Our government wants us to stop fishing

[Steve Craig]

"Have fun w/your heads in the sand."

First, I dont believe your post should have been removed.

Nevertheless, your above statement is totally uncalled for. Until you, yourself can take the time to actually watch the network you are slamming, for at least a period of 6 weeks, you cant make an educated assessment of Fox News channel. You quite possibly will see what you have been missing from the other networks. I did.

If you are really interested in viewership, check the National weekly ratings. Fox beats ALL other news reporting. Why is this? The other agencies (CBS,ABC, CNN, etc) are losing viewers at a steady rate and have been for quite some time. The reason is because the other news outlets are simply very biased in their reporting. Fox is "fair and balanced".
If you watched on a regular basis, you would know this.

Just because we dont agree with your opinion, doesnt mean we all here have our "heads in the sand".

[Fran Myers]

I have to admit that as much as I liked CNN years ago, I have grown intolerant of the news only channels. Self righteous hypocrites where the reporters get most of the time while the people who the stories are about get 5 or 10 seconds of severely edited tape. I don't care what a reporter thinks about what other people said.

Whether you like Bush or not, whether you like Obama or not - I don't care. But when I watch something where someone gives a press conference (ie Obama) and then the reporter says he said completely different...NOPE. News has become more about the reporters and less about the actual incident. I just don't accept one reporter interviewing another reporter about information they got from an interview.

I don't care what you believe, just be true to it. I thought Ronald Reagan was a good President. I thought Clinton was a good President. I would have liked to see what Perot would have done. I especially liked it when I voted for Jesse Ventura and he won. I still think he was one of our best Governors. I don't understand why Carter wasn't a better President - he certainly had the background for it. George Bush (all) has stained our country very deep. Obama - is going to turn out to be a non-issue. He won't be Black peoples savior nor will he be whites anti-christ.

Come on Steve RUSH, GRETA? Jeeze. Greta was great when she was on Court TV but now she's just a loudmouth. RUSH well as far as I am concerned that is the worst argument. While I do agree with some of the stuff he says - he should be in jail. But you're right. I vote with my channel changer. I have no time for either. I do like the news and topics Public Radio, BBC, and the Canadian Public Radio offer - but mostly uncensored satellite comedy channels. But when I want news, I only want the news. I don't want a reporter to tell me what they think. I may not agree with the stories but they appear unbiased.

And getting back to the conversation of the thread - If the government really was going to ban sport fishing the entire sport fishing industry, States where sport fishing is a major source of income, and fishing related TV would be going absolutely bug shit blitzing us with TV, Radio, emails, and post cards.

I believe someone on a news channel read the original report, either misunderstood or even worse manufactured a story that inflamed people for a short time for ratings. Just imagine the FURY that would come from groups like "Muskys, Inc" that have paid private money for stocking programs now suddenly unable to fish for fish they paid for...
I am not saying the PETA or some other group don't want to ban sport fishing but a bunch of wacko's making noise to publicists isn't going to last. I think these groups pick these kind of causes because they are safe. If they wanted to make a difference they would be picketing in Baghdad or someplace in Afghanistan. But heck, they could get shot there. When they get people worked up about cows and chickens...it's because its safe.

Being an airline pilot if things in Congress start looking like they are serious, enormous campaigns are geared up to hit every Senator, Congressman, Executive Branch official that may be able to have an affect. Every magazine would have huge whole page ads. If it was real we'd be hearing about it. More than one days worth on a couple of news outlets.

I will actively work to fight anything that tries to take away my fishing rights but this appears to be a hoax. I will happily admit my error if I am wrong but just the issue of states rights is enormous. Minnesota added an amendment protecting fishing and hunting to the state constitution. It will take more than even a Presidential Signature to stop people fishing in Minnesota.

Now I have no idea why (or who) Marty's posts were deleted. But I can guess why. I became uncomfortable reading them so somebody deleted them. They had nothing to do with fishing. And it felt like an argument about religion. Can't win when everybody has god on their side.

So lets get past it. Agree to disagree and just stop. Let's get back to arguing about fishing and structure situations. PLEASE

[MartyMcAvoy]

U assume a great deal about what I do, & how I have arrived at my evaluation of them. U said U were the one that changed the channel & never looked back. That time has come again. Well said Fran... I only feel that should some 1 promote that group, some 1 else should be allowed to promote being against them. Steve, I am done w/this, as I hope U are as well.

[david powell]

you all should know that any business ,such as fishing that generates billions of dollars every year,employees thousands of people,lots in taxes,ain't no way the government is going to stop it. ITS ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN'S!

[jwt]

This is not a hoax. The World Wildlife Federation(WWF), the International Fund for Animal Welfare(IFAW), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) are behind the push to "...prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters." If it comes to pass, Obama will issue executive order. Executive orders, by the way, are unconstitutional.

Here's a link to a web page that explains the whole thing http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/salt ... id=4975762 Go read it. Buck said "Knowledge is the key to success", but that doesn't just apply to fishing.

[Fran Myers]

Jim,
I appreciate what your saying. But all the organizations except NOAA you listed are using publicists to push an agenda. There have been salmon and Redfish bans that have generated more hostility than this whole US ban and that is a regional thing that doesn't affect most people. A recreational fishing ban that covered the inland waters would not go past unknown.

Heck our Attorney General in Minnesota joined the lawsuit to keep the Asian carp out of Michigan by forcing Illinois to permanently close the lock. Was all over the news. EVERYWHERE I flew. So I could certainly believe its not a hoax but the government isn't the only enemy we have to worry about. Self serving media are often times worse than the gov't.

I will keep going with the same example: I am an airline pilot. All because another regional airlines awful crash, bad training, and bad hiring practices the government is trying to knee jerk 150,000 pilots into rules and regs that just don't make sense. Once the proposed rules comes out ALL of the pilot unions/groups, manufactures, get involved in a letter/phone call/email campaign to try to moderate some of the knee jerk reaction. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

I have yet to walk into a tackle shop or Cabelas (or even on their websites) even discussing this issue. You could be right, I hope not.

[jwt]

Fran,
Surely you aren't suggesting that the self-serving media isn't publishing the facts and are just trying to sell papers or get TV ratings! Why, I'm amazed you would suggest such a thing.

[Fran Myers]

I was very skepitcal until I saw the Shimano guy. I don't exactly know what what these groups think but I remember the hubbub with the Indian netting issues in Wisconsin and Minnesota. It seems that there could be a civil war could start. I am just not sure where the big call to actions are. But I am not going to get too excited yet.

[indianabass]

I believe most of us as sportsmen (and women), have a great appreciation for nature and the environment and all that is in it.
The beauty, the complexity and diversity. There is a different dimension being out on a body of water. It is probably similar to those who climb mountains or enjoy flying...you just get a different, unique perspective of our world. There's definitely a oneness and feeling of connection to the Creator of all this splendor, in my opinion, when out in a boat. Most of us are good stewards. We are sensitive to the balance of fisheries. We do not over harvest. And as spoonpluggers we are willing to share our knowledge with others. It is painful to see another fisherman that thinks his survival is based on how well he can out-do the other guy and in how well kept his 'secrets' are.

One thing we as diligent Americans need to do is keep an eye on the uprising of environmentalism. I believe it was Micheal Crichton that first said environmentalism is a religion. And with any religion there is a means to do right and wrong. I believe the extreme environmentalists see hunting, fishing, and consuming, killing or hurting an animal as a sin. Some how, if killing of animals for food and hunting and fishing and raising livestock for consumption can be done away with, then we can create this Eden-like world in which there is no more pain and suffering and diseases and so on.

If you ever get time, browse through the P.E.T.A. website sometime. You won't find too many more anti-hunting or fishing crowds than that group. Do they have any legit causes? Probably. But they are portraying fisherman as fish tortures that inflict needless pain upon innocent fish...I believe their slogan is 'Fishing hurts' and that fish have the same or even superior intelligence to certain mammals. The troubling thing is that lots of people with too much money back groups like this and we will unfortunately need to deal with them more and more in the future to come.

I don't know if there is any black and white in this matter. I would venture to say most of our lawmakers and politicians are pro-outdoors as well as fellow Americans in general. Let's keep up the good fight, take a non-fisher fishing and show them all there is good in this passion of ours and be good examples.

Andy Jagger

[MartyMcAvoy]

Well Said! w/such an articulate response, we should run Andy for Office!!

[Fran Myers]

I only look at the PETA ads for the naked women in them. But that's just because I am a dirty old man. I watched a Showtime Series that showed PETA kills more pets than the Humane Society. Hypocrites.

[jwt]

Seen on a hunting website: PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals (and enjoying it)