Why are fishing license sales dropping?

[Hammer Handle]

I agree with you Jorgie.

Parents need to take the time to take their kids fishing. Don't blame the kids, teachers, or the cost. The parents need to be more involved with their kids. Many families don't even sit down for a meal as a family anymore, which is wrong. Hard to do, yes, but certainly not impossible if you make it a priority.

Cost? Yea, it can get expensive. But, you don't need the best equipment. A $15 KMART pole with some light tackle and maybe even a few lures...and you are ready to go. Even fishing from shore is fun and their are lots of locations to do so.

[papabear]

I agree parents are the ideal way to learn to love fishing if not always learn how to. The fewer parents that can pass on the love of fishing the fewer kids who will catch the fever, what a slippery slope.

[genegodawa]

I don't know where to start, except that with less fishermen/licenses out there, I'd say that leaves more out there for me to catch so that is a good thing.

Having a real interest in nature, from a young age, seems key to me to getting/keeping the interest in fishing. I remember years and years (with the canepole and just a rowboat) of getting skunked. But my love of outdoors held a certain anticipation that one day I would catch that big one.

If you aren't enthralled with God's creatures, you can't find as much fun in getting that elusive trophy or hitting a nice school of fish as someone else who does have a love of all nature.

To me it is the overall experience to be enjoyed. The fish are not always biting, so you need the passing deer or a waddling porkie or a raccoon in a tree or a slithering snake or a pecking woodpecker or some of God's other creature to want to enjoy in the great outdoors. Fishing is a bonus, and catching is a REAL bonus to me.

I took my son to MN when he was 11. He is 18 now and has never been back yet due to summer baseball teams and now summer work committments. But I just returned from my annual trip, and one of the first things he told me was how he went to his friend's summer home in S Wisc and he caught a 21" bass. And he smiled as he explained his cast and how the bobber disappeared and how he landed it -- even using a left-hand retrieve reel. I'm glad he had the chance to be with his friend's family at their place for one day and that he had some luck to keep him interested in the outdoors. Now I just gotta go home to ask him if he bought a license??????

[comicdog]

Lets not forget complicated fishing regulations.

[Random guy]

As a year round guide I can clearly see the decline of “new fishermen” and the decline of “part time fishermen” and these are my thoughts on this.

Now the part time fishermen or guy that goes out maybe once a month is done and gone. I believe this has a lot to do with economy. To this type of angler fishing is not a priority so he is not going to spend his money on gas, gear bait and a licenses, he needs to pay the ARM loan against his house and figure out how he is going to pay for one hundred dollars worth of gas to get to work when the budget only allows for fifty. This person has a very limited budget that does not allow room for the fun things in life, He is not going to spend next months gas money to take his kids out fishing. Instead he finds local things for the kids to do that are both cheap and keep them entertained while he puts in longer hours and works a few weekends to pay the ever rising bills.

This leads into the new anglers. Money is tight, you hate your job, the gas pumps are raping you as you try to get to your job that you hate so much but have to keep plugging away because you are financed to the hilt. You are not worried about leeches or minnows, you are worried about the wolves that are chewing at the door. You may think about taking up fishing but the American “mine is bigger then yours” kicks in, how can you take a debt to income ratio that is already over the hilt and max it out to buy fishing gear and get into the sport of angling. Everyone informs you that you HAVE to have the 18 foot boat pushed by a 250 and power trac system, GPS/Sonar that shows a mayfly suspended and have the ability to return within three feet of that spot to have a chance at catching any fish. Then if you plan on landing any fish you need an IM2000 rod with a anti-backlash full eighteen speed transmission spooled up with super braid line that cost twenty dollars a spool. I can see how the fishing industry is not only pricing itself out of business but intimidating itself out of business.

Where are the kids during all of this? They are sitting at home playing video games as Mom and Dad crank out the hours and fight about where the next dollar should be spent. They don’t get to go fishing, their world is dominated by the fact that fishing has become a rich mans sport and how dare this child waste time fishing, don’t you know kids today have to go to soccer practice, then come home to stacks and stacks of homework and have it drilled in their heads “Get the best education so you can have the best job so you can buy the biggest house on the block” and make Mom and Dad proud when they tell the neighbors “ours is bigger then yours” A good percentage of today’s youth does not stand a chance of learning the outdoors unless change takes place, and I would bet good money that is not going to happen.

So now we have eliminated the middle man or working man. The ones that can afford to buy the latest and greatest gear drive the industry out of control. They drive a new truck pulling a oversized boat to the sporting goods store walk past the guy trying to figure out how he is going to afford “a” rod to go fishing and drops two grand on a new GPS/Sonar because his is a year old and just isn’t as cool as the new one. Several things have just happened. First is this hot to trot big shot has just told the fishing industry to charge the heck out of him, its ok he has money. Second they guy trying to buy that rod to take his kids fishing realizes he can not afford this sport and walks out the door around the big boats and fancy trucks as he tries to come up with a different way to entertain his kids he can afford and faces the fact fishing is no longer affordable.

Now for the crowded landings. This is just plain technology in motion. Years past the word traveled slow. If a lake had a hot bite it took weeks for the good news to spread, now as the fish are coming in the cell phones start ringing with the message to get to lake X, the bite is on. Then the forums explode about the hot bite and here come the masses. Today’s angler has thousands upon thousands invested, you can’t take a chance at not catching fish, right? You have had it pumped into your head fishing is war, catch many big fish or it is a wasted day, god forbid you spend the day on the lake with your kids, family or friends and not catch fish with all of your cool gear. A chance can not be taken on a lake that may not be going, you have to go to the hot bite and pack in like sardines. This is why you see certain lakes packed with anglers leaving other small lakes undisturbed by the sound of a 15hp outboard a thin aluminum boat.

Now as sad as it is kids are not fishing anymore. I drive by hundreds of boats a day and only a small handful have kids in them. I do see many expensive boats with lots of cool gear but few kids.

[JohnMickish]

Very well said Jon. Like I said in the very first response, if the economy where better this wouldn't be an issue, and it's been slipping away for the last 7 years. People now are working more hours for less money and don't have the time for the "fun" things in life anymore. Without getting political, (this isn't the time or place) we need to turn this around November 2008.

[Kyle Sandberg]

Something just needs to change.

That's all I will voice.

[Wanderer]

John,

I agree, well said. Especially about the thought of fishing is a waste of time if you're under equipped. There are many expensive tools of the trade now that are considered basic necessities.

I hate blaming the economy (in political terms) soley though for the lack of money to enjoy a sport. I believe its our personal economies. Take a look around a house and add up the money thats spent on things that weren't commonplace 20-25 years ago. Cell phones, satellite TV, bigger TVs, the dreaded video games, $30,000 (and more) vehicles, the computer you're looking at right now. Where do you want to put your money?

There are just so many more options for things to do these days and kids are adrenaline junkies. If they are taught to value something, they'll get their fix from it.

I fished with two teenage girls over the weekend. Thankfully they already like fishing so they didn't get too bored in the first 3 hours of not catching much so we could catch the good bite at night. We caught a lot of little walleyes and some keepers. We watched loons and they asked me what kind of ducks were flying by us. At 10 pm when I said we had to go, they asked if we could get up at 5 the next morning to come back.

This took place in 17 year old boat and they were using $50 rod/reel combos rigged with a lead head jig and a leech on 6 lb mono.

I feel lucky, I've realized it DOES start with me.

[rollineyes]

I think the same thing that has reduced the amount of Trout Stamp sales here in Southeastern Minnesota has spread to many other areas. Its called special regs and people are tired of them. I know someone who has retired from work for a state agency that controls this, who has a good name for these special regs. He calls them social regs. They make no biological sense. Just my two cents!

rollineyes

[Questor]

In general, there are a lot of options for recreation today, and fishing has to compete with all of them. Fishing's not a very attractive option when you live in an urban area, even one with a lot of water near it.

rollingeyes has an excellent point. The special regs have gotten out of hand, and in many instances for no apparently good reason. I go to southeast MN for trout fishing and have seen certain bodies of water restricted that have the same good quality of fishing now that they did 20 years ago. The problem now is that the locals cannot catch and keep a few, and they are openly hostile about it because it was shoved down their throats by city people. The slot limits are such that the water is effectively catch and release only with fish under 12 inches and over 16 inches being keepable. Fish over 16 inches are very rare in this water. Fish under 12 inches are typically 10" fish. There are few 11" fish. This makes the fish too small for a lot of people to bother keeping, or too rare to expect to catch.

Another example, I was just fishing a north shore stream for brook trout. A really good brookie on the north shore is about 12 inches long. Minimum length to keep one on that stream is 20 inches. It is highly unlikely that there are any such fish in that river.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Another example, I was just fishing a north shore stream for brook trout. A really good brookie on the north shore is about 12 inches long. Minimum length to keep one on that stream is 20 inches. It is highly unlikely that there are any such fish in that river.

---

READ THE REGS! The 20 inch slot is only for sections of the river BELOW the posted boundaries, or first impassible barrier!

This slot is in place to protect and rehabilitate the once native and migratory Brook Trout (aka Coasters). If this reg upsets you, well then maybe you should find a new hobbie. Any other stream on the north shore has a 10 fish limit w/ one over 16in.

As far as the rivers down south, i'm not informed because I don't fish down there. However, there is biological reasoning behind slot limits and special regs. It's too bad that there has to be so many different ones for each body of water, but each body of water is different.

Ah, he!! w/ it, it's impossible to teach and educate those that refuse to be educated!

[Questor]

Thanks for the clarification on the 20" reg. I read the sign at the creek and it didn't say anything about barriers. I was aware of length regulations like that involving barriers, but the way this sign was worded, it seemed to apply to the whole stream.

I'm a little more cynical than you about the biological soundness of some of the new SE MN regs. I spend a lot of time there and I agree with the locals (I'm not a local) that much of the new regulation that has been applied during the past few years was motivated by Rochester and other urban catch and release activists that place a higher priority on catch and release of large fish rather than catch and keep of reasonable sized average fish.

This seems motiviated by a different enforcement ethic than the slot limits we see in, for example, Florida coastal fishing, where the drivers are slot limits due to a rapidly increasing population of fishermen tainted by lingering and anachronistic preferential treatment for commercial fishermen.

I'm certainly willing to be proven wrong about the SE MN regs, but I'm just calling them as I see them.

[rollineyes]

I am not going to get into a long heated discussion, but if one would call the Lanesboro Area Fisheries Office, they have all the numbers. A large part of the streams that have special regs on them have fewer large trout in them now (according to electrofishing results) than they did before any social regs were placed on them. Now I might be one that does not want to learn, but how can something make biological sense when the number of large trout is declining in direct relationship to these special (social regs)being put into place. As has the number of trout stamps being sold since the regs were put into affect. The Area Fisheries office has those numbers also. From all the meetings I attended, the purpose of the regs was to increase the number of trout over 16". It may seem like I am a person that wants to go catch a mess a trout to feed my family. Nothing could be further from the truth. When I used to trout fish (I quit the year the social regs went into affect) I never kept any trout. I don't care for them. But, they are (were) fun to catch. I just don't think its fair that I should be told what I can and can't keep when the proof is in the numbers that these social regs don't work!

rollineyes

[Questor]

One other comment and question about SE MN trout fishing:

My observation is that, except for a few popular spots, there really aren't very many trout fishermen. I feel like it's my own private country club. I've often wondered how the several fly shops in the Metro area can afford to stay in business with what must be a truly meager clientele.

Do any other frequent SE MN trout fishermen observe the same thing?

[Wanderer]

I'm down in the Root River Valley near Lanesboro pretty much every year for a turkey season, then for Memorial weekend.

During hunting we take some time to fish. We usually fish the river itself or go to the unrestricted streams, but usually just use artificial anyway. We see people at those same spots every day of the week.

I hear grumblings from the people we camp with for the Holiday about the regs. They go to unrestricted streams as well. I tell them to go to the pond (Lanesboro) if they want to keep some They tell me thats cheating or not natural but then run down to Duschee to catch the same fish

To answer your question with my bit of experience is people will fish where they're comfortable, can keep fish if they want, and don't have to work too hard at it. I haven't been back to the streams that we used to fish many years ago that are now regulated, but I don't have an objection to the regs. There are ALOT of trout fishers down there in my opinion. The regs are trying to keep the native fish population healthy and not overfished. JMHO.