In the wake of the Terrorist Tragedy on Sept. 11th, I thought about the probable new rules (and delays) when seeking to go to Canada.
My first thoughts took me back to the 1996 (I believe) NY BASS Fed. Club Team Event held on the St.Lawrence River out of Ogdensburg NY. Because the river borders both countries, we needed a Canadian Province fishing license in addition to our
NY DEC license.
The day we arrived, we went to Lunch and then to Canada. Easy? Not on your life, There were 5 of us in one car and we were happy (at that moment)The man with the badge spoke to us for probably 5 minutes. Did he wave us through? Nope.
For the next 1/2 hr to 45 mins, we were talked to and questioned individually. After all this we finally were allowed to proceed.
The point of this is that this can only get worse. Is it necessary? Of course, but if you intend to go there this season or next season or whenever, leave early and expect to wait on line.
When you do wait on these lines, remember who started this whole thing. They should get harassed, not the officials trying to protect the public.
God Bless America JoeM

I visit the St. Lawrence atleast twice each season for the past three years as the fishing is just fantastic. I have always taken the boat across to Canada to get me license, because it is much, much easier to do so. There are no border gaurds or customs to go through. As a matter of fact in three years I have never seen a New York or Canadian official on the water, which is now a scary thought. My question is what will happen with tournaments there in the coming season? Will we be allowed to fish the River? I was up there for the Bassmaster tournament the week of the attack. B.A.S.S officials cancelled the event due to the attacks, and the U.S. officials closed the River to all commercial boat traffic (eg. the international tankers that frequent the river). Will the River be closed to pleasure boating in the future? The Potomac River is closed to ALL boating north of the Widrow Wilson bridge, and the Hudson river is closed from Haverstraw south, and so is New York Harbor after 4:30pm every day. These rivers are contained within U.S. borders, whereas the St. Lawrence is half Canadian and I believe strict regulations will be imposed on that body of water, especially with U.S. officials stating that some of the terrorist entered through Canada, which does not seem difficult to me at all, seeing how I was able to freely run from Canada to NY with the boat with no problems at all. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.