#675088 - 06/23/0612:47 PM
Tournament Fishing in CT: Act now or sit home and only watch them on TV
Get'R Done
Member
Registered: 07/16/02
Posts: 156
Loc: Bagram, Afghanistan
The application mailing deadline for the next CBFN tournament is JUNE 30th.
The tournament will be held on July 16 at the CT River, out of Haddam Meadows.
Yes, it seems that we just did this. Remember the last event was suppose to be on Lilly but was moved because the DEP restricted us to 55 boats. This is the original scheduled event for the River.
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Edit: Topic heading changed to reflect the newest discussions on this thread. (Mitch)
Was at the bass Fed meeting last night. We're going to have start speaking out to reverse the trend of the DEP cutting the number of boats allowed. If we let it continue, one day there might not be any tournaments. The CBFN is going to come up with a plan of action.
#675090 - 06/27/0603:59 PM
Re: Tournament Fishing in CT: Act now or sit home and only watch them on TV
Get'R Done
Member
Registered: 07/16/02
Posts: 156
Loc: Bagram, Afghanistan
Mitch,
Great point, We are asking any one and every one that fishes tournaments in the state of Connecticut, does not matter to what organization you belong. It's in all out interest to come together on this one. Please contact your local Representative (see link below). We are loosing more and more rights to our waters.
#675091 - 06/27/0604:09 PM
Re: Tournament Fishing in CT: Act now or sit home and only watch them on TV
Chris
Member
Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 5547
Loc: Meriden
I am not familiar with what the issues are? Can you give us that only fish CTF tourneys some more information. A form type letter would also be a great idea. It will increase the likely hood of more e mails being sent.
#675092 - 06/27/0604:37 PM
Re: Tournament Fishing in CT: Act now or sit home and only watch them on TV
Get'R Done
Member
Registered: 07/16/02
Posts: 156
Loc: Bagram, Afghanistan
Ramp access - limiting / down sizing the number of boats allowed for each tournament. This is probably the biggest issue. Parking and number of boats allowed on the permit. Example, we had a tournament scheduled for Lake Lillinonah. We requested a permit for 65 boats. The DEP gave us a permit for 55 boats and 40 of those where to use Pond Brook, which if the water had dropped much at all, you would not be able to launch or get your boat out. These type things are happening more and more all over the state. Bashon lake is now restricted to 5 boat tournaments. CT River out of Haddam Meadows we had 63 boats. We had to send 20 boats out of Salmon River. We can’t park in the grass or they will ticket us and revoke our future permits. But when John Q Public did it and the DEP officer at the ramp was asked about it, he said he didn’t care about them. It’s the tournaments with permits that get all the negative attention. Those are some of the many incidents. There are many, many more...
It's not the DEP inland fisheries thats putting the restictions on, primarily it is Boating that causes it, and it is primarily because of PARKING, not boats. As we all know, a tournament can not take up more than half of the parking spots at a launch...long story short, many exemptions have been made...BUT there have been just as many complaints from non-tournament people just wanting to access the launch on the day of the tourney.
Perfect example, this year's CTF Smallmouth tournament...tourney was over and weigh in was going on so some people decided that it would be acceptable to park their trucks and trailers all over the launch, making it impossible for anyone else to lauch. A guy came down a pitched a fit after he waited probably 30 minutes to simply put his boat in. I know for a fact that thet guy called dep and complained...thus another black eye for tournament fishing.
Boating is reallly putting their foot down on this issue because of complaints like this....\
I know this may not be completely relevant to this specific issue but it are situations like his that are creating problems for tourney anglers. WE have to be more considerate of the public, I say we cause I run plenty of tourneys myself....irresponsible behavior by some may ruin it for the rest of us.
Team Daiwaimano Team too many broken rods to count Team bluefish lawn ornament Team "oh shiit we are out of gas"
Dusty, you are right, it is Boating that is limiting the parking. Some feel that the limits they set for tournies aren't fair or right. But everyone has an opinion on it (tournament fishermen, non-tournament guys, and the average boater). Bottom line, if the trend is toward cutting the number of parking spots, when the size of the lots remains the same (or even gets bigger. i.e, Zoar), then there is an issue in my mind.
Once you let a trend get going in one direction (cutting alloted spots) without doing something about it, before you know it, you're screwed.
With regard to the CTF smallie event on Gardner. I remember the guy you are talking about. I don't know about him waiting 30 minutes, though. Trucks were moved as soon as he spoke up. In hindsight, we probably should have done a better job of directing people where to park right after the event. I think because it was a weekday in early spring, no one expected others out there that day. Thanks for the heads up that he was annoyed enough to call DEP.
#675095 - 06/27/0604:57 PM
Re: Tournament Fishing in CT: Act now or sit home and only watch them on TV
Get'R Done
Member
Registered: 07/16/02
Posts: 156
Loc: Bagram, Afghanistan
We defiantly are not helping our cause with irresponsible behavior at the ramps. We have to police ourselves, make sure we are parking where we are suppose to, etc.. The public will drop a dime (Quarter) on us in a heart beat.
Does any one know how many 50+ boat tournaments are there in the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day??? CBFN (4), Neba (5), CT Outdoors (2).....sorry if I missed some, these are the ones I know of.
Keith, you pretty much summed up the problem with many of the issues surrounding fishing.
For too long, most anglers have gone about their merry way simply fishing and enjoying the benefits of the sport. But with those benefits comes a certain responsibility to protect and preserve them.
When it comes to the issues -- whether it's fisheries management, tournaments, regulations, etc. -- we've been a lazy group. We haven't spoken up.