Men in Black

First Hydrospider,

Now SBD and Abking,  while the later, the final straw appears to be frustration with each other, the final outcome was with over 5000 post each, a couple months on this board, and a ton of commitment to this sport and it's people, they felt it was not worth it anymore...

Enough about how Sad I feel about this,  

Why and How did we get here,

And are we to go the way of So-Cal with Splinter Groups among ourselves?

 So that's my Question...

 What is wrong with NCKA ?      If Anything...

 I will start by saying, I did not like it when Politics entered the site....

Not the fishing politics, that is important and needs to be discussed,

I mean the Real World politics.  Obama vs McCain, Etc...

  The first time I started to see division on this site and the Anger that went with it...

 So, Lets get the Elephant out in the Open....

 What's so Bad about NCKA?  

and " Nothing " is a Totally appropriate answer....    

I agree 100% with Danglin. I believe that unless it directly involves kayakfishing it is every member's responsibility to refrain from posting up any partisan political statements, analogies, etc. And don't expect people to be cool about it if you decide to. When election time rolls around I'll cast my vote but I won't bore you with the details so do me a favor and spare me yours.

As far as the 3 guys that split I don't care to analyze the whys and the what fors. For now they're gone. Maybe they'll come back.   jim


Oh, and my answer to the question is that yes, nothings wrong. Except the MLPA. 

Glad someone finally said it.

I know I am no Hydrospider, Abking or SBD and can only hope to follow their example.
I have been feeling the same as the above mentioned and was debating weather or not to continue my association with this  group. Thus far my decision has been to avoid the nonfishing political discusions and encourage others to do the same.
I.M.O. this site was built for the love of Fishing and Kayaking. I can agree that we should be concerned about the politics that pertain to fishing maters but why divide our selves over issues that don't belong here. If you wish to discuss outside politics there are plenty other sites where those discussions would be more useful and welcome.
If this is the choice of NCKA, to continue with these political divisions between the group, than I will have to look for other areas to share my fishing and Kayaking enthusiasm.
I do believe NCKA is one of the best kayaking sites in the country if not the world but I don't believe it got that way by arguing over who can lie the best or who can manipulate the country the best.
If we are to help each other grow as fisherman and women or protect our areas to fish and enjoy ourselves than we should not weaken our selves by arguing over outside issues.
Sorry if this sounds like I'm rambling on but this has been on my mind for about a year and I have to say how I feel.
For what it's worth my vote would be to not allow non fishing politics on the forum and keep all fishing politics as a member topic only.

As for the question - after the issue above - nothing except the MLPA

GD!!  WTH did i miss the last few days??   

What's wrong and what's bad about NCKA?

Too much drama 


But I will not end my relationship with NCKA because of this.

Why?

On a personal basis, I've made waaaaaay to many good friends.

As far as benefits - If Bill did not create this site, I (and others) would have never gotten the exposure that landed me (us) sponsorhips. I will continue to support and contribute to NCKA. I owe it to Bill, I owe it to the good friends I've made and to the future friends I'll be making.

To the OG's, think about this for a second (cause that's all you'll need): Do the bad times out weight the good times you've experienced while you were with NCKA?

Well, here's my answer....NOT BY A EFING LONG SHOT. (but that's just me )

If you hit a wall, take a break, recover and then climb over it.

Anyway, I'm tired of this efing drama. I'm going to re-spool my reels and power wash my farmer john


*Just another note / observation here.....every year I've noticed the sudden spike of bitterness when the rockfish season closes...I highly suggest trout fishing on the high sierras to clear up the head and get "relaxed" 

I'm sure they will keep in touch w/ their pals from the site via email, texts, or whatever.  They have contributed a lot to the site over the years.  We will all retire sometime.

wow!!! those are all great guys. i am really surprised that they would leave because of political discourse. Their contributions to the site were huge. I will definately miss them. adios amigos.

I think, simply, NCKA just got a lot bigger and is succumbing to some of the standard problems of online forums.

I don’t think “real” politics are to blame for the current rumblings on the board. Eric and Sean’s arguments didn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with that. Sometimes the politics gets heated, but in my experience the people who can’t control themselves in the political discussions are generally those that upset people throughout the site. Jwsmith/Judd is a prime example; he would get very overheated and direct in the politics, but was eventually booted out for taking the same tone in a different section of the site. I see some others going down that same route.

Maybe the political discussions start turning the blood bad and it boils over elsewhere, but I see people falling out on internet forums all over the place, whether they allow political discussion or not. It’s just a fact of life when a forum gets big and usernames are just an internet face, not someone you know or are likely to meet.

I learned a lot from the political discussions here and I’d like to continue them, but if the consensus is they should go, it’s fine by me. I suspect it won’t change anything tho’.

I must have missed something also!
I'll miss those guys
This is a yak fishing site , keep politics out of it

It has nothing to do with politics, the tenor of this place has changed. Long time users have been leaving this site for some time now. And it has nothing to do with politics, it's attitude.

It has nothing to do with politics, the tenor of this place has changed. Long time users have been leaving this site for some time now. And it has nothing to do with politics, it's attitude.

I agree with you in thinking that it is not the politics, even though i think that does contribute in showing how different that people are.

but whose attitude is it?  Is it the attitude of the new members (like me) that are pissing off the old members? 

or is it the older members who are just wishing that things would go back the way they were, to a site of maybe 100 kayak fishers?  and if so, is there anything that would resolve it for them? 

You are a wise man Mooch and I agree that we owe Bill and others a great deal of respect and gratitude.
This site has helped me in many ways and it would be a shame to sever the ties I have made here.

For now at least I will try to controll my feelings, which have been disturbed by a few posts (mainly on political posts) not necessarily towards me but more so towards others in our community. Yes I agree that those who have caused the most harm have been ousted. however this seems to be the outcome whenever these topics are argued (politics are never discussed they are argued and fought). Again I must reiterate that to let this site allow political arguments exist is to ask for someone to get ousted. Because political decisions will change the rest or our lives, it would be hard not to fight to the death over this.
For the time being I will avoid the non fishing discussions like the plague and encourage others to do the same.

I hope we can enjoy this site for what it was meant to be Fishing and Kayaking and Brotherhood.
I think of this site as a fishing trip - We are here to have fun and help each other.
If I was fishing with you, would you like to hear me preach about anything other than fishing or kayaking?
I hope not - that would not be a fun trip.

Bad or Wrong ? My observations...

The site is experiencing growing pains, like having a teenager.

Personal differences,opinions, right or wrong, will always be there. Getting personal- take it outside.

Another reason is with the growing numbers, you have a lot of the "same old thing" getting rehashed. Meaning, not much new exciting content. Which is boring for pioneers looking for a new thrill, the old BTDT syndrome. Some will keep a hobby for life, others change often.

I've not been as active because of business/family commitments.

But I'm hanging out

You are a wise man Mooch and I agree that we owe Bill and others a great deal of respect and gratitude.
This site has helped me in many ways and it would be a shame to sever the ties I have made here.

For now at least I will try to controll my feelings, which have been disturbed by a few posts (mainly on political posts) not necessarily towards me but more so towards others in our community. Yes I agree that those who have caused the most harm have been ousted. however this seems to be the outcome whenever these topics are argued (politics are never discussed they are argued and fought). Again I must reiterate that to let this site allow political arguments exist is to ask for someone to get ousted. Because political decisions will change the rest or our lives, it would be hard not to fight to the death over this.
For the time being I will avoid the non fishing discussions like the plague and encourage others to do the same.

I hope we can enjoy this site for what it was meant to be Fishing and Kayaking and Brotherhood.
I think of this site as a fishing trip - We are here to have fun and help each other.
If I was fishing with you, would you like to hear me preach about anything other than fishing or kayaking?
I hope not - that would not be a fun trip.

+1  Well said Eric!

Huh.
I don't see a real benefit in "leaving". I've made a lot of friends here. That said, I can see how good we had it "back when" there weren't as many arguments.
I have scaled back my participation in posting, but most trips I've been involved with have been posted by others, which is fine w/ me.
The sheer numbers of anglers OTW this year has gotten me thinking though. It has gotten more difficult to have small groups, but it's not impossible. I'll give it some more time & see how things shake out for 2010.