Will you be fishing as much as previous years or will it be cut back? I hope everyone can keep going or it may put pressure on some fisheries like everything else....

Over here in the US, I strongly suspect that the fly fishing only shops are going to have a difficult time of it, as are the lodges, resorts, and fly in camps that cater to high-buck anglers. That kind of expenditure is the first thing that gets cut when times are tough and in this recession if you aren't either feeling the pain already, or worried about feeling it, you're a ******* moron or you work in investment banking. But I repeat myself.

I plan to carry on as usual. My fishing enjoyment doesn't depend on vast expendatures on either gear or angling-destination travel. The only required outgoings for me to fish for a year are $100 for two state licenses, and then whatever I can scrape together for fuel, flies, sandwiches, and beer.

If times are tough, I'll switch to a cheaper brand of fuel, the rest is basically a necessity. I may not go to Canada more than once this year for fishing, but I do the vast majority of my trout fishing within 30 miles of home.

My only real fear is suddenly finding myself with too much time on my hands for fishing. In this recession, everyone is one week away from being called for a chat with the boss, and then they return to their cube to find the convenient white box already placed on the desk.

A company in the city center where I work gunned down 600 employees simultaneously this past Tuesday. It was really sad, you couldn't miss it, suddenly at 10:30 am there were hundreds of very sad looking people all trudging through the skyways, car parks, and stations carrying the same white box.

If cutting back on fishing is the worst thing that happens to you in this recession, I'd say you'd better be damn thankful.

Grouse

Some beats on the chalkstreams will suffer badly this year with plenty of cancelled rods. There are many companies who have made a tremendous living out of supplying "corporate entertainment" to the fat cats of the London banking community over the last ten years. I have little sympathy for them and their probable lack of wealthy clients this year may well free up more fishing for us mere mortals.

Reg Wyatt

I'm thinking I'll be fishing more because of more time. The fishing I'll do will be somewhat closer to home, but some of it will require traveling a bit farther to get there. I can see quite a few 100-mile trips to go fishing but few, if any, 1000+mile trips. Alaska is probably out this year as well.

Having said that, in some respects I'm in Grouse's shoes: my expenses are limited to two state fishing licenses and transportation costs. Thankfully, we're no longer paying $4 a gallon for gas, so evenif my income drops, I can still go.

I'll probably spend the same or else more time fishing. After the inital outlay of license and a few season permits it's only down to food and fuel after that and some bait for the Coarse fishing. What I would normally spend in a night at the pub could easily provide for 3 or 4 days fishing. I know which I would prefer if given the choice, and there's always the carryout anyways.

Brennan

I think my fishing will be about the same as last year, I'd committed to buying my rod for the small stillwater I fish while I was unemployed and have got the money put aside to cover it so that's all ok.

The only think I might not do as much is have day/weekend trips to places like Rutland, Pitsford and Thornton. As much as I like them, when you add up the cost of things like fuel, packed lunch, ticket, accommodation it all gets a bit pricey.

Tackle wise I'll probably have a self enforced 'make do' season. Everythinng I've got is functional and works well, in an ideal world I would upgrade some of the this year but I'd rather have the money to do some actual fishing than have a shedful of tackle that never gets used!!

Wilkox

$4 a gallon! I wish. Prices have come down a little over here in the last six months, but even so we pay around £5 a gallon, which is something like $7.50.

I suppose we should be thankful it's only a small island, so 1,000 mile trips are not that common! Even so, with stillwater trout fishing costing between £20 and £40 a day, I think I'll be cutting back a bit. At least I've already got my North Lake syndicate place, so I can always go and hide there for a couple of days, trying for a carp...

According to what I have heard from friends and relations (and I don't know from personal experience 'cos I left the area when I was 18) this might actually return the rivers to wild fish!
I will be fishing around the same amount - I have paid all my subs as soon as I could, so there was no decision to take, I have enough material to tie a seasons worth of flies. I fish waters within 30 miles from home. What may change is whether or not I take up Salmon fishing.
GD

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We come from dust; we return to dust. I'm going to fish

Same here. Have no plans to reduce, and in fact would probably get out more to escape the bl**dy gloom and doom thats helping to creat this doomsday outlook from the Television and press

It will be interesting, personally I will try too keep it going but need to wait and see, I wonder if the comps will be affected especially the anglian as they were looking for a sponser the last time I looked