Why is fishing so Expensive these days?

[MuskieBait]

(03-23-2014 08:03 PM)MichaelAngelo Wrote:  Fishfight brought up an interesting point about fish caught per dollar spent. Of course, if there are less fish caught today than there were a few years back, the cost per fish is going to skyrocket. When we equate number of fish caught to the amount of fun, then the cost per unit of "fun" is also going to go up. Catching fish sure is fun, can't argue with that.

By that argument, we should all be fishing for panfish then...because cost is the lowest and fish caught is highest...making the CPF most optimal.

But we all know it doesn't work that way...otherwise, why would you spend hundreds of dollars on the snowmobile + power auger + 4 mile/gal just to get skunked on Whitefish? Or Burbot? Or Round Whitefish?

And why would you spend hours tossing a poor bait in unfishable condition to tarpons while hundreds of reef fish are willing and waiting for a sabiki rig?

Because we know that sometimes somethings just can't be quantified and equated...because personal preference and personal utility varies.

I do have a similar metric though...It's the Cost Per Species. Simply, it is used to determine whether I'm hunting new species with optimum efficiency. In order to lower the CPS, I must have the best information, a highly dependable location and fish at the peak time. Any amount of blind searching or lack of preparedness on my part will increase the CPS. My average CPS is about $50.

I'm already doing the alternative...fish less at home, save up the limited time and resources, and spend it on travels where the UTILITY of that experience (and catching new species) is higher than catching (or skunking more often) at home...to me...since my personal utility is different.