Abstract
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of guiding anglers for compensation on a guide’s attitude toward fishing as a personally satisfying recreational activity. Additionally, we sought to develop and employ a specialization typology based on style of fishing participation to understand how current attitudes towards fishing as a personal leisure activity vary among different groups of fishing guides. Eighteen semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Texas inshore fishing guides and subsequent analysis yielded a typology representing four distinct styles of participation. These guides can be placed on a continuum from least specialized to most specialized: 1) Limit Guides, 2) All-purpose Guides, 3) Lure Guides and 4) Sight-casting Guides. Guides exhibiting less specialized styles of participation were more likely to view guiding as “work” or a “job”, less likely to participate in fishing as a personal leisure activity, and less likely to experience personal angling enjoyment vicariously through their clients’ fishing experience.
From Living to Fish to Fishing to Live: The Evolution of Personal Leisure
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of guiding anglers for compensation on a guide’s attitude toward fishing as a personally satisfying recreational activity. Additionally, we sought to develop and employ a specialization typology based on style of fishing participation to understand how current attitudes towards fishing as a personal leisure activity vary among different groups of fishing guides. Eighteen semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Texas inshore fishing guides and subsequent analysis yielded a typology representing four distinct styles of participation. These guides can be placed on a continuum from least specialized to most specialized: 1) Limit Guides, 2) All-purpose Guides, 3) Lure Guides and 4) Sight-casting Guides. Guides exhibiting less specialized styles of participation were more likely to view guiding as “work” or a “job”, less likely to participate in fishing as a personal leisure activity, and less likely to experience personal angling enjoyment vicariously through their clients’ fishing experience.