I was spurred to post this by an interesting comment made by Rich Ward in the 'fly shop" post that is worthy of it's own Heading.
The buzz I keep hearing is that fly fishing/tying, in numbers anyway, is declining.It peaked right after "THE Movie" came on to the big screen, lasted a half dozen years but has been on the down swing ever since. This is what I keep hearing.
The huge crowd of 25 thousand who came to the first Somerset show hasn't been matched since and if half that many show up now a days the promoter is very happy. Is some of this because there are just too many shows now?
I keep hearing about and experiencing myself the continued crowds of people on the rivers. You would never know there is a decline by the number of people on any of the pools on the Beaverkill , or the Ausable for that matter. New rod companies keep springing up. Way more people are building and selling cane rods than 20 years ago...or even 10 years ago. Are they all being sold to us old guys?
Since most of the shows that I tie at are between November and April they are subject to winter weather. Other than that initial drop after the first 2 years the attendance seems to be holding steady.
Mike makes mention that he sees very few young people getting into the sport. I have to agree that I do not see a lot of teen agers at the shows. Could this be though that they just have so much more to do now with computers, electronic games, many more sports to participate in than when I was a kid. Maybe they just have to get past that stage of their lives. Maybe they will even have to wait to get past the stage in their lives where they are raising a family. Maybe the new medium age for people to get into FF will be once the kids have grown...or when they retire. One thing I do see is a lot of older people just getting into FF.
It would be hard to go by something like, say, ask Denny if he is selling more capes now than years B4. Even if he said he is selling less couldn't it be because more people are selling necks now.? Lots of questions...What are some of your answers? ..Your thoughts?

[This message has been edited by mantis (edited 13 October 2005).]