THE CYCLES COME AROUND
Originally Published the Week of April 2, 2015 in Western Outdoor News
At the time of writing this, we’re just about to wrap up three months of attending the fishing/ hunting shows across the Western United States. We’re here at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego for the Fred Hall Fishing and Boat Show.
Back where we started in December.
From here, we drove to shows in Sacramento, Denver then Seattle. From there we did the big Portland show then Phoenix and Yakima. From there the drive west to the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach, then Salt Lake. And well, here we are back in San Diego!
If attendance, bookings and retail sales are any indication, the economy is looking up. It’s been an exciting three months.
Many of these shows were “off the hook” as it were. Attendance records were broken. Crowds were shoulder-to-shoulder in the aisles.
Vendors were selling everything they had and running out of inventory. I saw them scrambling to find fishing rods, t-shirts, lures…you name it!
“In all my years doing shows, I’ve never run out’ve fishing rods to sell,” said one of my amigos who specializes in custom rods. “ And people weren’t even bargaining this year. They paid the price on the sticker.”
“We had to have extra equipment drop-shipped from the manufacturer, “ admitted another amigo. “ I ran out’ve some things by the 2nd day of a five-day-show!”
Lodges, outfitters and guides also seemed to be having a banner season on bookings.
“Our lodge is completely booked up with a waiting list for the year. At the shows we’re actually booking for 2016 and 2017! “ said an Alaskan outfitter.
A couple who run a a guide service in a remote part of northern Canada were wide-eyed, when they confided, “Our bookings are triple what they normally are. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is that I think we’re gonna have to hire more staff.”
One of our other friends who owns a South African big game hunting operation. Hunters pay up to $30,000 for a hunt. They wrapped things up after 3 shows and went home.
“We canceled all the rest of our shows. We don’t have any more room for more hunters this season and most of next season too, “ he told me proudly. “We’re going home early to get ready.”
The general feeling was that either the economy has gotten better or folks are just frustrated of “tightening-the-belt” and the pendulum has swung the other way. People are spending on vacations again.
For awhile, a few years back times were slim. If people are losing work or fearing foreclosures or other events, then fishing and hunting trips aren’t very high on the list of necessities. Understandable.
A lot of outfitters never made it through the bumpy times. We lost a lot of friends along the way. I guess it mirrored what was going on for everyone.
But, a lot survived. Hung in there. They learned to run leaner and work just a little bit harder to hang onto their passions and livihoods and thereby keep alive vacation dreams for so many others.
It’s good to see. It’s about time. The cycle always comes around if you can ride out the tough times.
It was like that for the fishing fleets of the West Coast, especially Southern California that just had a banner fishing year.
El Nino currents brought exotic and incredible fishing for tuna, wahoo, dorado and marlin to folks who normally never get to see that kind of action.
The frenzy of plentiful fish brought out the crowds. And many a landing owner, captain and boat operator let out a sigh of relief. They struggled during the years of tough fishing and slow economy too.
One San Diego captain told me, “We saw and continue to see crowds we never saw before. Guys who hadn’t fished in years re-discovered the fun of being on a boat again. They came out once, twice or more.”
“They brought their families and kids too! And maybe that’s the most important. We were losing the kids to Xbox and Facebook. Fishing got them off the couch and onto the ocean. New fans for fishing!”
For those of us running operations south of the border, a string of setbacks put many in a spin. This included a slack economy; nervousness over swine flu; high airline rates and crime issues. The stellar fishing to the north meant there was no need to travel south for exotic fish.
But, an owner of one Baja resort put it in perspective. “As long as people are fishing that is good. Some years it is fantastic in Mexico and other times it is better in the U.S. “
“Like this year. Good fishing is good fishing. Think of all the people who started fishing again and all the new people who started fishing. At some point, they will think of coming to fish in Baja!”
It’s all a matter or perspective.
As it turns out, many of the Baja outfitters, hotels and fleets are also seeing an increase in bookings this year. We’ve been waiting.
Coupled with the heightened interest in fishing. Mexico is still a bargain place to visit. In fact, it’s the #1 destination for Americans to visit and has the highest tourism growth of any country. Additionally, lowered oil prices have resulted in cheaper airfare across the board.
It’s going to be a good season! We’ve been waiting!
That’s my story
Jonathan
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Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com or drop by the restaurant to say hi!
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Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
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Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
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“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”
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