Great topic. I was 18 in 93 fishing out of my dads 20' nitro that was the "be all, end all" of boats to me back then. Now, I fish with my buddy in his tricked out Champion with more money in electronics than Dad probably paid for his whole rig.
Crank is right, it's going to be interesting to watch in the years to come. It is nice to see the sport coming along at the high school level though. The college level has some pretty stout competitors as well. It would be nice to see these boys move on to the pros like every other sport.

Definitely stinks seen how trashed some of my favorite places have gotten over the years... that is my concern -- people love fishin' and going to the lake, but they sure don't like taken all their garbage with em'

9 times out of 10 its not the fishermen. People parting on the banks is most of it.

Agreed... but it still stinks!

crankbait, a great post and question. i know in my mind back in the late 60's, i knew bass fishing would be at the level it is now. i sincerely hope that we keep passing this great sport and recreation to our children. i have had a passion for fishing since that first 3lb. gold fish i drug out on the bank of a pond using a cane pole and bobber. i think our electronics will keep getting better, but we will still have to keep coming up with different methods to catch the bass. with fishing pressure, we are already seeing bass becoming open water feeders. fishing is a sport to enjoy for many years, i sure hope we keep it going and our kids will do the same.

bo

I used to sell bass boats in the 80s and when the retail price went to $15,000, I thought we would never sell one. I was wrong and now they are $70,000 and still selling. $100,000 boats are coming soon.

IMO, the lower middle class is going away but the upper end is doing fine.

I think high school and college fishing is going to be the next stepping stone for bass and FLW.

Me too, and the technology will be something as well. Based on what I am seeing in the automotive world right now with what Tesla Motors has come up with on electric car technology I wouldn't be surprised at all if in 10 years from now our bass boats are totally electric powered and even lighter than they are now.......I think as soon as the battery technology becomes cheaper to produce we are going to see a lot of this in every aspect of our lives........

Electric motors! Oh boy, that's gonna make some happy....LOL, the 'go really fast' guys....
Couldn't resist..

To give all an idea how bass fishing has grown at an explosive level we should look at the Student Angler Federation State Tournament.
The inaugural tournament 3 years ago drew 24 teams. 2years ago we have 36 teams. This year we were at 76 teams.
Many high schools are having tournaments.
In south east Texas we have now organized a complete circuit for our students to fish. We will have 5 qualifying tournaments and a championship. The plan is to give the winners at the championship a $10,000 scholar ship.
At Corrigan-Camden High School we had 2 members 3years ago. 2 years ago we had 6 members, and last year we had 9 members.
High school fishing leads to fishing college fishing and more scholarships possible.
Just wanted to share our experiences. If your high school is interested, contact me and I will help any way possible to get you students fishing.
Future of bass fishing is the students. It seems to be growing at great rate for sure.

I picked up fishing in my last year of high school. I played many sports growing up and very few I can attempt any more. I can still fish. I only recently got back into bass fishing seriously. While I was amazed at the advances there really wasn't too much foreign to me. Rods, reels, and lures. Some new techniques....but wait....we did that 25 years ago....
To me the great thing about fishing is that it's a cradle to grave sport that almost anyone can participate in.
It's also a sport that doesn't care who you are. It doesn't differentiate whether you have $5k of electronics in your boat or if you go at it with a cane pole and a cricket.
It doesn't care if you compete or just trying to relax.
I imagine in 25 years it will still be the same.
You aren't kidding about moving up levels. The first time you take a NFL grade hit it really makes you question the universe and the meaning of life when you wake up. Wow!

Lee I know what you mean and the thing about it is these electric powered boats will probably be just as fast if not faster than what they currently have and have a lot better mileage range.

The technology will continue to improve.

We are really n a fishing revolution right now because in the past decade we have basically seen oil injected motors go from an existing technology to an industry standard and now major changes in depth finders. Side imaging is just the beginning. And I think 360 imaging is going to have the same kind of impact.

We are going to get more efficient and as the technologies get more available the prices will go down to be more competitive in markets and will be available to more people.

The big thing I notice is I see more and more people buying baits and lures from local, custom bait shops rather than large lure manufacturers. The other group buys most of their stuff online. This will in turn cause places like bass pro shop to have to down size.

I also see boat popularity changing. New boat manufacturers like Phoenix boats are gaining popularity. Phoenix could be like bass cat in 20 years.

I think the future it very mixed for professional aspect. On the positive side the youth seem to be fishing more whether i see then dunking shrimp or worms from the banks to high school clubs fishing. For example the bass club I fish with we voted to allow youth under 16 to fish with an adult. So if the weather holds my son (7) fishes all the time and has been since he was 5. He is on the boat all time either playing or fishing.

So the growth of the sport seems to be there. The actual making the sport into a profession will be tougher the initail costs are high with boat/eletronics/tackle/travel some one has to cover the costs. Making ends meet without another job is almost non-extistent. The sport is fickle like any other sport but at least a bad year on a pro-team you still earn paycheck a few bad tournaments placing in the bottom 20-30 spots equals no-paycheck.

That being said I enjoy to fish the local tournaments and love to travel and beleive I had some skills but can't afford the costs with make it "pro" the only way this sport will grow and I believe the PAA article from fishstrong had some good points. It to truly make it like other sports. Find the top anglers sign them to contracts like other sports for 2-5 years so money is not an issue. If they meet or exceede re-sign them if they suck they get cut and new talent enters the leauge. Things like the BASS opens/Everstart ect can act almost like a minor league to find talent.

I just want to still be able to fish when I'm 50, 60, 70...

I worry more about the lakes then anything else.