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My Thoughts On Outdoor Writing Ethics (Guest Article)
by Bruce Ingram

My personal policy is never to write about smallmouth creeks or undersized smallmouth rivers. I live on a smallmouth creek that is a tributary of the James, and I have seen what overfishing can do to a stream. I also do not write about the headwaters of certain smallmouth rivers for magazines, if I believe that doing so would harm the resource.

If I have doubts about whether a river should be profiled in a magazine, I call the local biologist and get input from him. If he says do not write about a resource, then I do not. And that has happened.

I try to promote catch and release and slot limits whenever possible. In the February and March issues of WEST VIRGINIA GAME AND FISH, I did a two-part series on the WV DNR's reasoning for placing a C&R section on the New River. In the February issue of VIRGINIA GAME AND FISH, I touted the new slot limits on the James and Shenandoah. I have done numerous such stories over the years.

I also must add that I was one of the people who was involved in a campaign to initiate a slot limit on the James River in Virginia. I went to VDGIF meetings and advocated a change in the regulation. Many other people did the same, of course. And, of course, the reason a slot was initiated by the VDGIF was because their excellent group of biologists advocated that it was a sound policy. I also just finished a story on creek smallmouths for BASSMASTER (and the names of no creeks were mentioned in the story, by the way) where I preached catch and release for these streams.

If I write about a smallmouth river, I know that it will likely receive increased fishing pressure. Of course, every time someone makes a posting on RiverSmallies or writes out a trip report, the river discussed is likely to receive increased pressure. A guide who decides to take clients down a river increases fishing pressure. Any time, I go fishing, or anyone else, we increase fishing pressure. I guess my goal is to make sure by my words and actions that people use a river in a respectful way. And I want to share this other feeling that I have. If a catch and release river smallmouth fisherman goes out and catches and releases 100 smallies (and we all read accounts of such things) I would guess that the odds are that a half dozen or so, or more, of those fish will eventually die. If a so-called "meat fisherman" goes down to a river and catches only two nine-inch bass and keeps them for the pan, then I think it is very obvious who has impacted a river more. Another point to ponder. A fisheries biologist told me that the mortality rate for smallmouths, especially those under 10 inches, is extremely high. Some 50 percent of of any age class of river smallies may die in any given year; again, especially the younger ones, die, most of them in the winter. Again, is the individual who takes home a few eight or nine-inch bass really impacting a river that much?

I think you should know that I have lost assignments over the years because I refused to write about resources that were too small to withstand the hunting or fishing pressure. For example, a national magazine once wanted me to write about a certain mountain in West Virginia that had recently been clearcut and then for me to write about the grouse hunting possibilities there on that one mountain. I told the editor that if I did that, it would be unethical. That I could harm the resource, cause safety problems with too many hunters in one place, and that the WV DNR would be outraged at what I did- and justifiably so. The editor basically told me that I would never write for him again if I did not change my mind. I refused to back down, and the editor was right, I never wrote for him again. Another editor wanted to jazz up my stories on a Virginia river. The editor decide to do the jazzing up himself and said that this particular Virginia smallmouth river also sported a good population of trout in it- which it definitely did not. I no longer write for that editor as well. And one editor wanted me to identify the name of a small creek where a picture was taken. I refused to do so and lost the sale.

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"The most important thing I want to say is this. If a smallmouth river does not have a constituency, a following of hardcore anglers, paddlers, and conservationists, I then strongly believe that it is doomed."

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Next point...Several years ago, I was going to do an article on a trout stream that I had been invited to fish by a local tourism bureau. When I arrived, the guide for the stream told me that he did not want me to do a story on the stream because "he wanted to keep the stream to himself." I said fine. Several years later, I was contacted by a friend of that guide saying that the aforementioned stream had suffered severe environmental damage from development, that nobody was speaking up for the stream except for a few local anglers, and the situation was grim. Of course, it was too late for me to help the stream, but the local anglers had managed to keep the trout's fishery secret, until it was destroyed.

There is also a fine line concerning whether to write about a stream in terms of what a magazine's circulation is. For example, I would write about the Maury River in Virginia as part of a small stream roundup for VIRGINIA GAME AND FISH, which I have done, but I would not write about the Maury for, say, BASSMASTER. The Maury simply could not withstand the added pressure that a BASSMASTER story would bring.

The most important thing I want to say is this. If a smallmouth river does not have a constituency, a following of hardcore anglers, paddlers, and conservationists, I then strongly believe that it is doomed. It would not surprise me at all, because of the so-called energy crisis that has been declared, that we will see an unprecedented attack on clean air and water regulations as well as on free-flowing streams in the next few years. Again, the smallmouth rivers that are most likely to survive will be the ones that have a following. I hope that if the James River were ever under attack, that its fans would use my book, THE JAMES RIVER GUIDE, and quote passages where I talk about the beauty of my home river, its glorious smallmouth fishing, and why we need to protect this stream for posterity.

Many people have no idea what an outdoor writer does, how much he or she earns, or the long hours involved. I can tell you this. Last year, I wrote and sold 80 magazine articles; the average article pays about $250.00, some a lot more, many considerably less. I know writers who make very good incomes and some that are suffering financially. I teach high school English as my other job. I typically arise at 5:00 a.m, to write for several hours before school. I do more writing work after I return home. On good nights, I finish working for the day around 6:00 p.m. On bad nights, I stop working when I become too sleepy to continue. Whenever I am on a trip for an article, I always have to stop fishing to take pictures when the action becomes hot. Some times, especially when I am fishing with a guide or a "personality", I don't get to fish at all.

Several recent posts have questioned the ethics of outdoor writers. Most of the ones I know are good, honest, ethical people. However, I have met more than a few outdoor writers who were lazy freeloaders that were too sorry and incompetent to do quality work. I truly try to do the right thing by the resource. I know people probably become upset at me when I write about their home rivers or lakes. But I try to do so in a responsible way. I hope that I succeed in that.