Posts tagged: recession

More People Fishing During Recession? (or, What to do While Waiting for that Million Dollar Bonus)

March 18, 2009, by Tom Chandler 12 comments

Because the Trout Underground remains on the forefront of fly fishing related economic news, we feel obligated (nay, compelled) to report that the Reuters News Service – despite having little evidence to prove it – says that as the recession deepens, more Americans are going fishing:

As Americans forgo expensive vacations, costly dinners and shopping mall splurges, many are opting instead for the quiet simplicity of fishing, according to the sport fishing industry and reports from bait shops and fishermen.

From the icy north to fly-fishing streams in Texas, angling is on the rise. For families, it’s an inexpensive outing. Those with a knack for it can trim their grocery bills. And for newly unemployed, it’s something to do.

Fishermen are slackers in the best of economic times, so it’s entirely possible some of the 650,000 people who found themselves enjoying free time this February spent some of it on the lakes and rivers.

As for the concept of trimming grocery bills, the Underground can only laugh in a bitter, cynical fashion.

Unemployed folks do not travel far to fish, instead opting to fish the brownlines close to home. And if it’s one thing we’ve learned talking to brownliners, it’s that nobody eats what they catch – absent a desire to glow in the dark or set off airport metal detectors.

See you in the soup lines, Tom Chandler.

fishing, recession, fishing during recession

Life Intrudes, Fly Fishing Recedes

December 3, 2008, by Tom Chandler 11 comments

Reading the daily economic news is like watching Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down back-to-back; you walk away warped by exposure to a surreal existence that you hope never, ever intrudes on your own personal bubble.

Sadly, I still have to actually earn a living, and with the recession taking its toll on marketing budgets, that particular reality is intruding on my bubble.

Which means – instead of fly fishing – I’m holing up and working, a sad state of affairs given my aversion to the stuff. (Work I mean. Like most fly fishermen, I have little stomach for honest labor.)

Out here soon? I hope so.

That means we’ll see damned few fishing posts on the Underground for a couple more days – at least until a few undone biz-related chores find their way to the “done” stack.

And though I contemplated flying to Washington in my private jet (sitting on my $21.7 Million annual salary), I probably couldn’t convince those Congressional cheapskates to fund a $25 Billion bailout of the Underground.

It’s yet another example of the unfairness of politics.

Too Much Fly Fishing Clutter?

You might still see a post or two about interesting stuff, like this mention that Field & Stream’s FlyTalk blog asked its readers to list the fly fishing media they read. He contends there’s too much clutter out there, but on the Internet, the reader’s in charge, so the concept of clutter seems odd – you don’t have to visit what you don’t want to read.

The Underground’s already received a couple mentions, and if you’ve got a minute, sneak on by and let ‘em know what you read.

fly fishing, fishing, recession