I think many are lumping tournaments into one group whether its 5 boats or 500 and they are not the same. I fish in a small club that fishes many different lakes in Kentucky. We stay in local motels, eat in the local restaurants, pay for boat repairs when we break down and all of the other things the guys that do this for a living do, but winning first place in one of my tournaments won't even come close to covering the cost of my trip.

On the weekend my truck is using up a parking space at the ramp like everyone else that is there no matter what activity they are doing on the water. Many weekends that our club doesn't have a tournament you'll probably still see my truck in the parking lot because fishing and boating is what I like to do with my spare time, same as many others.

Fish and Wildlife manage our resources and enforce laws to protect the fisheries, its their job. Fishing pressure is high with all of the tournaments going on, but tournaments are just moving the fish around to different ramps - they aren't eating them. If all of these tournament anglers started having fish fry's at the end of a tournament then we would have a problem.

There is no fair way of imposing additional fees for tournaments, if you try you just squeeze out the small groups with fewer boats and no sponsors. The sponsor of a tournament may be making something off of their event, but all of the anglers are tax-payers whether in a big tournament or just out fishing for fun; and each has just as much a right to be on the water as any other.

Many Other sports share their facilities with professionals, such as golf. If the PGA shows up they take over completely, its not just a crowded parking area, if your not a pro in their tournament you can't play or even enter from a different tee.

No one; professional angler, small tournament angler, a family on vacation, or even a pleasure boater; purchased a boat to leave it in the driveway all year, so stopping tournaments won't make the parking lot magically empty.