Cecil,
This may be a far fetched line of thinking...but I wonder how much "tournament" fishing and the associated image of redneck good old boys has played to the average nonfishing person, who is constantly barraged by PETA and such organizations about the evils of fishing.
Isn't it possible that the tournament trend with the TV shows of screaming anglers slinging around their fish could very well play to the PETA propaganda and influence the thinking of the average nonfishing but boating loving person?
I know of a lot of people who, rightly or wrongly, point to the tournament behavior as exemplifing all fishing and I believe it gives the rest of us an image problem. Like I said, this may be a far fetched line of thinking, but tournament mentality has not helped the image of the average fisher in the minds of those who do not fish.
