Fishing And The Economy

With spring fast approaching most of us fishermen are wondering how we are going to handle the increased prices. Gas prices are already up and most economists are predicting a summer of high prices.

I am one of the lucky ones because I live near Lake Erie. I know that many of my fellow fishermen travel several hours just to get here. On top of that a lot of them are towing their boats which really hurts their fuel mileage. Any way you look at it their weekend trip to Lake Erie is going to cost them $40.00 to $50.00 more.

If it were just the gasoline prices most of us could deal with it. The problem is that the gas prices are going have an effect on everything else. Groceries prices are up, sporting equipment is up and I’m sure dock fees will start to creep up.

Charter prices will have to be increased also. I’m wondering how many of the Charter Captains will just not participate this year. As soon as they increase their prices to cover the additional expenses they will start to lose those charters that are purchased by people who are already stretching their dollar to pay for a charter.

I think some of the costs can be minimized by good planning. One thing we can do would be to team up with other fishermen and boat owners. I know by following the fishing forums that many of you know each other so it would not be out of the question to team up and use one boat.

Following the marine weather forecasts would be another way to save a trip to the lake only to find it to rough to fish. Checking the Lake Erie fishing forums and fishing blogs prior to leaving home would give you some idea where the fish are, what lures are being used, what depth they’re at and what speed the trollers are using.

One of the community forums has proposed using channel 84 to communicate with other fishermen and share information. I’m sure some of you will be reluctant to do that but it would certainly save time searching for fish.

I wonder if the general public has any idea how much money fisherman and other sporting enthusiasts bring to the area. If the fishermen stay away from the lake it will hurt economies from Ashtabula to Toledo. Fishermen are a creative breed so I’m anxious to see what solutions they develop to handle this economy.