What do you think is happening with fishing?

[eastkybass]

I think it will just keep getting bigger and bigger as long as it is kept in check there is no reason the weekend angler and the hardcore pro can't keep it going and make it better for all.

[Fish Chris]

too many people will choose not to read, or simply ignore, articles like the one I posted the link to, because it will then be easier to bury one's head in the sand.

I notice that many of you mention tournaments, but you must stop to remember, if the popularity of fishing in general faulters, tournament organizations will not be far behind.

I also know of some VERY big names in this sport (that out of respect for those individuals, I will not mention them here), who's best advice is to "enjoy it now" because NOTHING lasts forever.

The first state to go will be Cali, then probably New York, or some of the other Eastern states. Why ? Several reasons, of which I won't pretend to know them all, but anyway, here are a few:

1) Money. Water is just worth so much more, to more powerful groups, than to anglers. So far these big power groups have just kind of shrugged us off as a minor nuisance, but as water gets more scarce (and with an ever increasing population, it certainly will), the little guys (anglers) will increasingly feel the pinch !

2) National security. Did you guys know that their are already a WHOLE bunch of places back East, where fishing in a man made resovoir is strictly against the law ? I was talking to one guy from the right coast who was quite surprised that MOST of the fishing in Cali, is in resovoirs..... to which he replied, "And they actually let you fish in them" ? Well I sure hope so ! Where else ? Saltwater I guess.

3) Fragmentation of angling forces. Lets just start with bass fishermen, who won't stand up and fight for ocean sportfishermen. Why, they ask ? They have never fished salt in their life ! Then the ocean fishermen who won't stand up for the mountain fly fishermen. Again, why should they ? What could be less related ? Next, who's going to support the hatchery trout guys ? And so on.

My point is, it's easy for special interest groups to pick on "any one small facet of sportfishermen".... in fact, the smaller, the easier. Meanwhile, the whole rest of the angling world stands by saying, "That doesn't affect me. Oh that doesn't mess with my fishing. Oh... no worries for what I do"...... So these special interest groups just keep chipping away at the fishing tree, until one day, the whole thing comes down ! That WILL certainly affect everybody who ever thought of picking up a fishing pole ! ..... and they never even saw it coming !

Anyway, personally speaking, the best I can hope for, is that I'll be able to fish a good chunk of the same waters that I do now, for another 20 or 25 years. Then it will be over for me anyway. If there was something I could do to help the younger fishing generation, I certainly would......

But then, maybe an eye opening post like this one, is the best way to start !!!!

Sincerely,

Fish Chris

[docav]

i think it is bigger than ever and will keep getting bigger. as the money goes up and guys like ike bring attion to the sport it will only grow. doug

[Fish Chris]

In our own tiny bubble, it's easy to believe that Ike or KVD make a huge difference in general sportfishing..... But do you understand that even with "all aspects of bass fishing included" (let alone singling out the even smaller segment of "tournament" bass fishermen) this makes up such a small percentage of the whole world wide angling experience ?

Please ! Read the article I posted the link to:

http://www.fishingnj.org/netusa27.html

Do you believe it is all BS ?

And remember, some of you younger guys stand to lose a lot more than an old guy like me.

Peace,

Fish

[cart7t]

Chris, I made my comments about Tournament angling primarily for this reason.  I was dismayed when BASS was sold to ESPN.  Not because I thought for a minute that ESPN wouldn't try and elevate the sport to the masses via media coverage, nope, it's because of all the other things BASS has stood for over the years that I knew would get shoved under the table as non-essential by a media giant running an organization for profit and cutting costs where necessary.

Ray Scott was smart enough to realize that when you raise attention to a Bass fishing tournament to the general public, you start to create a public relations problem because all that public sees is guys hauling bags of bass out of the water for profit.  All they see is a for profit tournament organization using publicly paid for lakes and recreational areas for their own gain without putting anything back.  Ray began his own "Don't kill your catch programs, initiated his Federation to become active in legislature within their own states and at the federal level and became a pro-active watchdog when it came to the natural backlash to T fishing that this new exposure would bring.  He led them to become pro-active with their own states fish and game departments to put back into the fisheries and leave them better than before they came.

Just what has ESPN done?  It's basically pizzed off its constituents who made up that voting block that made BASS a viable "voice to be heard".  

There are probably more large, for profit tournament organizations out there now than they're have ever been.  They recieve far more press than they ever have. This for both SW and Freshwater fishing.  Just what are these for profit companies doing to put back into the sport?  What are they doing to justify their usage of public waters for profit? What are they doing on the conservation side of the equation that brings attention to themselves for helping our fisheries vs. just using them for gain?   Not a lot.  It's the same perception, a major tournament comes to a local publicly owned lake, rapes the waters as the high powered bass boats run all over the place rudely running local sportsman off the lake, haul in sacks of bass, give out some prize money and then move onto the next public lake.  

We as anglers have become pretty darn good over the years at fishing. We've got a multitude of tools available to us that weren't available even 10 years ago.  If the numbers of fisherman had actually increased dramatically, all of them armed with these tools and knowledge, I'd hate to think what are fish populations would look like on average lakes and streams.  Now more than ever anglers need to become pro-active in protecting what's been created for us over the years.  Someone needs to lead us.  Who's going to lead?  The tourney organizations don't do alot.  They're more interested in TV deals, wrapped boats and promoting guys who brake dance on the front deck of the boat after they've caught a fish all the while lining their pockets with money.  This is the perception the general populace sees of bass fishing.  It's not pretty.

This is why I fear for fishing.  This is why it's so vulnerable to attack from groups that could shutout fisherman in areas across the country.

BTW, I frequent a particular Florida SW fishing forum and am quite aware of the current juggling game going on between SW commercial fishermans rights and the average anglers. There are plenty of Charter Captains down there in the Gulf that are nervous about their future as the limits on Grouper and Snapper get batted around like a badminton bird, all the while the commercial long-liners seem to be on the positive end of the limits.  Regular old SW anglers now are faced with spending gobs of money to drive a boat offshore to fishing grounds only to be able to keep 1 whole fish.  Whoopie!  It's a mess down there but a lot of it has to do with better skilled anglers having better equipment that allows them to take more of the catch than in days gone by.  I have no answer, the anglers down there are fighting tooth and nail. I hope they win and I've signed my share of on-line petitions for those guys so they can keep their rights.  

[senile1]

just based on some of the stuff I have already known. However, a quick search turned up this long, but quite informative article, written to try to cut through the BS.

http://www.fishingnj.org/netusa27.html

Please read the whole thing if you have the time, but if not, at least scroll down to the first graph, titled:

"Participation in recreational fishing"

Fish

Thanks for the very informative and stimulating article, Fish Chris. I, for one, appreciate this. We have to be informed anglers, and to be informed, it takes more than just reading the newspapers and watching the TV news programs which promote a shallow understanding of most issues.

[Fish Chris]

and if I may reiterate one point, it would just have to be that we need to look beyond ourselves.

Most especially, for myself ! Heck, in my world, just about everybody is a fisherman ! A whole bunch of them fish tournies, and there seem to be trophy bass guys everywhere I look ! Young people.... old people.... Most are really passionate about it too ! No worries, right ?

......but then I have to stop and remind myself; This is just the crowd I have chosen to surround myself with. In reality though, I know things are not so rosy for the fishing world.

You just have to cut through the garbage. Don't be fooled by the sugar coating.

Peace,

Fish

[senile1]

Very good point.  I was thinking the same thing earlier today.  Many of us on this forum spend our time talking with like-minded fishermen and since we're surrounded by these people we aren't aware that we may be a decreasing minority in the sports world.  

[Rattlinrogue]

I think that it will increase.With the bigger coverage that bassin' gets on TV,I think more and more young people that normally would not be turned on by fishing are seeing that bassin' is "cool" and not just a bunch of hillbillies(hillbillies are a welcome and major force in our sport also).I notice that many of the younger anglers on this forum are not who you would think would be obssessed with bassin',but they are.This is very encouraging news for the sport of fishing in general and bassin' in particular.

[c17Lat]

On a serious note, I don't believe in global warming on that large of a scale. I believe the earth goes through heating and cooling cycles

The earth of course does go through natural warming/cooling cycles. It also goes through unnatural cooling/heating cycles. For example a large volcanic eruption or asteroid strike causes a drastic cooling cycle. Massive release of greenhouse gasses causes a drastic warming cycle.

I hate not to talk about bass fishing hear, but how can you not believe that global warming is a serious problem worldwide? of course the earth goes through natural heating and cooling cycles, but there is just too much evidence to think what's going on now is just part of a normal cycle. the ten hottest years EVER MEASURED have all occured in the last 14 years. polar bears are drowning because there is a huge lack of ice in the arctic. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. i could go further into this, but we will no doubtedly release more greenhouse gases in the future as the population increase and if we don't do anything about it now, bass fishing might be ruined in the futre. pleas watch an inconvenient truth