Chris,
Over the last few years I have noticed a decline in the number of angler young and old who have given up angling. With respect to the older generation it’s mainly due to:
1. The run-down on the lack of fish on our rivers which as we all know is due to the black plague, the cormorant, which have been allowed to decimate our waters. But who is to blame for this problem?
Of course, if we allow the French & Spanish fishermen to fish our inland waters, and they in turn take all the fish from these areas, what and how will the Black Plague feed? By, of course, coming inland to the freshwater fisheries.
We have, by allowing this, upset the food chain. Don’t for one moment think that I love the black b’s, far from it, only today we found a dead BP, and on gutting it we found that it had a tench 12 inch long in its guts. But the most amazing thing was that from the mouth of the tench crawled out about 12 tape worms that had come from the stomach of the dead bird. Not a pretty sight and one that turned my stomach over. Are these worms going to cause future problems?
2. Regarding the younger generation we all know that in this day and age that the younger element don’t want to sit on the bankside, they want to sit in front of a computer and play games on the Playstation. Gone are the days when a day out with your dad was great and enjoyable, and at the end of the day stop at a pub for a bag of crisps and lemonade.
I cannot see these days returning unless we all make a concerted effort to get the young ones back to the waterside. But to be honest how will this be achieved, and the major tackle dealers must take notice of this because, if they don’t they are not going to sell tackle to a generation of none fisherpersons.
That’s my opinion and I have been fishing for the last 62 years boy and lad.