Would you Support a National Senior Citizen Fishing License??

[diandtom]

In NC when you hit 65 the license is free for lifetime and so is hunting. You have to be a resident and apply for this.
Tom

[BookIIRoadtrash]

Originally posted by diandtom:
In NC when you hit 65 the license is free for lifetime and so is hunting. You have to be a resident and apply for this.
Tom

I know this is off topic but,I do not know of too many folks when they get over 60 are still hunting, it is too physical. Fishing yes, but they like to fish with someone so they have help with the boat. I know there are always some exceptions physically, but in all honesty do you’re hunting and fishing now before you are too old to enjoy it!! Book2

[Capt Joe]

I have long felt some sort of national license would be a great boon to fishing in many, many states. Most of the time the cost of a license is a minor part of the monies a fisherperson will spend on their addiction....but when there is a front end fee involved, many times someone who might otherwise make the trip and buy tackle, hire a guide or rent a boat, eat their meals, buy fuel, rent campsites, etc, etc will simply decide to NOT fish in that state and therefore not spend their money there.

A lot of work will certainly be necessary to make it become a reality and figure the ways to share the revenues with the different states. I don't think doing it strictly by population would be fair at all. Some method would need to be in place in order to insure the states receiving the most 'senior' fishing pressure would reap the greatest financial rewards.

Several years ago, we had no salt water license in Florida. I worked a very hard with the Florida Conservation Association (now the Coastal Conservation Association) to have this enacted and we have seen very good results. Several very vocal opponents of this salt water license were very quick to reverse their stance when they saw benefits such as additional revenues for research, enforcement, etc. and more Federal revenue now available from Wallop-Brough tax funds for things such as boat ramps and improvements because we could now PROVE the number of salt water fisher persons. (We had been getting shortchanged for years bucause of no provable method to show this).

I have also spent quite a few years guiding..as a USCG Captain.. inshore salt water fishing trips. Mostly SW flyfishing and light tackle for redfish, speckled trout, etc. Here in Florida, when the salt water license was put into place, there were also different levels of 'boat' licenses that a USCG Captain could purchase to cover his clients/guest so they wouldn't have to buy individual licenses to fish. In my case, a 4 passenger license cost me $200 per year and I had to have my personal license. That 'boat' license certainly paid off many times over and I saw many times where it was the 'closer' in booking a trip.

One question about the proposed national senior license...Would it be a license covering fresh as well as salt water?

Thanks for setting up this poll and providing information on this initiative. Is there anything you know of that we could do to help out? Any organization, political sponsers, etc that we could contact?

Tight Loops,

[Capt Joe]

I know this is off topic but,I do not know of too many folks when they get over 60 are still hunting, it is too physical.

book2,
Don't know what area you are relating to, but there are many, many folks over 60 here in the Florida Panhandle who are still very active hunters. One of my very best frinds is soon to be 67 and spends most of our long hunting season on his property chasing the white tail deer and quail....probably at least 75 days during the season. Matter of fact, I've taken 2 deer on his place this year and we are going quail hunting next Monday...again. We shot 15 quail two weeks ago behind his German Shorthair Pointer.
As you said, a bit off topic and I'm sorry for continuing the thought but wanted to point out another side.
On the fishing license side, even thought we get free fresh and salt water fishing as well as free hunting licenses when we turn 65 in Florida, I personally wouldn't object to contunue purchasing my license if it would allow me to also purchase a single additional license that would allow me to sample the fishing in other areas of the country....but if by having the over 65 license for free in Florida would allow me to purchase a national license too, well, so much the better.

PS I enjoyed the thread on 'What are you reading'. I picked up some new ones. I'll post to that one later with some of my favorites.

[Tom N]

Originally posted by FLYTYER:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by lthrnk:
In Florida once you hit 65 you no longer need a license. I really believe that's the way it should be in every state.

I agree and maybe that is where this should go, we will see.

But in Florida a non-resident 65 year old senior has to buy a license @ $47/year or $17 for 3 days. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

FWIW, if over 65 in FL all you need is a FL ID card or a driver's license. FL will issue a driver's license to anyone, even if they hold a driver's license in another state. The license is only good in FL.

If over 65 you need no fishing license. All you have to carry is the FL driver's license or ID card. You do need a FL address and I use my regular campground address. We are here for 6 months every winter. We actually spend more time in FL than our home state of PA.

All my 65 and over buddies here in FL have the FL driver's license or ID card and fish for free in either fresh or salt water.

I'm not over 65 but my wife and I both have the FL ID card. We use it for ID when cashing checks.

-Tom

[BookIIRoadtrash]

Capt Joe, I really don’t want to get of topic, but there are less 60 year olds than 50 year olds hunting. I know one 77 year old that goes to Canada every year to hunt wolf. That is one 77 year old in a 500 mile radius that I know. I know a 93 year old man that flew his last bi-plane at 85, but that is the only one I know. I am saying each year there are less folks hunting and fishing because of the physical part of it and do it now while a man has his health! I am very sorry about getting off topic! Book2

[FLYTYER]

Capt Joe and others...

Let me clarify the fee situation. The fees would not be shared. As I stated, the proposed fee is kept by your home state. You would have to purchase the license in your home state. This eliminates the need for any outside fed involvement...we leave the states have the money as they collect it. It should be used to help their fisheries as they see fit.

Also the proposal does not replace existing fishing licenses or regulations for Seniors in any state. As a few have stated, some states have free Senior licenses, while others charge a small fee. This license would be used by those who travel to fish!!

Also from the beginning we have been thinking this is for freshwater and saltwater. This would not apply or avoid fees by those states who charge a fee or require a saltwater license to fish from fishing docks...South Carolina comes to mind as an example. Shoreline fishing is largely free in some states, but this may be worked on later.

Charter's and guided trips have been outside of this as this too varies...example...in Idaho everyone must buy a license because there they have an environmental impact fee and the license gives them the leverage to collect it.

Capt Joe I'll keep you in mind as this develops as we will need some help if the momentum picks up.

Thanks.

[Tahiti16]

One big issue here is different states have different levels of fisheries, otherwise why would you want to visit another state to fish? This also comes ar a cost to the state, with a large part of the money coming from license sales. So if this were to pass the next thread we would be seeing is "what state is the cheapest to base my fishing license out of?"

[FLYTYER]

Originally posted by Tahiti16:
So if this were to pass the next thread we would be seeing is "what state is the cheapest to base my fishing license out of?"

I am sorry, but you are not reading the information or you are not understanding....the proposal requires that the Senior license must be purchased in your HOME state. Read the details, please!

[Doggy Daddy]

I am for it and would like to see Active duty, Reserve and Retired military included in this endeavor.

[FLYTYER]

Originally posted by Doggy Daddy:
I am for it and would like to see Active duty, Reserve and Retired military included in this endeavor.

In many states personnel on active military duty do not need a license, but we will get this covered. As for Reserve and Retired military folks I would believe they would be included as well.

Thanks.

[RVThere]

Why only Seniors? Why not open it up to everyone?

Fisheries management, like everything else, is really a business where you need funds coming in to keep the machine going that maintains the hatchery, stocks the fish, builds the boat ramps, checks for invasive species, and enforces the laws.

If those funds stop coming from one segment of the fishing population, then the public employees running the Division need to get additional funds through taxation or increase the fees for the other segments of the fishing population. NOTHING is free – just someone else gets stuck paying for it. Throw on top of that a national bureaucracy that will divvy up the funds or states trying to reach a compromise on sharing funds – it’s seems like the effort involved will draw more funds to administration versus having those funds work to get fish in the water.

[FLYTYER]

Tom (RVThere) I respect your comments and concerns, but please try to understand what is being proposed. I spend a great deal of my free time working with fisheries management personnel in PA to improve fishery habitat and finding grants and other funds to help pay the bills, so I understand what you say.

The states do not get short changed at all, in fact they will benefit more than before.

It goes like this.... first a senior has to have a license in his or her home state...those fees are set and controlled by each state. The National Senior License must also be purchased from his or her HOME state. Those fees are collected and kept by the HOME state.

There will be NO federal bureaucracy divvying up funds, there will be no new taxes or compromises or fund sharing. This will not send money to Washington...no not at all if this happens on my watch...let's allow the individual states handle the cash, not Washington.

As for opening this up to everyone, well maybe someday, but let's see if we can get this part done first.

Please give us your support.

[RVThere]

Thanks for the clarification and it’s great to hear that this will not create another level of bureaucracy.

But as a non-Senior, father of three boys who fish and Scoutmaster, I’m in the ‘take a kid fishing’ camp where a national license would be great to help instill the enjoyment of fishing into our next generation. Again with the economics in mind, we need to get these kids off the couch (where they can do virtual fishing at their Wii console) and get them into the water. Their involvement will help sustain the fishing tackle industry and keep politicians from cutting fish and wildlife funds from state budgets.

Wouldn’t it be great if with one national license, I could take my Scouts fishing on the Big Flatbrook in NJ one day, up to the Beaverkill in NY the next day and then onto the Lehigh River in PA!

I would support this initiative but don’t exclude the entire fishing world under the age of 65 from the benefit!