He laughs now, but Eldon Crabtree said the idea
was to fight back against a politician who wanted to restrict
tournaments on a popular lake in northern Indiana. So members of
the Indiana Bass Federation fought back the only way they knew
how.
Crabtree, president of the IBF at the time and
who now serves as the Indiana Bass Federation’s conservation
director, said he received a call from a distraught club
president who caught wind of a bill that would have banned
tournaments on the lake before 10 a.m. The politician, a state
legislator, owned a waterfront home on the lake and, apparently,
didn’t like the sound of bass boats before 10 a.m. Crabtree said
the IBF wouldn’t have had an issue with the lawmaker if the lake
was private. It wasn’t.
“This was a public lake managed by tax dollars
and fishing license revenue. She was clearly trying to create
her own private preserve even though it wasn’t her lake,” he
said.
Crabtree spread the word among the state’s
bass anglers of the woman’s intentions. He also freely gave out
her home phone number, a move that while not necessarily fair,
was highly effective.
“We had guys working the third shift call her
at home. She got flooded with phone calls and she finally agreed
to pull the bill,” laughed Crabtree. “It was a little dirty and
I wouldn’t do that now, but back then, we did what we felt like
we had to do to protect a public resource.”
It’s been said that tournament anglers like to
do two things: fish and complain. These days, however, grumbling
about a proposal to ban tournaments, kill aquatic vegetation or
that otherwise hamper the actions of bass clubs isn’t enough.
Tournament fishing is coming under fire more and more these days
and anglers who sit back and watch the political process from
the sidelines will feel the pinch of public opinion. In order to
make a difference, it’s critical to speak up.
That’s exactly what members of the Indiana
Bass Federation did when a proposal by the Indiana Department of
Natural Resources sought to increase tournament fees to as much
as $10 per angler and require a tournament application fee of as
much as $750. Crabtree was also involved in that fight and after
a lengthy tug-of-war with the DNR, both sides compromised and
settled on a $3 per boat entry fee, which amounted to a 50-cent
per angler increase over the previous fees.
The fun of bass tournaments is obvious to these anglers, but
public perception may shape the future of tournaments
everywhere.
“They came up with all kinds of proposals that
were either expensive or complicated and confusing, and we just
didn’t agree with any of them. I finally filed a complaint that
essentially forced the issue before a judge. When the DNR caught
wind that they were probably going to lose, their whole attitude
changed and they were more willing to work with us,” he said.
Crabtree said the key to winning that battle
was in part due to tenacity. He and his supporters didn’t give
up, no matter how long the odds seemed to be. He also credits
the win to a wide base of support.
Strength In Numbers
Crabtree said he couldn’t score political
victories without lots of help from fellow bass anglers. In
fact, when the Indiana Department of Natural Resources wanted to
implement stiff fees for tournaments, Crabtree made sure all
anglers knew it wasn’t a fee imposed only on bass anglers.
“We have a lot of crappie and catfish
tournaments on our public lakes and it would have had the same
impact on those anglers as it was going to have on bass
tournament anglers. I got the word out to all the different
organizations and I had everyone write, call whatever they could
do to let the DNR and their state representatives know that they
were opposed to the fee proposals,” he said. “I don’t think we
could have won if we were going at it alone.”
Even individual bass clubs can have an impact
if they work as a group. As with any issue, the proverbial
squeaky wheel gets the grease. Whoever brings the most voices to
the forefront often wins the battle.
The key to success, figures Crabtree, is to
avoid heated confrontations and work in a responsible,
respective manner. Thought creating negative feelings will
certainly get the message across, it’s not the most productive
way to handle any situation.
“I would recommend appointing someone from the
club to act as a spokesman, someone who is a good speaker and
who is informed on the subject you want to address. When the
time comes for a public hearing, have all the members of a club
and even non-members who might be affected by an issue show up
and either offer to speak or simply show their support in
another way. Wear your tournament shirts, raise your hand if it
comes to a vote, anything to show unity,” he said.
Anglers who don’t participate in tournaments often complain that
those events crowd boat ramps and the waters on which they are
held. Clubs should do everything they can to avoid creating a
negative perception, even if it means limiting the number of
boats.
Just Show Up
In some cases, all an angler has to do is
simply show up. When county administrators proposed to ban all
tournaments on an 800-acre public lake in southern Virginia,
Rick Raymond, president of Sandy River Bassmasters, went into
action. The proposal was borne out of misinformation and
pressure from landowners who, according to Raymond, wanted to
force gas-powered motors off the lake, which has a 10-horsepower
restriction. Raymond’s club was holding eight open tournaments
on the lake each year as a fund-raiser for the club and for the
local volunteer fire department. When he caught wind of the
proposed tournament ban, Raymond went into action by attending
every county board meeting that dealt with the issue. It worked.
“I think if I didn’t go to any of these
meetings, in fact, I know that if I didn’t show up and speak my
mind, there would have been a complete ban on tournaments. By
going to the county commissioner meetings and presenting the
economic benefits and the benefit to the resource itself, I
think I managed to salvage our open events,” said Raymond, who
worked out a compromise and now is limited to four events per
year and only during cooler months.
Sometimes, however, no one seems interested
enough to attend critical meetings, even when it means the
health of a fishery. One state fisheries biologist who asked not
to be identified said he’s amazed at how complacent local
anglers were when an important issue came to head two years ago.
A coalition of lakeside homeowners wanted more effort put into
controlling aquatic vegetation, either through the introduction
of grass carp or with the application of herbicides. At a
meeting held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that played a
major role in the outcome of the war on weeds, not a single
angler showed up.
“I called the state bass federation and told
them how important it was to get members to show up to these
meetings and just tell their side of the issue, but I don’t
think more than one or two ever showed up at all the meetings. I
was completely alone in my defense of the importance of that
grass so I was pretty much outvoted,” he recalled. “It would
have been a big deal if a dozen anglers showed up and told how
important it was to bass fishing and how much money they spent.
I had the science, but I really need the human side of it, as
well.”
Few subjects are as politically charged as
aquatic vegetation. Any bass angler worth his Ranger knows that
aquatic vegetation like hydrilla and milfoil can turn a marginal
fishery into a first-rate destination for tournaments and
recreational anglers alike. Informed bass anglers also know that
to the typical waterfront homeowner, grass clogs props, spoils
idyllic views and is little more than blight on a lake.
Dick Smith, conservation director for the New
Hampshire Bass Federation, said there is a disturbing trend not
just in New Hampshire, but across the country. Waterfront
homeowners seem to be scoring more victories in their war on
aquatic vegetation and herbicide applications are the standard
procedure for killing that prime fish habitat.
Despite the occasional complaint from bass
anglers, the use of herbicides is increasing because waterfront
homeowners, who don’t bass fish, are more vocal than bass
anglers who want to keep the grass.
“Unfortunately, too many anglers seem to think
someone else will stand up and fight for the issues that affect
them. Even though I work on behalf of the Bass Federation, I
can’t do it all by myself, but I do believe a lot of anglers
don’t get involved when they really need to,” Smith said.
It is human nature, Smith agrees, to wait
until an issue has a direct affect on people before they act.
That has to change, he insists.
“We need to start becoming proactive. As a
group, bass anglers need to determine what the most important
issues are that will affect us in the future and start working
on those. We can’t wait until it’s already happened and then
act,” he said.
No matter what issue is on the horizon, it’s
critical for clubs as well as individuals to become involved in
the political process. Politicians are, more often than ever,
becoming involved not only in fisheries management, but in all
aspects of fishing. Tournaments are in the crosshairs of some
government officials and no matter what their logic, it’s going
to take serious effort on the part of bass clubs to prevent the
further erosion of tournaments and quality bass fishing.
