The number of anglers or those people that actively fish continues to decline all across the country and no where is that more true than right here in Georgia. Since I received some statistics recently regarding that decline, I have spent some time fishing with two of my young grandsons and pondered what those statistics mean for the future of fishing.

In the year 1972, when Georgia’s population was only 4.8 million, there were 548 thousand annual fishing license and 61 thousand hunting/fishing combination licenses sold in the state. In the year 1987, a record number of fishing license and hunter/fishing combination licenses were sold in Georgia. The total fishing licenses sold in 1985 was 709,000 and Georgia’s population was 5.9 million.

Since that high mark in 1985, there has been a steady decline in the number of licenses sold while at the same time the population of Georgia has continued to increase. Total fishing licenses sold in the last reporting year of 2008 was 551,000 and the Georgia population stood at 9.6 million.

To break that down further, in 1972 12.6 percent of Georgians bought a fishing license and in the year 1985, 12 percent of Georgians bought a fishing license. Fast forward to 2008 and only 5.7 percent of Georgians purchased a fishing license.

In an effort to better understand the declining interest and participation in fishing nationwide, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) did an online survey of anglers, which was completed in February of this year. The purpose of the survey was to gain insights into a person’s reasons or motivations to go fishing.

The survey looked at the reasons people fish, what motivates people to buy a fishing license, what might prompt a person to fish more often and what incentatives might sway a person to buy a fishing license. Under the question related to reasons why a person goes fishing, 68 percent gave the reason to spend time outdoors. Lesser but still high percentages said to get away from the stresses of everyday life, for the excitement of the catch and to spend time with family.

When survey respondents were asked to state what might motivate them to buy a fishing license, 55 percent said they do not need any motivation to buy a license because they would buy a license no matter what. Another 45 percent said they would be inclined to buy a fishing license if they knew that 100 percent of that money would go to conservation and to ensure fishing opportunities.

On the question concerning what might encourage a person to spend more time fishing; over 50 percent said they would spend more time fishing if they knew places within 30-60 miles of their home where they could fish. Approximately one-third said they would be more likely to go fishing if they had someone to go with or if their spouse was interested or if they knew better ways to catch fish and therefore would have more success catching fish.

The last major question had to do with what incentives would cause a person to be more likely to purchase a fishing license.  

Free stuff seems to be the ticket to encourage people to buy a fishing license. We live in a society where freebies are used to encourage participation in just about everything we do these days.

Nearly 56 percent of survey respondents said that they might be persuaded to buy a fishing license if the state agency would give them a free subscription to the state’s fish and wildlife conservation magazine. Another 40 percent said they would be better inclined to buy a fishing license if they could receive a free brochure describing where and how to fish in their state. Receiving a $10 off coupon to a fishing tackle retailer or getting their name entered into a sweepstakes for a free fishing vacation also garnered about 40% of the respondents to that question.

The survey results will be used by states like Georgia to address the declining numbers of people buying fishing licenses and participating in fishing activities. Things have greatly changed since I was a youngster because fishing was the major outdoor activity for me and my family. We did not have the alternative activities that are available today for both children and adults.

My wife and I have nine grandkids and within those nine, interest in fishing varies greatly. About four of them have no desire to fish, one enjoys it but has other greater interest, three love fishing very much and one is too young to really make a decision yet. For the last two weeks and at different times, I have had two of the three grandchildren that love fishing in my home for visits.

Those two grandchildren love fishing about as much as I do and if you have fished the last two weeks with the hot weather that we have endured, you have to love fishing. With one day left in the last grandson’s visit, even I was glad to hear him agree it was time to take a break from fishing and go see the movie Shrek Forever After in 3D at the air-conditioned movie house.

Good fishing and see you next week.

Outdoor Columnist Bobby Peoples can be contacted via e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.