We wanted to share another article with you all. This one was written by Alexandra Marvar and is titled, “Fly Fishing Is The New Bird Watching.” It was published October 2019 in the New York Times. 15 years ago I never would of thought that the sport I love would get a full featured piece in a newspaper like the New York Times but that is exactly what the article is about, how popular fly fishing has become.
Once thought of as a sport just for older, wealthy, individuals, fly fishing has grown to include a range of different demographics of people. More affordable gear makes it less of a commitment and less intimidating to get involved. That along with a growth in social media popularity has led to the sport being exposed to a wider audience, both men and women of different ages, races, and income classes. As anglers continue to target species besides just trout, geographic boundaries are also being crossed as you can fly fishing pretty much anywhere there is water.
As the sport continues to grow, some longtime anglers complain of increasing traffic on rivers. I do understand this. It is bittersweet, many of us, myself included, need the sport to grow in order to make a living. But at the same time, as the sport grows, we are not growing any new rivers. That is why it is all the more important to conserve the ones we have and protect our access to public lands. This is where having more people involved in the sport really can make a difference. Power in numbers and we will have more individuals promoting awareness and working together on issues that are affecting our fisheries. This is the silver lining I try and take away from the sport of fly fishing growing as fast as it is. Give the full article a read here and feel free to share any feedback.
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