Gas prices soar; trout rejoice

Everybody’s hurting due to higher gas prices (hovering at $4.56 a gallon in California), even the humble angler.

A survey released Monday shows that 32% of those anglers who were questioned said they will fish less due to the higher price of gas. That number is up from 22% in the same survey last year, according to Southwick Associates, an online survey company that specializes in gauging outdoor sports and recreation activities.

An additional 35% of the 1,970 anglers nationwide surveyed online said they would continue fishing but will likely stay closer to home or use a motor boat less often, according to the survey. That number is up from about 30% in last year’s survey.

That is all good news for trout, bass and other water-breathing critters in California that have been thriving thanks to abundant water levels this spring. A possible solution for anglers: a fishing carpool. You pay for the gasoline and I’ll pay for the nightcrawlers!

– Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: Trout caught at Lake Isabella, California; Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 5:02 pm by Hugo Martin and is filed under California, Lake Tahoe & Eastern Sierra, News, Tips & Advice, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure, Sierra Nevada, Sports, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.