clear, our animals safe. Recycle where applicable and lessen your impact.

I step down from my soap box:
Brett Darmody
Bass 2.0
President of the Everglades Bass Masters of South Florida