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Posts: 32
| Are there too many people fishing nowadays?
Read the article and let me know.
http://bass.outdoorsfirst.com/articles/11.17.2008/1846/Bassin%E2%80...
Edited by Fishing Fanatics 11/17/2008 10:13 AM
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | I feel this! I grew up in Aitkin MN and i had Cedar Lake all to myself for 7 years. I was there when a 40" fish was HUGE! They got bigger and so did the number of anglers. It was horrible. I was forced to wait in line to fish my spots. Now its common to see 8 muskie guys on my little lake every weekend. But I guess in MN the number of anglers has dropped 10% this year alone, but it sure doesn't seem like it. |
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Posts: 32
| Guys and gals,
Bring on the feedback.
I'm going to be covering this aspect of our sport over the long haul. I'd like to hear about what everyone is experiencing out there.
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Location: Illinois | I think you should think harder about what you decide to promote.
Getting more individuals involved in the outdoors is important. We live in a world which distances itself further and further from nature, from the outdoors, & from the earth which gives us a home. I believe spending time on the water gives us a better appreciation for the world in which we live. Those who get involved in fishing are more likely to support conservation.
Sure, I'm guilty of the same rhetoric- "Lake X was a zoo today". However, when the day is coming to an end and the motor won't fire up, I'm glad there's a boat out there to bail us out of a jam. Plenty of occasions occur where a boat is fishing one of our honey holes. We jokingly curse them and find another spot. It helps us become more familiar with the body of water and makes us better fisherman for it.
8 out of 10 boaters we talk to on the water are good sports. The other 2 are too arrogant to even wave. But in the end, I'm glad for the jerks who won't wave because they'll probably help you out in dire circumstances should they arise and you're the last ones on the water.
my 2 cents
Mike Witowski
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Posts: 227
Location: New Brighton, MN | I admit that i've had these same selfish thoughts. Who would benefit from more fishermen, other than retailers??? I know, it's not very altruistic of me to think like this, but I just don't get it. |
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| check out the discussion on BassFirst.com!
http://bass.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?fid=1&ti...
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Posts: 32921
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | More anglers mean more money and resources dedicated to the sport from taxes, license fees, and personal spending locally. We are losing fishermen and women overall every year, so a net gain is a ways off anyway. |
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| Who benefits? Guides, resorts, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, Uncle Sam, DNR, etc.......
But so do the people doing the fishing. I will bring my kids up as outdoorsmen. Life just does not seem full without the outdoors.
Number of Musky fishermen is up (IMO), everything else seems down to me. |
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| While there are fewer fisherman in general, the number of muskie fisherman has been increasing every year, and while the angler's spending seems to trickle down to fisheries management in MN, it doesn't seem to in WI. I was perfectly happy fishing 38 to 42 inch muskies in WI when there was no waiting in lines. Like bowhunting I like the peace and quiet. That said, the fisheries have improved with increased pressure, the overall experience hasn't, in my opinion. |
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Posts: 32921
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Although Muskie fishing is a growth segment, I actually have seen fewer anglers up here than years past, due to many factors including the economy and publicity of other waters. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Depends on how you look at fishing. There are two conflicting views from what I can see. How many times have you heard "The good old days are now!" Good how? More big fish than ever before? Probably. If catching a fish no matter what is your end goal this is a good time to be fishing. You need not expend the effort now that you did years ago to catch bigger fish. More information available and better equipment available translates into less effort to get larger fish. In a society where instant gratification is rampant why should someone be expected to invest time to become good when you can just go somewhere the fishing is easier, do what the mob is doing, and expect to catch big fish?
Years ago there were far fewer anglers on the water that knew enough to be dangerous so even if there were fewer big fish I believe the number of big fish per accomplished angler was about the same. You just didn't hear about the big fish being caught then because the media was absent. I'd turn back the clock 25 years in a heart beat to get rid of the excess pressure you see now on the lakes. Of course that's just me. I value quality time on the water over quantity time, and quality does not include getting in line to fish a spot or launch/load your boat.
I wouldn't withhold information from someone that wanted to learn what I know, and if they asked I'd be happy to teach them, but I sure am not going to go out of my way to add more anglers to the already overcrowded waters.
Adding lots more anglers? Bad idea! |
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Posts: 366
| More anglers or less anglers? What are the statistics based on? The total number of U.S. anglers each year, or the percentage of U.S. citizens that are anglers? It would be possible for the total number of angler to rise with the total population, yet have the percentage go down. You could also a decline in the increase/decrease of the number of new anglers, while seeing the total number stay steady. Does any one have an actual study or census of these figures, or is this just a few for things. Also what are the durations of these changes? I know I've taken fewer trips these two past years with high gas prices, but it they stay like they are right now I'll definitely put more time on the water again.
I think alot of the differences that are see these days are based on the availability of information. This is the information age and it seems like everyone out there is looking for the pot of gold or to uncover the secret lake, while the pressure is decreasing slightly on the long-time top lakes. With the internet and a little effort talking to a few people many lesser known lakes/rivers aren't that hard to find. I know this year and last the pressure has gone down on LOTW, maybe Leech, and others compared to 4-5 years ago, of course this is just my opinion based on conversations with resort owners and what not, and not the results of a study. Of course with the drastic decrease in the number of family fishing resorts, due to the crazy real-estate market and the fact that the land is worth more than the cabins on them, less kids are becoming interested in the outdoors each year. There are so many other activities these days it's difficult enough to compete for their attention, without reducing the number of places to take them. It is easy to feel like the pressure is higher if you chase all the Hype Lakes around the country. |
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Posts: 32921
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | License sales are falling and have been for years, overall, not as a percentage of the population. The peak was in the mid 80's, I believe. |
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Posts: 39
| I agree with Muskellunge's statement about pressure forcing anglers to seek out new spots when a boat is fishing one of his honey holes. I dont discourage people from fishing musky and I will admit to taking 2 people on their first musky trip this year. As it has worked out, neither one of these people will continue the sport in any regular way based on their comments to me after spending at least a few days on the water. My point is that I dont think promoting the sport to individuals is enough to actually make that happen and I did not come to the sport as a result of anyone promoting it to me. I try to be realistic with people about what muskie fishing requires in terms of commitment, time, and money. My experience has been that most people will go back to walleyes, bass or whatever as soon as they figure out how challenging the sport is. Everyone has a right to enjoy whatever type of fishing they want to. I also dont want hundreds of musky fishermen out there with me fishing with other boats around is a psychological challenge. I try to stay focused on what I am doing because otherwise all that I will think about is what everyone else is doing and then my own ability to concentrate on my strategies to catch fish will suffer. Of course I want all my spots open all of the time but the situation is what it is (at least until I can afford to take long trips to secluded Canadian lakes!) As to the original question of whether there are too many people Muskie fishing, my answer is that it it appears there are alot people musky fishing but ultimately I have little or no control over the situation. I say let the people try to enjoy the sport they want to enjoy. I cant discourage anyone from trying to this sport that I love. I respect what other anglers are trying to do in the hopes that they will return the favor.
Edited by Believer 11/17/2008 3:56 PM
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Posts: 32
| Total numbers are down, not percentage of anglers.
The historical highs for license sales throughout the USA were in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s license sales have declined, except in a few states where new regulations, like the need for a saltwater license to fish in Florida, have seen some increase.
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | "Although Muskie fishing is a growth segment, I actually have seen fewer anglers up here than years past, due to many factors including the economy and publicity of other waters."
I agree 100%. 3 years ago I'd see 20 boats by me on any given Saturday right until ice up. The last two weekends, I've seen less than 1/3 of that. I'd like to add that decreased bag limits due to many factors and new bait regulations have also taken an effect. Why drive all the way up to LVD for one opening day walleye? |
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Posts: 272
| I'm going to show my age, or lack thereof, here a little bit.
It was perhaps about the early or mid 80s when I can first start to remember going fishing, and being conscious of who else was there.
Back in the day, sure seems like we had the place(s) to ourselves. As my age increases, I sure feel like the waters I fish become more and more crowded. All of them. Not just the muskie waters I fish. I'm talking jigging for saugers below L&D 6 at Trempealeau, I'm talking about tossin' spinnerbaits for pike on the cranberry marshes I grew up fishing down by Pray and Warrens, WI. The muskie waters seem to be infinitely worse yet, as far as pressure goes.
I guess my comment is......if everybody is bailing out of fishing, and all of the turkeys that are still left doing it are now in the last 10 years fishing MY lakes, lakes I used to mostly have to myself......there must be a whole crap-ton of lakes and rivers somewhere that are totally vacant!
-Eric |
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Posts: 221
Location: Detroint Lakes, MN |
My understanding in talking to a DNR manager a few years ago in MN was that liscence sales have gone up or stayed even most years , but the % of the MN population that fishes is going down.
The number of registered fish houses and boats has been steadily increasing over the past decade.
JS |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Just some stat's:
% of licenses sold to muskie fishermen in MN
1990 2% of all fishermen fished muskies at some point
1997 6-7.5% " "
2006 14-16% " "
This doesn't include out of state anglers, just in state. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I think that fuel prices finally impacted alot of peoples travel over the past couple years. There is no doubt that fishing pressure, especially for Muskies, has increased on the waters I fish in Central WI, green Bay, and MN. Pressure over the past few years is also dramatically up in the ice fishing segmant around here. With that said, during my trips to northeast WI, and in talking to friends who fish there, pressure was down there over the past couple of seasons. It would be nice if these fuel prices would remain for awhile(yeah right....) and spread some of that pressure back to the north this winter and next season.
I cannot argue with license sales figures, but am with Eric in that there is no doubt that 'my' spots, notably the once little known/hard to access launches and shore fishing areas etc., are increasingly crowded each season. |
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Posts: 225
Location: Nordeast Minneapolis | There are a couple factors I can think of that might play a part in an overall decline in fishing license sales...
One, the increasing percentage of the population living in urban areas. I believe that according to 2000 census figures, almost 60 percent of the population lived in urban areas with a population over 200,000. I can't find the figures for 1980, but in 1950 it was about 30 percent worldwide.
Here in Minneapolis, we're fortunate enough to have access to some really nice bodies of water within and around our urban hub... I live in the city, but can drive 15 minutes and be musky fishing (less if I just want to go for crappies or northern). I'm also fortunate enough to own a single-family home with room to store a boat, and have a truck to haul it around... Both relative rarities, I would imagine, compared to most residents of the city. But there were quite a few years before I had the house/boat/truck that I didn't even get a fishing license- I had no consistent way to fish the way I wanted to, so I didn't bother. And for those living in cities without good access to clean, fishable lakes or rivers?
I wonder if another factor could be (pure speculation here) the increase in PWC's and other skiing/wakeboarding boats... People who, in the past, may have viewed fishing as the primary outlet for aquatic entertainment would now just as soon hop on a jetski and tool around the lake...?
Mostly, though, I'd guess the general shift in our society from rural to urban dwellers has to play a significant part. But that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong.
Edited by gus_webb 11/19/2008 4:21 PM
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