Quote:
Originally Posted by bobalong
Hard to compare angling now to the early 80's there was no GPS, no underwater cameras and almost no sonar. Most ice fishing holes were all drilled by hand, few if any ATV for traveling on the ice. Can't find the link now but I believe I read there were about 85K licensed anglers in 1982, now about 250K
In 1980 there were about 2 million people, now there are over 4 million. There were none or very few of the big 5th wheel trailers and boats and motors were fairly small limiting travel on the big water. There is more knowledge available to anglers on their home and other waters than ever before in history........hardly anyone ever gets skunked any more summer or winter. Rods, reels, line, cameras, lures, sonar, mapping, electric motors, ice huts, heaters, augers, all better improving efficiency.
Most all the improvements today since the early 80's have increased angler efficiency significantly and are all factors that have contributed to the decline of our fisheries. Not really news for anyone thats been around for a while, but something to think about.
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Never had a problem limiting out in the 80's, so a lower limit today would still mean less fish retained even if you can catch 100x more fish.
I think the number of licensed anglers in Alberta in the mid 80's was actually higher than today if I'm not mistaken??? I'm not positive but I think I read into that.