More Coloradans fishing amid COVID-19 pandemic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- More Coloradans are fishing this year than ever, and experts think it’s because of the pandemic.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife - they’ve issued 90,000 more fishing licenses this year than in 2019.

Officials say the uptick is largely a result of people feeling cooped up from stay at home restrictions and public health orders. Plus, fishing does lend itself to social-distancing guidelines quite easily.

In addition to annual licenses, Colorado Parks and Wildlife also sells one-day passes and stamps that let you fish with more than one rod.

In the first half of this year, they’ve sold over 700,000 of those.

Anglers at Quail Lake in Colorado Springs say they aren't shocked by the growing interest in fishing, especially since the pastime has remained relatively unaffected throughout the pandemic.

“Most of the time, it's an individual sport. You can see here, people are social-distancing anyways," says Jon Sampson, who fishes at Quail Lake. "It's a sport people have done for centuries. We’ll see people in a fishing spot, we aren’t going to get anywhere near them.”

If you have a current fishing license - it is valid until March of next year.

Last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife says they brought in $96,000,000 in license sales. A portion of those sales goes toward wildlife conservation efforts in Colorado.