Why is Fishing a Dying Sport

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
s.com...
But, WE need to get more women and young people exposed to and
involved
in
the outdoor world. Unless WE take the responsibility to teach the
next
generation that there is more to the world than a computer/tv screen,
numbers are going to continue to go down.

And here I sit in front of my computer screen conversing with gentlemen
around the country instead of out doing service calls and making money
to
support my hobby. LOL.

LOL, I agree, it is ironic, isn't it? And here I am, working feverishly
on
getting a television show and website going, with the intention of getting
more women and young people involved. It's kind of a Catch-22, I want
people to watch the show, and participate on the website, but I want them
to
get away from the television and computer and get outdoors.

Oh well, what's a person to do? Oh yeah, go fishing and take someone with
you!

But you're reaching out to them using the very thing that draws their
attention these days. Targeted advertising... Not a bad idea, if you ask
me...
--
Andrew Kidd
http://www.amiasoft.com/ - Software for the rest of us!
http://www.rofb.net/ - ROFB Newsgroup Home

As is often he case, I agree 100% with Steve. And furthermore
(warning--slightly off topic) everything he said is relevant to hunting,
shooting, and camping (NOT RVing)

I posted this over in the forum at Bass Pro as well. So far I got two
replies. Neither had anything to do with tournament fishing and both are
from our close neighbors.

One person from Canada blamed plethora of ever changing regulations for
making it just to complicated for most folks to go fishing.

Another gentleman from Mexico blamed a total lack of regulation for
destroying many fisheries.

I suppose we can just hope for a happy medium here in between.







"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
s.com...

http://www.yumabassman.com/cgi-bin/y... 47;start=0#0

http://tinyurl.com/ywupp



--
The Security Consultant
http://www.diycomponents.com
Bob La Londe - Owner
849 S Ave C
Yuma, Az 85364

(928)782-9765 ofc
(928)782-7873 fax

The way i see it is fishing is not all that easy. There is a bit of a learning
curve in order to get true enjoyment out of the sport. Some just aren't willing
to put in the time.
Women are very vocal these days and some tend to put fishing down as trivial.
These are the same women that tend to rule the roost at home. As a result some
men don't partake or their homelife may suffer.

Moron!

--
"The Shadow"
Millennium Rods
"Lure builder" wrote in message
...
The way i see it is fishing is not all that easy. There is a bit of a
learning
curve in order to get true enjoyment out of the sport. Some just aren't
willing
to put in the time.
Women are very vocal these days and some tend to put fishing down as
trivial.
These are the same women that tend to rule the roost at home. As a result
some
men don't partake or their homelife may suffer.

Personally, I believe most tournament anglers are very confident people.
They believe in themselves and their abilities. That is not a bad thing,
but rather, a very good thing! Everyone should feel that good about
themselves and be that confident in their abilities, that they feel they can
accomplish anything they put their mind to.

So let's not confuse confidence with arrogance.

Tournament anglers are also, for the most part, very competitive people.
They want to compete. They want to win. They enter tournaments because
they believe in themselves, their abilities, and have a strong desire to
test themselves by competing against others who have honed their skills.
This translates into fun!!!. . . for the tournament angler.

If you are not a very confident person, or a very competitive person, than
tournament fishing IS NOT for you! There are fishing clubs that hold
noncompetitve outings. Because as we all know, fishing is fun, but it is
always better when you are sharing the experience with someone who loves it
as much as you do. These clubs are all about enjoying the fun of fishing.

--
Craig Baugher
Be Confident, Focused, but most of all Have FUN!

I think that part of it is the breakdown of the family. Kids aren't
being taught to fish by their parents. A single parent has a harder time
finding the time for a hobby like fishing. Lack of time steers people to
"spur of the moment" activities, like movies, or shopping, or restaurants.
Fishing isn't as easy to "fall into" as it used to be. A lot more
people used to live out in the country, or at least knew someone who
did, and all they needed was to grab some live bait and a pole. Now the
population is more urbanized, and the only water accessible to them is
public water, where you need a license, and unless you really look, bank
fishing spots are scarce. In Texas, fishing licenses expire on August
31, no matter if you buy it in July. Full one year price for a month of
fishing? That makes it easy to say: "Let's do something else today, and
go fishing next month.
So someone watches a tv show and gets the bug, buys a combo and some
bait, and spends one of his precious Saturdays trying to find a place he
can bank fish without getting mugged. He finds one spot and it's covered
with beer cans, another and a gang of teens with loud music scares him
off. Another Saturday gone and he never realized the Andy Griffith
fishing scene he was looking for.
Or someone has a buddy take him fishing, and he gets interested in the
sport. In the past, he'd start out fishing small private water with one
rod and $20 or less worth of tackle, and buy more a little at a time
until he finds he's "hooked". Now he knows of no private water, and
because he's not plugged in, he doesn't know any bank fishing spots. So
he's looking at a boat, registration, trailer, registration, boat
insurance, oops, the car won't pull that rig, need a truck and receiver
hitch, ........ Know what? I can buy a lot of Cowboy (Ranger, Mavericks,
Sidekicks, Stars, etc) good seat tickets for that money, and I don't
have to find someplace to store them cause they won't fit in the garage!
I hate to say it, but I think it's amazing that there are many
fishermen left.

Hi Bob,

Maybe it is because the fisheries people have no budget left for inforcement
that many don't buy licenses?

-
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
s.com...

http://www.yumabassman.com/cgi-bin/y... 47;start=0#0

http://tinyurl.com/ywupp



--
The Security Consultant
http://www.diycomponents.com
Bob La Londe - Owner
849 S Ave C
Yuma, Az 85364

(928)782-9765 ofc
(928)782-7873 fax

Steve - You nailed it!

"...take someone with you!"

We need to introduce more people to this sport. I have caught 12lb
bass on my computer, but it does not even begin to compare to the
adrenaline rush of that first Bass of the year.

I made it a point to introduce my son (now 6) to fishing at an early
age. We had new neighbors move in next door with 3 kids. While
talking to the mom, I noticed the fishing poles in the garage. I
asked about it, and they said that they had not been fishing in "many
many years." When the weather finally cooperates, I guess I will be
taking 4 kids fishing instead of 1 - it may not be for bass, but it
will be for whatever happens to be is biting. To a 6yr old, a dozen
4" bluegills are more fun right now than the 3lb smallmouth that daddy
is trying to catch.

When asked at work if I have any plans for the weekend, I always
answer "Fishing, want to come along?" One of these times, the answer
will be "OK" - and then if I do my part, another angler will be added
to the ranks.

Kurt

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 17:12:14 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
ws.com...
But, WE need to get more women and young people exposed to and involved
in
the outdoor world. Unless WE take the responsibility to teach the next
generation that there is more to the world than a computer/tv screen,
numbers are going to continue to go down.

And here I sit in front of my computer screen conversing with gentlemen
around the country instead of out doing service calls and making money to
support my hobby. LOL.

LOL, I agree, it is ironic, isn't it? And here I am, working feverishly on
getting a television show and website going, with the intention of getting
more women and young people involved. It's kind of a Catch-22, I want
people to watch the show, and participate on the website, but I want them to
get away from the television and computer and get outdoors.

Oh well, what's a person to do? Oh yeah, go fishing and take someone with
you!

Great read Bob.
Fishing license sales are declining which indicates a real decline in
fishing interest, i.e. less numbers of people are fishing. I suspect that
things are worse since our population is growing, the proportion of people
fishing is declining more rapidly than indicated by license sales decline.
Why is this so? A variety of possible reasons come to mind when combined,
could explain the decline..

1. Fishable water is being privatized - bought up, posted, acquired by
governmental agencies, restricted by land use rulings, dams being removed,
access fenced off, etc.
2. Competing demands for time - Soccer, GameBoy, offroading, skateboarding,
partying, RVing, home projects and a multitude of other in and outdoor
activities divert participation today from family and individual fishing.
3. Decline of the nuclear family - as divorce and separation disrupts
parent/child relationships, fishing is less of a priority on weekends or
other custody times.
4. Availability of more disposal income - Food needs drove fishing more in
the past than today.
5. Immigration - Illegal aliens cannot get fishing licenses and legal
immigrants probably have far less interest in fishing than other population
demographics..
6. Adversarial animal rightists - Are influencing the weak, timid and
non-iinterested into a non-fishing mentality.
7 Adversarial vegaterians - Translate their anti meat-pholosophy into a
non-fishing mentality.
8. Passing fad - The Yuppie infatuation with fly-fishng in the 1980's has
past us by.
9. No new rivers - God is not making any new rivers and environmentalists
and politicians are fighting adding dams and impoundments which limits new
water bodies with their rapid growth and abundance of fish in their early
years.
10.Waterbody management - Is NOT being managed to increase the number of
people fishng, but to reduce, constrict, limit and to conserve existing or
lower levels of people. Budget level maintenance is their primary goal.
Little funding exists for meaningful additional researh to stop decline in
fishing.
11. Fly in fishing is up - Since the demand for trophy and quality fishing
exceeds the supply of domestic US fishing, more people are not fishing
locally but flying out to exotic places around the world.
12. On water competition - Water skiers, kyakers, personal flotation
devicers, canoeists, hikers and many other types of on-the-water or
near-the-water people are degrading the solitiude many fishermen cherish and
running them off the water.

Bob, I'm sure there are other things which MAY contribute to the decline,
but these are suggestions for starters. You listed a number of things we
can do to slow the decline of fishing. They'll help. But I am convinced
fishing will continue to decline. I just hope there will be some quality
experiences left for my grandsons but I doubt it.

Good luck!
John



"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
s.com...

http://www.yumabassman.com/cgi-bin/y... 47;start=0#0

http://tinyurl.com/ywupp



--
The Security Consultant
http://www.diycomponents.com
Bob La Londe - Owner
849 S Ave C
Yuma, Az 85364

(928)782-9765 ofc
(928)782-7873 fax