"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
I took my 11 year old nephew on a 6 hour float trip, he had a nice one on,
but forgot to set the hook, oh well. He had fun and asked if we could hit
the lake later that night. I think he's hooked...


Good job. Sounds like a fun trip too.



"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
With all the other people on the water its hard to believe there may
actually be fewer anglers out there, but some sources claim its true. I
had read something about this a couple years ago and started a similar
thread, but it really didn't go anywhere.

North American Fisherman's latest magazine has an article reporting some
stats that might be of interest.

33.5 million licensed anglers over the age of 16 in 1991.
29.5 million licensed anglers over the age of 16 in 2006.

They list their source as the, "National Survey of Fishing Hunting and
Wildlife-Related Recreation."

When I was a kid I was told we had about 245 million people in this
country. I think the last census number I saw was 275 million. This
means that net decrease in clout to protect our sport is even worse than
the numbers listed in the survey.

When it comes to legislative issues a loss of anglers means a loss clout.

As fewer waters are open to fishing or some of the better renown see
greater concentrations of anglers we may find it hard to believe that
there really are fewer licensed anglers on it our waters, but it appears
to be true.

As hard as it may be to share a little especially with strangers or
passing acquaintances, we owe it to our children and our grand children
to keep waters open, regulations reasonable, and, numbers strong.

One angler who is a regular on my fishing forums always has a, "Shhhh!!!
Keep folks off our river. Don't tell anybody about good fishing. I want
it to myself. Fewer people on the river means better fishing." To some
extant I agree, but there is of course the long term negative impact of
fewer people to protect fishing for future generations. This is what I
had to say to him last time he went on one of his rants.

"Heck, lets just vilify fishing. Start false stories about the
atrocities performed on the water by fishermen, and make even expressing
an interest in fishing a social stigma.
Then we will have even fewer people fishing, those will be afraid to
say anything to anybody about it, and of course we can all slap ourselves
on the back when BR and BLM helps us perpetuate the move to reduce
anglers on the water by closing more areas to fishing. HEY! You might get
your pike minnows back, but sadly you wouldn't be allowed to fish for
them.
When our children can no longer have the freedom to enjoy the
outdoors because of stigmata, closed fishing areas, and apathy of other
outdoorsmen after massive government closures, horrific regulation, and
the abuse of the outdoors themselves by other anglers we might all be
able to get together and drink a toast to the demise of fishing in
America. All two of us who are left. You bring the bucket, and I'll
smuggle in a line and some goldfish from the pet store."

I was obviously exaggerating and being sarcastic, but there is a small
seed of truth to it as well.

I started Yuma Bass Man as a way to brag a little, and then it became a
way to share a little basic knowledge just the way this group does. Yuma
Pro Am is a bass fishing club that helps bring a few more people into
tournament angling, but I'm not sure it gets a lot of new people into
fishing in general. I suppose it does help to retain some. Each one of
us can certainly do a little to share the joy of fishing, and those of us
who are members of clubs can certainly do a little more if we can
convince our clubs that fishing is worth protecting, not just enjoying it
for ourselves and immediate friends and family. Casting clinics, take a
kid fishing days, pro/kid events. These are the things clubs can do. We
as individuals can just take somebody fishing.