Reeling It In
By Matt Crawford
When governors across the United States began issuing stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines in mid-March, a significant number of Americans knew what to do during the pandemic: go fishing.
Natural resource agencies in states that allowed or encouraged fishing during the COVID-19 shutdown reported huge upticks in resident fishing license sales. Numbers surged in a diverse swath of states, including Vermont, Louisiana, New York, South Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, Kansas, and North Dakota.
Did the recreational fishing industry, which the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates generates more than $49 billion in retail sales annually, see a correlating increase in equipment sales?
“It’s all over the map,” said Justin Sterner, owner of Outdoors East, a multi-brand sales rep group with accounts in the mid-Atlantic and New England. “I mean that literally and figuratively.”
In urban areas where lockdown orders were most restrictive, Sterner said many shops struggled. In states that allowed various retail operations, however, it’s been a boom time.
“From the start of the pandemic until today, we’ve posted mind-blowing numbers,” said Bob Shannon, owner of The Fly Rod Shop in Stowe, Vermont. By the end of May, Vermont fishery officials reported a 50% increase over 2019 fishing license sales. More anglers on the water fueled an enormous bounce for Shannon. His online sales were up 1,140% over last year. Despite his seven guides being forced to cancel guided trips, the shop’s total revenue still climbed 33% over a comparable period in 2019.
“It wasn’t just our online business that exploded,” Shannon said. “We were allowed to offer curbside service, and customers continued to come to us and buy what they needed.”
In Colorado, Tucker Ladd owns Trouts Fly Fishing shops in Frisco and Denver. Operating day-by-day early in the pandemic, Ladd and his crew hustled during a much-busier-than normal online sales period that saw periods of triple-digit growth. The approach switched at the Denver store as Colorado gradually reopened.
“May 9th was the first official day we could reopen, and we were up about 200% from the same day last year,” said Ladd. “Even missing the first week, we’ll be up substantially in May at the Denver store from where we were in 2019.”
Manufacturers, however, see a more mixed scenario.
“Business is off because of store and dealer closings, but consumer direct in the outdoor area is, of course, doing very well,” said Tom Rosenbauer, spokesperson for fly-fishing giant Orvis. “Rods, reels, waders, and fly-tying materials are the high points.”
Russ Miller, director of marketing at Umpqua Feather Merchants, echoed Rosenbauer. “As a fly supplier, we have seen a dramatic increase in flies,” said Miller. “The other category that we saw a huge increase in was fly tying, during February, March, and April in particular, but those sales have continued into May.”
At Simms Fishing Products in Bozeman, Montana, public relations manager John Frazier said soft goods sales have been slow but hardgood sales are strong. “We have seen strength in the sales of waders and boots,” said Frazier. “Sure, a lot of that has to do with anglers getting ready for the season, but a lot of this strength is coming from new people getting into fishing.”
How the fishing industry can build on the interest that bubbled up during the lockdown remains unclear. “We can’t assume this surge is the result of some brilliant strategy, or it’s the start of upward growth,” said Patrick Berry, CEO of Fly Fishers International. “We need to analyze who came into the sport because of this and figure out how we’re going to retain them. Otherwise it’s a blip not a trend.”
Matt Crawford lives, fishes, writes, and works as a senior director for Pale Morning Media in northern Vermont.