Sell Me On The M S A Matt.

[msamatt]

Wayne, Gary, Eric, and CGB:

All of you make some good points and we're working on updating the website. I'll be the first one to admit that we're a little bit behind the curve when it comes to staying abrest of the latest and greatet which online tools offer and I agree it couldn't hurt to have a more robust web presence. Gary I particularly like how well the ISA lists all of the conservation work which they've done over the years. All of this said, it does take some time to get what you want. I appreciate you taking the time to view the website and post your criticism.

Matt

[Gary Lange]

Matt, I don't like to do this but I am going to be very blunt and to the point. You have been in existence since 1992 which is longer then the ISA and I don't mean to toot the ISA's horn here so much as it is an example to be judged from. They have had a forum since I joined and that was back about 1999 if my memory serves me. They have always been very active in getting the word out and looking for new members. I spent many hours at Sports shows talking to people about the ISA and what it had to offer and what it has been doing for Smallmouths in the State of Illinois. I know you have at least one fund raiser because I attended in back in 2005 in Arthur, Mo. and it had a nice turnout. Your organization approached me at that time about starting a Southwestern Mo. Chapter but never pursued it after that. Your organization can't grow and make a difference without more members and without there voice being heard across the State of Missouri. I am not that familiar with the Smallmouth Streams here in Mo. as I have been fishing Table Rock and other lake since I moved here. I listen to the Chief and I see his point very clear that you don't provide much information as to what you do or what you have done. Most of the membership in the ISA which last I heard was about 550 members don't participate in the goings on. The do however acknowledge that the dollars they donate to the ISA go for Conservation, Education and Socialization. When I was the Chicagoland Regional Coordinator I set up about a dozen outings and several cleanups on various sections of rivers. I also started the Wed. Night Smallie Hunters and got people together that way to fish and see what the ISA was all about. This moved to Weekends as the Sun set to early in the fall and winter and we would meet for breakfast before going out on the water. I made it Sat. one week and Sun. the next so those that worked could come out and enjoy some friendly communication and some great Smallmouth Fishing. Looking at your site gives no incentive at all for anyone to join as Wayne pointed out. I see some very capable people here with a lot of passion for the Smallmouths and with a lot of knowledge about the Streams of Missouri showing interest in the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance but can't see what the advantage would be because they don't see what if anything you have done in the past. Why the secret about the number of members? It should have been we have about 230 members now and we are looking for more. Prospective members should be able to go to the site and see what this Conservation group has done and what they are trying to do. I'll say it again so it is clear and that is you have been in existence since 1992 as you said but have made very little progress in getting your organization known and that turns people off and makes them suspect. Like I said in the beginning I don't like doing this but I think it needs to be said and brought forward for discussion. I am 65 years old and joining the MSA is on my mind but it will take some convincing.

I appreciate the comments from the members here in Ozark Anglers. I see them as perspective members and an asset to the MSA as they bring with them years of experience and knowledge of the Streams of Southwest Missouri. You all have given positive comments and all have been very valid points.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Very well said Gary. I have been wanting to say that and a little more but, I knew if I did, it would look like I was attacking the MSA and that is not my point of this thread.

[msamatt]

Matt, I don't like to do this but I am going to be very blunt and to the point. You have been in existence since 1992 which is longer then the ISA and I don't mean to toot the ISA's horn here so much as it is an example to be judged from. They have had a forum since I joined and that was back about 1999 if my memory serves me. They have always been very active in getting the word out and looking for new members. I spent many hours at Sports shows talking to people about the ISA and what it had to offer and what it has been doing for Smallmouths in the State of Illinois. I know you have at least one fund raiser because I attended in back in 2005 in Arthur, Mo. and it had a nice turnout. Your organization approached me at that time about starting a Southwestern Mo. Chapter but never pursued it after that. Your organization can't grow and make a difference without more members and without there voice being heard across the State of Missouri. I am not that familiar with the Smallmouth Streams here in Mo. as I have been fishing Table Rock and other lake since I moved here. I listen to the Chief and I see his point very clear that you don't provide much information as to what you do or what you have done. Most of the membership in the ISA which last I heard was about 550 members don't participate in the goings on. The do however acknowledge that the dollars they donate to the ISA go for Conservation, Education and Socialization. When I was the Chicagoland Regional Coordinator I set up about a dozen outings and several cleanups on various sections of rivers. I also started the Wed. Night Smallie Hunters and got people together that way to fish and see what the ISA was all about. This moved to Weekends as the Sun set to early in the fall and winter and we would meet for breakfast before going out on the water. I made it Sat. one week and Sun. the next so those that worked could come out and enjoy some friendly communication and some great Smallmouth Fishing. Looking at your site gives no incentive at all for anyone to join as Wayne pointed out. I see some very capable people here with a lot of passion for the Smallmouths and with a lot of knowledge about the Streams of Missouri showing interest in the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance but can't see what the advantage would be because they don't see what if anything you have done in the past. Why the secret about the number of members? It should have been we have about 230 members now and we are looking for more. Prospective members should be able to go to the site and see what this Conservation group has done and what they are trying to do. I'll say it again so it is clear and that is you have been in existence since 1992 as you said but have made very little progress in getting your organization known and that turns people off and makes them suspect. Like I said in the beginning I don't like doing this but I think it needs to be said and brought forward for discussion. I am 65 years old and joining the MSA is on my mind but it will take some convincing.

I appreciate the comments from the members here in Ozark Anglers. I see them as perspective members and an asset to the MSA as they bring with them years of experience and knowledge of the Streams of Southwest Missouri. You all have given positive comments and all have been very valid points.

Gary:

I appreciate you being blunt and to the point and you should toot the ISA's horn. The ISA is a great organization and has really accomplish some terrific things thanks to the hard work from members like yourself. It sounds like you did a great job as their Chicagoland coordinator and I appreciathow you've used that experience while applying a really critical eye to our website and my comments. I'll admit that I've been feeling a bit defensive and instead of just working taking the opportunity to promote my organization and to change things I've made some stupid and poorly worded comments online. I can see how some readers might think we're some secret organization. We're not, I'm proud of the members we have and what we've done. I actually do view you and everyone else on this forum as potential members, and, more importantly as other anglers who are probably interested in the health of our Missouiri fisheries as much as I am. At this point all I can do say I made some stupid remarks, I can be cranky as the next guy, and I hope that readers don't judge me or the MSA solely on those comments. I really appreciate your constructive criticism and I'm going to use it while I work with other members of the MSA to address some of these issues you and others have raised. Let's keep this convesation going. The MSA can clearly do a better job of promoting ourselves to you and other members of this forum and we're going to keep trying.

Merry Christmas Eve,

Matt

[msamatt]

Chief:

I just read your response and I know that you weren't attacking the MSA. Having followed the OAF for about a year now I know that you enjoy being a provacateur and I mean that with all due respect. I was suffering from a little foot in the mouth disease coupled with a temporary disconnect between brain and fingers when I replied earlier in this thread. Anyway, I don't take your comments as attacks on me or the MSA. You and Gary, and others raise some valid points. So thanks for the criticism and Merry Christmas eve.

Matt

[Chief Grey Bear]

Chief:

I just read your response and I know that you weren't attacking the MSA. Having followed the OAF for about a year now I know that you enjoy being a provacateur and I mean that with all due respect.

I can't deny that!

I know I don't always side with the popular belief, but that does not mean it is not my belief. I think it leads to a better discussion if their is an opposing view. It just seems like I am alway providing it.

As I have stated before, any reg changes to smallmouth will not affect me. But how will it affect others that also use the resource? Shouldn't it be about what is best for all? Coldwaterfisher pointed out that I was being selfish for asking what was in it for me. Well, isn't that what all of this is about? If everyone was concerned about what was best for the smallmouth, nobody would fish for them. The season would be permanently closed. But that is not what we want. We want what we think is best for us, thus we have have a whole thread about what regs should be imposed upon everyone who fishes across the state.

[Gary Lange]

We want something to pass down to our kids and there kids. I understand what you are saying Chief. I see that passing the ability to go to the Stream and catch Smallies is something I would like to had down to my kids if I had some to had down to. With an Autistic Son I won't see him on the water but there are other sons and daughters that we can help and it helps us on the way.

[ness]

Gary,

With your vast experience and abundance of criticisms and ideas, why don't you just step up and volunteer?

[fishgypsy]

Chief's absolutely right, and I appreciate him providing another viewpoint (not necessarily opposing, just different!)

Not everyone wants the same thing from a smallmouth bass fishery, the tough job the folks at MDC have is providing opportunities for the widest swath of anglers. The resources belong to all, even those I don't personally agree with.

And luckily, all have a say in how those resources are managed. I think that's what I like about the MSA, it's a group of people who generally share my philosophy on how the state's smallmouth fisheries should be managed, or could be better managed. I'm obviously biased, I think my ideas are better than others, but I also recognize people have different opinions and expect different things from the resource. They're more than welcome to lobby the MDC on behalf of their constituency, I have no qualms about that.

[Al Agnew]

Guys, a volunteer organization is only as good as the volunteers. I don't mean that as a criticism of MSA, just pointing out that when you have a group of people who are donating their time, you're very, very lucky if you get a few who HAVE the time to donate, and enough of a base of such members that the few who have both the time and the passion don't get burned out after a while. It's a circle where more members means more possible volunteers, more volunteers means more work gets done, and the more work that gets done the more likely it is to attract more members. To be honest, the ACTIVE volunteers in the MSA are a very small number of members, maybe a dozen or so, and many of them have been active in the organization--holding office and serving on the board--since its inception. And there are a number of members who started out being active but other things in life got in the way or they simply got tired of doing much of the work. And to be honest, I have been a member since almost the beginning, but have never been as active in the organization as the core group.

The website and the annual banquet are good cases in point. It takes somebody who is computer and internet savvy to set up and run the website. Ask Phil how much of his time is spent taking care of this one. So it takes somebody with some free time, knowledge, and interest to run it. ISA's website seems to be going just fine, with forums and all kinds of great features. MSA's website is going to be there one of these days, but there hasn't been the right confluence of members with all the requirements to run it in the last few years. As for banquets, MSA had a very successful banquet, probably nearly as successful as ISA's, for several years, but last year there just wasn't enough members with the time to do all the stuff necessary to set one up, so it didn't happen.

Like any good organization, you need that member base to furnish individuals who are able and willing to work for the good of the organization, and you need enough new blood to relieve the burden on those who have put in the time for a while. I would suggest to everybody that instead of asking what good the MSA does that would make joining it worthwhile, join it and get active to MAKE it into the organization we all want. I guarantee you, your participation (not just membership, though that's important too) will be heartily welcomed.