One of the problems sportfishers have is our diversified interests in fishing. There are wild fish advocates who flyfish, pro-hatchery zealots who want to "harvest" and would never fish catch and release, warmwater bass guys in $20,000 Ranger boats who could care less about salmon and steelhead, the once a year lowland lake opener fisher, freshwater guides, saltwater charter boat operators, "Puget Sound Anglers", and many people on this list who want to catch and release wild fish and harvest hatchery fish using a variety of methods. For decades there were plenty of fish to go around and we were happy. Now, we seem to settle for the leftover bone that WDFW throws to us after the commercials and tribes have eaten their fill. I am tired of getting the crumbs. I am tired polititians not taking the sportfishing industry seriously. With hundreds of thousands of anglers spending millions of dollars to catch a few fish (and then possibly releasing those)in Washington, I feel our time has come to stand up for OUR lobbying interests. I know about Northwest Sportfishing Association (I apoligize if that is not the correct title). For whatever reason, that is not enough. As the one group who funds WDFW through taxes and license sales, provides most of the volunteer work, catches the least amount of fish, does the least amount of environmental damage, adds the most to the economy, is the only group who can practice selective harvest, and allows the most opportunity of a public resource, we need to be reckoned with. Let's take control of the commission and demand that WDFW throws us the whole loaf of bread to go along with our prime rib.

------------------