Yea...its a no win situation if you look at it through their perspective....you give touney guys a permit for 50 boats at a POPULAR launch on a Sat, say that launch has 75 spots...there are unquestionably going to be people without places to park...thus they complain...NOT WHAT DEP OR BOATING WANTS.

You give a permit for 30 spots for the tourney...the tourney guys get upset and complain about the ## of boats they can have at their events...also NOT WHAT DEP OR BOATING WANTS

That is why they try and maintian the 50% rule as far as the number of spots that can be taken up for a tournament...it is a fair balance. I have spoken the the folks at DEP at lenght about this very issue and it is very touchy...but overally they are on our side( the tourney guys), but they also have to protect their own A$$es but puting some stricter regs on us.

Personally, I think you have a valid point about the restrictions, but you have to consider that Connecticut has SO MANY people and SO FEW lakes of any size that it creates issues when trying to have 75 boat tourneys and have space for the public...lets face it, were not fishing on Champlain here, space is limited.

I think the biggest thing we can do is like GetR'Done says "We have to police ourselves, make sure we are parking where we are suppose to, etc.." By doing what we are supposed to and following the guidlines we will leave them no choice but to allow us to continue as we have in the past.