I was talking to an aquaintance the other day who told me that in his opinion, fly fishing was now on a big decline in the UK. This is opposite to current trends in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries of the world where fly fishing is experiencing boom times

I have been thinking about this a great deal and certainly there seems to be a dearth of young people in the sport. Only this morning I noted the average age of people at my club water and they seemed to be over 65!

I am 67.

Young people don't seem to be interested in taking up fly fishing. If they go fishing at all, they tend to want to catch a carp. They tend to want to partake in a form of angling that doesn't require any skill. To the youngsters of today, skill takes time to acquire and they don't have time, they want results NOW, not next year or even next week.

Some time ago I gave my fly rod to a teenager who thought, after watching me, that fly fishing looked easy. He of course couldn't get a line out and as he walked away mumbled something about it being a waste of time.

But what do you think? Is fly fishing on the decline in the UK?

Down here Ron during the week you do see the retired folk as they probaby want a bit more peace and quiet, but at weekends it can get busy.

The average age then can be cut in half of what you stated.

During the credit crunch I noticed a lot of builders in the 35-40 year bracket fishing during the week, thankfully that has now abated.

I say thankfully not just for the guys getting more work, but for the more senior citizens getting back to their routine.

__________________
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FFF MCI - Master Casting instructor
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I'd say yes and no. Many of the reservoirs I fish are as busy now as they were in my youth, and I'm 39. I've noted a great deal of those anglers are younger than myself, with a great many younger people fishing.

Where I have seen a decline though is in our club members, very few new members coming through.

I don't think this is down to younger people not wanting learning the art of fly fishing. What I do think though is that younger people do want reward for their efforts, it spurs them on, I remember I was exactly the same when I was younger. With salmon and sea trout numbers a fraction of what they were on the Conwy 30 years ago when I started fly fishing it's little wonder the rivers are quiet (both in terms of fish and fishermen) yet the reservoirs are busy.

I have not been doing in long enough to have an opinion on the trout side- what I will say though is it will probably just evolve and grow in new areas.

For example I went flyfishing for carp last week, on a specimen private carp water. Many of the anglers sat behind bite alarms there showed a great deal of interest when seeing me walk round with a fly rod, asked me how you cast, how it worked etcetera and I think FF for carp/pike may well attract people into the sport, who will then hopefully develop an interest in the more traditional aspects and target species.

I think people like Grommit and Neil @ Anderson Angling may well have an interesting perspective in terms of their enquiry levels and business levels.

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

I hope so.

1) The rivers will not be as busy
2) Tackle prices will come down.
3)I can enjoy the company of more 67 year olds on the riverbank.

I have mentioned on here before that my 2 sons now 11 1/2 and 14 both love their flyfishing. they also love everything about it and we will be at Stoke again this year for the BFFI

http://www.bffi.co.uk/index.htm

also at Newark in the spring again

http://www.thesfshow.com/

The 3 of us fished last Sunday at lockwood beck (our local water) where we all are season ticket holders and there was also a father there with his young son probably around 12yrs.


So in my household at least the sport is looking healthy.

Dave

Not sure on this one but I have noticed a decline in young river anglers , Young anglers tend to fish for Rainbows at stocked waters.

Col

__________________
"It is not easy to tell one how to cast. The art must be acquired by practice.

Mr Clay,

I'm 42 and earlier this year I looked reasonable for my age. I took up fly fishing in the spring of this year, and the wear and tear of working my way through the trials of choosing equipment, identifying the hatch, reading the water, choosing the correct fly, tying the right knot on the best leader for the circumstances at hand, learning to cast, presenting, retrieving, striking, landing, lunar phases, wind strength and water temperature etc etc etc I now look around 74.

You are probably surrounded by teenagers who have persevered for a few months, paid the price, and are now slagging them off for not staying the course.

I'd come over there and thrash you to within an inch of your life, but my joints aren't so good since using waders on chilly mornings.

Either that, or I'm experiencing the late summer newbie fly-fisher blues.

Courty

PS In all sincerity, I think fly fishing is somewhere for people to go when coarse fishing loses its shine....

__________________
"Quality will be remembered long after the price is forgotten."
"The pain of equipment failure lasts longer than the thrill of a bargain."
(from The Book of Tackle Acquisition, chapter 6, Universal Laws).

I'm inclined to agree with you Ron, I'm 82 and been fly fishing for 76 years, it's a way of life to me, I look around me when I'm fishing and what do I see a lot of old folk, I say that in a nice sort of way, I'm an old git, there aren't many youngsters in the game now, they prefere to be on the computer or playing games on the TV, I'm afraid that's the way things are nowadays, it's got to get better, can't get any worse, cheers, I'm of to wet a line, well I'll have a kip first.

I suspect there are going to be a fair view "rose tinted" in this thread.