Rough weather leads to decrease in Pa. fishing license sales down ~10%

6xAdams(Jones) said:
While it can be fun and fill time during a stormy day stuck in camp, Flyfishing Simulator HD will not encourage a kid to go fishing like the real thing will.
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I think he pointed out that option as a revenue maker for the PFBC, not as much to actually stimulate people to fish...but it could be a secondary benefit.
 
dudemanspecial said:
People on this board seem to forget that there is a vast part of the state that does not support a big enough wild trout population to be able to cease stocking.

Yes, they stock in a lot of places they shouldn't, I am not arguing that.

Nor am I arguing that wild trout shouldn't be prioritized where applicable.

Where I live it is a 2 hour drive to a decent wild brown trout fishery. I can get to wild brookies in around an hour, but they are 6 inches long. That doesn't always scratch my itch.

Most folks aren't willing to drive 2 hours like I am.

The stocking program brings in more money than folks like us do. If you don't understand that by know I don't now what to tell you.
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There are plenty of species of warm water fish that are happy to live in those waterways without invasive rubber trout infiltrating.
 
In regards to my previous comment that kids aren't fishing unless they are with a parent or adult mentor...

No one in my family fished, but some of my buddies in junior high (yea, that's what we called it then ;) ) did and they invited me to join them fishing one Sunday. We all met around 5:00 am and took a bus to a reservoir about 15 miles away. I was about 14 or 15 years old at the time.

About a year ago while fishing I bumped into a 17 year old kid struggling with a spin casting rod on a local creek. He was alone, got there on a bike and was clueless about everything except that he wanted to catch a fish.

I took my gear back to the car and spent the next hour or so teaching him how to cast and helping him catch his first fish. When I asked him if anyone in his family fished, like me at that age the answer was NO but unlike me he didn't have a bunch of middle school or high school buddies who could or would mentor him either...

Bottom line, if it wasn't for MY buddies, I may have never taken up fishing. I'm sure there are a lot of kids today who WOULD be interested in fishing or golf or music but they are in a similar situation of not having parents who fish, golf or play music and they don't have any friends who do either...

Adults aren't always the answer either because to be honest, I had more fun fishing with just my kid buddies than I ever did when one of their parents were tagging along. The other problem is if a kid depends on an adult, he or she is at the mercy of the adult's schedule.

For example, right around the age I started fishing I was a golfer. I could go down to the junior high school football field and hit balls all day long but if I wanted to go to the golf course, I needed my dad to take me. However if I wanted to fishing, I went alone or called a friend and hopped on the bus...

It's should be no surprise that I gave up golf for fishing and haven't played a round since I was about 16...

All I know from experience is like fishing or even the jam sessions I took part in in high school, kids need other kids to mentor and encourage them if there is any expectation of a lifelong pursuit of a hobby.

Maybe they need a Youth Mentored Youth Day where kids that fish teach OTHER kids how to fish? ;)

I don't know... but until I see 2 or 3 kids all by themselves fishing some creek like I did when I was their age, I just can't help but think that us geezers will be the majority for a LONG TIME and license sales will decrease even more...

I don't particularly mind less people fishing, but with that comes less PFBC revenue for things that I and others enjoy and more importantly to pay the salaries of the folks that protect the resource.
 
DomR said:
+1. My wife is a HS teacher and the stories she tells me make me shudder about our future as a society. Kids either just don't do anything except play on their phones or are complete anxiety ridden, nervous wrecks that need therapy and meds to cope. It's scary that we're seeing a generation that might be lost. They can't function, forget about partaking in outdoor activities.
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Not challenging that assessment, but the problem starts at home. Who bought them the phones? Kind of like the kid who eats too many sweets, drinks to many sugary drinks, etc. Who’s buying the household food?
 
Invite people from California to move to PA. Thy love the outdoors. Low cost of living, outstanding outdoor activities is just what they would like.
 
The weather has been really poor My wife said to wait to purchase her license as she does not like the cold and the rain.
 
I think this drop reflects those who buy their license opening weekend. With the water the way it was for the first 2 weeks, many just didn't bother. Some may get one later. Others easily drank that 40 bucks in beer and are happier for it.
 
Bamboozle said:
if it wasn't for MY buddies, I may have never taken up fishing.
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Me, too. My young friends and I fished every day. One of my best friends was a girl and we fished and crabbed a lot together. None of us had parents who fished. None of us had dads living at home. Moms worked, there were no adults around, we got ourselves to and from school and we had jobs (I was a paper carrier, two of my friends were mates on fishing boats). But we caught the fishing bug by age 10, on our own. Sometimes it just seems to be in the blood, for inexplicable reasons. Access can be important. I grew up on a bay bait-fishing the salt, then when I was 14 was moved to a farm with a one-acre bass pond where I learned to fly cast. There was no parent or anyone else mentoring. I had Field & Stream and Fly Fisherman magazines and Orvis and Herter's catalogs. I think I was in my 40s before I ever received casting lessons or hired a guide (so there was much to fix). I've recently come back into fishing after a lengthy hiatus and I'm struck by how many people are out there fishing these days. I went to a spot near my home mid-day Tuesday and there were six guys fishing a 100-yard stretch. Silly me, I thought I'd have the stream to myself with everyone else at work.

There are some amazing young people out there and I'm always cheered to see them. Some of them, however, don't seem to know anything about anything, including history.
 
Mike said:
Don’t forget big screen TV’s, cigarettes, and beer.
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Bamboozle said:
Except when it comes to smart phones, tattoos, streaming services or other TV packages and phone apps...

There's ALWAYS plenty of $$$ for that. ;)
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There are folks that are truly have to make some serious decisions about purchasing. A large medical bill, a layoff or other large unexpected expenses can blindside someone, and really set them back. Especially when the cost of things is already so high.

When I was growing up, things were really tight. While we made sacrifices in order to afford fishing licenses, but I can definitely understand how someone would forgo purchasing a license if they only fished a handful of days each year.

I guess I wouldn’t expect many of you to understand, but this was to be expected in a sport with such an elitist attitude.
 
Bamboozle said:
Except when it comes to smart phones, tattoos, streaming services or other TV packages and phone apps...

There's ALWAYS plenty of $$$ for that. ;)
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I agree with that observation. My mother grew up on a farm in the depression North of Scranton. She talked about having an coal stove to heat the house and an outhouse. I suffered with running water, gas heat and only handful of stations on a family B&W TV.

People living in a Kardashian World seem to think they should have everything. There are too many choices too spend money in ways we never had options as kids. Contemporary lifestyles of eating out, Door Dash, traveling for bachelorette weekends with outfits and online gambling all seem lavish to me. Yes tats, smartphones, and six streaming services seem like they add to the situation.

I'm not saying these are bad options, just probably too many for many people to make good financial decisions and complicate many lives.

For people not fishing, money is not the issue it is time. There are too many other competing opportunities for people to spend their time.

I think one of the factors is the transition leaving rural areas. Not a lot of famous fly fisherman that come from the suburbs or cities. Those areas hold a different lifestyle.
 
DaveKile said:
I agree with that observation. My mother grew up on a farm in the depression North of Scranton. She talked about having an coal stove to heat the house and an outhouse. I suffered with running water, gas heat and only handful of stations on a family B&W TV.

People living in a Kardashian World seem to think they should have everything. There are too many choices too spend money in ways we never had options as kids. Contemporary lifestyles of eating out, Door Dash, traveling for bachelorette weekends with outfits and online gambling all seem lavish to me. Yes tats, smartphones, and six streaming services seem like they add to the situation.

I'm not saying these are bad options, just probably too many for many people to make good financial decisions and complicate many lives.

For people not fishing, money is not the issue it is time. There are too many other competing opportunities for people to spend their time.

I think one of the factors is the transition leaving rural areas. Not a lot of famous fly fisherman that come from the suburbs or cities. Those areas hold a different lifestyle.
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My mom (Philadelphia) & my mother-in-law (in suburban Scranton coincidentally) grew up very poor. My mother in law didn't even have heat beyond a coal stove in the kitchen in the "company" house where they lived.

Both often talked about the stigma of being made fun of because they were wearing "welfare dresses" and multiple Christmases when they got absolutely NOTHING for Christmas or years when they got a handkerchief or some cookies and that's was it...

I recently asked a son of a friend of mine if he knew ANYBODY in his age group that got nothing for Christmas...

Obviously he knew of no one...

Bottom line, with free school taxpayer supported school breakfasts, lunches & dinners 365 day a year and other support, the so called "poor" of today have no idea what it like to be be REALLY poor...

In addition, they all have smart phones, Internet access, school district funded tablet computers and what ever else they feel they are entitled to receive.

Pardon me if I don't have a whole lot of empathy for their situations....
 
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jifigz said:
I disagree with quite a bit of what has been said on here. First of all, wishing the PFBC to go bankrupt is a bit extreme. Wishing that they have to curtail their stocking efforts due to financial strain is a better view, at least in my opinion. They do a lot of good with their lakes and other WW opportunities, and I think someone has to be responsible for helping to manage that. Plus, no matter if we agree or not with the PFBC ultimate decisions, having biologists and field work being done is incredibly important and beneficial.

If I had to guess, fishing license sales will continue to decline as society and the focus of our citizens shifts to other areas of interest. Outdoor recreation as a whole seems to be down, so it is not unique to PA and our management. Basically all states are seeing declines in the interest in these types of pursuits, and their license sales reflect this.

I, too, agree that the cost of a license is not a lot of money. Given how much everything else costs, it seems reasonable and in line.

I couldn't care about the stocking program. I haven't caught a stockie yet this year. I have even fished in waters that are stocked, but I just am not finding the stockies. It is all just wild browns.
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“having biologists and field work being done is incredibly important and beneficial.”

More license funds should go to this and less to hatchery budgets imho
 
Broodstock said:
“having biologists and field work being done is incredibly important and beneficial.”

More license funds should go to this and less to hatchery budgets imho
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Sure, you're probably right. But I'll be damned if they didn't go a helluva good job compiling a list of wild trout waters through these efforts. That was money and time well spent..
 
jifigz said:
Sure, you're probably right. But I'll be damned if they didn't go a helluva good job compiling a list of wild trout waters through these efforts. That was money and time well spent..
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Yes, I’m saying more money to the biologist work and less to the hatchery pellets. The biologists, GIS techs, and the research workers should have more budget so they can survey more streams, keep existing lists up to date, help support AMD remediation efforts through surveys and more pure science based conservation efforts.
 
Broodstock said:
Yes, I’m saying more money to the biologist work and less to the hatchery pellets. The biologists, GIS techs, and the research workers should have more budget so they can survey more streams, keep existing lists up to date, help support AMD remediation efforts through surveys and more pure science based conservation efforts.
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I know, that is why the first thing I said in reply was this: Yes, you're probably right. That was an implication that you are correct that more money should be diverted away from hatcheries and to more scientific data collection.

This also plays off of post #13 of mine. Their mismanagement of funds is a "hole in the ship," but I have no reason to complain. I couldn't ask for better or more fishing opportunities. I am satisfied with paying for money for a license and what I am able to get in return.
 
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