With spring fishing season upcoming, anglers may be interested in some statistics gathered by AnglerSurvey.com who do bimonthly and yearly surveys of anglers and hunters and their various mediums. The surveys also help equipment manufacturers tailor and market their products to sportsmen’s trends and needs. his report presents the results of the bibimonthlyglerSurvey.com&Copy; online consumer panel survey. The panel, composed of anglers across the U.S. who volunteer to participate, tracks angler participation and expenditures. Every other month AnglerSurvey asks panelists about their participation and purchases during the prior two months.

To overcome biases common to online surveys, the survey respondents are weighted to reflect the true population of U.S. anglers. The weighting process is conducted dynamically - with each survey to reflect the general angler population as accurately as possible. Currently, AnglerSurvey data is weighted on age, geographic region, income, and average days spent fishing within a given year. The information in this report is based on responses from a nationwide sample of anglers who complete the surveys. They are as follows:

*Did you buy a fishing license this year? 60.2 percent said yes; 17.4 no; 7.3 percent said they plan to; and 15 percent said they have a lifetime license.

*Where did you purchase your license? 46.9 said internet 44.9 a retailer; 6.5 said a government office.

*Did you plan or buy a fishing license as a gift? 22.9 said yes; 39.6 no; 37.4 not sure.

*How much did you spend on fishing equipment to use as gifts? $1.00-$49.99, 12.7 percent; $50-$99.99, 18.6; $100-$149.99, 26.1; $150-$199.99, 6.7; $200-$299.99, 13.4; $300-$399.99, 4.5 percent; $400-$499.99, 2.1; $500-$1000, 7.9; Over $1000, 6.3; Not sure, 1.9 percent.

The graphs accompanying these numbers show the percentage of fresh versus saltwater angling while the other shows places where freshwater anglers fished. The latter’s 58.5-percent shows land and shore angling is no big surprise in that most shore fishing is probably for trout and panfish and not every angler has a boat to fish from. But if it was asked what the most popular freshwater fish pursued, it would likely be largemouth bass.

FISHING REPORT

Since most sportsmen have, up until now, been deer hunting, fishing action has been virtually nil. But On the Water magazine offers this local report of some die-hard anglers who braced the cold wet weather to catch brown trout in the Stocked Trout Waters section of the Martins Creek and the lower section of Monocacy Creek. Avid fly anglers, they report, have been nymphing while bait anglers used butter worms to land and release these wild brown trout.

Anglers have also been fishing for Muskies in the Lehigh River below the Rte. 33 access, using various streamers and jigs. The next pursuit will be ice fishing when colder temperatures will allow safe ice.