If a contestant on “Jeopardy” buzzed in first after getting the club “The most sought-after fish by North Carolina anglers,” the response would probably be a question involving largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, flounder, red drum or spotted sea-trout.
And every answer would be incorrect.
The most-pursued native North Carolina fish are mountain trout: brookies, browns and rainbows.
It’s not that there are more anglers targeting trout than other species — although the most-recent N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission statistics indicate that 92,769 people bought trout licenses, including 76,761 residents and 16,008 non-residents. Comparatively, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries sold 480,000 Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses in 2013, 380,000 of them to state residents. That means freshwater trout licenses total one-fifth of annual saltwater licenses.
But a major difference isn’t apparent in those numbers: the number of days fished.
According to the Commission fishermen targeting trout spent 1.42 million days on the water in 2012. That translates into an annual economic impact of $174 million impact, which translates into 1,977 jogs and $56 million in salaries.
Also according to the Commission, only deer hunters buy more licenses than trout fishermen.
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