I love to spend time on El Salto, a trophy bass lake located an hour and a half northeast of Mazatlan, Mexico. Just thinking about its tropical beauty combined with its generous population of largemouth bass with ferocious appetites makes me giddy with anticipation. But to get to El Salto, I must pass through two small villages traveling on a bumpy, poorly maintained road. On this rural roadway between the two tiny villages, large piles of garbage and trash line both sides. It feels as if I am traveling through a veritable land fill for several miles.

The other day, I decided to spend a few minutes fishing in Provo Bay, on the West side of I-15 between the first Springville exit and the University Avenue exit in south Provo. The access road to the area is similar to the road to El Salto, very bumpy and poorly maintained. I have traveled this road many times so the bumps were expected, but what I witnessed as I maneuvered my truck over the potholes took me completely by surprise. I saw several vehicles stopped along the roadway, the occupants of which were in various stages of dumping trash in the reeds.

When I reached the end of the road, piles of trash clogged the parking area and lined the stream that entered the lake. Clothes, bottles, cans, soft drink packages, shoes and empty fishing-lure containers were just a few of the countless pieces of garbage strewn about the area. The sight sickened me. Six or seven men lined the small stream fishing for white bass, and I watched them carelessly toss several empty soft drink bottles into the stream.

I walked along a pathway to an area just beyond the inlet stream and ran into piles of human feces next to the trail. It was impossible to fish. I picked up some of the trash (not enough to make a dent in its volume) and drove home.

This behavior cannot be tolerated. Those who are contributing to the problem should make amends, clean up their mess. We're speaking of Utah County here not a foreign country. We should know better. If the DWR and Utah County are going to grant access to Utah Lake along this rural roadway, it should be maintained, and dumpsters -- or at least some type of restroom facilities -- provided. And, finally, the area should be regularly policed, enforcing the litter laws already on the books.

We can't allow our fishing waters to deteriorate into just another unsightly landfill.

• Don Allphin can be reached at remaxdoa@gmail.com.