FERNANDINA BEACH, Florida.
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]awaii, Florida, Texas, California, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Alaska – all offer world-class fishing. And with cold weather slamming much of the country for the past two months and spring still more than a month away, where do seasoned anglers dream of traveling to land their next big one? According to a survey conducted by AnglerSurvey.com, South Florida remains the top dream destination of would-be traveling anglers with 43 percent of those surveyed choosing it as the location they would most prefer to fish if they had the opportunity.
The popularity of South Florida was followed by Costa Rica with just over 18 percent of respondents selecting the Central American country as the place they would go. Next on the list was Mexico with 12 percent, followed by the Bahamas with just over 12 percent and Panama with more than five percent. Nearly 12 percent of those surveyed said they had no preference, while 11 percent said they wouldn’t choose any of those places. Additional destinations written in by anglers included both salt- and fresh-water fishing locations such as Texas, California, Alaska, Minnesota, Alabama and a handful of others.
Photo provided courtesy of the South Florida Water Management District staff.
While all of the asked about destinations offer superb fishing – 49 percent of responding anglers said that was one of the chief reasons they chose their respective dream fishing location – there are other factors that may have helped South Florida edge its competition. In addition to perceived great fishing, other top reasons for choosing the place respondents selected include less hassle to get there with 22 percent selecting that motivation, 21 percent cited feeling “more secure” at the location as a concern and 20 percent pointed to the cost of travel as a factor.
“By virtue of being tropically located, but still a part of the United States, South Florida certainly offers a certain appeal to a lot of anglers not wishing to deal with the cost or additional concerns of international travel,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com. “Efforts by all travel destinations to improve convenience, contain costs and hassles and provide a strong sense of security can boost their sportfishing tourism dollars.”
To help continually improve, protect and advance hunting, shooting and other outdoor recreation, all sportsmen and sportswomen are encouraged to participate in the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and/or AnglerSurvey.com. Each month, participants who complete the survey are entered into a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of their choice.
About AnglerSurvey.com, HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com:
Launched in 2006, HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and/or AnglerSurvey.com help the outdoor equipment industry, government fisheries and wildlife officials and conservation organizations track consumer activities and expenditure trends. Survey results are scientifically analyzed to reflect the attitudes and habits of anglers and hunters across the United States.
