FFing is dying

[Swattie87]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Maybe we just don't need anymore kids who have barely been fly fishing for a decade becoming pro-staff guides...

How else do you get the stickers for your fishing vehicle then?

 

[troutbert]

He said that the fishing quality has decreased a lot in Maine since 1960. But he didn't say how or why.

If it's actually true that that happened, that's the most important topic to explore.

If fish populations are plummeting, that's a significant issue.

If the number of people fishing goes down somewhat, that's much less of an issue.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

troutbert wrote:
He said that the fishing quality has decreased a lot in Maine since 1960. But he didn't say how or why.

If it's actually true that that happened, that's the most important topic to explore.

If fish populations are plummeting, that's a significant issue.

If the number of people fishing goes down somewhat, that's much less of an issue.

I completely agree w/ that. He wasn't even alive in the 60s, so I'd like to know what that's being based upon. Heck, when you listen to some folks around here, they'd say the same thing about PA fly fishing.

 

[supervdl]

One positive thing about new technologies is the fact that information is much more available to new flyfishers (like on here) and it is easier to connect to others. I am not in my twenties and it is as challenging now to find time for it than it would have been back in those days for me. However, the information and connection to other anglers makes it easier to get into flyfishing. Not sure if I would have started getting into it without those.

 

[redietz]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Maybe we just don't need anymore kids who have barely been fly fishing for a decade becoming pro-staff guides...

Who else is going to do the hard work for low pay?

 

[The_Sasquatch]

redietz wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Maybe we just don't need anymore kids who have barely been fly fishing for a decade becoming pro-staff guides...

Who else is going to do the hard work for low pay?

Illegal immigrants?

 

[sarce]

I think the author seems focused on trout fishing and instead of feeling defeated by not finding people who want to drive hours for good trout fishing, he might want to consider smallmouth bass and stripers...it is Maine after all.

I'm turning 27 soon and tend to agree with a few people here who mentioned that it's hard to find the time to learn something new right now. Most of my friends are way too busy to suddenly learn to fly fish. I agree that it's not as hard as people make it out to be, but a lot of people I've taken only get out a few times a year. Fortunately I learned in high school before I got more busy. I rarely find time to fish during the week.

 

[rrt]

On the other hand, some of us are getting too old....

 

[gulfgreyhound]

I'm so old I fart dust. GG

 

[rrt]

GGH,

Well, heck, you can still fart!

 

[geebee]

troutbert wrote:
He said that the fishing quality has decreased a lot in Maine since 1960. But he didn't say how or why.

If it's actually true that that happened, that's the most important topic to explore.

he's talking about Southern Maine and my understanding is that he is largely correct. likewise for the major NH streams and Eastern MA waters.

its the same problem as everywhere - warming streams, extraction, logging, clearing, invasive species (bass) etc etc.

when i lived in MA and fished the NH streams i was shocked at how poor the fishing was - mostly stocked, mostly put and take, a lot of slow frog water type creeks.

all three states have the small blue lines scattered around them with small ST populations but the major creeks and rivers are a bust.

which is odd considering how far north they are and how good the CT fishing is.

TU in ME, NH and MA are working hard along with American Rivers are working hard but they are way behind the curve compared to CT and their conservation and enforcement.

CT aggressively defend and monitor their Class1 and Class 1/2 watersheds from development, extraction and stocking, they really are a role model for fishery management in a developed State.

Living just south of Boston i had wild brown trout, wild sea run brown trout and stocked sea run salmon 90 minutes away in Connecticut in dozens of streams, or the odd stocked rainbow stream in NH or Southern Maine two hours + away.

After i figured it out, it wasn't a hard choice - the only NH fishing I did was the Landlocked Salmon run out of Winnipesaukee after ice out and that was it.

have a look at the Trout and Rivers & Streams pages of the Anglers Guide :

https://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/fishing/anglers_guide/anguide_part2.pdf

a lot of protected water in CT, not so in NH and Southern ME.

 

[afishinado]

^ yes.

The decline of brook trout populations is a pretty widely known reality in Maine. I spent a day fishing with a Maine college professor who wrote a guide to fishing book about Maine. He really opened my eyes to all their problems. Here is a link to a really good article detailing the issues >

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/08/22/outdoors/were-guilty-of-underappreciating-maines-native-brook-trout/

 

[Mike]

Meanwhile, despite global warming, many of our wild trout populations are expanding in Pa, occupying streams that have not harbored trout for years, extending their longitudinal ranges in streams where populations already existed, or improving in density. After all, Pa is not called Penn's Woods for nothing. Leave riparian areas undisturbed and you eventually get shade. Wait a decade or two and moderate shade densities shift to extensive shade. Tack on the gradual recovery that is ongoing in a number of streams degraded by mining and those that have shifted from ag to light suburban developments with proper stormwater management and the glass is definitely half full or better. Finally, when I started working in my fisheries management region in 1980 thousands of miles of riparian buffers and stream bank fencing in agricultural areas was a dream of mine, a big pipe dream, but now look at what has happened across Pa.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Meanwhile, despite global warming, many of our wild trout populations are expanding in Pa, occupying streams that have not harbored trout for years, extending their longitudinal ranges in streams where populations already existed, or improving in density. After all, Pa is not called Penn's Woods for nothing. Leave riparian areas undisturbed and you eventually get shade. Wait a decade or two and moderate shade densities shift to extensive shade. Tack on the gradual recovery that is ongoing in a number of streams degraded by mining and those that have shifted from ag to light suburban developments with proper stormwater management and the glass is definitely half full or better. Finally, when I started working in my fisheries management region in 1980 thousands of miles of riparian buffers and stream bank fencing in agricultural areas was a dream of mine, a big pipe dream, but now look at what has happened across Pa.

^ Yes, no doubt the arrow is pointing up on wild trout populations in PA.

A lot of folks have done a lot to help make this happen....and Mike is definitely one of them. Thanks Mike.

 

[Canoetripper]

I can't disagree with any of the many above posts. I am now 60 years old and have fly fished since I was a young boy. I always knew that I was very mediocre, but wanted to improve.

I now have the place to go and just fly fish, experiment and improve, and build up my confidence to fish more challenging and difficult waters.

I spent my Thanksgiving Day installing Part 1 of my new roof rack on my Jeep Liberty, which is a new Yakima roof rack. Tomorrow is Part 2, which is a Denver Outfitter's four fly rod carrier.

I inherited a lot of fly rods with my grandfather's and father's passing. It is important to me that I always have one of my grandfather's and father's favorite fly rods rigged and ready to fish where I knew they wanted me to fish since I was a boy.

I want to catch at least one trout on one of their favorite fly rods. I did have my grandfather's 1964 Orvis Battenkill bamboo fly rod reconditioned and it looks great.

As we all know, this has been a strange summer with the combination of either high water levels or high water temperatures.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

Still many, many fly fishermen in my area but when you live close to spring, penns, and fishing ck your gonna see guys.

 

[Acristickid]

You can’t fly fish Erie cause of all the anglers.

 

[Dave_W]

I don't think FFing is dying.

As Mike points out in Post 33 above and many of us have argued here on this forum for years. . . . The good ole days of wild trout fishing in PA are now. The decline in fishermen certainly isn't a result of lack of places or fish. With respect to the OP, the situation in Maine may be different.

As others have pointed out in this thread, demographic and societal changes are drawing younger people to different places and hobbies.

One of the problems we've long stumbled over on this board when discussing FFing is the relative lack of data on numbers of FFers in PA. I don't think the number of FFers has declined in direct proportion to the decline in fishing licenses here in PA (or other states).

My sense is that FFing has held up better than other blood sports, especially hunting in recent years. FFing in saltwater is more popular than ever and probably growing in states like FL or NJ, or VA. And the outdoors remains a pretty strong pull for millenials as the current boom in kayaking and paddle sports suggests.

Relatively speaking, I think FFing is doing well.

 

[JasonC]

I can’t really say if there are more or less FFmen. A good judge is by the amount of FF shops though, do you see a rise in the number of new shops opening? I figure those businesses wouldn’t survive without the support of enough patrons. I know I’m finding a good handful of guys I work with that primarily spin fish have also dabbled in FF also and still like to get out once or twice a year with the fly rod. I’m a recent convert from spin gear as well. Maybe less popular than previous years but FF will always stick around, traditionalists and purists of the sport of fishing won’t allow it to fade away.

 

[redietz]

JasonC wrote:
A good judge is by the amount of FF shops though, do you see a rise in the number of new shops opening? I figure those businesses wouldn’t survive without the support of enough patrons.

Not really a good indicator. Between big box stores and the internet, brick and mortar small businesses of all sorts are taking a drubbing. Fly shops are no exception, and it has nothing to do with the number of fly anglers.