TV show spawns new generation of hot rods
Comedians and best mates Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse’s Gone Fishing charmed TV viewers and has got a younger generation hooked, says
Fishing may be something associated with the older generation, spending hours sitting by the side of a river or lake with not a lot going on. However, there has been a huge shift in interest with Generation Z - those born between 1997 and 2012 - now more interested in this hobby than ever before.
New research from luxury holiday resort Clawford Lakes has found that Google searches for fishing-related keywords saw a 26 percent increase between January and April this year compared to the same period last year.
Keywords such as ‘fishery near me’ have seen 14,800 average searches a month in the UK.
Niche hobbies such as this are becoming increasingly popular on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok with the latter’s video content regularly clocking up hundreds of thousands of views of fishing videos - posts with the hashtag #CarpFishingUK have garnered more than 166.1 million views on TikTok alone.
Faced with a constant barrage of new apps, games and binge-worthy shows, Gen Z are returning to nostalgic hobbies and retro ways of life to improve their mental health
- as well as creating original content for their social media channels.
A recent Samsung poll showed that social media plays a massively influential role in trying new hobbies, with 72 percent of participants saying they were being inspired to take up a new hobby after watching videos on social media networks.
The UK’s Environment Agency has a target of getting one million people into fishing and it is reinforcing the messages around the positive mental health benefits fishing has.
Fishing influencer @BevCliFishing influencer @BevClifford, who has 18,000 followers on her Instagram, started fishing in her mid-20s as a way to relax: “I fish for many reasons but mainly as I love the peace and tranquility of being outdoorsandinnature, being by the water while waiting for a fish to bite is so relaxing.
“There is a great social element to angling, I’ve met so many wonderful people and made great memories. It’s been proven that being outside, in nature, and near water has massive benefits for mental health and well being.
“It’s a friendly, welcoming and enjoyable sport for people of all ages, ability and gender.
Fishing can be incredibly male dominated, but we’re seeing a great shift in the number of women getting into fishing in the past five or so years.
A lot more people took their kids fishing throughout the pandemic as well and hopefully the younger generation will continue the hobby and become anglers for life.”