Posted on 04/10/2010 5:54:39 AM PDT by raybbr
Shopping for her brother's birthday gift had always been a snap for New Hartford Town Clerk Donna LaPlante.
Because they had long agreed on a $25 limit, she would simply fork over $20 and renew his fishing license.
This year, to her brother's surprise, she gave him a book.
"I told him the license was now $40," she said. "He said, '$40!'"
Across streams and rivers, lakes and ponds, the impact of the state's budget problems is being felt keenly by the state's anglers as they prepare for opening day of trout season next Saturday.
Last August, the state legislature doubled the fees for licenses required for fishing, hunting and trapping. The increases have angered fishermen, are harming bait and tackle stores, will probably increase poaching and are being felt most harshly by the young, the poor and others who can least afford them, say business owners and fishing advocates.
"Clearly, at $40 apiece there will be a lot of father and son non-fishermen," said Robert Crook, director of the 40,000-member Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen.
Town clerks and tackle shop owners say they have customers who, when told of the increased licensing fees, simply turn around and walk out the door.
Many say they cannot justify paying an extra $20 or more to fish one or two times year, sometimes adding that they will simply fish without a license and risk getting caught.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
However, I do understand why some people do it. To them it's fun and challenging. More power to them.
I know a lot of people that have big money invested in gear. They will probably spend the $40. But. There is huge contingent that are three or four times a year people and they will not go.
Connecticut's legislature is out of control. Everyone is focusing on the federal election but these local socialists get voted in year after year.
Proving once again that raising fees, licenses, and taxes only makes people avoid it.
“Proving once again that raising fees, licenses, and taxes only makes people avoid it.”
Or just chance getting caught, because they can’t catch everyone...
I tried to get back into fishing when I lived in Washington state.
Their trick is that in addition to an expensive license, they put out a 100-page compendium every season. That compendium essentially details the regulations for about ever 100 yards of water.
The REAL trick as that those regulations change for just about every 100 yards of water. And if you violate the regs, the authorities can confiscate not only your fishing gear, but your automobile, your computer and anything else that you could have used in the execution of your “crime.”
On top of that, the authorities require you to check the regs every day, because they may change them for particular areas overnight.
An example: they closed down ALL fishing below a certain point because the count of the steelheads was low. What they didn’t tell you is that they were only counting the native steelheads in the rivers and intentionally left out those that were stocked. When you added those in, there were plenty. Now, why couldn’t they say, “You can fish, just don’t fish for steelheads and if you catch one, you have to put it back?” Part of their trick is dividing between “native” fishes and “stock.” Second generation is “native” but they don’t see it that way.
I was buying some gear at the Orvis in Bellevue. There was a tall, fatuous jackass working there. I mentioned how impossible it was to fish with these laws. He actually argued with me that it was good, because it kept the fish numbers high. I tried to explain to him that most of the fish numbers were fine, and that these laws were designed to keep funds flowing in through licenses but effectively keep the fishermen at home. He was quite emphatic that fishing should be left pretty much to the guides and the professionals, and not to people like me.
Last time I ever shopped in that store.
The beauty of the free market indeed.
That's market forces working right there. You jack up your prices, I walk right out the door. If 0bozo and his Communist pals had their way, Americans would be forced to buy services they don't want, starting with 0bamacare.
Sustainable Development! All these local, State, and Fed “greenie” laws need to be revoked. They’ve grabbed not only grabbed millions of acres of land - they’ve used the land as conservative areas especially at the coast. We’re being herded into urbania.
Kept the numbers high for who?
The bears?
For the elite.
This is the same state where “biologists” planted lynx and grizzly fur in the Northern Cascades and were well under way to roping off 1.3 million acres, so that the people couldn’t disturb these newly returning species. Yes, a few biologists lied and enacted a scam to try to keep the OWNERS of that land off of that land. You know they would have had access to it.
Someone outed their scam. They were reassigned, but not fired.
North Dakota - Resident Licenses
* Fishing, Hunting, Furbearer Certificate - $ 1.00. Required of all licensed anglers and hunters.
* Fishing License (16 or older) - $ 10.00. Under 16 not required, except for paddlefish.
* Husband/Wife Fishing License - $ 14.00.
* Senior Citizen Fishing License (65 or older) - $ 3.00.
* Totally or Permanently Disabled Fishing License - $ 3.00. Proof of disability required.
* Paddlefish - $3.
* Combination License (16 or older) - $ 32.00. Includes fishing, small game, general game/habitat, and furbearer.
* General Game and Habitat License - $ 13.00. Required of all hunters, except furbearer.
* Small Game License (16 or older) - $ 6.00. For upland species such as pheasant and grouse.
Another story:
There was a creek nearby the office where I worked. I’d take a walk at noonhour and stand on a bridge looking down on the creek to watch the salmon run. The creek is surrounded by signs telling people to stay away from the water and the sides of the creek, since it is a salmon run.
One day I was on the bridge and I notice two women walking down the sides of the creek. Now, they didn’t know the first thing about walking in a creek. They were kicking and sloshing and turning stones over like a couple of heifers.
When they got close enough to the bridge, I yelled down to one of them, “I thought people weren’t supposed to go near the water because it’s a salmon run.” She shouted back up, “It’s OK. We’re biologists doing a count of the salmon.” To which I shouted back, “So it’s all right if YOU destroy their habitat. Just not anyone else, right?”
Sounds like the gloBULL warming scam from CRU at the Univeristy of East Anglia in the UK to me. Never trust any “academic study” that comes from loony left academics with an agenda. It's been proved that they lie every single time. A day of reckoning is coming for these vermin, starting with the history changing elections this November, when we start taking this country back from the Marxist scum.
How dare you take the King’s fish!
Some state bureaucrat with a spreadsheet probably figured by doubling the license fee they would double revenue.
It would be a smart thing if sportsman boycotted all fishing and hunting licenses in CT for a year. It would bankrupt the Fish and Game Dept. and force them to rethink their strategy.
Note to self, dump Bass Pro Stock.
I suspect they are seeing the hit already since opening day is next week.
My prediction is that they will have to cut fees at some point because people will stay out of the parks as those fees have doubled as well.
We used to buy one season pass for $50. We went about ten times a year. Now it $100. Not going.
It sucks because my sons are really starting to enjoy the beach.
Amen.
That's when Pubbie Gov. Lowell Weicker said the State needed an Income Tax, but......the State would reduce that mean ‘ol sale tax!
And now, Voila, Connecticut now has High Income Tax, High Sales Tax, and High Fees, etc.
How's that Socialism, Connecticut?
$40...that’s a lot of Micky D’s Fish Sandwiches.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.