Given the high cost involved in running a stillwater fly fishery I have often considered if it's really a worthwhile business venture or if it's simply a labour of love. Taking into account the graft involved in the upkeep of a small day ticket fishery, the long hours and the high cost of quality trout, "how much is a fair price for a day fly fishing" ?.
At most small trout waters in our area you'll pay around £25 for 8hrs and X amount of trout. I struggle to see how this is profitable, 8hr tickets on average have 5 fish limits then C&R.If trout cost around £1.80 per 1lb and your average is 2.5lb that's £4.50 per trout and if an angler takes all 5 that's £22.50 which leaves the fishery £2.50. This does not take into account that the bigger the trout the higher the cost per 1lb.
Now, not every angler takes all 5 fish and some fish C&R only so this may well subsidise those who do take all 5 but still it seems a very cheap day fly fishing under these terms.
(If I Were A Fishery Manager)
I think I would stock smaller trout on average but then, I'd be happy to catch 1lb'ers all day instead of 2/3lb'ers but I get the feeling most others would prefer the bigger fish.If I was stocking in the same way as most small fisheries and offering similar tickets I think I'd be charging around £40.00 per day (fair in my opinion).
What would you do and how much is a fair price for a day fly fishing ?
A frightening future - The Obama Deception
id like too see some fisheries ,capable of being self sustaining, going down the completely wild route. I think it would be refreshing in the current commercial in your face stackem high sell em low culture. It wont happen though, as they are businesses at the end of the day, and most Scottish anglers seem to hold stocked rainbow trout fising in a higher regard than wild brown trout fishing if voting with your feet was anything to go by. For a days fishing on a Wild loch with a boat for 2 anglers i only pay £20, theres no time limit , no bag limit (although i fish C&R) and best of every fish caught are perfect fully tailed examples , as god meant them to be.
"not every angler takes all 5 fish and some fish C&R only"
That is how they manage to remain viable commercially, though I would be very surprised to find any fishery owner/manager raking it in, it seems a very very hard way to make a living. If everyone fishing was successful and took the limit home I am sure that the overall ticket prices would have to be substantially higher to cover the cost of additional fish that would be required.
More important, in my opinion, is the environmental cost of the farming of the trout for these fisheries. We all too rarely hear anything in the news or press about the over exploitation of marine species for the manufacture of pellet food for the aqua culture industry, about the crash in numbers of sand eels or the breeding failures of puffins and other sea birds that feed on them.
Not that I would necessarily like to see the farming of these fish stopped but I think that the costs should reflect the damage that is being done. If this was done I guess there would be far fewer fisheries.
I don't think you can compare wild fishing with a fishery either. They are totally different activities, it is a bit like trying to compare downhill mountain biking and taking the kids out for a wee run on there bikes, the equipment might appear similar but the activity is totally different.
Very occasionally I will go to a fishery, maybe once or twice a year, to kill trout for the table, in part because the wild river fish I usually catch are too wee for a meal and I'm reluctant to kill larger breeding fish in the 1-2 lb bracket on the rivers I fish anyway. But I find the atmosphere at fisheries really competitive, "how many have you got'', "have you bagged up yet?". This is not my cup of tea.
While I personally wouldn't wish to go to a fishery regularly I appreciate that some fishers do, which is fair enough. I expect though that as the marine fish that are used to make the feed continue to decline, the costs of the trout will go up and up, eventually feeding through to the cost of running one of these businesses making things harder and harder for the fisheries.
As for a fair price for a fair days fishing, it depends entirely how much cash you have and how much you value the time spent fishing. but in this day and age of something for nothing I can't see folk queuing up to pay more for a ticket to fish for smaller fish.
On the other hand I had a day on a river recently for less than £10 and caught half a dozen rainbows of 3/4lb following an escape from a fish farm earlier in the year. Not the brownies I was after but great fun and very good value IMHO.
Pete
To fish or not to fish? Now there's a silly question
I was talking ith my cousin a few days ago, who fishes in and around Arbroath for sea fish, apparently the Mackeral although present there stomachs have been practically empty, (lack of sandeels?), i wonder if the fish farming industry is to blame? How long before the goverment takes notice of the environmental damage caused by fish farming?
When one considers what golfers pay for approx 4.5 hrs,(£25+>) footy fans pay for 1.5 hours,(£20+>)white water rafting etc, £20-25 for a full days fishing with possibly fish to take home to cook is ok in my books.
Well made points pete, I'd have to say that I'd prefer if the food fed to farmed trout was more natural or at least also farmed. If there was less demand for high quality large rainbows there might not be the need for such aggressive breeding and farming methods.
There is a debate to be had about various farming methods in the UK and not just fish farming I think. There are many modern practices that could be bettered.
As for the fishery managers, good luck to them. If they continue to provide a service that anglers want to buy then all the better. Whilst stillwater fishing is not my prefered style of fly fishing I do enjoy it when I go.
I don't really agree with the practice of breeding, stocking and catching the massive rainbows out there. For me anything above about 5lb is just a waste of time. People might not pay more to fish for smaller fish but would they pay the same, probably not. I would feel ok about paying £10 to fish for 1/2lb to 2lb trout all day long C&R.