Gov Patterson is considering a bill to raise revenue for the state and guess who back he wants to do it on?
Thats right...the Sportsmen/women of NYS.
Anyone who fishes trout or saltwater should be against this. Our license fees are not high enough? Imagine having to buy a stamp to catch bluefish?
We fish the Hudson here occasionally, and from what I was told by a DEC e mail is;
Not even the lifetime licensees are exempt from the saltwater stamp. The trout stamp is covered, but we would still have to buy the saltwater stamp.

I urge all of you to contact your legislators and tell them you are opposed to ANY stamps for trout or saltwater. Leave it as it is. Trout included with a fishing license purchase and free for saltwater.
This is just another tax...Ain't it great living in NY?

Find your local politicos here;

http://assembly.state.ny.us/

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

Don't wait...these bills move quick when no one is watching.

Tony they have been talking about doing this for the past 20 years off and on. Hopefully this won't be the year they succeed. This would really kill the charter boat business on Long island. They have been hit hard allready by size limits and rising fuel costs.

Chuck this is the response I received from DEC.


Thank you for writing. As a Lifetime Sportsman's license holder, you will NOT need to buy the proposed new stamp for trout and salmon.

However, you would have to purchase the salt water license, at least as the bill is currently worded.

At this point, the bills are still being considered by the State Legislature, so it is possible that this could change.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. Thanks again.

Gordon R. Batcheller
Certified Wildlife Biologist
N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-4754
Voice 518-402-8885
FAX 518-402-8925
grbatche@gw.dec.state.ny.us

I have a life time hunting license. I do not have he lifetime fishing license.

Our lifetime Sportsman license includes deer, bear, turkey, small game and fishing.
I had to pay and extra $180 for the lifetime Archery endorsement. I still have to buy my trapping and muzzleoading license. The lifetime trapping is $300 and the MLer is another $180.
My licenses have already paid for themselves.

My lifetime hunting was $600. Fishing is $400 more. As I rarely fish, wasn't worth the extra $. In TX we can fish private property ponds and lakes without a license. Offshore we don't need a license either.