Fly fishing cost and future generations

[taffy1]

I think if tackle was particularly expensive people would buy less of it, no sign of that.

Maybe it's not the tackle down south that's the expense, more probably the venues & the travelling costs to visit them.

 

[taffy1]

Refering back to the OP, Fly(ing?) Fishing cost & future generations, things need to be put in perspective. As youngsters, many of us took to the hobby, then education, employment, partners & family etc. intrude, then, a more disposable income becomes available once the fledglings have left the nest. Once again the opportunity arises to resume a hobby of bygone years. Hence, the older generation of fishermen (& women where the case may be.).

 

[ohanzee]

Maybe it's not the tackle down south that's the expense, more probably the venues & the travelling costs to visit them.

If venues are 'too expensive' then people would stop using them, sounds like someone just realised their standard of living has shifted.

 

[taffy1]

If venues are 'too expensive' then people would stop using them, sounds like someone just realised their standard of living has shifted.

Where else can you go if that's all that's available to you? A trip to Scotland, Ireland or Wales would be far more, abroad maybe out of the question. Who knows?

 

[ohanzee]

Where else an you go if that's all that's available to you? A trip to Scotland, Ireland or Wales would be far more, abroad maybe out of the question. Who knows?

I completely appreciate that, just saying the reason is not because its too expensive if the places are still getting custom, demand is clearly there.

 

[anzac]

I completely appreciate that, just saying the reason is not because its too expensive if the places are still getting custom, demand is clearly there.

Agreed. Which begs the question: where are the majority of clubs that are begging for members located? As a guess, I'd say not up north, but the Midlands south. Am I wrong?

 

[ohanzee]

Agreed. Which begs the question: where are the majority of clubs that are begging for members located? As a guess, I'd say not up north, but the Midlands south. Am I wrong?

No idea, I'm so far north it doesn't cost much, but I would hazard a guess that the south is very expensive because they have less water, the middle is middling, and the north is cheap, or something like that.

 

[taffy1]

Some areas in Wales can be on the reasonable side of cheap, research on interweb can provide this information, providing an angler can do this resaearch.

 

[icejohn]

Taffy1, tx got spell check lol. Phones ehh.

In terms of venues and availability be that rivers or lakes. Why have some waters gone mixed fisheries? Due to a decline in trout anglers. That's more the Midlands and the south. Is that decline due to cost of tickets? I would say yes. Venues justify the ticket saying ohh 50 quid you can take 8 etc sizeable fish home. That's fantastic value etc. But they know neh count on stats wise that anglers blank! People only get one or two etc.

What happens when the fishing gets tough ie high summer temperatures lots of weed anglers stop going fishing for those reasons and the perceived "value" is "no point in wasting 50 quid" on catching nothing or one fish if you lucky.

But I maintain that unless you have a local trout river 20 min drive or less from your door and its cheap to join etc. Then overall fishing costs have gone up. So even if the reputation / fishery reports say x amount of fish caught this week, rod avg is high etc. People can only afford to go x amount of times throughout the year.

 

[LukeNZ]

In real terms, IMO fly fishing is cheaper than it's ever been. You can buy an acceptable stillwater fly fishing kit for less than £100, eg. https://www.pauls-angling-supplies.co.uk/complete-reel-lines-tackle-p-1129.html. plus £22 for 6 hours fishing at my local lake. Not only that, the average disposable income has nearly doubled since 1980, so most of us have more money to spend on none essentials.

Angling pressure is what drives costs up. In the UK, somebody always owns the water, and based on pressure levels, the cost goes up, obviously.
Here in NZ all water is owned by everyone. We keep our population at a healthy level.
We buy a cheap daily, weekly or annual license, depending on how keen you are, which essentially covers national resource management snd improvement. You can fish anywhere you want.
UK fishing is unfair and elitist - in that, you all can't fish anywhere you want. The best waters cost a fortune, if you can get on at all. Totally unfair and fcked up forever more.

 

[JoeOh]

Refering back to the OP, Fly(ing?) Fishing cost & future generations, things need to be put in perspective. As youngsters, many of us took to the hobby, then education, employment, partners & family etc. intrude, then, a more disposable income becomes available once the fledglings have left the nest. Once again the opportunity arises to resume a hobby of bygone years. Hence, the older generation of fishermen (& women where the case may be.).

So true, born to fish and life intervenes.

 

[BobP]

Refering back to the OP, Fly(ing?) Fishing cost & future generations, things need to be put in perspective. As youngsters, many of us took to the hobby, then education, employment, partners & family etc. intrude, then, a more disposable income becomes available once the fledglings have left the nest. Once again the opportunity arises to resume a hobby of bygone years. Hence, the older generation of fishermen (& women where the case may be.).

There is very large slice of truth in that, and in fact it was researched by the EA several years ago in one of their major efforts to get people into, or back into, fishing. We were particularly keen to attract the "grey" vote, ie people who had retired, and many then did so at 60 or even earlier and research indicated that these were relatively well-off as the mortgage was paid, the kids had left and they had time on their hands.

I guess I am a fairly classic case. Mad keen on fishing in my youth and early teens, but opportunities for trout were very limited where we lived, and those that were available were either too far to ride to on a bike or out of reach of a 15/- a week paper round. My father took me to Weir Wood Reservoir on one or two occasions, but he wasn't so well-heeled that he could afford two full day tickets too often. No concessions for youngsters back then. My trout fishing exploits were centred around worming for trout in Wales on holiday or using grasshoppers for bait in Austria. Fly fishing didn't enter my life in any meaningful way for several years.

Then in the mid-teens along came exams, rapidly followed by girl friends, further education, work, marriage and family. Fishing? What was that?

Luckily, after a few false starts I found my niche in life in fisheries management so in that respect I've been damned fortunate. Fishing, and now fly fishing, once more became a large part of my life, but it wasn't until my mid-twenties that it did so.

Two things, though, stuck in my mind from my occasional early forays into fly fishing on stillwaters. It was relatively expensive considering the pay scales of the day, and there were very few younger people doing it. On one day at Weir Wood with my father there were about 40 people fishing, and I was far & away the youngest.

In discussions with those who are trying hard to get more people into angling I have made the point that trying to get youngsters involved is largely waste of time. Get them into it early by all means, but accept the fact that the vast majority will follow the same path that I, and many, many others, have followed in that in their late teens through to their mid-30's fishing will be at best a very occasional outing. By the time they are in the mid-30's they should be more financially stable, God and Covid permitting, and have more time to devote to things outside of the home. Mid-30's up to retirement age is the target audience. Give the kids a taste, but make that taste a good one, and then let them come back to it later.

 

[ejw]

All depends on what you will settle for ! If you want to catch trout of a decent size, you will have to pay. If you don't mind what you catch on fly, it can be very cheap. It also depends on how much work you are prepared to put in to find fishing.
My local river club has faired well this year, with a full membership, more have joined for some of the reasons quoted in posts e.g. Closer for some than their normal rivers. Cheaper than their normal waters. No joining fee !
The Club has been going since 1906 and the rented length dropped to its lowest in the 1990's. The Clubs Committee then took over a failed syndicate to increase its fishing. It now has 3 miles of river and has refused more due to maintenance limitations. Highly regarded by the NRW due to its conservation work, but cheap to fish at £50 p.a.
There are quite a few Clubs that are struggling for members, but communication can be difficult, as in, no website or the loss of "Key" members. "Word of mouth" is still the best way to find "Good" fishing. The Farming community is the key.

I stayed in a remote cottage in mid Wales last year and could see a small river below. I spoke to the cottage owner, he spoke to the farmer and I got free fishing ! Result. The water was not fished and the farmer was pleased that someone wanted to use it ? He had never been asked before !!!

The cottage above where we stayed had two lakes, on talking to the owner, he showed me round, never considered "fishing", he just liked to sit by the water. He had put fish in the larger lake (about an acre) to give his grandchildren something to look for ! As it happened I could point out a problem and why he had not seen fish recently ? A family of Otters had moved in !! Initially he was not happy, but was then interested in setting up a wildlife camera.

Best suggestion is to look around your "local" area. Find any rivers / streams / ponds. Talk to the land owners. See if fishing is viable. It maybe that you need a few friends to help with "work" or "costs". I know of several syndicate waters within 20 miles of me, but they are not advertised and new members are all "known and vouched for" by existing members.

 

[JoeOh]

If you are lucky to live close, some reservoir season tickets can offer very cheap fishing.
Season ticket at Rutland, cheapest starts at £550 equaling £1.70 per day of the Season.I know some (retired) who fish every day !
Thames London reservoirs, season ticket £390 equaling just over £1.00 a day. This is for a 75 fish annual limit, but the only downside is some taking that in a month.
Of course, proximity is the key to this, as a season ticket not so viable to those with demands on their time and travel costs

 

[skyeman1]

Angling pressure is what drives costs up. In the UK, somebody always owns the water, and based on pressure levels, the cost goes up, obviously.
Here in NZ all water is owned by everyone. We keep our population at a healthy level.
We buy a cheap daily, weekly or annual license, depending on how keen you are, which essentially covers national resource management snd improvement. You can fish anywhere you want.
UK fishing is unfair and elitist - in that, you all can't fish anywhere you want. The best waters cost a fortune, if you can get on at all. Totally unfair and fcked up forever more.

Sounds great. Are there no restrictions at all? ie access is always open to any angler with a licence? No deals between guides and landowners?

 

[glueman]

Sounds great. Are there no restrictions at all? ie access is always open to any angler with a licence? No deals between guides and landowners?

So I own a lake or river bank I can charge what I want from a few pounds to many hundreds of pounds. My land,my pond.

 

[ed_t]

Don't want to interrupt a perfectly good argument but I'm just a bit lost with costs bit, I get by with one rod and a spare somewhere, and I have not bought anything but tippet for a couple of years, maybe more, everything I need there, no desire to fill cupboards with more.

A ticket is probably cheaper for me here than in England, that balances with me maybe spending more on diesel.

I'm not seeing it, I think if tackle was particularly expensive people would buy less of it, no sign of that.

A rare agreement. Tackle tarts can spend, spend, spend, whatever the hobby, fishing is still relatively cheap.

I'm still stuck in NI and a lad i was chatting to said the golf clubs were reducing joining fees and season memberships. Cycling was taking people away from golf clubs.

There's a quarry just round the corner that is full of mountain bikers on the weekends, a fair few of them, older gals and gents, on battery assisted.

A few months back a cycle club had a road time trial set up the start/finish pits just outside our site. Looking around that the average cost of bicycle would be about £5,000. The posh ones with turbo trainers and track bikes, van and 4 sets of wheels are on for £30k of kit.

Fishing is cheap but my thought is the blood sport aspect has put kids off, even if c&r. Also as said above, kids are given phones and playststions and can amuse themselves indoors, whereas when i was a nipper it was out the house at sunrise, back for lunch, and home in time for dinner, none of the worrying about being out of sight.

 

[eddleston123]

Fishing is cheap but my thought is the blood sport aspect has put kids off, even if c&r.

That is the biggest threat to angling - I personally, can see the demise of this sport within the next 10 -15 years.


Douglas

 

[sean freeman]

I prefer wild lochs and llyns that cost nothing, obviously there is the expense of driving to these places but once there you can camp for free or at a decent site for very little.

That is the biggest threat to angling - I personally, can see the demise of this sport within the next 10 -15 years.


Douglas

I can’t see attitudes changing that much, there is a small outspoken minority but most people don’t give a **** about fish let alone fishing!

In the states many of the young fly fishermen/women are environmentalists too and it’s also got a much cooler image there.
I think the main problem in the U.K. is the image of the sport as an old mans game. Youngsters not taking up fishing becomes less of a problem when many people come to fly fishing mid life or later. I know when I have kids I’ll attempt to introduce them.

 

[eddleston123]

In the states many of the young fly fishermen/women are environmentalists too and it’s also got a much cooler image there.
I think the main problem in the U.K. is the image of the sport as an old mans game. Youngsters not taking up fishing becomes less of a problem when many people come to fly fishing mid life or later. I know when I have kids I’ll attempt to introduce them.