Gas and Fishing

[Gary]

Hi all!

There's been a lot of talk nationally, both in the US and Canada, about how gas prices are affecting the habits of many people. I was just wondering about the local folks in our area... Is the price of gas going to change your fishing habits this summer? Are you going to fish less, the same, more? For all you tournament fishermen, is it going to affect the number of tournaments you enter? Will you stick to closer lakes? Will you not run far from the launch? It would be interesting to hear how folks plan to adjust.

Gary

[Pete]

Gary,

That's an interesting question that you brought up, although personally I haven't given it much tought until now.

Before the prices starting going up I decided to fish 1 major series and concentrate on that, which I've done with Renegade. That was more to spend all my time pre fishing instead of fishing another series. So that decision wasn't because of soring gas prices.

I'm not sure if I will fish less but I may fish smarter when it comes to pre fishing. I also think that my spending on other things like will decline more to compensate for the gas price increase.

As you said though, it will be interesting to see what others say. How about yourself?

Pete

[Gary]

I'm very much like you, Pete. I will likely concentrate on one series. I will pre-fish smarter, and no doubt look for stuff close to launch if I can find it. But in general, I don't think I'll fish less or travel for fishing less. I'll compensate by adjusting spending elsewhere. Who need silly things like food and shelter, as long as we can fish!!

I think the problem is not so much rising prices, but unstable prices. If gas settles at $2.00/L then so be it. If it settles there, then at least people can make adjustments and move on. But with prices fluctuating so much and just going up and up and up, it's hard to budget it in and it makes people less confident in spending on other things. It's ridiculous that it's going up so much but if it would at least settle then I believe it would be a bit easier to deal with.

It will be interesting to see how it affects tournament field sizes. I'm wondering what turn-outs will be like at BFL and Stren events. Doesn't look like it's hurting the turn-out for some of our local clubs though. Look at Renegade. They have pretty much a full field for this season. I think, though, that it may be more noticeable on the trails where more traveling is involved.

I also believe that it will be the recreational angler that makes significant changes in their habits, rather than tournament anglers. A lot of die-hard tournament anglers are going to go no matter what, but the weekend warrior is going to be much more likely to leave the boat in the garage a couple extra weekends, just to save on gas.

Gary