Has anyone noticed the fishing crowds?

[Glenn]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

And here I thought it was Uranus.

 

[Munkin]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

And here I thought it was Uranus.

 

Funny scale of 1 to 10 that's about a 2.5.

 

Allen

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, Munkin said:

 

Funny scale of 1 to 10 that's about a 2.5.

 

Allen

Well, considering the wife usually gives me about a 1.5 - I'll take it...thanks. ?

[scaleface]

I have noticed   more people fishing on my favorite spots .   The bass have gotten a lot more weary and dont stick around as long as they use too . I'll often  catch one on the fist cast and then they  disappear . Its gotten to the point where I hesitate throw a crankbait. They seem to spook the fish . Less belligerent baits dont chase them away as readily .

[N.Y. Yankee]

Walk in to Walmart and find the rack in the fishing department to be nearly empty (except for the fly-fishing gear). Yah, I think A LOT more people took up fishing this year while they are drawing their government unemployment checks. 

[Darth-Baiter]

I started trail-jogging thanks to the pandemic.  My jog sent me past a small lake.  I started bringing a two piece UL setup.  Tiny Neds caught me a lot of bass.  Got me thinking, “mmm I should buy a boat!”   I ended up with a kayak and all bets are off. I’m hooked. (Now I have two kayaks). 
 

yea. While I fished before (and stopped); clearly the pandemic brought me back.  Social distance is the game in a kayak.   I don’t litter or destroy the environment in my new found frenzy. I pick up trash.  Especially discarded fishing line.  Drives me nuts. 

[gim]

Wasn't quite as busy on the lakes this past season as it was in 2020 from what I could tell.  There was definitely more recreational boaters though and I'm fairly positive that the weather dictated that because we had the hottest summer on record here, and the worst drought since 1988 (which we're still stuck in).  So the lack of rain/cloudy days played a big role.

 

Angling license sales were also down from 2020 here.  That is a more concrete number in terms of data than just someone's opinion.

[schplurg]

On 11/14/2021 at 2:17 PM, JbroBass said:

 

It could just be that they are inexperience versus not having respect. I used to see it all the time in the mountains. Some people just don't realize that putting anything down unsecured that is light is for the most part as good as gone most days in the mountains or out on the lake. And some people never learn!

 

I don't usually give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to litter.

 

I don't think a 12 pack of beer, Strike King bait packaging, cartons of night crawlers where using bait is illegal, dirty diapers, cans of corn and all the other garbage I see just blew away from these poor environmentalist anglers (and that is just in one spot). And it isn't like it blows into trees - it's right where they sit or stand to fish, piled up.

 

I fish largely to get away from people and I find bank fishing to be aggravating in this regard. Just can't get away from the idiots. The kayak helps with that.

[Krux5506]

Seems to me in my region people kind of have things backwards and they are practically all fair weather, summer months bass fishermen. I've grown to be the opposite where early pre-spawn bass and late fall are the best times and also the quietest times on the water. In the fall I assume it's because a lot of fishermen are hunters, a lot of people just flat out don't like cold weather, and a lot of people start targeting the salmon and trout runs instead. The only boats I've seen out this fall have been perch fishermen - I've fished more this fall than I have in a while and have not seen one bass boat! Maybe once tournament season is wrapped up they just no longer care. 

[TnRiver46]

There was an uptick in traffic on the water last night. I think it’s because the news weather person said “this might be the last nice day of the year” and people flocked. Mostly joyriding pontoons and kayaks though. 
 

spoiler alert: we have nice days all winter long 

[Junk Fisherman]

10 hours ago, Krux5506 said:

Seems to me in my region people kind of have things backwards and they are practically all fair weather, summer months bass fishermen. I've grown to be the opposite where early pre-spawn bass and late fall are the best times and also the quietest times on the water. In the fall I assume it's because a lot of fishermen are hunters, a lot of people just flat out don't like cold weather, and a lot of people start targeting the salmon and trout runs instead. The only boats I've seen out this fall have been perch fishermen - I've fished more this fall than I have in a while and have not seen one bass boat! Maybe once tournament season is wrapped up they just no longer care. 

 

I agree with this.  Since the local tournaments stopped about a month ago, there have been much fewer fishermen on the water.  Last weekend I was on a very popular lake in IL and there were only a half dozen or so boats out.  Granted, it was either raining, high winds, or in the low 40s.  One thing that I started doing this season was going out later in the day and fishing till dark.  Once the tournaments were over for the day, you had the place all to yourself.  If you went out at daylight it was an absolute zoo.  

[schplurg]

Around here there were obvious Covid crowds at the lakes a year or so ago. Entire families fishing. Now it's back to normal, if not quieter thanks to the drought.