The End of Days??

Just to follow on from Paul80's brilliant thread about fishing not being as popular these days,

What state do you think fishing will be in, in 25 years time?

Will it still exist at all? or will all these fishing schools that are around these days give it a new lease of life with lots of new blood installed?...or will it be similar to how it is today?

Personally, I think not, I think fishing will decline rapidly after this current generation dies off and then steadily go downhill until the next generation dies off and I reckon that will almost finish it off altogether. There doesn't seem to be enough youngsters coming into the sport to make me think any different.

...but that's just my opinion.....what do you think?

Maverick

Hi

If the last 40 years are anything to go by the future does not look to bright does it.

If something is not done soon it will be to late to save.

I blame the one species mob, Carp fishing is all most shops stock for, well the ones around here only stock carp gear.

Lakes only stocking carp which in turn makes fishing quite boring after awhile.

Sometimes I dream I have hooked a Roach or a Perch, only to find yet again its one of those boring carp again.

No wonder no one starts fishing these days.

Paulmg:

Know exactly what you mean Paul.

I simply can't get my head around why so many people go for that kind of fishing. I once watched a well known angler fishing a commercial and he was catching fish on a bare hook!!

Not for me I'm afraid and I think other things are going to contribute negative offerings in the very near future. What about the big tackle companies selling directly to the public because there isn't enough retail shops left to trade with?

What about having to get your bait from machines because there is hardly any tackle shops left?

What about having to buy your gear on line and cannot try it out because there isn't enough tackle shops left?

As you can clearly see Paul, I have little faith in the future of tackle shops, I really don't know how many of them are surviving at all.

Maverick

We will all be using Graphene rods and slagging off those Carbon traditionalists.

I'm not convinced. There's always been a lull in angling activity for many between 20 and 40(ish). Beer, women and kids often come along to cramp peoples style. Then, with the change in attitudes towards relationships, many fellas can't get away with abandoning the wife and kids to go fishing. Only when the kids get old enough to tag along, or be left to their own devices, does fishing become feasible again. Many of those that fish regularly between 20 and 40 are either divorced or sad acts, like myself, that have never been married (and are never likely to be given their obsessions).
I feel that it's pretty much always been the case that the most obsessive regular anglers are likely to be either 18-25ish or 50-60ish. Both groups that are likely to have the fewest commitments and the greatest disposable income. However, with the propensity for people to have kids at an ever increasing age, that upper age group is only likely to get older.

Admittedly, I don't live in or near a large urban area (where parents are likely to be very reluctant to leave their kids alone fishing), but I do still see youngsters (sub 18 years old) fishing without an adult/guardian. However, the sad fact is that many venues don't allow kids on their own. If, like myself, they don't have a parent/relative angler to take them, they'll never get started. I was lucky in that respect, my folks either took me and dumped me at a venue or allowed me to cycle to wherever I wished.

maverick 7 said:

I think fishing will decline rapidly after this current generation dies off and then steadily go downhill until the next generation dies off and I reckon that will almost finish it off altogether. There doesn't seem to be enough youngsters coming into the sport to make me think any different.

...but that's just my opinion.....what do you think?

Maverick

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Pretty accurate i think. May be some regional differences but i suspect that London and SE would go that way first.

I don't think Angling will die out, it will just keep smouldering along like it has done for the last 20 -30 years. I have the same opinion as Sam, people have different ideas now and unlike 30 or so years ago when droves of folk went fishing to get away from the factories people are now taking fishing up in their later years as something to do when the kids (or the wife!) have left home or they have less commitments than they used to.
It's the young ones that I worry about. When I was a kid you could not keep me indoors, these days youngsters just want to hide away in there cosy little bedrooms with there video games, very sad indeed

I also agree that fishing is declining in popularity and I also agree that it is a great shame that so many angers seem to go straight into carp fishing. Let's face it, unless one is fishing for carp on a big understocked water then carp are easy to catch - you just sit there and they hook themselves.

So many new anglers (of any age) are missing the thrill of a float disappearing, of learning to feed, etc, etc. I fish the Thames quite a lot (really stupid I know!) but these days it is rare to see another angler - actually you see far more cormorants than anglers ..... I think I've answered my own question!!!

If angling is really in decline then how come the the tackle companies seem to be booming? Companies like Preston and their satellite company Korum seem to roll out more new products every month! I know there are less tackle shops than there used to be, but that is due the the vast amount of gear available online, not because Angling is dying out and the tackle shops I use are allways very busy!
I think Angling is going to be around a lot longer than the Pessamists and doubters would have us believe.

I think Sam has some good points there........but it doesn't explain why the banks was crammed in the early 90's and practically empty now...well, a lot of them are anyway.

Surely the same situations that Sam has suggested are the cause of today's absenteeism would have also been apparent then as well, if those suggestions was indeed the cause. However, although I am not convinced they ARE the cause, I am sure those suggestions DO play some small part in it all somewhere along the line.

I know that there was a lot of talk between some of the big tackle companies a few years ago regarding selling direct to the public. The idea being that they would sell online with the added option of displaying and selling (taking orders) for their goods at regional "shows". This obviously would also give the companies opportunities to show off all their new gear too.

Despite all the negatives....I really can see that happening sometime in the future. Shops are falling like nine pins these days and there soon won't be enough for them to trade with. The obvious option to survive would be to sell direct to the public.

I really hope it doesn't go that way....but the signs are there for everyone to see.

Again.....just my opinion.

Maverick

---------- Post added at 00:56 ---------- Previous post was at 00:44 ----------

Hi Mark.......you're right, some tackle shops are still very busy but that is no indication that angling is NOT in decline. The surviving shops like Climax and Used Tackle are having a whale of a time mainly because they are enjoying a larger slice of the cake these days......not that much competition.

If angling is not in decline Mark......how do you explain the empty banks on rivers and the ever decreasing numbers on commercials?

Not too long ago, maybe 8 or 9 years..... there was talk of not being able to get on any of the commercials around my neck of the woods ( and there is quite a few) at weekends due to them being full all the time.....you can walk on any of them now with no problem whatsoever. I have reason to believe that the same situation exists on most of the commercial venues.

I am sure that there are some venues that are still very busy.....but 10 years ago they was ALL very busy.

There also used to be a lot of fringe angling companies around too...independant people that made clothing and luggage etc....but as the angling numbers fell, so did their orders....and that was the end of most of them.

Maverick

I can remember when I was a kid in our gang there were about fifeteen kids we would fish the local ponds and pits as a progression from draging for newts ect some had tackle some used sticks. By the time we were ten or eleven about ten of us fished with tackle on a regular basis . by the time we were sixteen only five of us were fishing that same five are still fishing today fifty years on. On the occaisions that I have taken my grandsons on commercial fisheries a good percentage have been youngsters there seems to be no shortage of them to me I think the magic of fishing will always attract youngsters to water and to fish look at the keeness of the youngster on the Crabtree programme my own grandchildren will go fishing at the drop of a hat there will always be people fishing as long as there are fish to be caught it is in the blood look around the world everywhere there is water people fish.

Where my other half lives in west Lancashire there are about 8 commies and 4 estate lakes within a radius of 5 miles and they are all doing well. All I can think of Maverick is that it must be a regional thing.
I know the shops are disappearing, it's like the record shops, it's all Internet sales and downloads. Who would have thought a big old company like HMV would vanish from our high streets?

I don't doubt for one minute that a lot of commercials are doing well......it is just that I reckon they used to do even better a few years ago.

I don't think my opinion is based on a regional thing either Mark because I do a fair bit of travelling on my fishing jaunts and I see it with my own eyes. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to see anyone on the banks ANYWHERE that are under the age of 40....a handful at the most.

As I said earlier, in my opinion angling is still doing OK....but just OK....but when the next 2 generations die off, I think things will take a huge change for the worse.

By the way Mark....sorry if I sound pessimistic, I don't mean to be. I am just trying to give a realistic view of how I see angling in the future.

Maverick

With rod licence sales up almost half a million since the start of the decade, is fishing really in decline?

Environment Agency - Rod Licence Sales

I actually wonder if it's not angling that is in decline but pleasure angling. Everybody seems to be a specialist of some kind or other these days.

Maybe the increase in families breaking up has some effect on angling

Without the parent who is into fishing (usually the father) a regular presence the children do not get the schooling in angling

Some tackle shops have disappeared for sure but has that been their own fault? I have been in tackle shops that have a very unfriendly atmosphere and have never gone in there again, other shops in this area don't stock what I need being more match orientated so I travel to shops that stock what I need some 20 miles away.

I realise that small shops cannot carry stocks of tackle to suit everyone but if they cater only for one type of angler they are loosing out on sales.

As far as angling being in decline if it is I don't think there is a simple answer as to why, it could be that its just not safe nowadays for kids to be able to go off fishing on their own as my mates and i did 50 odd years ago fishing was an adventure then although we got up to more than fishing it may be the recession that is stopping dads taking the kids bills must come first. of course the games industry has a lot to answer for as do parents that allow kids to sit in their bedrooms day after day living in some "unreal world" its not natural kids should be out discovering nature but as I said its not safe for them to do so its very sad. another reason for kids not coming into angling is the lack of places to fish, around this are there used to be loads of old clay holes/quarries /farm ponds even small streams that held fish and were free to fish most if not all have gone filled in and built on.

Lord Paul of Sheffield said:

Maybe the increase in families breaking up has some effect on angling

Without the parent who is into fishing (usually the father) a regular presence the children do not get the schooling in angling

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I cannot remember one parent who fished out of at least ten of us in our gang none of my family fished yet myself and my two brothers who were bought up seperate from myself all fish and we never got back together till I was 50 and none of their family fished either . we just fished and picked it up from whoever would show us.

Maverick,
I don't think you are being pessimistic mate, you have your views and its your right to.

Blanker,
I have the same view as you about the kids of today, they just don't seem to take an interest in the natural world around them anymore. As for tackle shops loosing trade because they are unfriendly, well you do have a very good point!

Going back to the carp fishing thing being more popular, well, IMO I think it is a materialistic thing with the young folk of today! We have a couple of lads at work that are carp Anglers. But the only thing you hear them talk about is all the fancy tackle they buy/own and never about the fish they have/ have not caught. It's a very materialistic world we live in today I'm afraid! mg:

mark brailsford 2 said:

Maverick,
I don't think you are being pessimistic mate, you have your views and its your right to.

Blanker,
I have the same view as you about the kids of today, they just don't seem to take an interest in the natural world around them anymore. As for tackle shops loosing trade because they are unfriendly, well you do have a very good point!

Going back to the carp fishing thing being more popular, well, IMO I think it is a materialistic thing with the young folk of today! We have a couple of lads at work that are carp Anglers. But the only thing you hear them talk about is all the fancy tackle they buy/own and never about the fish they have/ have not caught. It's a very materialistic world we live in today I'm afraid! mg:

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I t is because it is the easiest form of fishing these days and the fashion Years ago before carp fishing became a easy option it was a barbour solway and a effgeco major tackle box a leather bottomed rod holdall and a CTM or blue match with a mitchell match.

I always thought I was a fairly miserable pessimist, but I've obviously got nothing on some doom mongers.

I can't quite get my head wrapped round the idea that the numbers fishing commercials are down significantly, especially with the number of threads running where people are moaning how terrible it is to fish such places shoulder to shoulder with the hordes.

I can't help but wonder if those that percieve that angling is in such great decline are part of certain groups and not others. I suspect that many match, river and club anglers would perceive that their types of angling are in decline. They are never likely to see the big carp commercials that are packed out even in the depths of winter. They aren't going to see the syndicated waters that can have waiting lists many years long.
Ask a carper, barbeller or even the average weekend angler, and I'm not sure they'd agree that angling is on the decline. It's certainly changing, but I'm still far from convinced by those claiming it's in a big decline.

Over the years I've also become more convinced that lifestyles are changing significantly. I've been a shift worker on and off for the last twenty years. That's given me quite an insight. Twenty years ago, if I went fishing midweek, I'd invariably have places, even commercials, almost to myself, unless I went in the school holidays. That's not the case any more. Increasing numbers of folks have leisure time that doesn't revolve around working nine to five, Monday to Friday. If yours does, and you happen to be a matchman, river angler or clubman, it would be very easy to believe that angling is dying.