This is a letter I came across, I think it was very well written and clearly defines the problems on our waterways. 
Patrick,
I am a USCG Licensed Master Captain and spend in excess of 100 days on the water during the open water period on waters throughout Wisconsin. Since I do not call the department every time (never have) I am affected by an (rude) unsportsmanlike or just plain unsafe boater you can utilize this email as a formal complaint. As a mater of fact you should record a minimum of 100 such events for this year alone and another 100 per year for the last ten years under my name. You can use any of the items listed below for the heading of those complaints.
Here is my STRONG objection or testimony to the proposed tournament regulations regarding user conflicts and why you can NOT use this as a basics for adding additional regulation to tournament anglers.
I have not seen any qualified data regarding these complaints the WDNR says they receive regarding tournament anglers or any other users for that matter. This is especially disturbing when you are hoping to write new legislation against one small user group without the facts and public data to back up your claims.
You should be mindful that tournament anglers are most likely the most experienced users on the water. Some have Captains licenses, most have had a boaters safety or Coast Guard training course, most spend 3 – 10 times more time on the water than the average boater and all of them could report 100’s of user conflicts they experience on a daily basis, but don’t.
Please be mindful of the SLIPPERY SLOPE!! When singling out a relatively small group and not dealing directly with root causes or everyone equally you risk alienating that or other groups that feel they also deserve special regulation. Here are a few examples of groups that could be singled out for there perceived misuse or abuse of our waters:
Jet Skis – This is by far the most dangerous group and by far the least experienced group. 100% of fishermen and other recreational users would support a ban on this group. They are the most rude and create the largest number of complaints and overall threat to everyone’s on the water experience. This group does not follow the basic navigation rules, creating great safety concerns for everyone utilizing our waterways!
Large yachts, Cigarette boats (go fast) and larger pleasure crafts – Next to jet skis this group is next in line as far as causing conflict or safety concerns to others utilizing the water. This group is largely dominated by well healed citizens that normally keep there crafts tied to docks or rafted up in some harbor drinking and having fun. However when traveling back and forth from these places they do so with little or no regard to other users. It could be said that there view of other users is I have the bigger boat so get the hell out of the way. They are also another group that for the most part do not have the training, experience or time on the water to operate these vessels in a safe manner. The water displacement created by these vessels is dangerous to all users and creates the most damage to shorelines. They as a general rule hold no regard for other users and feel they have the right of way due to the cost and size of there vessels.
Water Skiers or Tubers – This group can be very rude and unsafe to both users and the people they tow behind there boats. You can find these users pulling people within close proximity of many of the other users on the water. They often pull children in navigation channels, narrow or very busy rivers and have caused me and many others to gasp to catch our breath as these children are flung or tossed into dangerous situations. These users are for the most part very inexperienced and put there children and others they tow and come around in harms way. Their constant motion creates huge wakes that make it unpleasant to relax or fish and cause major damage to shorelines. This group does not follow the basic navigation rules, creating great safety concerns for anyone utilizing our waterways!
Serious Fishermen/Outdoorsmen – This group has above average boating experience some safety training and generally respect other users as they spend a lot of time on the water. They don’t call the department every time someone is rude to them as they realize it is a part of sharing the water with everyone. They like any group have a few bad eggs.
Tournament Anglers – This group has by far the most boating experience. It could be reasonably said that the average tournament angler has in excess of 20 years of boating experience. Most have had safety training and generally respect all other users as they spend the most time on the water. They do at times go fast but because of minimal water displacement when traveling at speed they cause little or no wake. Driving fast from place to place while tournament fishng accounts for less than 5% of the total time spent on the water fishing during a tournament day. Again due to there boating experience traveling at higher speeds does not translate to unsafe or rude operation. When possible they give other users a large breath when going around them. When other fishermen are anchored or fishing in navigation channels or limited area travel corridors they should expect closer quarters from all users and not single out one group due to speed or other reasons. Tournament anglers don’t call the department when someone is rude to them as they realize it is a part of sharing the water with everyone. They like any group have a few bad eggs.
Joe Angler – They have small aluminum boats or canoes and keep every fish they catch because they do not get out often. They are not very experienced and are the most put off by these other user groups when they are amazed at the traffic on our waterways. They use the water the least and expect everyone else to stay the hell away. They illegally anchor in navigation channels and get pissed off when anyone runs past them. They call the department every time anyone comes within a 100 yards of them. They however are also the first to pick up and anchor within 20 feet or less of any fishermen that they see catching fish. They will run past another boat within feet and think nothing about it. This is especially true when they see a tournament fishermen catching fish and most likely the cause of most of the complaints against tournament fishermen. Ask any tournament fisherman and he or she will recount the many times when fishing away from others and catching fish only to have worm soakers as we call them surround us and drive us away from the spot. This group does not follow the basic navigation rules, creating great safety concerns for anyone utilizing our waterways!
Pontoon Boaters/Lake Home Owners – They are largely made up of out of state, non-resident people. They don’t believe that the general public should be able to use what they deem as “there lake”!!! This is especially true on smaller bodies of water. They are not very experienced boaters yet most have one and a couple of jet skis tied up to there docks. They are the most put off by these other user groups when they are amazed at the traffic on our (Wisconsin Residents) waterways. They are on the water every weekend jet skiing, water skiing, cruising and often drinking in there runabouts or pontoon boats. They are rude and unsportsmanlike like and treat other users with distance. They hate any type of wake not made by them and would like to eliminate these nuisance users. They regard all tournament anglers as rich millionaires when they are standing on the shoreline of there million dollar lake homes with 100 feet of dock, runabout and two jet skis. They get pissed off when they invite there friends from Illinois with there jet skis and other users are utilizing there launch site. They call the DNR and other governmental bodies every chance they get. They have even created a lobby group to try and restrict resident users from utilizing there lakes! As a side note tournament anglers don’t call in when these launch sites are plugged with double parked cars in trailer areas, jet ski or other boat trailers with license plates from the friends of these Illinois lake home owners.
In Closing:
The same punitive rules could be pushed or developed for water skiers, mooring buoys for owners of sailboats or yachts or even pontoon boats. Most waterway users don’t like or want excessive development and the huge negative affect it creates on our Public waters. Most all users don’t want to deal with the huge wakes created by yachts or cigarette style go fast boats. There are major safety issues with jet skis, ski or tow boat users. Check your data and statistics and you will find that tournament fishermen are among the safest users of our waters!!!
I propose that the WDNR adds nothing to the new rules relating to tournaments and tournament fishermen and instead focuses on the education of all users, especially those that create the largest safety hazards to all users. The WDNR should issue citations to unsafe users, utilizing the current regulations on the books.
Sincerely,
There is way too much finger pointing and blame for the “other” groups as well as a lot of speculation and personal opinions on said groups. What we need is that type of letter with actual facts and figures to back up the statements.
