My big concern is the bleed of this program to other lakes in Ct. and retaliation by other states imposing the same regs on their big lakes.
I live in New Fairfield which has more shoreline of Candlewood Lake than any other town. As a town we spend more money supporting Squantz Pond State Park than we do anything on Candlewood other than the CLA which is funded by the five towns surrounding Candlewood. The CLA does nothing on Squantz. What is missed is that these five towns have a ton of boaters who do not use the lake often but when they do need a place to launch, which is for a fee, they would have to pay for a sticker too. This is similar to the Lake Waramaug launch fiasco of two years ago. Those residents who now had to wait for a town of Washington ramp instead of the double ramp at the state park got screwed. So the towns think they are looking out for their own residents with this sticker deal but it is their residents who are most negatively affected by it.
Further, when a boater launches from any ramp around the lake, on a weekend especially, they already pay a fee. Private marinas charge, the towns have launch fees, and the two state launches, three if you count Squantz Pond which is part of Candlewood, also charge after 8am or so. So fees are already collected along with registration fees on your boat.
The sticker program will bleed to other lakes and it will be impossible to be a mobile fisherman in a few years. It is a classic example of starting a government agency, like the CLA, and now the beauracracy needs to be fed.
Expect something like this to be passed. Gov. Rell lives in Brookfield near the lake, the DEP Commissioner works for Rell, the DEP comments seem to support the effort though with limited enthusiasm. Our freedom to boat and fish across the northeast with ease took a major step backwards with this FERQ required shore management plan and the boat sticker requirement. It will take years but it could eventually make bass tournaments an event of the past.