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Member
Posts: 39
| I'm asking this on a number of sites and would greatly appreciate your input on this important issue.
Seems to me we need to get an understanding of why it is that the numbers of people joining the ranks as fishermen is gradually dropping nationwide.
Are our dropping numbers of youth getting into fishing a result of a lack of recruitment to the sport on our part, or our enability to retain them once they reach that certain age that other influences take them away?
What can/should we do about it?
License sales are dropping nationwide, and I think it is best for us to understand why it is, and maybe figure out what it is we as a group can do to stem this tide.
Thanks for all your input.
P.S. It's nice to be back!!  |
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Location: Rhinelander | Jack,
It's all the above and more. I'd say one of the biggest problems is that Mom and Dad have to work two jobs or worse in many cases, and folks just don't take their kids fishing as much as is needed.
Look at AYA as one of the fronts in the battle to get kids out of the house and mall and back into the out of doors.
http://www.angleryoungangler.ca/
Several NPAA Pros have set up a serious program to get kids fishing and have done a great job.
http://www.npaa.net/
Good to hear from you again, sir. |
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Member
Posts: 160
Location: Menasha, WI | Thank you for taking the time to come to this page and read about our upcoming event. In June of 2009 we are planning our 4th Annual Kids Wish For Fish Event. It is not a tournament or a contest, but an event where we are taking several kids out on the lake for a day of fishing and fun, that normally would not get the chance to go out on a fully rigged boat.. The event will last for about 3 or 4 hours of fishing from Calumet County Park boat launch, and then after we are done fishing, we are going to go to the Brickyard Fishing Club for some quick lunch and to give away door prizes to all the kids. I am looking forward to this more than I am about any of my upcoming tournaments. This lake has given me so much and I feel this is a chance for me to give something back to both the lake and to those kids that do not have the opportunity to fish it like we all do. I hope you consider helping out for this event.
We are in need of volunteers for this great event, and we would love to have you jump on board and help out. If you can skip a day of fishing and want to help out, please contact me, and let me know your availability. You will not be turned away. We choose this day every year, because it is the free fishing weekend in WI, and this way, there are no expenses occured to the parents/guardians that accompany the child.
We are in need of several boats for the event as well. All boats must be USCG approved, proper PFDS, have a marine radio or cell phone in the boat, fire extinguisher, all safety gear must be current and in place, flares, cell phone, flat bottom,and there will be no tillers allowed. The boaters that participate in this event will not get paid, you must have a partner with you, and must be willing to use your own equipment,gas, and bait. Remember, you are donating your time, so please consider that before you volunteer your boat. You must also have your own insurance for your boat.
I want to thank the Darboy/Sherwood Optimist club for being a major sponsor and contributor to this event.
We are in need of funds as well. This is the tough one. This event will cost us about $3,000.00 for one day. If there are extra funds available after the event is done, it will go into a bank account for the following year. We hope to have this grow on a yearly basis. There is a lot of red tape that needs to be taken care of before we can hold the event. We are asking for donations to this event as well.
All donors names will be posted at Val's Bait and Tackle for those attending the event to see who helped support the event. If you do not want your name to be known, we can keep that discreet as well. There are several costs involved in this event, and I will list a few for you to see below:
Liability Insurance
Waiver Forms
Medical Staff
Boat Launch Fees
Food
Pop
Ice
Chips
Door Prizes for the kids
Transportation to and from the event
Miscellaneous expenses related directly to the event
This group of people involved in the Kids Wish for Fish event are trying to get these kids involved. Several of you from WalleyeFirst have helped in the past and I look forward to you all helping out in the future. Feel free to contact me for more details at [email protected] or call me at 920.716.3620. Maybe WalleyeFirst will consider coming to the event and doing some interviews with these youngsters. That would be awesome and you all would love to see their smiles and their excitement as they tell you about the big sheepshead they caught. I mean it, it is awesome!
Edited by Axl 2/4/2009 1:00 AM
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Member
Posts: 1991
| You know I have a 10 and 14 year old, I give them every chance to do outdoors stuff, camping, scouts, hunting and fishing. They both like doing the stuff, but living in a metro area they cant walk out the back door like I did growing up on the country, heck nothing like grabbing the 22 and go out in your backyard and shoot. As far as fishing I make it available to them, I fixed up a 12' tin boat for them to use on the local lake. One thing I noticed is hardly non of their friends do the outdoors stuff, parents are so wrapped up in school sports, week nights and weekends are hockey, football baseball basketball on and on....... And my kids are pulled away by their friends so it is a struggle to keep them interested in the outdoors
Look at where most of the population is, urban areas, I bet if you went and did a survey of kids who livein the country it would be different
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Member
Posts: 1188
Location: Chicago IL. | Kirt, I will have to agree with you. There is just not enough time in lives in urban areas to go. I know raiseing my kids we were on the go all the time, before the video/ computer era .Camping fishing hikeing. It was rare for us to be home on the weekends. Times have changed for sure. We try to keep our grandson busy in the outdoors,but its hard when his friends dont. We fish the AYA here and he is already pumped even tho is months away. He is giving that superman pole a work out getting ready. I was already told by him to forget the sheepheads and go for the walleyes this year!!! It dont get any better. |
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Posts: 3899
| In my own house, I have Eric, 17, and he could care less. He doesn't like to get up early to go fishing. He'd rather spend his free time on that stupid PS/3. Then there is Lauren, 13, who loves to go fishing with me. She'll go almost any time, for any species. Loves catching fish, whether it's big Green Bay eyes and muskies, eaters from Bago, or panfish. She is the one who will stick with it as she grows older. Eric, I'm not so sure. He has no interest in tourney fishing at this point. I may do a FUll Throttle with Lauren this summer, just to see if she likes that. Otherwise, it's fishing for fun, and a couple meals.
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Posts: 794
Location: Elgin, Illinois | Each year for the last four years, our club, Northern Illinois Walleye Club, has hosted a Kid's Fishing Clinic. It is held at Shabbonna State Park on the Free Fishing Day in June. We have always had around 30-45 kids and their parents. We provide some basic instruction, a free lunch for everyone (including parents), bait and now we also provide each kid with a new spincast outfit and some tackle. I can't say with any certainty, but my opinion is that we kindle a spark in a few of those kids every year. We hope that the parents follow through and keep bringing those kids along as they grow.
My kids are grown... My oldest daughter, now a mother of two, has no interest. My son is an avid fisherman. My youngest daughter, 22, loves to fish. So, I guess I have passsed it on to the next generation. I will see how well I do with my grandchildren???? |
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Posts: 1195
Location: Orland Park, IL | He shep seen the same thing with the neighbors boy. Was more into sports, chicks, etc., everything but fishing. Now that is 18 and ready for college, I see him spending more time with his pops. Which is what I like to see.
I wish I could say every time I take the boy fishing, its about fishing. Fishing is probably 20% of the time, the rest is eating junk fook, makeing a "fort" out of towels on the boat, pee'in in the water, etc. |
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Member
Posts: 82
| Every summer our BASS Club assists a local conservation group with their Kids Fishing Derby, after the Derby we host a Casting Kids event. It is a casting compition set up and organized by BASS, the winning kids advance to the State Championship, and winner there goes to a Regional.
BASS provides a medal to the winners, our club gives out Plano Tackleboxes to each kid that enters, Plano Molding donates them to us...nice stuff too. We also give every kid at both events tackle bags...plastics, bobbers, line...etc.
Every year it gets bigger and bigger, last year we gave out over 70 tackleboxes, and over 100 tackle packs. The kids love it. |
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Member
Posts: 1656
| Video games.....the demise of any outdoor related activity. Wish the WI DNR could see this as well instead of creating a Youth xxx for whatever sport they want to recruit.
Instant gratification society. If the kid ain't happy, buy it for them. Lack of creativity and simple pleasure, not only the demise of outdoor activity....America's laziness is catching up with it, one generation at a time.
Edited by Jayman 2/4/2009 10:46 AM
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Member
Posts: 1406
| Is there a reason for the reduction in licenses?
I think all of the above are right and there are many of us that spend hours upon hours trying to get our youth involved. but more importantly we should look at the fact that there are not as many young people in this world today. We baby boomers were considered privledged and as a group were the healthiest and wealthiest, we knew that our lives would improve, and we knew the value of activities like fishing. The generation X and Y have been brought up with these values and our desire to want more out of life. Yet their social activities and the struggle they are seeing today is nothing like that of our past.
Given todays state of economic crisis I can't say the feelings of todays younger generation feel the same way and their values are entirely different because of what we as a society have taught them.
We boomers were told that the boob tube would ruin our lives as we sat in front of it for hours upon hours similarly to that of todays generation with video games. Can you LIVE without a TV today? Is an x-box console really that different than my Zenith console? Can we really blame them for the demise of the fishing industry? Heck I sit here today wondring how we got anything done in years past without the internet and cellphones.
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Member
Posts: 319
| Personally I believe fishing licenses are dropping because many are deciding to take the chance and fish without buying one, trying to save money I guess. Fishing is not what it used to be, it used to be one of the main staples of recreation for younger people, now there are so many other variables. I think if the economy gets worse you will slowly see the interest in fishing rise in the young again. It will be one of the few things they will be able to afford. |
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Posts: 1314
Location: Menasha, WI | I think there are some pretty good observations here. However, I don't think we can reduce the problem down to a single causal factor -- all of the things listed here likely contribute in some way. As a parent of 2 young 'uns myself, I think another factor is the lack a freedom afforded to children in this day and age (some justifiable, some ridiculous). When I was a kid we could bike 2 -- 3 miles to go fishing and our parents wouldn't bat an eye. This was in the Twin Cities, not the sticks. Today a kid leaving his own block is a big freakin' deal. I am fortunate to live close to Winnebago and I allow my 8 year old to go down the block to the lake alone to fish -- you can only imagine the 'concern' we hear from other butt-in-ski parents. I really think the lack of opportunity for kids to develop their own interests in their own way is part of the problem. |
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Member
Posts: 39
| I'm guessing to some extent, our own fishing technology is working against us to some measure. Many of us were first recruited into fishing by just sitting on the shore with a pole and a can of worms we dug out of the backyard (or neighbors garden  )! We would sit there and wonder to ourselves...what's down there? What type of fish is going to be there today? Is there one looking at my bait right now? In other words, there was a measure of intrigue and mystery to what we were doing and what might happen. As already stated, kids now days are totally submerged in technology, and they use it and understand it earlier and better than most any of us here at our older age. So what happens when they get into what is today considered a "typical" fishing boat with 1 or 2 graphs, a GPS with map chips, a bow mount trolling motor, maybe a camera. They see all the technology at work and they see fish are there, so to them, the game has been won. There is no mystery or intrigue. Take that same kid, and go out in a boat with maybe only a flasher, or nothing at all and the young minds start to wonder again...whats down there? whats happening down there? Are there any fish here?
Edited by jack dunn 2/4/2009 5:22 PM
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Member
Posts: 63
| Well im still in high school and live in Central PA. Not any big city for like 4 hours unless you count State College. I would say less than 20% fish and most of them only go the first day of trout to catch some stockies but way less than that go regularly. Most of my friends would rather go get hammered then to go fishing. I would say maybe 10-20 kids out of 1400 go fishing on a pretty regular basis in my school. Possibly a few more. It's not like we dont have great fishing here either we have some of the best trout waters in the US plus the susquehanna is here and that is filled with big smallmouths, walleye, muskies(not filled with them), catfish, and panfish.
I dont know why kids dont go fishing around because usually when someone does go fishing with me they really enjoy it. Maybe they just aren't willing to do it all the time or invest the money it takes to catch nice fish on a regular basis. So if they aren't catching anything they lose interest. Plus it seems like less adults fish around here than there used to be when my dad and his friends where kids. |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | I grew up in chicago, about 3 miles west of comiskey, right in mayor rich daleys worlds. AP down the block, Goldblatt up another block, dad worked 42 years for the gum factory a few miles down. Mom worked nights for 24 years in the same factory. During the summer it was fishing and baseball in the goldblatts parking lot. Thats it. Thats all my crew did. Mckinley park, sherman park, and marquette park. Fishing poles were on our bikes, like those long cb antennas. Bait wasnt fancy, worms or corn.
Now I live in suburbia, less congestion, middle class. I would be nuts to let the boy go to the pond a few blocks away. |
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Member
Posts: 32
Location: Green Bay | number #1 mom don't fish/don't know how and dad ain't around kids don't have the patience, they excpect immedite gratifcation a.k.a video games people are moving to the cities for jobs and getting away from the weekends of fishing, it's become a vacation item rather than a lifestyle. kids aren't expose to fishing on a regular basis, there by they never learn that it takes time or never have a chance at quality fishing experience, lt's become lots of boats on the water and partying. lakes that once were quiet have way to many water skis and jet skis and jet skis are more fun than getting up early to freeze on a lake ....bored fishing is a discipline and discipline is hard to come by these days, it's hard to catch a fish in the middle of the day, but sleeping in til 9 am is easier. fishing is expensive, choices have to be made, family needs vs "entertainment" my cousin and i grew up fishing. he has two kids and hasn't wet a line in two years. last time was with me when i took him ice fishing, he hasn't gone since. not that desire isn't there but the focus of of his life has changed, he makes the choice to do other things, his daughters will know thw family vacation up north, catch a few bluegills as children then propbaly never take up fishing. fishing is a life style that is hard to do in certain places. In stevens point when i lived there, i had the wi river in my backyard, it took me nearly a year to figure out how to consitantly catch fish, then in the summer if i wasn't on the water at day break, by 9 am the river was full of other people competing for a space, it was crowded, I fish to escape the crowds, it looses it's luster when the stress is so high that i'd rather be at home in my garden vs flipping peole off for cutting at top speed through the hole i was fishing. at 12 i recall being dropped off at the pier to fish becaus a ugly divorce has occured and i didn't have any one to take me, but at that time nobody worried about predator. when I was 13, my parents let me ride my bike two miles down the road to fish a stream by myself, and i didn't get killed. at 16 i was getting up at 3:30 am to be on the dock three miles away at first light, ulitmately my parents trusted me but let me screw up once in a while, they knew i loved to fish and fostered that passion, parents don't let kids take chances I could go on........
Edited by Phishy 2/4/2009 9:48 PM
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Member
Posts: 650
| I'll throw this in... "POSTED, NO FISHING" We used to hop on our bikes and take off all summer fishing... now these neat spots are shut down... |
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Member
Posts: 921
Location: Manitowoc, WI | Good conversation! I am 47 with a 7 1/2 and a 6 yr old. Believe me, my Dad was right when he said " Wait til you have kids." I take my boys out every chance I get which I believe is not often enough. Tip #1: Make it fun. I let them bring their DS games along for when we are trolling, they have something to amuse themselves. They fight over who will be reeling in the next fish. Tip #2: Your kids comfort level is not the same as yours. If there are 2 footers out on the lake, they may not enjoy that. When that happens to me, I simply turn our fishing trip into a fun boat ride. I try to get them a little wet on purpose like they are at the water park. Although with a Tuffy that isn't too easy. Nice plug huh Steve? Tip #3: Make the trip with younger ones about 4 hours max. they don't like being in a confined space too long. They like running up and down hills and riding their bikes. Hope this helps for anyone with younger children. Remember, make it fun for them. Let them drive the boat. let them turn on the electronics. Let them operate the trolling motor. Let them play with the nightcrawlers. You have all the time in the world to fish seriously. |
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Posts: 1195
Location: Orland Park, IL | Very nice horshak. 100% on board with that. |
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Posts: 744
| Do we have any state-specific info on license sales?
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Posts: 2300
Location: Berlin | Right on Horshak! I am going to print that post out and leave it in my boat this year. |
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| Heres the DNR's "plan" for the future. Over the next 20 years our population of baby boomers will double in size, estimated to be about 20% of our population over the age of 65. There will be alot more hours spent fishing unfortunately it isn't the younger generation.
http://dnr.wi.gov/invest/documents/fwhplan0713.pdf
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Member
Posts: 2445
Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | I will weigh in on this.
I would like to see the numbers as far as license sales and the age groups that are participating and those that are not. Everyone says kids kids kids gotta show them the sport. We know the world has changed in the last 4 decades, but who is not fishing? That is who is not buying the licenses. How do we know the kids aint fishing by the way? They dont need a license! The guys reading this board have better fishing than most adults ever get. You, my friends, are at the top of the food chain. Do you ever think that you will not catch fish when you go? I was just confronted by a lady the other day that stated that her and her husband fish but they don't and have never done really good. They catch a few here and there for dinner. They really appreciated the walleyes I gave them. I asked them if there son ever gives them fish and They said that there son is in his late 30's and quit fishing because he never caught anything.
After that discussion I thought that right there is a reason for folks to not go fishing, they dont catch anything. Maybe that is where the focus should go. If the parents dont fish, that kid will not fish anymore after the event anyhow, or the retention to the sport rate will be very very small. Have to put on family events that show dad what to do and where to go, kids how to rig the rods and moms a cooking and cleaning class, all on the same day. Teach the family. Give parents something they can do with there kids. re-teach what we learned along time ago.
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| Ya' just what we need the DNR funding the re-release of those male chauvinist 1950's Campbells soup and Mr.Clean ads |
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