Fishing Access Area Rule Changes????

[Doublebag]

Everyone should be concerned about the effort in Montpelier to change the rules for use of the state's fishing access areas - crowding hunters and fishermen out of the properties we have paid to acquire through license and motorboat registration fees, and excise taxes on fishing tackle and fuel.

Here is a link to the VPR piece about access areas:

http://digital.vpr.net/post/who-should- ... s#stream/0

Here is a link to the current Fish and Wildlife Board rule regulating use at the fishing access areas:

http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/UserFi ... -rules.pdf

There are a few small things that I might quibble with (like the prohibition against picnicking) but, overall, the current rule seems pretty well thought out.

[C-Hawk]

Hasn't the law already changed to allow all boaters at the ramps? Some ramps get so busy with the kayak crowd, its almost impossible to park a boat trailer on a weekend. Why cant they require a fishing license to use?

[fishingmachine]

Deen obviously hasn't read the rules,it is not illegal for people who take pictures or want to watch ducks or birds to park at the state boat launch areas,there is no need to change the laws as they exist.Rules simply give priority to the fishermen boaters,most everything else is allowed ,but prioritized.What we need to change is the representative from the south,soon he will realize that fishermen vote,too.

[C-Hawk]

I just don't understand why a small fee can't be charged to use State Fishing Accesses, if you don't possess a fishing license. A Vermont Habitat stamp for $15 would be a good sticker on a rear window of any vehicle not attatched to a boat trailer, or a vehicle with out of state plates. Maybe a sticker on a kayak or canoe should be enacted so that everyone contributes. Make it voluntary at first with simple sinage . There are plenty of other signs, why not one to encourage non fishermen to help out?
One thing I have noticed as an outsider looking in, your state congressmen don't do anything until an issue affects them personally, and many voters own a kayak in Vermont, so I don't think anything will ever come of another fee added to the already oppressed SUV crowd. Remember the Save Shadow Lake-Install Boat Wash Bill? Don't get me going on the money spent on the bike trail and ferry.

[kman05446]

How about making canoes and kayaks get registered like other boats.

[fishingmachine]

My problem with charging non-fishing vessels,(kayaks,sailboats,jetskil,waterskiiers,ect,ect,) is that it gives them the right to dictate further uses of the access areas,we all know that when you give them an inch,they will take a mile.I think it best to leave it like it is,the rules are good the way they are,change is not always good.

[Reelax]

Its getting worse 2 different occasions at converse this summer there were so many recreational kayaks at the launch you couldn't use the ramp. The group stayed at the edge of the water on the launch for extended periods to the point where I had to ask them to move so I could use the ramp.

None of them were fishing and they were some group that was bused in by someone making money off it. Now if they were fishing, no problem.. BUT NONE of them were fishing...

[fishingmachine]

that's exactly the type of thing I am talking about,they should have a permit from the state to do that ,along with the appropriate fee.which is exactly why we need to keep the ramps for fishing only,if we let them in ,they will want it all

[C-Hawk]

that's exactly the type of thing I am talking about,they should have a permit from the state to do that ,along with the appropriate fee.which is exactly why we need to keep the ramps for fishing only,if we let them in ,they will want it all

I agree with you 100%, if things stay the same. Opening up the boat ramps for non fishing use should come at a cost. Parking for day use hiking, picnicing, bird watching, should be paid for. Just as we do with fishing licenses, boat and trailer registrations, inspection stickers and taxes via the Pitman/Roberts act( someone correct me if I have the name wrong on the federal tax applied to sporting goods). Also register bicycles!

[fishingmachine]

Have you been down near the White river in Bethel area in the summer,there are hundreds of bright yellow and orange rafts floating the river,there is a company that buses these people back and forth while supplying the rafts,How would you like to be fishing that river when 25 huge rafts come floating by? Same type of thing could happen on LC with Kayak rentals. I say keep the laws as they are.As a side note,no law is a law, if it is not enforced.

[Z.G]

Have you been down near the White river in Bethel area in the summer,there are hundreds of bright yellow and orange rafts floating the river,there is a company that buses these people back and forth while supplying the rafts,How would you like to be fishing that river when 25 huge rafts come floating by? Same type of thing could happen on LC with Kayak rentals. I say keep the laws as they are.As a side note,no law is a law, if it is not enforced.

Go fish the Battenkill, that's exactly how it is. Dozens of rafts will float by you in an hour. Tubes, canoes, kayaks, drunk people on floats.

[fishmaster176]

As has been said, laws mean nothing if they aren't enforced. Priority use for fishing boats? That's a joke. Boat ramp ettiquette. Only among fishermen. Every use allowed needs to have a cost attached. That's only fair.

[fishingmachine]

If you let them pay a fee to use the ramps,they will want a voice in the rules,and then you have opened Pandora's box,I am against it.If it was a matter of just money ,I would say OK,but the fact is there is no room for parking because there is not land available to purchase or lease to expand the parking areas.So we are stuck with what we have,and there is not enough room for all.I have stopped fishing on weekends because of this,and I am lucky,because I am semi-retired and can go during the week more often that most.