It is that time of year, the sun creeping noticeably southward, days growing shorter by the seconds.
Summer angling catalogs already are brimming with their sales pitches, offering 50 percent off on “certain selected” indispensable fishing gear, causing anglers feverishly to want to flash their credit cards.
We outdoors types are suckers for all the latest high-tech equipment because, as we start to lose our basic skills, we must make up for our inadequacies by relying more and more on gadgetry.
An array of superb fish-finding equipment now available is staggering, filling catalog after catalog with sure-fire gear, computer-designed rods with reels of titanium and lines not of cotton or linen but synthetics in a host of bullet-resistant materials endowed with unbelievable strength and resilience.
A little more than half a century ago, rods and poles were mostly hickory or bamboo. My first bamboo pole cost a measly 50 cents.
Even split bamboo came into use during that time; and today, except for use by a few purists, the bamboo has been replaced by steel, fiberglass, and graphite rods.
Bait casting, level winds and such ruled from the mid-1800s, losing out to spinning reels, unknown before 1940.
Today, although level winds still lead in big-game fishing, anglers are again taking up fly rods and the unique experience of relying online weight to carry the lure (as opposed to the conventional hook-and-line fishing that depends on the weight of the lure to carry line from the spool).
This is not to suggest that we go back to the old ways. Think of the jobs that would be lost if everyone quit using these materials that come out in new versions each season.
Participants in hunting, fishing, bird watching, and other wildlife-related recreation spent an estimated $97 billion and supported hundreds of thousands of jobs last year, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This represents nearly a 60 percent increase in expenditures since 1990.
Our fish and wildlife are not just a priceless treasure we hand down from one generation to the next, they are the source of hunting and fishing gear and associated memorabilia of all kinds—everything from older double-barrel shotguns and hand-made waterfowl decoys to fishing lures and custom-built cane fly rods made before the 1950s.
You would be shocked at the prices being asked—and sometimes paid—for some of this stuff nowadays.
While this sudden interest likely will preserve many of these items for future generations—items that might otherwise have been tossed into the trash—it is the cause for some concern, too.
In the first place, when something generates interest and demand among collectors, it is a good indicator that the sport itself is in decline.
Secondly, the outlandish rise in values—a large portion of it purely for investment rather than for love of the sport—spells doom for the casual collector who simply likes to have a few of these items around to enjoy.
Who can afford to go fishing with a lure his grandfather left him after he finds out it’s worth $50-$75—and possibly even more?
Those who collect rare knives do not even sharpen them for fear of reducing their value, and if you fish with a cane rod, you’re risking the price of a college education at a private school.
Because investors have rapidly replaced true collectors, they have driven values to outrageous levels. We are shocked to discover that items someone may have given us a few years ago now command such high prices that we are uncomfortable owning them.
If you own sporting collectibles that you think may be valuable, my advice is to have them appraised and insure them. Then look for some other field to express your collecting mania.
Angling, to say the least, has undergone some drastic changes since those blissful days we recall from childhood.
Many are convinced that recreational fishing in general has been marred by the fast-bucks competition and promotion of high-speed boats with their electronic wizardry.
Is this highly competitive fishing trend a problem?
Should anglers ease up a bit on the commercial aspects of recreational fishing?
Have we reached a point where anglers expect to make a profit from what had been an escape from the workaday world? Is competitive fishing another vocation? Then, what should we be doing for fun?
Some dislike tournaments because too often competition causes an attitude change, friends becoming competitors, winning more important than friendship.
In a few elite circles, bass fishing now has become a big business.
Are we losing touch with our goals by seeking monetary prizes?
Currently, there are approximately 30 different bass clubs in the Mountain State.
“It’s all part of our diversity,” says Mark Scott, assistant chief fisheries biologist in Charleston. “It’s a philosophical question that’s not easily going to be resolved. We work with a wide range of fishermen with a variety of interests.
“We don’t want these different groups to hurt one another. We’d like all anglers to enjoy their sport to the fullest—without anxiety or worry.”
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Top o’ the morning!
