That was when he was with the Candlewood Lake Authority as the New Fairfield Rep with little support or influence. As a State Rep I don't think he has the luxury of hating anyone so I would think he would have to present a position that is favored by the majority of local residents that he represents and that would have to be that bass tournaments are fine in moderation and 150 a year compared to similar lakes is too many.
Anyway, what would the local bass fishing community think is the best number of tournaments a year? Then someone local who represents the bass community could contact Pat and check him out on the issue. Lacking a volunteer I could do it if the bass community could give me a number. Or the bass community could request a meeting with Pat in the evening at the New Fairfield Seniors Center where meetings in the evening are held all of the time. Lots of options here to move the issue forward.
The other issue he could get involved with is getting our spring fishing regs more in line with other states to stop the influx of spring tournament fishermen to Candlewood. It affects more than just bass and local bass fisherman. I haven't fished for trout on Candlewood in ten years since the period of summer trout kills due to warm water. The stocking number dropped from 20,000 per year to about 10,000 a year and the competition for spots to fish the spring holes got too much with all of the tournament boats out there. I had a number of bad incidents with this.
I know there is a decent brown trout bite in June in certain spots and some guys are back to fishing the maribou bite. But not like it used to be so a reduction in the number of tournaments whether it is due to the DEEP just cutting back or due to aligning our regs with other states which keeps fewer out of state clubs from applying for a permit, is going to help other fishermen and lake stakeholders. Either way or in combination the number of tournaments needs to be reduced. The DEEP has no authority to make regulations, it is done by the state House and Senate taking a Bill through the process which then gets signed by the Governor. The DEEP can take a position but does not have a veto. They can use a change in tournament and spring fishing regs as leverage in negotiating more budget funds but that's about it.