Aug 18 2006
Fantasy Fishing Leagues
Yes, you read that right, there are fantasy fishing leagues.
Not only has professional fishing grown so spectacularly that last year’s leading money winner earned $547,000, but popular “fantasy fishing” leagues, resembling fantasy baseball and football, employ elaborate statistical breakdowns of fishing tournaments to help players pick winners, according to a July Wall Street Journal report.
“Average weight per fish (caught) over careers,” “margin of victory (in pounds),” and other data points are plotted by players, along with weather reports, depth and temperature of tournament lakes, and intangibles such as “home-lake curse.” The organization FLW Outdoors estimates 40,000 fantasy players, many of whom have never actually fished.
This is clearly another sign of the apocalypse. People are sitting around computer screens feverishly researching water temperatures and combing the fly-cast injury reports!
And like those in other fantasy pursuits, the Fantasy Fishing folks research, troll over stats, watch the meets, obsess, obsess more and then hope and pray they’ve picked the right team.
I guess I just don’t get it:
Despite the surging fan and corporate interest, many in the pro-fishing industry believe it remains misunderstood. “People think of fishing as a guy with a six-pack of beer,” says Irwin Jacobs, owner of FLW and chairman of Genmar Holdings Inc., a large motor-boat manufacturer. Fantasy fishing, with its focus on elite anglers and statistics, is one of the ways tournament organizers and their backers hope to deepen fan involvement.
I still don’t see the attraction. My brother participates in what could be considered minor-league fishing and I get all the involvement I need in about 2 minutes of talking to him. Clearly, I’m missing something.
Check out these blogs:
- Sports Fantasy Fishing
- FLW Makes the Front Page of the Wall Street Journal
- Fantasy Fishing
- Hooked on a Fantasy
- Teach A Man To Fish… And He Will Bore Others On ESPN All Day Long
