I am concerned that we have headed in the wrong direction with this thread and I've contributed by not posting before now.
First, Rick Hale and Capt. Vic Tison were invited to speak to the club during our March meeting in order to discuss legislation/regulations that could affect our hobby, fishing. Rick is associated with the Recreational Fishing Alliance, representing North East Florida. Here is the RFA's website, you can take a look at their About Us link to read their mission statement, see lists of current and past efforts, et. http://www.joinrfa.org/Index.asp I assume that Vic is also a member.
Capt. Tison was unable to attend due to a family emergency and Rick presentation time was limited due to the length of the "Regular Business" portion of the clubs meeting. While I don't know Capt. Tison, here's the bio listed on his website, http://vic2fish.com/aboutvic.htm, I have known Rick for many years. Rick is the owner of Ricks Bait & Tackle in Jacksonville Beach, Fl. He has been a sponsor of the clubs tournaments for 7 or 8 years going back to the tournaments that we held as the "Surf Fishing Board" group prior to the club being created. Two independent businessman concerned about the impact of any legislation/regulation on their lively hoods. We asked and they, or in this case Rick, came and introduced the subject. The post of the ESPNOutdoors.com article was a follow-on from that meeting.
After many conversations with Rick thru the past couple of years my opinion is that his objective is to make fisherman aware of policy changes on a State or Federal level that will/may impact them. It's up to the individual to determine whether they are ok with that impact. Not trying to speak for Rick but he has stated to me that he believes that efforts to promote/protect outdoor rights are more powerful when groups band together and show strength of numbers. He believes in the RFA and is working in that direction. We as individuals or as a club many not see anything to be concerned about or may not agree with the direction that this group, as well as others, are going. I truly believe that he is attempting to start the conversation and it's good to see people take a critical look at what's posted here. Civil discussions backed up with facts, where possible, should be the method.
As for the article written by Robert Montgomery it now appears as if W. T. (Toejam) had it right, there may be some BS here. Steve Bowman, the Executive Editor of ESPNOutdoors.com has stated that they article should have been listed as a opinion piece (commentary piece) not a news item. Interestingly, he he does not say whether ESPN agrees with Mr. Montgomery's conclusions. Here's the link to Mr. Bowmans comments. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/columns/story?columnist=bowman_steve&id=4982359 Please note that this is one piece in a whole series of pieces which I have not been able to read yet but I bet that they will be clearly labeling things as news items or commentary items. ESPN is getting their bottom kicked over the article, I'm sure that the White House will cancel it's subscription right after the swim suit issue.
For myself, I would like to read more about about the issues that may impact my enjoyment of the fishing hobby. I'll use you guys to help vet this stuff and separate the good from the bad.
Rick, keep posting and thanks for the support of the club for all these years.
Anthony - Cell 904-472-6871
Edit - sorry I forgot to spell check this thing before hitting submit. Trying to do too many things while writing the post. - Anthony