We've had a lot of discussions around here about the state of flyfishing and tying, and whether there is enough new blood and interest to sustain it.
Our local flyclub also has youth programs such as Next Cast and Kokanee Carnival, but in general, like elsewhere, this is an older person's pasttime like rock hounding, old time fiddlers, or classic cars. Also, first impressions for a lot of folks is that this is an expensive, elitist hobby to get into. We have a large fly tying expo in Albany, Oregon each year, and one friend, who owns a major fly tying materials company, always points out how you can look at the show floor and not see anyone visiting that is under 40. I don't think there is any question that in the future, many flyshops and fishing gear businesses will bite the dust, as there won't be the critical mass of customers existing to sustain them. Across the USA, fishing and hunting licenses sales have been in a steep decline. Our local F&W department has just announced a 35% cut in their budget due the poor license sales and the Congressional sequester. That's not to say there isn't a younger group out there, but as Peggy noted, they are more internet and social network oriented, and much of what they learn is through YouTube, Vimeo and sites sporting video tutorials. If you want to see some of this younger crowd, attend a fly fishing film tour showing. Membership in fly clubs is not seen as a cool way to spend your time! More than anything, IMO, families do not stress the outdoors like they used to, due to lack of experience, time or money. Every fly fisher I know grew up in families that spend at lot of time outdoors fishing, camping and hunting. Also organizations like Cub and Boy Scouts were a lot more prevalent. Not having these resources, it is no wonder younger people fall into other interests. What we need is another "the movie" grin. Transformers vs. the Wily Brown Trout. Wes On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 7:33 PM, Jimmy D. Moore <[email protected]> wrote: > Well put, Peggy > JIM > > > Peggy Brenner wrote: > > I think our ages reflect all the fly tying groups in general, however, we >> are all for the most part active. A good number of our over 50's are still >> working, all of us volunteer in our areas and we have extended families to >> take care of. >> >> Joyce, it's nice to see someone else in healthcare hanging in, it's the >> fastest changing industry right now and the pace is picking up. >> >> We had decided and planned to retire completely August 29, but have >> decided we will each need a small business to dabble in. >> >> Peggy >> > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" > group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to vfb-mail-unsubscribe@ > googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/ > group/vfb-mail?hl=en > > VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com > --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VFB Mail" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VFB Mail" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
