Quote:
Originally Posted by dgax65
While I recognize that kayak anglers need to have our special requirements addressed in the MLPA process; I feel that it would be counterproductive to start the process by promoting positions that will exclude non-kayak anglers in certain areas. The kayak community is but a small portion of the overall fishing community. Alienating 95% of the fishing population with exclusionary proposals is not going to get our needs addressed. We need to go into this process with a united front; all anglers fighting for maximum access. I would only advocate a non-motorized reserve in La Jolla if it was the final alternative to a complete closure.
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I disagree. I doubt we would alienate any but a very small fraction, and so what if we did. For the most part, they don't care about kayakers (speedbumps, as they call us). Besides, many of the boaters I know focus exclusively on offshore species, so they couldn't care less about LJ. The main point I am trying to make is that adding our voices to the general angling crowd is to be the equivalent of Luxembourg in the EU. The needs and goals of the kayak community are very different than those of the sportboats, who want to continue their 1000 bass weekend fish counts. The kneejerk adversarial reaction to the "treehuggers" is not necessarily the best way to go, and the track record of the fishing associations is pretty dismal, from what I hear.