Fishing Books

[Scott]

I was in Borders today, 'cause the wife had a coupon for the new James Rollins book, and thought I'd browse through the fishing books (I think they were in the "water sports & hunting" section).

There were a couple of salt water fishing books, about 2-3 books on black bass (one of which I ended up buying, it looked like a good read) and over 150 on trout and flyfishing for trout - including insects & fly tying.

I thought it was interesting.

Now you can't tell me that salt water fishing and bassin' aren't popular sports - bass fishing is considered the next big up-and-coming sport on the heels of NASCAR, and ESPN has dedicated Saturdays to bass and Sundays to salt - but why so few reference materials for salties and bassers?

What are your theories?

I know what I think, and I'm curious to see what some of you other fans of fly fishing think the reasons are too.

 

[jcstikfish]

Good point. I think there are lots of reasons but, to keep it short...
I think the biggest reason is that fly fisherman view thier sport very much as an intellectual pursuit/challenge. Gaining knowledge, (heres where the books come in) about insects and imitations, presentations, fish behavior, etc, is almost as much a part of the sport as actually casting a rod and catching a fish.

So... because of that intellectual interest by fly fisherman, there is a profitable market for authors and publishers.

Now, are there some bass fisherman that think along the same lines...absolutely, just not the high percentage that there seems to be in fly fishing.

Also, the parallel activity of fly tying adds a ton of writing to the fly fishing book market. How many books are in the catalog that are devoted to rubber worm and crankbait making??

~James

 

[Joe D]

Gee, and I thought it was just that the B.A.S.S. types didn't know how to read

 

[Khan]

Could it also be that flyfishing "appears" to be the most complicated of the fishing sports and thus requires the most learning tippets, leaders, tapers, types and species of bugs etc. Consider the fact that none of us have ever run across a bass fishing school or a bluefish school. Consider that you can't plop down big money to spend a weekend learning how to "catch" a bass. The most logical answer would appear to be that flyfisherman either require tutorials because it diffcult or they are simply not as smart as other fisherman. The real reason I believe is that most people learn fishing, ie bass and saltwater from relatives and family as they grow up, while flyfishing with its huge growth in recent years was not something most people could learn from a famly member( no one in the family flyfished thus a much more foreign activity). Flyfishing is something most newbies must learn from strangers or through trial and error, for proof of this ask anyone here. The fact that alot of flyfishing newbies are starting to flyfish as adults is even more relevant as they are more likely to use books to learn as that is the easiest route to knowledge and the most reliable. Thus books have become an important part of flyfishing and not as important in the other types of fishing which are passed down in more traditional manners. IMHO. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

[RickW]

That's 'cause bubba would rather fish than read :shrug:

 

[CR]

THe simple answer is that fly fishing books sell better. Why is that? The demographics.....fly fishermen by demo are more affluent, have more disposable income and read more about their sport.

 

[Fly Ty R]

Bingo! :king:

 

[RickW]

THe simple answer is that fly fishing books sell better. Why is that? The demographics.....fly fishermen by demo are more affluent, have more disposable income and read more about their sport.

and...............bubba would rather fish than read

 

[GARYB]

I think bass fishermen only read magazines for the pics !!!

 

[mang]

you don't need a book to teach you how to drown a worm, real or rubber.

 

[Scott]

fly fishermen by demo are more affluent, have more disposable income and read more about their sport.

I'm not so sure about that. Here's some info:

1. Black bass fishing is the most popular type of fishing in the United States, with 44% of all freshwater anglers considering themselves to be bass anglers (1996, USFWS, Black Bass Fishing in the US).

2. According to the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Related Recreation, 38% of all freshwater fisherman are black bass fishermen, 28% are trout fishermen.

3. In the Black Bass addendum to the 1991 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, we learn that: "Black bass (including largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass) appealed to more anglers than any other fish the Survey covered. Of the 30 million freshwater anglers in the U.S., 12.9 million, or 43 percent, fished for bass. Overall patterns show bass anglers tend to be male, have above-average incomes, and live in southern and urban areas.

Just over 9 million, or 30 percent of freshwater anglers, fished for trout (including rainbow, brown, brook, and lake trout). Overall patterns for trout anglers show they also tend to be male, have above-average incomes, and most often live in the western or northeastern regions of the country."

4. Also, regarding education: "Anglers with up to 11 years of education participated in bass fishing at a rate of 37 percent; those with 12 years of education, 43 percent; those with 1 to 3 years of college education, 45 percent; and those with 4 or more years of college, 45 percent. For trout fishing, anglers with up to 11 years of education participated at a rate of 23 percent; those with 12 years of education, 23 percent; those with 1 to 3 years of college education, 34 percent; and those with 4 or more years of college, 35 percent."

5. From the same report, "Overall, freshwater anglers had somewhat higher annual incomes than the national average of about $30,000. Fifty-four percent of bass anglers and 55 percent of trout anglers came from households with incomes above the national average."

So let's not jump to conclusions about who is better educated, has more money, or has more skill or talent as fisherman. The purpose of this post was not to entertain posts demeaning a specific style of fishing or target species.

 

[CR]

This poll says nothing about fly fishing, so there's not a lot to glimmer from it. It does say that more (55%) trout fishermen (which, again is in general) are affluent than (54%) bass fishermen, which supports my statement.

There is no question the stats would prove that fly fishermen, though a smaller group by numbers than bass fishermen, do in fact read more about their sport than anyone else. Book publishing is supply and demand - if there were a bigger market for bass books, you can bet there would be more on the shelves.

 

[Scott]

Actually I think I have to disagree again. 55% of 9 million is 4.95 million, while 54% of 12.9 million is 6.966 million, which means affluent bass anglers outnumber affluent trout anglers by about 2 million.

I agree with the rest of your post 100%.

I also think that most bass fishermen don't like to talk openly and in detail about fishing techniques. Given that in some states as many as 20% of bass fishermen compete in tournaments, there is financial incentive to keep your mouth shut about what works for you.

 

[CR]

I read that part wrong, so you are correct.

I just pulled these demos for readers of Fly Fisherman Magazine:

51 Average Age
15.2 Years Fly- Fishing Experience
$138,700 Average Household Income
88% College Educated

 

[Scott]

I read that part wrong, so you are correct.

I just pulled these demos for readers of Fly Fisherman Magazine:

51 Average Age
15.2 Years Fly- Fishing Experience
$138,700 Average Household Income
88% College Educated

I have not been able to find any sort of survey specific to the economic impact of flyfishing.

I must admit I am a little suspicious of Fly Fisherman's data, after all they are trying to promote their magazine to sell advertising space.

Also, Fly Fisherman magazine has a circulation of 120,000 which would indicate that the subscribers of Fly Fisherman magazine represent 1.3% of the total number of trout fisherman documented in the National survey, and probably are the top 2.7% of "affluent anglers" in the National survey.

Anyway, I don't want to agrue about who make more money than who.

However, it appears to me based on the survey statistics and the population of fishing books in Borders, that trout and fly fisherman appear to enjoy reading about their sport, and bass fishermen seem to spend more of their time actually fishing.