The benefit of crowded waters...

[joshuaray83]

On 7/12/2020 at 11:35 AM, DitchPanda said:

I honestly think that when this covid crap shakes out and life goes back to normal or at least closer to it a lot of these new people will stuff there rods and reels in a corner and never pick em up again. At least maybe I'm hoping that happens. 

Maybe we'll get good deals on a whole bunch of lightly used gear as a result!

[RoLo]

 

The only benefit there might be to a crowded lake,

is being prodded to trailer my boat to an uncrowded water that I’ve been neglecting.

 

Roger

[schplurg]

On 7/14/2020 at 10:27 AM, Bankc said:

The way I see it, the increased revenue and exposure from having more anglers will get more funding for them, and perhaps they'll get a little bit more care from the government as a result.  The more people that appreciate the amenities, the more people who will back politicians who want to increase the funding for those amenities. 

 

My home state of Oklahoma has been cutting back funding for lakes for a long, long time now, and outside of a few of the bigger ones which receive most of the attention and money, most are largely left abandoned by the state.  The restrooms are boarded up.  The boat ramps are washing away.  The roads are almost impossible to drive on.  The banks are overgrown.  The water and fish aren't being managed.  If anyone takes care of them, it's usually the city.  And if the city doesn't have the means, or it doesn't belong to a city, then it's left to die a slow death.  Years of demands for lower taxes and less government haven't been kind to parks, forestry, water, and wildlife conservation departments.  And that's truly sad, especially coming from a state that loves the outdoors so much.

 

The lake closest to me is getting renovated by the city of OKC (started a few years before the pandemic).  It used to be a dangerous place where dead bodies were routinely dumped.  It was dirty, unkept, with terrible roads, and very few visitors outside of drug dealers wanting to meet in secret.  Now, it's a much nicer, safer, and cleaner place where families and friends frequent.  The difference was night and day.  Sure there are more anglers and other people on the lake.  But that's a small price to pay for not being afraid to be there.  It went from a crime haven to a safe haven.  And the only reason that happened was because OKC has much more liberal tendencies than the state as a whole, and they actually managed to pass a sales tax increase to pay for that, and other infrastructure improvements.  Most of the smaller lakes in my state haven't been so lucky.

 

My point being, you can complain about the increased number of people on the lake if you want to.  There's definitely a downside to it.  But I've seen both ends of the extremes.  And trust me when I tell you that too many people on a lake is a million times better than too few.  And as a bonus, I do often come home with more lures that I left with, which is a nice change of pace for me! 

It may depend on where you live and fish.

 

A crowded fishery, for me, is not a million times better for any reason mentioned here. California does not do enough to make that worth while, especially for bass anglers (at least not anyplace I've ever been). They'll just spend the money elsewhere and raise ramp and inspection fees on top of it.