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I feel I've paid enough license fees for one lifetime.
If the Fish n' Game can't do whatever needs to be done with the money they get....let them appeal to the Public with good logical reasoning.
That part I don't think they can do.
The Biologists know what "MUST" be done a whole lot better than Enforcement does. Listen to the Biologists!
Dan, how many free licenses users fished with you last year and then how many were under 16 and then how many were over 65 with a free license?
Dan a quick google search turned up this, it is from 2006 posted in 2008, It showed that a majority of all anglers prefered fishing private farm ponds and lakes, If that is still true I wonder shouldn't our license fee be given to them or maybe it is, I don't know?
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Survey Reveals Angler Attitudes
ARCHIVE :: Friday, October 10, 2008 :: Staff infoZine
Survey results available on Department of Wildlife and Parks website
Pratt, KS - infoZine - Could the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) have convinced you to fish more in 2006? Could KDWP programs have made your experience more positive? Whether the answers were yes or no, the agency wanted to know what anglers thought about this and a wide range of other fishing-related topics. To find out, KDWP staff prepared the 2006 Kansas Licensed Angler Survey and distributed it to a randomly-selected number of 2006 Kansas fishing license purchasers in January of 2007.
Approximately 2,750 licensees responded to the survey. The results have been compiled and are now available at the KDWP website.
Largemouth bass was the favored species for most anglers, with crappie coming in second. However, a large percentage nonresident annual license holders and those who held nonresident five-day licenses preferred to fish for walleye.
Overall, anglers actually fished for crappie most often, with largemouth bass being the second-most pursued species. Annual or lifetime resident fishing license holders fished for channel catfish most often; annual or lifetime resident combination licensees and nonresident annual licensees fished for crappie most often; nonresident five-day licensees fished for walleye most frequently; and respondents with 24-hour fishing licenses most often fished for largemouth bass.
This is just a sampling of the data collected in the survey. Other data include angler opinions on the following:
•acceptable fish lengths;
•numbers of fish caught that constituted a successful fishing trip;
•where anglers fished most;
•attitudes toward endangered species;
•how often anglers fished;
•times of year and day that anglers fished;
•how far anglers traveled to fish;
•age when anglers began fishing;
•types of bait used;
•whether or not boats were used;
•attitudes toward KDWP;
•bullfrog harvest;
•awareness of zebra mussels; and
•overall demographics of anglers.
Each of these factors are broken down in detail, including the preferences of each type of license holder in each category.
The survey gives KDWP staff biologists a better understanding of angler demographics and will help direct management strategies to better accommodate angler preferences in the future.
Same survey broken down better.
Let's learn a little about Kansas anglers.
The most recent angler survey in Kansas was conducted in 2006, with a database of 235,209 licensed anglers from which we pulled 20,037 licensees to poll, and a 13.7 percent response rate. The survey was conducted across all eight fishing-license types: annual fishing, resident and nonresident; annual fishing/hunting combination, resident and nonresident; 24-hour fishing, resident and nonresident; five-day fishing, nonresident only; and lifetime fishing license.
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As with the nationwide anglers, largemouth bass was the most popular species among Kansas anglers at 24.3 percent. Crappie were next, preferred by 20.2 percent of anglers.
It was interesting that nonresident annual license holders and five-day license holders preferred to fish for walleye over other species. Overall, anglers actually fished for crappie most often - 23.7 percent - with largemouth bass second at 23.1 percent. A majority of anglers felt that catching 13 crappie or about six largemouth bass per fishing trip would constitute a successful fishing trip. The proportion of anglers who felt that the number of fish caught in 2006 met their expectation was 9.1 percent overall. And 5.9 percent of responding anglers felt that their expectations were almost never met.
When asking nonresident anglers why they fished in Kansas, most responded that they fished because they were vacationing in Kansas. An interesting statistic: 23.5 percent of nonresident anglers fished here because they felt there was better fishing in Kansas than in their state of residence. Returning to Kansas to fish in the future was likely for 85.4 percent of nonresident respondents.
Private ponds and lakes were preferred among anglers. State lakes were second, with 26.2 percent. Federal reservoirs were preferred by nonresident annual licensees, but state fishing lakes were the fishing location of choice for nonresident five-day anglers and 24-hour licensees.
The time of year that anglers reported fishing was interesting. April through August was the most popular time to go fishing - 93.7 percent of anglers fished at least once during that period, with a mean of 15.9 trips during that time. Angling trips occurring between September and November were reported by 62.9 percent of anglers, with 8.4 trips on the average. I was surprised that January-through-March fishing trips were reported by 46.7 percent of anglers, so either that was a good ice-fishing year or it was a warmer-than-normal spring. I do remember that 2006 was a drought year - many of our lakes were close to or at near-record low levels during that latter part of 2006.
With that in mind, about 43 percent of anglers felt that their fishing effort was about the same as in previous years. About 23.6 percent felt they fished more, and the top two reasons were that they had more time and they had a fishing partner. Having a fishing partner seems to be an important motivator for lots of folks to go fishing. Over half of the anglers (53.1 percent) responded as fishing with friends, 42.1 percent fished with their spouse, 34.7 percent fished with their son, and 18.3 percent went fishing with their daughter. One-fifth of the respondents fished alone.
Among those who said they fished less in 2006 than in previous years, 25.4 percent felt that fishing was not as good as in previous years. Anglers reported that they traveled an average of 147.6 miles round trip for a one-day fishing trip.
A vast majority of respondents - 74.3 percent - began fishing as youths of 9 years old or under, and 69.4 percent also take their own kids fishing. A little over 50 percent of anglers rated themselves as "average" anglers and 34.4 percent considered themselves "above average." Beginner anglers made up between 10 and 12 percent of the numbers.
Well, there you have it for anger attitudes in Kansas, according to the most recent Licensed Angler Survey. It appears that most anglers are satisfied with Kansas fishing and that Kansas anglers are similar to other freshwater anglers in the country. I was surprised that crappie were more popular than channel catfish because historically channels have been either No. 1 or 2 on the popularity list in Kansas. The 2006 year was a drought year, I know, but we must have had some pretty good crappie fishing in the years before that to get crappie rated as high.
I guess another surprise for me was the lack of popularity overall for walleye/saugeye. Since I have run creel surveys on both Wilson and Kanopolis in the past two years and have seen that around 50 percent of anglers on both reservoirs prefer to fish for walleye or saugeye, I just expected them to be more popular among all anglers. But, with farm ponds and state lakes being more popular fishing spots than reservoirs, it stands to reason since those water bodies are the best for largemouth bass.
Tommie Berger is a fisheries and wildlife biologist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
I don't believe a license is required to fish a privately owned farm pond. I could be wrong...
I don't believe any state without Rainbow Trout and Salmon have any reason to charge us for Fish Rearing and Conservation. I lived in Washington State and Alaska and was active in Fish n' Game the whole time.
Those West Coast states have BIG expenditures in those Specie.
I just don't see that with Cat's and Spiny Ray's in the Non-Guardini states.
I'd like to know if I'm wrong, speak up.
Not even during the depression did we ever come close to losing the River and lake fish of the Interior.
Now with the increasing population of Illegal Aliens, we might, but that's a Federal problem.
Nope! No fee's for us older guys. We've paid enough and been active enough for a lifetime of leisure in a comfortable Deck chair.
i am with ya thudQuote:
Originally Posted by thudpucker
Of the 12 times I had my boat out I had 0 over 65, and 2 trips with 2 kids under 16 with a free license. 9 of the trips I fished alone. All but one of my trips were during the normal work week, and easily 80-90% of the other fisherfolks out were 65+ and none were -16, but that again was during the work week and during the school year, I only fished the end of Oct.-end of Dec.Quote:
Originally Posted by imajigger2
I say humbug! I will take a walleye or a crappie over either of these fish any day! Again, I am 71 and more than willing to buy a license.Quote:
I don't believe any state without Rainbow Trout and Salmon have any reason to charge us for Fish Rearing and Conservation.
CharlieM I'm hear ya.But I still say you have earned a right to fish free,because that is what they said it would be.I would bet that if you fish at the age 65+ then you have probably fished since you were knee high to a turnip.You paid what they asked and therefor they should uphold there end of the deal they made.It is our time to pay what we need too.So get out there and enjoy it.Go get you sum crappie and eye's.:biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by CharlieM