What percentage of American fishermen are bass fishermen?

[jimmyjoe]

   In my tiny area of the Midwest, there are at least as many people fishing for crappie and panfish as there are bass fishermen ..... maybe double. And there are at least double the number of catfishermen as there are bass fishermen here.

   In some areas of the USA, walleye fishing reigns supreme. In others, it's trout or steelhead. And of course, the coastlines have saltwater fishermen.

 

   All in all, what percentage of the total fishermen in the USA would you guess are bass fishermen?  

 

   My personal guess would be no more than 25%. But I could be way off, too.      jj

[Spankey]

I would think your guess is about right. I would not think much more than that. There are a lot of serious carp fisherman around also. I’ve seen these dudes really get into it. 

[Captain Phil]

This varies greatly.   Here in Florida, we have so many diverse fishing opportunities that anglers are all over the place.  I believe the vast majority fish salt water on the coasts.  Many of those eat what they catch.  Every lake, pond, canal or rock pit in Florida contains bass. I grew up fishing those banks as did many young anglers.  I went back and forth between salt and fresh all my life.  These days, all I do is fish for bass.

 

I once booked a customer from Minnesota.  He told me bass in his State are considered rough fish.  He also told me bass fishing is looked down upon in his State.  That was twenty years ago, so I don't know the current situation.  Here's a photo of that customer with an 8 pound bass I put him onto.  To say he was thrilled is an understatement.

 

 

[Catt]

Over 50% of the people who say they go fishing prefer bass fishing, which means the U.S. has about 30 million active participants in the sport. That creates an industry which is worth $60 billion.Nov 20, 2018

[Spankey]

I think the numbers could be all over the place. And how much does it really mean. 
 

First I like to see everyone interested in fishing to be able to get out as much as possible. Secondly enjoy that time while you are out. 
 

But fishing being an activity and the more active you are within it. Putting in time I would think are the real true numbers and percentages. This is whether you’re bass, trout or shark fishing. Than there must be many people who fish for anything and everything. 
 

But if a person fishes twice a year is that regular? Regular enough to get true percentages. Maybe it is. IDK seems like a tough figure to come up with. On the fresh water side the only way I think they could come close is on a survey would be to question all those buying a license. 
 

I’ve been fishing since being a very young kid. Just part of my life. Big part. I have an equal passion for trout and bass fishing. I could not answer as to an exact preference. 
 

Good fishing, get out as much as you can. 
 

 

[moguy1973]

I think that you have to take into account that black bass range in the US is only about 80% of the US, so people in the 20% where bass don't live probably aren't bass fishermen.  I bet that only about 10-15% of fishermen in the US solely target bass during a majority of their fishing time. 

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Over 50% of the people who say they go fishing prefer bass fishing, which means the U.S. has about 30 million active participants in the sport. That creates an industry which is worth $60 billion.Nov 20, 2018

 

   Yes, but say to whom?  A lot of the people I see fishing don't respond to polls.          jj

[Spankey]

8 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Yes, but say to whom?  A lot of the people I see fishing don't respond to polls.          jj

You are right. I believe that. I love this stuff. And would never try to be so negative to hurt anything about fishing. But I can see myself blowing off some type of poll. You catch me on the right day I may just take the poll. 

[DitchPanda]

I think your guess is probably very close. But I'd say its probably very regional. Around me the majority of people I see fishing are targeting catfish,pan fish or walleye.

[Team9nine]

The last detailed report I saw from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pegged it at 44% of U.S. anglers 16 yrs or older, so I think we’ve got a decent ballpark range. They broke it down by region, too, as well as against the population as a whole. They stated 14% of U.S. population fished in freshwater, and so about 6% of of total population (>16) were black bass anglers. This worked out to about 12.7 million people that fished for bass. Would be interesting to see them do a more current follow-up study.

 

By region, the low end was Mountain and Pacific at just 21-25 percent. The high end was the South and Southeast regions at 53%, very close to Catt’s numbers (TX to FL area).

[Troy85]

Here in SE Lousiana, Saltwater inshore is way more popular than bass, but in many areas you can catch bass alongside saltwater species.  I grew up going inshore saltwater fishing just about every weekend, then about 5 or so years ago I discovered bass fishing and I haven't looked back.

[schplurg]

On 9/22/2021 at 5:01 AM, Catt said:

Over 50% of the people who say they go fishing prefer bass fishing, which means the U.S. has about 30 million active participants in the sport. That creates an industry which is worth $60 billion.Nov 20, 2018

 

If I'm reading this correctly it would mean that around 1 in 11 Americans are bass fishermen. That can't be correct. Maybe 3 million? Certainly not 30.

[WRB]

Fishing license sales are used to determine anglers numbers.

How many anglers don’t buy a license? In California we have few DFW officers out in the field checking for licenses. I have been checked twice in 60 years of fishing, both times at Big Bear lake. Never checked when tournament bass fishing!

I bought my fishing license since the late 50’s.

One reason is our fishing licenses is now over $50 Jan 1 to Dec 31, regardless when you buy it, not year to date of purchase.

Califorina has more salt water anglers then bass anglers and trout anglers out number all others. I would say 10% to 15% is about right for the number west coast bass anglers who bought a license.

Tom

 

 

[ATA]

What I have seen in SoCal More Saltwater, Then Catfish and carp and trout and at the end is bass fisherman.

I myself do surf fishing twice and pier once a month.

in trout season I do 4 days(day and night 24 hours non stop).

But My love is for bass and I do bass fishing about 10 times in a month.

So I am mix of everything. 

However I am agree with tom and ill go with 10% to 15% bass Fishermans and most of them are boat owners.

We all know every bass fisherman will end up on a boat eventually. 

[islandbass]

I believe Geography does play a role. In the Pac NW, salmonids are king. Period. Bass anglers are likely a super minority. 
 

Bass here are on their own, as there a no stocking programs for bass as far as I know. 
 

It’s all good however. Just means more and less pressured bass for me to target. 
 

State Fish and Wildlife departments could probably gather good data on this if they asked license buyers what species they target the most. That would be interesting. 

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

trout anglers out number all others.

 

   A retiree from California said this, too. I didn't believe it, but evidently it's true.     jj