Convenience is Key When Choosing a Place to Fish

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL. – Recreational anglers cite a lot of reasons for choosing their favorite locations to fish, but one thing it better be is close to home. AnglerSurvey.com recently polled anglers on what was most important to them when choosing a place to cast a line and found that nearly 60 percent of them placed proximity to home as a key factor.

In the survey where respondents could cite multiple factors that play into their decisions, past fishing success (47 percent), having a quiet place to fish (45 percent) and the availability of fish, particularly those they are seeking to catch (44 percent) were also very important. Other factors in order of how many respondents selected them include:

Water quality (24 percent)
Location is recommended by a friend or family member (14 percent)
How much it costs to fish there (13 percent)
Available parking (12 percent)
Nonboat access (8 percent)
The size of the body of water (7 percent)

“Fishing is an activity that can be enjoyed for an hour or two before or after work or school or when there is a little down time in a person’s life, so convenience and the ability to run out, fish and get back home are first and foremost in many anglers’ minds,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com , ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com . “Efforts on behalf of the fishing community to bring fishing opportunities and access into suburban and urban neighborhoods may be a critical part of efforts to maintain fishing’s future.”

To help continually improve, protect and advance hunting, shooting and other outdoor recreation, all sportsmen and sportswomen are encouraged to participate in the bi-monthly surveys at HunterSurvey.com , ShooterSurvey.com and/or AnglerSurvey.com . Every other month, participants who complete the surveys are entered into a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of their choice.

Southwick Associates is a market research and economics firm, specializing in the hunting, shooting, sportfishing, and outdoor recreation markets. For more than 25 years, Southwick Associates has established a proven reputation for delivering comprehensive insights and statistics assisting business and strategic decisions across the entire outdoor industry; from government agencies, industry associations and non-profit organizations, to affiliated businesses and manufacturers. Aside from custom market research, Southwick Associates also provides syndicated participation, media consumption and equipment purchase tracking studies utilizing their proprietary sportsmen panels. Visit www.southwickassociates.com for more information.

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