After reading through this lenghty post, first off Hats off to Buck, well written and thought out letter. Secondly to C-Wood Man, tournament fishing is a seperate issue here and has NOTHING to do with the sticker issue, yes your points on it have merit not denied. But the overcrowding and problems lie in the 25-30' cabin, sports craft on the lake. First off these boats create more wake no matter what speed then any bass boat out there, secondly as it was pointed out with the amount of smaller craft on the water it is harder for them to stop or manuver quickly which put the smaller craft at risk from careless boaters. And thirdly with the amount the owners spend on these boats not to mention the hundreds or thousands they spend in gas for the weekend a $50 sticker to them is nothing more then us leaving a $1 tip when we go out to dinner. Yes the lake is crowded/overcrowded but bass boats and fisherman are like a mosquito on a elephant compared to these pleasure boaters. The other issue is the CLA patrol isn't the same as DEP and they don't have to anwser to anyone and aren't "Public Servants" so if I have a complaint about them what do I do, it's like telling the person you have a complaint with that you have a complaint, just don't work. I agree there should be more patrols out there but they should be DEP patrols, not "Rent a cops" and moneys should also go to improving the facilities, I.E. ramps, porta potties, etc. I shell out $50 for a sticker to them and then bust an axle or bend a rim at a ramp due to it falling apart are they going to cover my cost? I think not. The sticker is a bad idea and I've already sent out my E-mails, and left voice mails for people stating as such. If a sticker of sorts should need to come into play I agree with Buckcall it should be state wide to cover ALL lakes, and the money from it go DIRECTLY to the DEP not the general fund. Sad to say but even with the voice that us sportman have if they want it to go through it will, politicians always find a way to wash one hand with the other if it means something for them, Hopefully this won't. Do I think they have a good idea? Yes Do I think they have it well thought out, and plan to implement it correctly? No. Granted something needs to be done, and far from me to come up with an idea to make it work, but what they are planning is nothing more then a faulted plan meant to do nothing but fail from the concept and take even more money out of the pockets that are already struggling to juggle recreation with living expenses.
Just my 2 cents like the others, and you know what they say opionions are like......