COST OF BASS FISHING AT 

 RIDGE LAKE, COLES COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



George W. Bennett 



and 

 Leonard Durham* 



More people engage in angling than in any other participation sport in the United 

 States, and the amount of money spent for fishing equipment, travel, and lodging incident to 

 angling is greater than the amoiint spent in following any other participation sport. 



No one questions the intangible value of fishing as a form of recreation, but when 

 intangible values are weighed against values that can be expressed in monetary terms (such 

 as the value of the corn produced on a drained lake bottom) the intangible values usually do 

 not receive due consideration. For this reason it seems justifiable to analyze costs associ- 

 ated with sport fishing, not in an attempt to convert intangible values into monetary terms 

 but rather to illustrate the sum the public is willing to pay to participate in this form of out- 

 door recreation. 



Costs of fishing could be figured on an hourly basis, but, as the fish to be taken 

 furnish the incentive for expenditures in special equipment and travel, as well as time, it is 

 more expedient to assign these costs to the individual fish or the pounds of fish that are 

 caught. 



The pursuit of certain kinds of game fishes requires (according to expert advice) 

 certain kinds of tackle, some kinds more expensive than others. Some of these fish are 

 ■widely distributed and others are restricted in range, so that their pursuit involves a great 

 variation in travel and related expense. Finally, game fishes vary in abundance and in 

 wariness, so that the time element (time required to catch one fish or 1 pound of fish) is a 

 important consideration in figuring costs. 



* The senior author is Aquatic Biologist and Head, Section of Aquatic Biology, Illinois Natural 

 History Survey. The junior author is a Technical Assistant employed by the Illinois Depart- 

 ment of Conservation and assigned to the Illinois Natural History Survey for administrative 

 and technical supervision. 



