High fuel costs may help anglers discover Missouri's waters again

High fuel prices are cramping some fishing trips this summer. They are causing anglers to cut back on their fishing plans and the impact among fishermen appears to have escalated sharply since last summer.
Tom Moore of Blue Springs is one of the many anglers who always look forward to a fishing trip to Canada each summer. Not this year.
“My fishing trips this summer will be limited to Missouri waters like the Lake of the Ozarks, Pomme de Terre, Truman, Smithville and Stockton along with some short trips to area lakes,” Moore said. “I figured up the cost of gas to go to Canada and it would be more than all the rest of the trip combined so I’ll be staying much closer to home this summer."
Last month, a survey by AnglerSurvey.com showed only 33 percent of anglers said that higher fuel prices would not affect their fishing activities this summer, compared to 35 percent who responded “no effect” to the same question in 2007. Likewise, 32 percent of the anglers in 2008 said that high prices would affect their fishing plans, which was up sharply from the 22 percent who felt this way last year.
Tournament anglers are also affected in a big way. John Myers of Springfield has fished bass tournaments in the past, but said he would be sitting this year out.
“With the cost of getting to the tournaments, plus all the other expenses, I would have to finish in the top five of a tournament just to break even,” Myers said. “If there is a tournament close to KC, I might make it.”
Bob Barnes of Sedalia is one angler who won’t be changing his plans this summer.
“I nearly always spend most of my fishing time fairly close to home anyway,” he said. “I catch plenty of fish without going too far. There are plenty of good spots in the state to fish, so if I am after catfish, crappie, bass or even walleye, I don’t have to leave the state to catch them. Our family loves to camp in the state parks, so we usually spend our vacation right here in Missouri.”
Another angler who plans on staying closer to home this summer to do his fishing is Dave Smith of Belton.
“I have never been to Canada, but I have fished in Minnesota, but I think the fishing right here in Missouri and Kansas is just as good if not better,” Smith said. “Maybe more people will find out just how good the fishing is closer to home this summer. They might be surprised.
“I had a neighbor who had never fished the Lake of the Ozarks before this spring. He caught limits of crappie and lots of bass and catfish. Now he is sold on fishing closer to home and is passing up his annual trip up north this summer. He told me that it made good sense to not spend all that hard earned money to travel to Canada, besides of all the time getting there and back. He could be catching fish instead of driving, he told me. I know that I will be hitting lakes like Jacomo, Blue Springs and Longview a lot more this summer.”
With the average price of a gallon of gas in the country more than $4 this month, many anglers will be staying closer to home this summer, and that’s not a bad thing.