1 hour ago, Steveo-1969 said:

You obviously didn’t read the report the OP referenced. It’s not about people fishing without licenses. It’s about people not fishing and choosing to do something else instead.

Oh yeah I totally didn’t, I thought I would make a silly quick comment, that’s embarrassing on my end. 🤦‍♂️

 

To go back on topic, I feel like an interesting statistic to find out would be the age demographics of people not renewing their licenses. One thing I have noticed is that after the initial impact of covid and the increase in fishing social media apps, a LOT of the newer fisherman are really young, like 10-14 years old, too young to buy a license. Once these kids come of age and start buying licenses, it would be interesting to see how these numbers fare.
 

Seeing a generally older age of people not renewing, while sad, would make more sense and be less alarming than if younger people were the ones not renewing. Younger people generally have more time for hobbies, and if they would rather be doing other things, then there might be issues going forward…

In my home state of Missouri, the cut off is 65 years old. I just turned 68, so I haven't needed a permit for three years now. I have a friend who is a conservation agent on my home lakes. He told me the two biggest violations are no permit, and trying to keep too many fish over legal limit.                                                               I've bought a permit every year since I was 16. I can't respect guys trying to sneak around and fish without a permit. To me, our fishing is a privilege, and not a given. Enjoy getting out there and catching some fish, but buy your permit first.

I'll buy the required permit if I go trout fishing this winter, as I always have.

2 hours ago, gim said:

 

They'll just keep raising the cost.  Which they often do.

 

I will say I would pay more than what I currently get charged.  13 bucks to fish for 6 months is absurdly low.  I'd pay triple that without batting an eye lash.

You can pay even more than triple that by moving to TN 😂 

How much is an annual resident license in TN?

Depends on what you want to do, fishing license plus a trout stamp is around $60. Go hunting and you’ll need to talk to a banker 😂 

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

While I enjoy having my favorite waters to myself as much as anyone, fewer anglers overall means fewer consumers. When participation declines, fishing companies are forced to scale back—laying off employees, reducing product lines, or even closing their doors entirely.

 

The result? Fewer options, less innovation, and a smaller industry for all of us who love this sport. The choices and opportunities we enjoy today exist because the fishing community remains active, engaged, and growing.

 

Just keep that in mind when the "Whatever happened to (brand, bait, rod, reel, etc)? I can't find them anymore." question hits these forums, or when the stocking programs and boat launch maintenance programs decline.

I understand what you are saying, and I do agree I like new gear, and proper wildlife management.  I also do not want to see any businesses go under or people put out of work.  

 

On the other hand I wouldn't  mind being forced to use an old cane pole, and dig worms, to use as bait due to lack of equipment being available if that meant having a lake all to myself.  If nobody fished, there would be less need for management, and if fish populations in a certain body of water suffered due to lack of management, I would fish another lake that was responding well to fewer anglers.

 

I do like to see kids get interested in fishing, because it was such a big part of my childhood, and I hope others can have the same experience I was so fortunate to have.

 

I can appreciate the pluses and minuses of less people taking up, and continuing the sport of fishing.  Good arguments can be made for both sides.  I do my best to represent the sport in a good way, and will always fish, no matter if I'm alone, or in a crowd.

 

My being fair minded only goes so far.  I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY ONE FISHING MY SECRET BIG BASS LAKE IN MEXICO.

I think the majority of the people that go fishing are like me when it comes to golf.  I like golf - I know how to play and I have golf clubs.  If someone invites me to play with them I'll probably go.  Then they will regret inviting me because I spend so much time in the woods looking for my ball.

 

I think it's been five years since I last played but I'll play again someday.  If you had to buy an annual golf license,  I would buy one every four or five years.  

2 hours ago, gim said:

I would say that I know close to 100 individuals who hunt and/or fish and the vast majority of them are older than me, with many of them much older.

Most of the people I know who hunt and/or fish are older than me too. That could mean younger folks aren't interested (which is correct to an extent), but it could be that older folks have more time for things like hunting & fishing.

 

3 out of the 4 people I have regularly fished with over the past few years are retired. They could fish every day, but I work 5 days a week. One day I hope to be in their situation.

It's sad, sometimes while I'm at the lake fishing, folks will be walking around the trail and I overhear the kids saying, I want to fish too like that guy. And the parents are trying their darnedest to come up with excuses to not take them.

 

Honestly, folks would rather look at facebook or whatever and set on their rumps than get out and do anything.

 

But to say that there ain't a lot of young'uns growing up in the fishing would be incorrect, at least from what I've seen. I see plenty of folks with kids both at the lake and the river.

 

Kids here don't have to have a license until they are 16. A 3 year license is $55 here, not counting a trout stamp. You can still catch trout, you just can't keep them.

 

I met a guy at the lake the other day that was fishing and said his line was 6-7 years old. I've only met a couple of other folks that fish ever day, or as much as they can.

 

4 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Stats following Covid will be off. Lots of new anglers were outdoors just to get out of the house. Very few life long anglers start as adults, this why taking kids fishing and enjoying it is so important to this sport.

Tom

During Covid the ponds I fish had people shoulder to shoulder.  A lot of them were coming out to give the kids something to do.  Mid year when everything opened back up the numbers of people on the water dropped off considerably. 

It’s not good for the sport that’s for sure. Might be good for you right now but, over all not the sport.

2 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

It’s not good for the sport that’s for sure. Might be good for you right now but, over all not the sport.

This should be marked as the solution. Short term gain but long term loss.

 

I will say that the two fastest growing HS sports here in MN are 1) trap shooting, and 2) bass fishing. So there is some hope.

16 hours ago, king fisher said:

My being fair minded only goes so far.  I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY ONE FISHING MY SECRET BIG BASS LAKE IN MEXICO.

If you need to translate this to spanish I got you, it's "Claro que puedes pescar en mi lago secreto con esos peces gigantes." Hope this helps!

 

14 hours ago, Bazoo said:

It's sad, sometimes while I'm at the lake fishing, folks will be walking around the trail and I overhear the kids saying, I want to fish too like that guy. And the parents are trying their darnedest to come up with excuses to not take them.

 

This is so sad, some parents definitely hold their kids back from exploring and discovering new interests. I also had moments where I'm fishing at a park and catch a little fish next to a family, and while the kids want to take a closer look at the fish, the parents push back a bit and either tell them to move along or reluctantly let them take a look. It's not all the time, but enough where it's disheartening. I understand the world is a scary place for new parents but like, it's fishing! 

 

18 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

This…

 

Plus, everyone and their brother jumped into fishing during and right after Covid. The pressure was tremendous, fishing in many cases declined and people are losing their enthusiasm to the next shiny thing now…

 

 

I wish this was the trend where I live. Since I mostly fish private waters there have been some years I didn't buy a license. I just checked and mine's expired. LOL

^ Minnesota doesn't care if it's private waters - if you're between 16 and 90, you need a license. Only major exception is members of in-state Ojibwe or Dakota nations fishing lakes/rivers/streams designated as "Tribal Waters"

 

(My 'adopted' grandkids (not official, but we all consider it so) are members of the local Ojibwe tribe.)

So with the price of everything and game warden shortages. People will just fish without a license and take the chance. Is it right heck no.

In my neck of the woods years ago, I could go to my favorite lake/reservoir and observe young Bass anglers on the bank like me fishing for the Bass. The fishing pressure was heavy --bank anglers and boaters. Today it's rare to see a young man bass fishing on the same bank I'm fishing. Unless one has access to some managed private waters fishing, he will be challenged by public waters to catch the LMB fish. Put me down that fishing pressure is a very big reason folks move on.

 

I'm a big advocate for aggressive stocking of Northern strain bass which are easier to catch than the Florida strain Bass. And I don't think I see as many young bass anglers here on Bass Resource as in the past. My take is purely anecdotal.

 

Good Fishing

 

Smart Bass? Dumb Bass? | The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide® LLC

21 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Getting more money from the general state budget. When license sales went up, the amount the Govt gave them went down...now that license sales are down, you think the Govt will give them more money?

I suspect they'll adapt and it'll work itself out. This can't be the first time.

Hopefully not tax dollars were used to fund this study.. 

Nope - the ASA is an independent non-profit organization...no government ties what-so-ever.

Not renewing mine this year either…

 

 

I turned 65 , and I don’t have to have one in Florida ANYMORE!! 
🤠

I’ve heard some scary things before but this ain’t one of them 

10 hours ago, ike8120 said:

So with the price of everything and game warden shortages. People will just fish without a license and take the chance. Is it right heck no.

That’s correct. Without a reasonable threat of being caught, criminals continue to break the law. But that applies in many facets of society.

^ I wish we had a system like Finland or Switzerland - fines there for offenses are based on the offender's income, not a fixed amount.

After 65 we don’t need too ifor fresh water in Florida.