Thanks for all your replies, very interesting, can I ask you all is any of the fishing in the US privately owned or if you purchase a state license (like I did in Maryland) can you fish just about anywhere?, here in the UK virtually all rivers and lakes are privately owned either by clubs or by private landowners so even though each year I have to buy a license to carry a rod, it does not give me the right to fish, I must buy a day ticket or join a club, also would it be a good idea for you guys to have a national licence so that if you lived in Nebraska say and wanted to fish in California you did not have to buy a state ticket when you arrived?, does the price very greatly too?,do good fishing states charge more than lesser ones ?(I have only fished in one so I am in the dark)I hope I have not opened a can of worms with this thread, which on a fly-fishing web site would be sacrilage.