Evan Gregor: Fishing participation booms in challenging 2020

Over the last couple of decades, concern in the angling community had grown palpable in regards to fishing's place in the future recreational landscape.

Then, 2020 rolled around.

By all accounts, the challenging year that is about to close was a new dawn for the sport, both in participation and popularity. The newfound free time many of us encountered in 2020 caused by pandemic cancellations and closures presented the opportunity to take on new hobbies, or at least delve more into our preexisting ones.

For all intents and purposes fishing became one of many pastimes of the new normal, for good reason.

"Angling is extremely time consuming," author Thomas McGuane wrote in his 2014 book "The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing." "That's sort of the point."

Maybe a desire to pass the time doing anything besides watching the news was key to fishing's allure. Maybe it was the lure of safe outdoor recreation. No matter the reason, the influx of new participants in a sport that sorely needed them was a hallmark in an otherwise troubling year.

In the same way recreational activity counterparts like hiking, golfing and cycling found increased interest at the start of the pandemic, so, too, did fishing.

People with the itch to get out of the house flocked to local waterways in droves. By late June, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had issued nearly 100,000 more fishing licenses than it did at the same point in 2019.

The new interest in fishing was a boon for tackle retailers, an overwhelming positive considering independent outlets have slowly been disappearing the past few decades.

Many tackle shops and outdoor stores faced gear shortages due to the record sales. In a year generally devoid of economic bright spots, fishing managed to have a nice little year on the balance sheet.

Now I know what many are likely thinking: Is fishing's new popularity sustainable?

It's difficult to know what the future holds for the sport, or any activity that saw increased participation in the COVID-19 era.

I can't imagine we will see six-figure license sales again, and I'm sure there are some that will return to their non-fishing hobbies once they are deemed safe again.

In reality, if even a quarter of the anglers who were introduced to fishing during the pandemic maintain it as a hobby moving forward, that's a positive. Steady growth is key for a sport like fishing, and the exposure it has received during the past year should be an accelerant to that end.