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Is it just me, or are there less people fishing?

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Sep 28, 2003
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Lebanon
I remember 10-15 years ago, when a parking lot was full, there were a lot of people on the river fishing. Parking lots are still full, but you don't see many fisherman. It's just a lot of people in canoes and kayaks. That has been the case the past two weekends for me fishing at the Caney Fork. Lots of people, few rods and reels. This was also the opinion shared with me by an old farmer I met in the sporting goods section at the Lebanon Walmart a few weeks ago. He told me about a place where they stock trout in Macon County.. told me nobody ever goes down there except for old timers.

Maybe it's me, but it seems like there are less fisherman now than there used to be. I-phones and xboxes keep kids inside these days, sadly. In some ways, I selfishly wonder how many big fish are left for me to catch if nobody else is fishing for them. But it mostly concerns me because the future of fishing and hunting is in trouble if the political winds shift in the direction of those who oppose it and if funding for streams and wildlife areas gets cut as a result declining license sales and declining interest.

I hate to sounds like an ol' timer myself, but I sure hope I'm way off and people are just as interested in fishing as they used to be.
 
I think you might be right. I took my boys fishing all the time but neither one fishes much anymore. It takes a lot of equipment and time. Cane pole fishing on the bank doesn't hold the thrill of the latest video game I guess. Then again you should see the parking lot at Sardis lake during the spawn. Crazy. :roll:
 
Seems like people won't do anykind of activity that gets their hands dirty, be it hunting, fishing or just your everyday DIY project. Sad, times are changing.
 
It's the economy IMO. If you have lost your job, money is too tight for travel, equipment, etc.. That and if you have a job you are not going to call in "sick" to go fish, and risk your job if you got caught.
 
Hopefully this will hold true for duck hunting :bash:

But I'm sure not. Painting your face and racing a boat after a few ducks is the new "cool" thing to do. :livid:
 
Kevin":20fy40q7 said:
Hopefully this will hold true for duck hunting :bash:

But I'm sure not. Painting your face and racing a boat after a few ducks is the new "cool" thing to do. :livid:
Click to expand...

All the fishermen are now duck and turkey hunters!

I dont think fishermen numbers are down, I have noticed an explosion in boat dealerships and big box stores that have a large fishing selection. Maybe its because there are more places to fish and boat ramps?

Heck I dont fish enough to pay attention really...


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I think folks are just not traveling very far to do it, I've seen an increase in the amount of fishing pressure on the park this year.


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Its not that the number of fishermen are down. Its that the number of boaters on the caney are up. Its a freakin zoo on the weekend. The harpeth is even worse. Thank dog they don't fish. There would be no fish left to catch if they did.
 
I don't think the numbers are down. I think the fisherman have restructured their schedules. Fishing on the weekends is out of the question now days...too much boat traffic from pleasure riders. The frustration is just not worth dealing with it. So what I'm seeing is more fisherman going during the week and avoiding the weekends. Go to any ramp on Lake Chickamauga during the week....at any time of the day...and the parking lots are full of trucks with fishing boats. Watts Bar has started to see the same thing...crappie and bass fisherman during the week and from Friday through Sunday, they leave it to the pleasure boats to thrash.
 
For me fishing is way down. Me and my daughter have been itching to go....but there isn't any time anymore, I don't think there is 24 hours in a day anymore, and there isn't 7 days in a week. Life is to busy these days just can't ever catch a day.
 
I don`t know. A lot of places I fished as a youngster are now private property. On weekends and sometimes through the week there are so many boats and party goers that I fish at night. I still bank fish the Clinch for trout and at times have to fight to retain my spot. Other times I have the entire place to my self.

I think it is sad that the last time I went there were young people fishing up there that had a good mess. I got to talking to them and they admitted they had no Idea how to clean or cook them. Thankfully they were taking them home and and someones father was going to clean them. I hope he showed them how to clean one and said if you want to eat clean your own.
 
Well here's one 14 year old from Lebanon that won't play video games. I still hunt,fish,and trap every weekend and go absolutely every chance I get. In my opinion life's to short not to take advantage of the great outdoors and all of its beauty. We go and float the caney once a summer with one flat bottom,2 canoes, and a couple of kayaks from the dam down to Carthage
 
Well shore fisherman I'm blessed to have some good friends. My best friend has 12 rabbit hounds and he lets me shoot a few rabbits in front of them. I've got another buddy that is pretty heavy into food plots and QDMA. Then my last friend doesn't get to go as much as he'd want to I tote him when I can.i took him to old hickory the other day to try and pull out a few largemouth. He didn't catch any but I caught four.
 
That's great Smithcotrapper. Keep it up.

Went back to the Caney this morning. I was the only spinning fisherman. There were probably seven or eight fly fisherman, more than usual. I went back to my regular spot and caught my personal best. 22 inch brown. I've never caught anything remotely close to that before. Kept it out of the water a little too long to get a measure, but it lived thankfully. I'll post a video later from the go-pro if I don't sound too foolish.
 
If you don't mind me asking what are yall using to catch those big trout? I've always heard just use bigger crankbaits and such but didn't know if there was something else I should be looking into
 
I caught the 22 incher today on a large nightcrawler. Hooked it once thought the head, and that's it. That was the advice I got from a guy at work who knows more than I do. It paid off. I've also heard big jerk baits work (Rapala HJ series) and Smithwicks.
 
I haven't been fishing yet this year. Too much life getting in the way. LOL

But I never noticed the lack of fishermen. Seems there's always someone at the local lakes around Memphis.
 

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