Not a problem as far as I'm concerned. The water is too crowded as it is.

I concur.

Concur again.  Beginning in March here on my section of Ky lake, you can't get near a launch ramp on Saturdays and Sundays, and even during the week it gets busy from people practicing for the weekend tx's.

With the birth of man came fishing and so it will continue.

And what I found amusing was, 90% or so of the posters disagreed with me..... But the difference in those opinions and mine were, those were based on "how things felt  or seemed to those posters" (BTW, every women I have ever been with based their opinions the same way ;-)) while my post was based on hard core fact, and I even posted this link: http://www.fishingnj.org/netusa27.html

......to which many people skipped right over to say, "Well I think........"  But wait ! You don't have to think ! All you have to do, is to be able to read.

I said this before, but I'll say it again; When a guy surrounds himself with other anglers, it might, at times, feel like everyone is a fisherman ! It certainly feels this way to me sometimes. But aside from articles like the one I posted the link for, I have heard from lots of big names who believe that fishing will be gone in a matter of decades.

Burying ones head in the sand will do nothing to change the facts.

Fish

I was ignorant of the facts regarding how angling popularity has decreased until I read Fish Chris's link in the other thread.  And his study comes from a different source, yet it supports the same conclusion as the study published in Bassmaster.  In 17 years from 1987 - 2004, it shows a 59.3 percent decrease of participants in fly fishing, a 21.9 percent decrease in freshwater fishing, and a 31.5 percent decrease in saltwater fishing.  I'm not one to say the sky is falling and I know that liars can twist statistics to support their views, but I think that when you have two different studies that show the same conclusion it would be wise to check it out.  While I wouldn't mind fewer people on the water, when it comes to passing laws protecting our fishing rights, fewer people participating in our sport would decrease our influence in the law-making process and this could possibly hurt the future of fishing.

The facts sure don't support the fishing industries profit margins.

You would think that declining numbers would also effect retail businesses associated with fishing also, yet the profits don't match the declines.

Something sure smells fishy!!!!!!!

I could understand some declines since 2001 with the hurricanes, 911, and ongoing war, gas prices and such, but that effects regions mainly.      That  survey is only good to 2001, what about the last 6 years?

Matt

You can waste a lot of time doubting numbers, especially when your gut tells you differently, but in the end you'll find that the numbers don't lie. Good thing is, we CAN do something about it. Look at what LBH is doing with CAST, around here we try to do the same thing with the girl scouts.

Take a kid fishing! Better yet, take a kid CATCHING!

I spend as much as I can on fishing.

I do agree that there was a huge influx of people wanting to go fishing and then finding out it isn't as easy as they thought and giving up on it and heading back to the golf course.  A perfect example Burley and I bought some very nice tackle for very low price this weekend from a guy that decided he wanted to start tourny fishing with a friend and went out and bought tons of stuff and fished 4 times.

The facts sure don't support the fishing industries profit margins.

You would think that declining numbers would also effect retail businesses associated with fishing also, yet the profits don't match the declines.

Something sure smells fishy!!!!!!!

I could understand some declines since 2001 with the hurricanes, 911, and ongoing war, gas prices and such, but that effects regions mainly.      That  survey is only good to 2001, what about the last 6 years?

Matt

The link that Fish Chris posted explains this.  While there are fewer participants, those who do fish now tend to be older, have more disposable income, and take many more trips than the fishermen of yesteryear.  We take more fishing trips and spend a lot more money on equipment than our Fathers and Grandfathers did.  

I think Daniel My Brother has the right idea.  Let's all make it a goal to turn some kids into anglers this year.  

Copied form Ilinois' DNR site.

Does it seem like your favorite fishing hole is less crowded than it has been in the past? Do you notice fewer blaze orange caps when you're pheasant hunting? Or maybe your best outdoors buddy has suddenly lost interest in what was once a passionate pursuit?

If you spend any time at all outdoors, you might have observed that there are indeed fewer people hunting and fishing. Our licensing section shows overall declines of more than 20 percent in the numbers of people buying hunting and fishing licenses over the last decade. And it's not just in Illinois; other states across the country also are reporting declines in license sales.

There are any number of reasons for these declines: our transformation from an agrarian/rural society to an urban one; increased competition from other activities such as school sports, video games, 500-channel cable TV and the Internet; less available time to spend outdoors; as well as the expense of buying licenses and equipment.  

In various national studies, lack of time is the reason most often given by people who don't hunt or fish. Most of the other entertainment options can be spur-of-the-moment decisions, whereas hunting and fishing require a little advance planning.

Our own studies have shown an increase in the number of days anglers/hunters are spending in the field, meaning the occasional angler/hunter has dropped out, while the more avid outdoor enthusiasts are spending more time out there.

As a sportsman, your first reaction might understandably be that this is good, considering the number of species available for taking and less competition for places to hunt and fish.

From DNR's perspective, however, this is not good. I'll concede that the Department has a vested financial interest in the number of licenses sold, but our mandate is to provide recreational opportunities by efficiently managing species and habitat, and license sales are the primary way we finance that work.

Less license revenue means less money to spend on fish and wildlife stocking and habitat improvement programs.

In the past few years, DNR has created numerous programs aimed at increasing the number of people who hunt and fish. These include the Urban Fishing Program; the Access to Fishing rod/reel loan program; youth dove, deer, turkey, duck and goose hunts; the "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman" Program; and the Disabled Outdoor Opportunities Program.

We've also made it easier to introduce newcomers to fishing through the annual Free Fishing Days promotion, scheduled for June 6-9, when license and stamps are not required for fishing any public waters in Illinois. We've even tried to lure the occasional angler by offering a 24-hour fishing license that includes Lake Michigan salmonid privileges for a mere $5.50.

As a government agency, we've tried everything we can think of to increase participation in fishing and hunting. Now we need your help.

If you know someone who might be interested in fishing or hunting, tell them about the many ways the DNR has made it easier for them to get involved. Point out how much fun these activities are, and how they offer the whole family a way to share quality time together. Then give them the benefit of your expertise by offering to take them with you.

Getting more people involved in hunting and fishing is the best way to ensure these activities are available to future generations.

This does not suggest any agenda. At least it doesn't to me.

I will agree that lately it "seems" that there are more people fishing, in my area, than there were ten years ago. So much for "seems". The real numbers are down, if the DNR is to be believed. And, why would they distort the numbers?

There is only one solution. Take somebody fishing.

Cheers,

GK

The link that Fish Chris posted explains this. While there are fewer participants, those who do fish now tend to be older, have more disposable income, and take many more trips than the fishermen of yesteryear. We take more fishing trips and spend a lot more money on equipment than our Fathers and Grandfathers did.

I think Daniel My Brother has the right idea. Let's all make it a goal to turn some kids into anglers this year.

Although I take my grandchildren fishing every chance I get, I don't feel that I've done nearly enough to perpetuate the sport.

If our state or national government would institute a "Take A Kid Fishing" program with a liability disclaimer,

I'd be the first grandpa in line.

Roger

I don't feel that I've done nearly enough to perpetuate the sport.

Nor do I.  It seems like there are tons of kids I could take but only a few times a year do I actually take some of them.  

There are any number of reasons for these declines: our transformation from an agrarian/rural society to an urban one; increased competition from other activities such as school sports, video games, 500-channel cable TV and the Internet;

A lot of truth in those 2 lines...  I am also guilty as I used to jump into the coveralls and wear polypropelene underwear... these days I am guilty of skipping the sleet, snow, heavy rain and high wind days and hang out here at BassResource.com.  When we were kids, there was no internet and we didn't have the money for video games, so we played outside, fished, got dirty, etc.  All my nephews would rather play video games than catch fish, throw the ball, etc.  

Being from Illinois, I remember seeing that same article (that ghoti posted).  What the article does not say is how license monies are put into a "superfund" and are not necessarily routed back to conservation.  Many times these monies are spent on social programs completely unrelated to fishing and hunting.  Thus, if license sales are down, the less money the politicians in "Crook County" have to spend.  When license sales were actually increasing a number of years ago, there was no noticable difference in the management of conservation areas with the exception of a select few.  I can look across the river (at Missouri) and see a huge difference in conservation management.  Personally, I do believe there is an "interest" politically in getting people excited about the outdoors again and in turn buying licenses and such.

Just an observation from my ten plus years involved in Boy Scouting. The troop I was involved with is in an affluent part of town and the kids would certainly be considered priveledged. Scouting was just one of many things these kids were pushed to do. There is soccer, baseball etc... school clubs, social clubs etc.. It just seemed to me that many of these kids were pushed to achieve and had little time to be just kids doing simple things like fishing. I felt like some of them were pushed into scouting just to achieve the Eagle rank for their future resume'. This is just a personal and narrow experience but it seems to follow the pattern of more things available for kids to do which gives fishing among other activities more competition.

Where are they losing the popularity at?   People trying to locate sunfish? crappie? Muskie? walleye?

I'm willing to bet that bass fishing is growing and the other fishermen are going away.

Fishing is a skill that has been passed to us for many generations.  Overfishing is more a concern to me then whether or not there will be tournaments or mega-stores in the future.  The most important aspect of fishing for me is the time I spend with my friends, whether I'm reflecting solemnly or hystericaly laughing.  I will pass this knowledge around with people here and people I encounter fishing.  As long as we conserve our fisheries and share our knowledge, fishing will be just fine.

We lost Angler's to Iraq. There was a thread on the internet sometime ago where our servicemen and women where shown fishing overthere. How many troops and support personel do we have over there? Plus all the natural disasters and man made ones could explain some of the appearance of the decline.

Of course for many anglers who have to fight the crowds, at some places, while targeting specific species, such as Largemouth's, it's really easy to think to oneself, "Good ! Let everyone else quit fishing" ! Then I will have all kinds of prime water to myself" !

.....but what everyone must stop to consider, is that as the popularity of fishing declines, it will be easier and easier for special rights groups, to chop away at fishermans rights. First remind yourself of the "actual percentage of the US citezens who fish right now". Again, it comes back to that thought that for most of us, "it feels like EVERYBODY is a fisherman". But in reality, fewer than 20% of the US, are anglers right now. IMPO, it's amazing that we have as many rights as we do today ! But as the percentage of anglers in the US falls even lower, we will continue to lose more of our angling rights, and have fewer places left to fish. This will lead to even fewer people going through the trouble to fish. This problem will only continue to snowball.

So then, is there anybody here who thinks that their could ever possibly exist, only 5% of todays anglers, and then they will have all kinds of great water to themself, and all the angling rights they ever did ? Ha ! Think again. I truly believe that at some point, in maybe say, 30 or 40 years, there will be a critical breaking point, at which SO few people are anglers, that they simply won't have enough power left between them, to stop fishing from being outlawed altogether.

Again, please, you have to look further than what you see right in front of you. I know its a lot easier for a guy to "see what he wants to see" {believe me, I'd love to believe that fishing was going to be around forever} but at some point a guy just has to face the unpleasant facts !

Fish

The decline could also be due to shifting demographics and geographic make up of fisherman.  It could be increasing in your area, while in other parts of the country people aren't taking to the sport like they used to.

Also, I think the art form has shifted itself.  You are seeing more boats because today's fisherman have boats, the bread and butter angler's who are out on the weekend with their kids have largely dissapeared, what is left are people like us.  The obsessive angler the one who owns a boat, etc. The fisherman population has changed, and the new population is the ones who are buying boats and are out there more often.  The causual angler does not really exist anymore, you either do it religously or don't.  

Also the weekends are packed, as the workforce has changed, you don'g go down to the river with your kids with a can of worms after work anymore.  

I think that pro bass fishing on ESPN etc has really ruined the art and accessability of fishing.  Granted it has been great for the industry of fishing, but its really all sizzle and no steak.  Most people can't, nor do they want to bother trying to compete with the pros.  The NASCARization of fishing is something that troubles me very deeply.  I won't talk too much more about it.

Thats what I think anyway.  

Chode2235, you make a good point about anglers with boats.  We think there are more anglers because we see more boats now.  When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s most of our fishing locations were ditches that we called sloughs.  During the Great Depression Southeast Missouri was mainly forested swamp and these ditches were cut all through the flat delta to drain the area.  The trees were cut and the area became a fertile farming area.  These ditches contained lots of fish including bass.  I remember seeing numerous people on these banks when we would fish.  Most didn't use boats.  They didn't need to.  Now when I go back to visit my Dad the banks are empty, though some of these ditches still have good fishing.  This was the perfect place for a poor kid, whose family couldn't afford a boat, to learn to fish.  I do believe there are  fewer anglers but more of those who fish now have boats.  

Here's what Fish Chris said, "I truly believe that at some point, in maybe say, 30 or 40 years, there will be a critical breaking point, at which SO few people are anglers, that they simply won't have enough power left between them, to stop fishing from being outlawed altogether... I know its a lot easier for a guy to "see what he wants to see" {believe me, I'd love to believe that fishing was going to be around forever} but at some point a guy just has to face the unpleasant facts!"

Although possible, I can't see it happening, at least not in Florida. In Florida alone, I read somewhere that recreational fishing brings in around $1 billion a year. If fishing were outlawed altogether, our economy would lose so much money, not just in Florida, but everywhere. What would replenish it? Also, by having to pay for fishing licenses and other fees, we keep up the nation's waterways so that they are clean, healthy environments, and there are a lot of people out there who believe in protecting it. Then we'd have to create another tax to keep the enivornment up, something that licenses take care of. Also, Florida is surrounded by water on all three sides and boasts some of the best fishing in the world, so I doubt it could ever be outlawed here, but in other states, maybe. I'd hate to see it happen some day, but I don't think it will. If it does get outlawed I'll still be out there fishing whether it's illegal or not, and might go so far as to move to another country to fish.

We lost Angler's to Iraq. There was a thread on the internet sometime ago where our servicemen and women where shown fishing overthere. How many troops and support personel do we have over there? Plus all the natural disasters and man made ones could explain some of the appearance of the decline.

I am going to have disagree with the Iraq part, the survey was from '01 and kicked off in '03. I was one of those service men over there fishing though.

I think that social trends( Technology toys, fatherless familes,etc.)  have caused the decline, but Fish Chris is right we need to be aware of those nasty special interests who like to take away fishing rights.

If the number of people angling falls to less than 5% of current anglers then I guess it would be quite possible that angling could be outlawed. But then, if there are that few anglers at some point in the distant future then there that won't be that many people who should be unhappy about it. Perhaps it will simply vanish due to disinterest. Too bad, people won't know what they're missing. I doubt, however, that that will ever really happen. A lot of sports have experienced similar declines in popularity--particularly those sports that require some degree of personal dedication and physical effort. Backpacking and tennis come to mind. As some others have alluded to, this is likely a by-product of a number of factors which I won't repeat. Often, at some point the decline ends, and a steady state of participation is reached that is sustainable. If we could only change fishing to catching, and make it physically pleasurable to be in a boat for ten hours in 90 degree weather we could solve this problem overnight.

The real concern here is political.

Reading the article that Chris linked to (which is and of itself interesting because it was written by a commercial fishing industry group that is in fact arguing that recreational anglers are far too influential in setting government fishing policy-- part of that industry's never ending quest to profitably provide the public their God given right to $0.99 Filet-o-Fish sandwiches regardless of what it does to the environment) one finds that while the number of people participating in fishing has decreased by a third, people are fishing twice as much. More dedicated participants are more likely to involve themselves politically--and vote their interests (which is one of the things the industry group is really whining about). Thus the decline in angling has not really hurt it politically, and may have helped it somewhat. If fishing continues to decline in popularity a point of diminishing returns will occur--and the lack of participation will hurt the sport politically. I think fishing has a long way to go in this regard. Hunting has far fewer participants, and has seen a significant drop in participation over the past thirty years. Despite this, the political challenges facing the hunting community are about the same now as they were 20 years ago--and in some cases have improved in areas (liberalized bag limits, new seasons for formerly illegal species.) We have the advantage of having our interests coincide with that of the fish--in most cases.

With some hesitation, because I'm not sure if I think that maximizing the number of people fishing is really a worthy goal in and of itself, I'll throw out some ideas that might help increase the number of anglers:

1. Keep fishing simple. A hard thing to do on a place like BR where we are generally dedicated fishermen looking for the most effective ways of catching fish, regardless of the cost or complexity. But other venues could certainly help with this. Perhaps people who have never fished are watching fishing shows on cable and see articles explaining the wonders of sonar, underwater cameras, $500 fishing reels, you name it. No wonder they quickly change the channel looking for something simpler and cheaper. It won't keep the tackle industry in business, but maybe describing how to take a $50 rod and reel, tie on a worm, and catch a fish.

2.  Ensure There are Safe Places to Fish. Support public fishing facilities and waters in urban areas, and make sure there are good numbers of edible fish present. Might want to make sure the license fees are reasonable too. I'm sure the decrease in trout fishing mentioned in the article Chris linked to is a result of affluent property owners nailing up "no trespassing" signs on what was once accesible streamfront acreage. I know it is difficult to find shore fishing in Virginia for the same reason.

Demographics, like population growth are always a factor.  But because the birth rate is declining doesnt' mean the population is.  Our country gains population every year.

No, to me the answer is pretty simple.

It's the same answer as to why obesity in children is at an all time high.

They sit around playing nintendo, watching tv, or posting on "my space" while constantly munching on empty calorie snacks.

Kids aren't getting into it like they used to.

I dont know if bass fishing in the area i live in is really gaining that much in popularity but I think that is has remained steady if not grown some over the years. they is always people who quit fishing for whatever reason and it seems there is more people coming into the sport than leaving. As far as it losing popularity and it helping with crowed lakes. I have a bigger problem with the pleasurer boaters and jet skiers than I do bass fisherman.

Sorry, doesn't really matter to me.  Here's what it's all about.....my dad and my son:

I can only imagine that if someday, someone were to tell your son, yourself, or your father, that they were no longer allowed to hunt or fish, "hardly anything would matter to you more".

Fish