How much do we spend on our Hobby ?

[Lucky_Phill]

Add up what you spend in a year on your Fishing Hobby. That is, add up, Fuel ( car and Boat ), Oil, Bait, Tackle, Lures, Rego, Ins, Accomodation, Tolls, Barge Fees, Camping fees, Maintenance ( Boat & Trailer ), Mags, Sun Screen, Clothes, Insect Repellent, Rod & Reel repairs, Food for the trip, Drinks, Grog, Tide Guides, Boat Show fees, Film, etc etc. right down to the Photo album you put the pics in and developing costs.

Also do a sum for purchase of the Boat etc. If you bought the Boat post GST from a dealer,, initial cost $10,000 that's an initial GST payment of $909 ( providing you didn't pay it off, and if you did add the interest.) Do the same for Rods, Reels, Sounders, GPS etc.

NOW, when you get a total ( and get up off the floor ), divide that total by 11 to get the GST you paid. THAT FIGURE goes into the Poll Stats. I want to know what the Government is getting out of us, by way of TAX we pay to enjoy our Hobby.

[Vern_Veitch]

Sit down and add it up fellas.
If you fish from a boat you've got boat and trailer rego, insurance, annual servicing, a battery every second year, wheel bearings, updating of safety gear and much more before you have spent one cent on wetting a line or actually paying for the boat.
I do not earn a lot but I reckon that I spend, on average, at least $5000 a year just to fishing once a month. Hmm. Maybe I should try to make that once a week from now on.
Vern

[adrian]

hey i wish you hadn't done this poll .
it makes that fish i catch every blue moon very dear ( lucky i only catch one ;D ) but your right it is a very expense hobby just don't tell the missus or we are all dead .

anzac

[jezza]

You guy's are quite right.......they turn out to be expensive fish!!!!!! I'm just glad my missus doesn't know "how much" over 1000 it actually is.
Until next time...

[webby]

;D hobbies well.
First hobby spend $20.00 last sunday for Flowers
Second hobby spend $150.00 (new line/hooks/and a few
odd and ends for the boat) , told first hobby couldnt afford
anything else. ;D
regards

[Rolcar52]

:-[ :-[ :-[ Fellas I've just spent $1300.00 on lures & another $1000.00 on rods and reels for my trip up north in September, thinking of some saltwater fly gear, probably another $1500.00 by the looks of it , then there's a G.P.S as well, that list just gets bigger every week. ;D ;D ;D . By the time this trip is done and I get back home to Melbourne it will have cost near $10,000.00 . Webby my flowers cost me about the same as yours and I only just had enough money lucky hey! ;D

[jaybee]

Gee i went fishing the other night and caught two (2) fish. At this rate they cost $500.00. Damn lucky I didnt catch any more because I wouldnt been able to afford it :'( so much for the GST helping us eh.. ???

[Sweetlip]

Well I have spent over $25k this year but most of that was on a boat that I paid cash for so I think of that as a sunk cost (poor choice of words?) and not something to worry about.

I have been a "responsible" bloke all my life and always paid all the bills of a growing family first so have never lashed out on a boat until this year.

The problem is that my boys have now grown up and left home to far off locations. In reality, I should have forgotten all of that "responsible" stuff over the years and bought a boat a long time ago when they were little. Thay are great kids but, in hindsight, it would have been my best investment of all, including whatever I spent on their education.

Let's not feel guilty about what we spend on recreation. It is as important a part of life as anything else.

We seem to spend lots of dough on keeping up appearances in our thirties and forties and for what? To impress a bunch of people who really are really just worried about who they are trying to impress?

I would much rather have been doing a lot more boating and fishing over the years so that I too could be as good a fisherman as Webby, Nugget and the regulars here who display pix of some great fish every week.

Sweetlip

[Lucky_Phill]

Spot on there Sweetlip.

One thing that the " handbrake " doesn't get, is the act ( all encompassing ) of fishing. It's NOT to catch fish.

It is to get away from the cheese & kisses, tin lids etc. And if by chance we put a feed of fish on the table, we are Legends.

;D ;D

So many times I hear my neighbours saying " jeez, phill, you fish a lot ". But in reallity, I fish when the weather is good, be it Monday, Wednesday or the weekend. Mid week nights of course. But you can't catch fish from your lounge room.

If by chance, you are at work and around lunchtime, someone says, " it's a nice day ". That's your opportunity to take an early mark, jump in the boat, car etc, and " go fishing'". If you sit around waiting for a GOOD weekend, you'll be waiting a lifetime.

Looking at the poll stats, it appears that the fishoes here spend over 10 grand a year on fishing or they have misunderstood the poll figures, being for the GST only.

Maybe do another one later, that is easier to understand. ??? ???

[stevedemon]

Hi guys
We all no what we spend on each trip whether out in the boat or dry dock, or whether it be with or without the Wife and kids the one thing is that we all get out there and enjoy what we do as long as we do it ::) 8) ;D. Sweetlip you hit the nail on the head when you said that you should have done this long ago with the kids as they are our future and teaching them right is going to make fishing more enjoyable for all for the future as I spend about $100.00 per trip in bait and fuel some times more but whats money if you can't enjoy it with the family and kids. you can't take it with you but the memory's last a life time [img] [img] but then there times that I like to get away myself just for the relaxation catching fish is a bonus as they say if I caught a fish I could not afford the second one
good fishing queit nights and looking at the stars thinking of that big fish with your name on it or just queit night and if the wife is with you no kids even better just being on the water does me.

good fishing to all

[blaze]

hi all
i dont even keep a figue on what is spent (cant claim it as a work expense), but what i do know is what price is health and well being, i dont even care if i dont catch fish , i tag and release 90% of them anyway and have been known to sit in the boat line in the water and no hook and just RELAX
blaze

[Heath]

On a cost per trip bases, I reckon we would get change out of $40.00 easy.
We rarely buy bait, most of our bait is caught. Berly is caught as well.
The costs of Tackle are fairly high, but we buy just about everything in bulk & that saves you mega bucks.
A normal trip in fuel is about $25.00, oil is put in every 5 trips or so, running costs of the tow vehicle is almost nil as we live close to the ramp.
When I see people trolling around all I think of is the $$$$ it must cost them, compared to anchoring & fishing must be double I reckon.

[lordy]

Lets assume that rec fishing was banned, what would happen to all this money?

Q. Would all that money we spend on rec gear be lost?

A. No. It would be spent on something else, movies, going out with the boys, camping etc. So what we spend just gets spent elsewhere. A boat builder may go broke, but someone else will spring up to take the slack.


Q. What happens if the pros go?

A. Fish exports will be lower and fish imports will be higher. This is a blow to the economy and the balance of payments.


I find this whole argument that rec angling is worth more than pro angling a bit spurious. When you look at it from a whole economy point of view it does matter much with local anglers.

That doesn't mean I don't want to see more pros closed down. I just think economics arguments are sophistry. We shouldn't need to use them as a crutch for justifying our position. We fish, we vote, we have a legitmate voice to have our wishes heard, and if we want it strongly enough then we can push for it without need to work out how many $ we spend on each fish.