Page 18 - May-June 2023 Vol 41 No 1

KNOXVILLE By Alan McGuckin
KTNRB Removes 6,742 lbs. of Trash

from Bassmaster Classic Shorelines

A group of good-hearted volunteers, Today was a pretty disturbing eye-opener Two giant 26-foot heavy-duty
under the direction of Keep the Tennessee for her,” said Lowen. workboats powered by Yamaha
River Beautiful and with support from Sadly, Lowen’s generous family saw 90-horsepower V MAX SHO® four-stroke
Yamaha Rightwaters, removed 6,742 just a microfraction of the pollution that outboards carried the loads of AFTCO
pounds of trash from Bassmaster Classic plagues our freshwater bass fisheries. yellow trash bags that volunteers stuffed
shorelines and waters earlier this year. In fact, Keep the Tennessee River full of unsightly debris back to Duncan
Even top pro anglers Bobby Lane, Bill Beautiful has removed more than 500,000 Boat Dock in Knoxville.
Lowen, Ish Monroe, and Pat Schlapper pounds of trash in just the past five years And while perhaps the day’s efforts only
showed up to lend a hand. Lowen actually from popular fisheries like Pickwick, put a dent in America’s freshwater trash
had his entire family of four participating, Chickamauga, Cherokee, and this week, pollution problem, thanks to passionately
including his son Fischer and daughter Loudon, just to name a few. committed environmental stewards
Nevaeh. That doesn’t count the trash removal such as Yamaha Rightwaters, Keep the
“When we got in the truck after the works of equally concerned groups like Tennessee River Beautiful, and a host of
event ended, Nevaeh told me how shocked “Nobody Trashes Tennessee” and “Keep good-hearted volunteers, the waters that
she was about the amount of trash she Knoxville Beautiful.” In early April, the played host to the 2023 Bassmaster Classic
helped pick up — and that’s a young lady volunteers removed 201 bags of litter, 24 now flow a little cleaner.
who has spent her entire 14 years on Earth tires, 173 pounds of scrap metal, and 241 As indeed they should for bass fishing’s
around the hunting and fishing lifestyle. pounds of random plastic. biggest event.

Left: Yamaha pro angler Bobby Lane grabs an assortment of trash to take back to the trash pile. Middle: Yamaha pro angler Bill Lowen drags a carpet, which is sur-
prisingly heavy once filled with mud, back to the group’s trash pile. Right: The group of volunteers, bass pro anglers, and teams from Yamaha Rightwaters, Keep the
Tennessee River Beautiful, Bassmaster, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, and Ingenity pose with a massive pile of trash they collected in just four hours.

Left: Yamaha pro angler and KTNRB board member Ish Monroe hauls a couple of bags to the trash pile. Middle: Bryan Bortle of Tennessee Aquatic Weed Removal
helps to remove one of two cast iron motors discovered on one of the shorelines with his unique boat. The motor was full of sediment and is estimated to have
weighed 800 lbs. Right: Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director, poses with the organization’s two boats completely filled with trash.
18 TPW May/June 2023