OK folks, this has been discussed over and over on every outdoors website. Nothing new under the sun, then why bother ranting and raving about it?

--Waste of time.
--Waste of bandwidth.
--Waste of effort.

I agree with all the above, there doesn't seem to be a point in preaching to the choir. Just like the guys who get involved and go to all the meetings, join the clubs, and do the cleanups feel. They/you folks are not part of the problem because they have a vested interest in continuing to fish at their fishing sites.

However, we are losing access all over. Every year more sites are closed or restricted so that it no longer becomes fun to try to fish there.

It's frequently convenient to point the finger at immigrant groups and those who can't speak English.

Sometimes, these specific groups have contributed to the problem, yes.

In the overall scheme of things, we all bear responsibility how we are perceived as sportsmen.

We didn't cause the problem, but we are all lumped together by the general public when issues come up.

To this end, I thought I would create (for the 1,000th time) a fishing etiquette thread.

I don't expect this will really change the way things are out there. However, more and more people are discovering salt water fishing each year. I thought as a website owner, I could sit passively by, agree that it is not my problem, and let things continue to deteriorate, with more access lost.

Or I could at least try to do something about it, with the help of you folks out there.

Some of you seasoned anglers have reached the point in your fishing careers that you can tell the difference between someone who could use a little extra help, and someone who has no use for any helpful advice. I'm sure many of you already go out of your way to help newbie anglers who are respectful, considerate, and ask the right questions at the right time.

All I'm suggesting is that we continue to do that, without causing any confrontations or putting ourselves at risk. Again, some out there just don't care who they are inconveniencing, and are generally selfish people. There's no point in trying to reach someone like that.

But if we can reach some of the others, and maybe teach someone else the beauty of the outdoors, I think it's worth a shot.