I went to the Central Jersey Trout Unlimited meeting tonight:

[AndyS]

I was greeted with open arms. It was their cookout night right here in Dunellen. At least 25 people, I had a great time. Some of the nicest men and women from all over, some as far as Staten Island. I still can’t get over how everyone greeted me as I announced I was new and was checking the waters. I had a short sit down with the chapter president, we touched on a lot of subjects. He assured me it just wasn’t about the fly fishing and I responded by saying what a great group of conservationists they were. We are all in this together, sure we make some comments from time to time but deep down we all share the same water, no matter how you fish it.
The most AMAZING thing I am seeing in my travels is the lack of young people. If you go to a Fish and Game meeting at Pequest or Hackettstown, or a Federation meeting, or a Trout Unlimited, or an RVTA meeting you don’t see any of the 20 and even 30 year olds. The past year I have attended quite a few meetings and it seems the average age is 50 and over. Out on the streams and rivers other than opening day I see very few people in their teens and twenties. Launching a boat at Round Valley or Spruce Run or Merrill Creek you see very few people in their twenties and thirties. NJFishing.com freshwater section has a pretty good showing of younger people but as far as getting involved I just don’t see them. I asked my two boys ages 18 and 25 if they knew ANYONE who goes fishing, the 18 year old said no, the 25 year old said he knew of one person his age with a few fishing rods but nothing serious. I think this is pretty alarming and I don’t know where this is headed. Is it the over development, urban sprawl, text messages and computers that are keeping the youth off the water. Is life too fast paced now that the younger generations don’t want to take the time and enjoy the outdoors ? We all glow on here when we see an adult taking their kids fishing. Is the sport fading as a whole ? Is it just New Jersey ?
Anyway, I had some great laughs tonight with people my age (50+) and told them I would see them again in September when they resume their normal schedule.

http://www.cjtu.org/

[lunkertaker]

I have always filled my children with the sense of the great out doors. They love fishing, camping, and hunting. We take what we can eat and leave the rest. They love it as much as I do.

BUT...times have really changed. It is easier to catch a fish or bag a deer using a F.....cking cell phone or video game than the real thing. Why go outside and try when ya can do it at a tip of the finger and be a success? Man am I sounding like I am > 50 yrs old? Closer to 50 than 40 but have raised my kids to know the real thing, respect it, and look forward to it. Technology will always out pace even our children, but the values and experience from real life experience can not be replaced. The real-life fish on the end of a line is no equal to one caught on a cell phone. My kids know this first hand...hope everyone instilles the same values.

It is these real life experiences we impart on the younger generations that are the future of our efforts today.

Andy, thanks for being an advocate for all things FW. In the early spring, I brought my younger girls to the trout meeting at Pequest so that they would understand the importance of a great fishery. While they played the games of the future, they also listened and asked many questions on the way home. The future of any fishery is dependent on the interest of its existence.

[Moz]

Quite a lot said in your post Andy but I see quite a number of "younger" guys fishing the shoreline at RVR. A boat is a pricey and space-hogging proposition and with the economy being what it is I don't think the boatramps are a good lithmus test. I think you make a valid point though that most kids (and worse their parents!) don't make the outdoors a priority anymore.

As for fishing clubs I have my opinion on that but I don't want to stoke any controversey on here. I'm just a few years removed from being in my 30's myself but for me fishing is supposed to be an enjoyable pursuit and from what I've seen the social aspects of the clubs can be very cliquish and mired with politics. When I was in my 20's I just wanted to go out at night and chase girls.... Not get into arguments with 50+ year old men on things like C&R efforts (like a certain club's website that was made popluar here not too long ago).

I think the younger generation feels equally "connected" by being online than going to meetings. There's probably a reason why a totally online site like this one gets more traffic than some of the clubs official sites.

[Wilson]

Everything for the younger generation is "virtual"
Experiencing other peoples experiences virtualy is the same as experienceing it for yourself.
Go on Youtube and you can watch/do anything you can think of.
Facebook, Insta-gram et. al have removed the uncomfortable face to face meet.
Bug bites,ticks, mud, bad weather body odor,and sticker bushes are only for the real do'ers. Socializing is an electronic sport these days.
Boy I must be getting old Better that then dead.

[lunkertaker]

Originally Posted by Wilson

Everything for the younger generation is "virtual"
Experiencing other peoples experiences virtualy is the same as experienceing it for yourself.
Go on Youtube and you can watch/do anything you can think of.
Facebook, Insta-gram et. al have removed the uncomfortable face to face meet.
Bug bites,ticks, mud, bad weather body odor,and sticker bushes are only for the real do'ers. Socializing is an electronic sport these days.
Boy I must be getting old Better that then dead.

Wilson you as I know that these are the real facts...

watching someone on you tube drink a beer or catch a fish will never replace the actual event. The hands on experience is just not there. Living a virtual existence, glued to the cell phone for your every thought, expression, and idea is where the next comment comes from is insane, but true for so many. I have taught my kids the value of experiencing the real event, recognizing it's significance, and living the moment. Instilling these values is essential. We may be in a minority now, but my kids know the real deal...Just saying as they experience it every weekend with Me.

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by AndyS

The most AMAZING thing I am seeing in my travels is the lack of young people....Out on the streams and rivers other than opening day I see very few people in their teens and twenties. Launching a boat at Round Valley or Spruce Run or Merrill Creek you see very few people in their twenties and thirties.

Yeah, it's a big problem in America and especially in Europe. I guess the culture is shifting as they become more urbanized and more computerized. I'm sure the game and fish departments are all seeing the average age of the hunting and fishing license purchasers increasing every year.

As the woods and farms are being turned into vast suburban ecologic wastelands, the younger generations are spending less time in the woods and on the water. Parents have less time to take their kids fishing and hunting. When the kids become adults, they don't have that "base" of knowledge and experience and aren't of that outdoors-culture that makes great fishermen and hunters.

The outdoor heritage and culture is being replaced by various electronic forms of entertainment and mindless consumerism.

I might be wrong about this, but it appears to me that many of the new recruits into the ranks of fishermen in NJ are immigrants from other countries. They did some subsistence fishing in their old countries and now have become freshwater anglers in America. I may bitch about them because they can't bring themselves to practice catch-and release, but new immigrants may be an important source of license sales in America.

[tautog]

See lots of kids fishing at my local pond. Almost every nice afternoon it seems like there are 4 or 5 of them, even on school days.

[Blackfish Doug]

Originally Posted by tautog

See lots of kids fishing at my local pond. Almost every nice afternoon it seems like there are 4 or 5 of them, even on school days.

I see the same thing where I live. Too bad they get kicked off because it's private property on the Golf Course. It's a liability issue & it also interferes with the golfers game so you can understand why. But they usually sneak back out there when nobody's out there anyway gotta love it.

[Skunk City]

The 20-30 year old guys are still putting in work. Myself and my group of fishing buddies are late 20's-early 30's and put in tons of hours on the water. Would agree though, many are too busy chasing females and/or at a bar buying $8 drinks for said females to care about the OUTSIDE world. Me, I am trying to balance doing both right now .

In regards to coming out to meetings and such, I will say as I've gotten "older" (I'm 28 now), environmental and governmental issues have become more important to me than they were. In my teens and early 20's, it was kind of like "Yeah that's messed up, but whatever." I could see myself coming out to relevant meetings now if I wasn't fishing in all my free time .

[cmoran719]

I'll admit that up until I started fishing last year I never knew anyone else my age that fished seriously. From what I've gathered, there are very few serious anglers in the Rutgers community as well. A bass fishing club now exists at Rutgers for those that didn't know, and they've been having a decent turn out as far as a new club goes so that's promising (I should be fishing a few tournaments with them this summer). I also think that ocean fishing is immensely more popular in NJ for all ages and a lot of younger people seem to be doing that more seriously. I've been seeing on facebook lately people my age posting about ocean fishing trips. I think they just like the glamour of being on an expensive and fancy ocean boat to be honest, and facebook is the perfect place to gloat. Nothing screams "success" like a white 20-some year old posting pictures of themselves on a boat with their fashionable boat shoes, khaki shorts, pink Polo, Ray Bans, and Rolex on...