For the 12th consecutive year, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and the Outdoor Foundation partnered to provide a comprehensive look at fishing participation in the U.S. The 2022 Special Report on Fishing explores participation trends alongside insights into motivations, barriers, and preferences of key groups identified as essential for future growth.
As previously revealed, more than 52 million Americans age 6 and older went fishing in 2021, marking a slight decline from the historic high experienced in 2020. While 3.7 million first-timers and 8 million reactivated anglers went fishing, 14 million participants lapsed. That minus-18 percent churn rate resulted in an overall participation decline of 4 percent.
Women composed 37 percent of fishing participation in 2022, the highest level on record.
The participation rate among girls ages 6-12 and 13-17 grew 5 percent and 10 percent respectively. With these increases, the difference in participation rate between boys and girls has shrunk to less than 4 percent.
Over half of participants tried fishing thanks to an invitation from their friends or family. More than 75 percent of anglers associated fishing with spending quality time with family or friends.
While overall participation fell slightly from the historic high in 2020, African American participation increased almost 11 percent year over year. In addition, over 300,000 more Hispanics went fishing in 2021 than in 2019.
To download the full report, click here.
