Minnesota fighting to hook an elusive catch: New anglers

Blame it on the computers and video games. Or the traveling youth sports leagues. Or the graying of the baby boomers.

Or maybe the high-priced boats and high-tech gadgets some people think are required to catch that trophy fish.

Whatever the reasons, when it comes time to fish, a steadily shrinking share of Minnesotans is choosing to buy a license and cast a line.

Now, in an effort to lure more anglers to the rivers and lakes, the state Department of Natural Resources is pulling out the stops. In the month leading up to this weekend's season opener, it launched an ambitious advertising campaign to bring people back to the sport.

"Nationally, there's a growing concern that everyone, especially kids, are increasingly disconnected with nature," said Jenifer Matthees, coordinator for the DNR's angler retention project.

"Anecdotally, we feel everybody is overscheduled. People maybe realize they want more time with their kids, and maybe this is one of the ways of doing that."

The ad blitz, which combines direct mail, electronic billboard and radio advertising with other promotional efforts, is part of a three-year effort by the DNR to address the national trend of declining participation in outdoor activities.

The DNR started its promotional campaign last year with billboards and mail ads. This spring, it added radio spots and several promotions with the St. Paul Saints baseball team. Last month, it mailed 40,000 postcards to anglers who bought licenses in previous years but didn't buy one for 2007, encouraging them to buy a license in time for the season opener. Another 5,000 postcards were sent to anglers who bought licenses a year ago. Another mailing will follow later this month.

This week, the DNR used electronic billboards to count down the days until today's opener.

"We're trying to create more excitement around the fishing opener," said C.B. Bylander, an outreach chief for the DNR's Fish and Wildlife Division. "We are trying to get a little buzz."

Bylander said that compared with the rest of the country, Minnesota still fares well in retaining its licensed anglers.

While the number of people nationwide who fish dropped from 35 million to 30 million between 1996 and 2006, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota's numbers have held steady at about 1.2 million for the past two decades.

But measured against the state's growing population, the percentage of anglers in Minnesota has dropped from 39 percent in 1988 to 29 percent in 2006. Perhaps most worrying, the biggest dropoff has been seen among the young, in the 16- to 44-year-old age group.

Over the years, the baby-boom generation has "fueled so much of the license-buying and fishing," Bylander said. Ten years from now, that won't be the case.

Fees generated by licenses and taxes on equipment help fund fish and wildlife conservation efforts. Fewer anglers means fewer licenses, which in turn means less income for natural resource management. Revenue generated by fishing licenses only and federal taxes on fishing equipment totaled $32 million in 2007, according to the DNR.

"We're just not recruiting youth in the numbers that we did in the past," Bylander said. "As the boomers head out, potentially down the road, there could be far fewer fishermen."

Less leisure time

Tim Kelly, a DNR research analyst, said researchers don't know for certain why fewer young people are fishing, in part because nobody tracked the issue 10 or 20 years ago.

But he said the national trend makes it easy to speculate.

TVs. Home gaming systems. Computers. Home theaters. Game Boys. "All those electronic things are cutting into leisure time," Kelly said.

Billy Dougherty, whose family has run a houseboat business on Rainy Lake near International Falls for the past 30 years, sees it, too.

"We get the national park visitor, the family reunion visitor and people coming up on a fishing trip," he said. "And what we're not seeing are those 18- to 35-year-old people. They just don't seem to be out there like they used to.

"Up in the northland here, a lot of kids fish. But your urban person coming here, that's dropping."

Dougherty said organized youth sports programs, with their lengthy schedules and constant travel, are a big reason for the falloff.

"Everybody's chasing that college scholarship for whatever they think might be out there," he said. "And the kids don't get the time to fish.

"I have kids who work for me, and on certain weekends they have to be gone for tryouts for this team and tryouts for that team in the summertime. We have bantam hockey teams up here that play 60 games a year. It's become big business."

Although anglers don't need much money to get started, Bylander said, some may be discouraged by the price of boats, equipment and gear.

"In the old days, things were a little more low-budget," Bylander said. "But now there's more technology, more graphs, bigger boats. People see the bar for getting in is a little higher."

Ivan Berandt, a longtime fishing guide on Lake Mille Lacs, said some are making the sport "too scientific."

"People are losing the fun. ... It's not about catching the most fish. It's not being the best. It's just you being out there fishing."

Dougherty believes most kids, if given the opportunity, will still get hooked on fishing.

"Once you get 'em there, it's a whole different world," he said. "On Rainy [Lake], with the national park, it's undeveloped. I get kids up here who say 'I didn't know something like this even existed.' "

Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425