Wow -- that last post of mine was very revealing.

[Fish_Eye]

MakoMike,

You hit the nail on the head:

The more fishermen there are the more funding we can get for keeping access and even expanding it. The more fishermen there are the more we can fight for better fishing regulations. Two things give any interest group power in our society, votes and money.

That's why I support the RFA, they lobby on behalf of my interests as an angler and the interest of the fishing industry as well...and that spells jobs, votes and political clout. They keep their membership informed when there is an issue of concern and they make particiating in the effort of letting the politicans know that we fish and we vote a very easy task...as easy as filling out a postcard, putting on a stamp and then dropping it in the mail.

Instead of going to war over who's burning what spot, we should identify one or two access areas that are being illegally blocked by nearby property owners and fight to get them re-opened.

MotoXcowboy,

I think that the access situation at URI was an on-again, off-again situation even before 9-11. It had a lot to do with the hords of bait fishermen that would make a pigpen out of the pier. The same folks that would trash the Newport causeway.

[JohnR]

MakoMike - we'll discuss this over a beverage soon at you know where . SpotTalk is a touchy subject and a real P.I.t.A. online - but it needs to be resolved...

On that other thing, still waiting to find out...