The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recently sent out a press release scolding the state's anglers for being litter bugs. To emphasize his point, Fisheries Bureau Chief Marion Conover described anglers as "lazy" and "disrespectful lawbreakers" while shaking his finger and accusing them of being "the worst of the worst" of outdoor groups in cleaning up after themselves.

After pulling my tail out from between my legs and checking my swollen knuckles to make sure my fingers weren't broken, I had to concur. As a collective unit, we anglers do need to do a better job picking up our trash and not leaving a mess on the jetties, docks and water edges from which we fish.

If backpackers and campers can self-impose leave-no-trace principles into their recreational pursuits, so should the rest of us who spend time in the outdoors, anglers included.

Even for a quick outing on the water, we'll drag along jam-packed tackle boxes, plastic sacks stuffed with new hooks, line and the latest crankbait, jerkbait or jig that promises more and bigger fish, containers of night crawlers, minnows and leeches, and of course snacks and drinks. In a short time, we can amass a mountain of garbage, and unfortunately not all of it gets thrown away. Too much of it ends up polluting the lakes, rivers and ponds we claim we value and treasure.

Of course, not all anglers are to blame. Many, probably most, pick up what they pack in. Some even pick up after others. But it only takes a few to create a mess, and it's apparent to anyone who frequents virtually any fishing hole what's happening around the state.

During a stop at a small county park in north-central Iowa earlier this week, I decided to look for evidence to substantiate Conover's accusation. As I suspected, it didn't take long to do so. At a remote boat access to the Iowa River I discovered an empty box of Berkley Trilene XL test line, a wrapper for lead sinkers and what turned out to be 25 yards of monofilament fish line tangled in a low-hanging tree limb.

Floating in the water near the river's edge was a shiny new bobber. With a stick I retrieved the bobber along with another 25 yards of monofilament line and several lead split shot sinkers affixed to it.

That was just the start.

Also strewn about were an empty plastic bait container (fortunately all the night crawlers had been used), a Subway drink cup, candy wrappers, napkins and an assortment of beer cans. Had I ranged farther, I fear what I might have found. Instead, the one plastic bag I had to stash the trash in was so overflowing I decided to carry the collection back to my car.

I'm not overdramatizing the matter to make a point, either. Locally, the problem is so bad Story County Conservation Director Steve Lekwa annually devotes a column in this newspaper to beseech anglers to clean up after themselves and to underscore the hazards trash (fishing line in particular) poses to waterfowl and other creatures that all to often become ensnared by the stuff and eventually die.

Not only does trash harm wildlife and blight the landscape, it also is costly to collect. Undermanned county conservation boards and DNR parks staff have more important tasks to spend their time and resources on than picking up after a few slobs. As a result, individuals, volunteer groups and conservation organizations either have to spend countless hours cleaning up messes or, as is often the case, the trash just gets left where it was dumped.

As a remedy to the epidemic, Conover urges anglers to carry plastic grocery sacks with them to pack out their trash. From what I've seen, carrying a garbage barrel might be a better solution.

Todd Burras is local news editor and outdoors editor for The Tribune. E-mail him at tburras@amestrib.com.