I find myself more reluctent to travel as nuch as I have in the past.
A short weekend trip easily exceeds $500;Gas,Lodging,food, and bait that you have to get rid of after each trip.
Is it just me or are others avoiding traveling this year also?
No plans here to slow down. The cost of things is certainly higher but there are many ways of keeping them under control.
Going places sure beats staying home!
ET
Took a trip with IDO on the Rainy Lake House Boats…
6 Days from the time I left the house till the time I got back home.. $750
That included absolutly everything…
$125 a day… Thats not bad at all for an all inclusive fishing vacation 
Quote:
I find myself more reluctent to travel as nuch as I have in the past.
A short weekend trip easily exceeds $500;Gas,Lodging,food, and bait that you have to get rid of after each trip.
Is it just me or are others avoiding traveling this year also?
Years ago I strategically started getting cabins/friends set up in the areas I liked to fish in an attempt to avoid lodging costs.
So no, in 2011 I can travel as I see fit. However my habits did change as I planned ahead for increased travel costs.
Quote:
Years ago I strategically started getting cabins/friends set up in the areas I liked to fish in an attempt to avoid lodging costs.
So if I had a nice cabin on a nice lake you would be my friend? 
dd
I refuse to let the price of fuel slow me down. I just have to be more consciences of how and where I am spending my money.
Take this coming weekend. My son and I will spend 4 nights at Winnie. As much as I’d love to stay at a resort, I just can’t afford it, but I still want to fish and experience Winnie so we are camping at the national park for $18 per night. We will bring food from home so that does not really cost a whole lot extra. The food costs the same whether we eat it at home or a campsite. I still have crawlers left from sturgeon fishing and I have a half pound plus of leeches in the fridge. (Note: use bottled water to save your minnows and leeches). Fuel is the big hit at about $200. There is no getting around that one. I’m guessing we’ll spend another $100 for odds and ends such as firewood, bait, food on the road and ice.
So we’ll spend about $400 +/-, which equates to about $100 per day for entertaining the each of us.
Another thing to think about is taking trips when resorts are slow like in April and October. You can find resorts at LOTW at those times and rent a cabin for $25 per person per night. I am currently working on a trip over MEA in October.
I think a lot of it is how willing you are to make some concessions so as to stretch your bucks. That’s just my quick two cents.
Heck yeah. Someone might as well enjoy them. 
That’s just my quick two cents.
Just like that another two cents gone! 
I’m going to crawl back under my rock now.
The high gas prices and two small children have greatly impacted my traveling for fishing. I haven’t been to our cabin in 6 years. I am bitter about it but have found small clouds with silver lining. I find less pleasure boats on the Madison chain and have spent more time exploring close to home. Where I’ve really noticed is the family vacation has disappeared. Where I used to go fish like a fool for a couple weeks, I’m lucky if I can fish two days in row now. Our cabin is 300 miles north of here. 250 dollars plus in gas alone for a week long trip up there. Speculators are getting rich off our gas prices.
I will not let the economy get in the way of fishing
I think traveling in general has been scaled back for me but fewer trips to local waters, P4 or up nort’? not going to happen. To me those types of activities are what keep me going and enjoying life.
It is more expensive to fish so I am trying to trim my budget in other places… I am eating out less, riding my bike to work, stretching my equipment life for everything I own and making fewer unneeded trips to the grocery store, etc.
Can’t give up what I was put on this earth to do 
Ask resort owners this same question and see what their response is. Gas prices have cut down on my trips and fishing a ton. 2 to 3 hr trips are out. It has to be 5-6 hrs or more or I just stay home. Running up north on the weekends is gone. Used to get 6 to 12 trips in up north every summer. Im lucky to see one maybe two now. Good thing there is some quality fishing still close to home.
My son and I will spend 4 nights at Winnie. As much as I’d love to stay at a resort, I just can’t afford it, but I still want to fish and experience Winnie so we are camping
I will be doing the exact same thing and have enjoyed the trips if the weather cooperates,maybe see you there I will be driving a white lund pro-sport good luck and hope you and your son have a great time 
I share your pain.
Quote:
$125 a day… Thats not bad at all for an all inclusive fishing vacation
Not at all 
Is it possible that all the press on gas prices is really what is keeping people home?
I admit I’m very lucky to have a job that comes with an annual merit increase that roughly stays pace with inflation. But I still can’t figure the math on how much more expensive things are today that would keep so many home?
Example, if you normally make a trip of 300 one way miles and while there drive around a bit and end up putting on 1000 miles on the truck. Today, with a truck that does 15 mpg, that’s $250 with gas at $3.75. When gas was $2.75, the same trip cost $183. $67 higher.
Is that keeping us home? Lodging costs are higher, bait, food. But those costs weren’t zero before, they all had a cost.
Is it that our salaries are not keeping pace?
By drinking less beer, eating less food, and finding cheaper places to stay, I can make up these extra costs pretty easily.
I’d still go, but be smart about it.
ET
Think you hit it on the head with mentioning having a job that keeps up with inflation. What if you didnt have have that? What if you had lost say 10% of your income over the last year? Many many people have lost much more than that. My guess is to many its not a matter of coming up with the extra $67 dollars. Its a matter of even coming up with the original $183.
I haven’t had a raise in 4 years. I’m looking for new work but it hasn’t come through yet. When it costs $32-35 dollars to fill my tank with 2.50 a gallon gas and then it goes to near 60 dollars now…. I’m lucky I have a small boat that is good on gas but it is too small for my two boys and I. We are healthy and I thank the lord as others are much worse than we are.
BOAT = ” BRING OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND “
MY 3-5 hours trips are really down. I have made 2 trips to Rainy this season and probably not another until fall.
Yes I will still fish a couple times a week but within 45 minutes of home.
If you ask the resort owners about the fisherman traveling distances, I am sure they are down on cabin rentals and probably will be until the end of the high gas or the economy turns around.
$400 plus dollars in gas per month is too much to go fishing even if I slept in my pick up.
Quote:
Example, if you normally make a trip of 300 one way miles and while there drive around a bit and end up putting on 1000 miles on the truck. Today, with a truck that does 15 mpg, that’s $250 with gas at $3.75. When gas was $2.75, the same trip cost $183. $67 higher.
That’s a very good example Eric although it’s not the $67 more dollars for the fishing trip, it’s the extra money needed to get to work ect during the rest of the month that makes that $67. bite.
I’m with you on this point Mike, I have always stayed at a resort whenever I go out of town. Now with added the cost of “diesel fuel” in my case, I find it just too much money to drop for a weekend.
Typically I spend Two weeks at a resort, plus 4-5 weekends.
I think I might be going through some kind of wihdrawl. 
If I was you Jeff, I would go to Pasha Lake and clear your head.
It’s been alluded to but not very explicit,..a good way to dilute fuel costs and maintain the number of fishing days is to take fewer but longer trips in my opinion. I prefer to fish every weekend to get me “fix” but we all have to find a way to stretch our dollars. Several other good suggestions were made,…thanks.
It bugs me that I have to spend more time thinking about how I’m going to pay for a trip than thinking about fishing, gear and boats. A recent trip to Pool 4 cost almost $200 for fuel. Outboard was broke down so didn’t even get on the water! I’m currently looking at burning used motor oil in my pickup. Some up front costs, but then nearly a free ride. Daily costs are just eating us alive.
Locally, I’m going to start kayak fishing.
Quote:
Is it possible that all the press on gas prices is really what is keeping people home?
I admit I’m very lucky to have a job that comes with an annual merit increase that roughly stays pace with inflation. But I still can’t figure the math on how much more expensive things are today that would keep so many home?
BK had a great point. It’s not just the $67 extra in trip costs themselves, but the added cost of living in general day to day. Still need to buy gas to get to work, groceries to eat during the week, etc. Those costs are cutting into the travel budget as well and many are getting little to no increase in wages….and some are losing just to keep their job.
For me, my wife just quite he full-time job that she hated to take on a part time job and spend more time with the kid. My travel budget has decreased a ton….so I will be making less trips this year. I have not had an merit increase in a couple years, but it sounds like we may get a 2% this year.
I am lucky as I live only 35 miles from Lake Pepin, we keep our camper in Lake City at the Lake Pepin campground, we do not have a seasonal lot but we store our camper in the boat yard for a very reasonable monthly rate. Just found out today that I got a job I applied for with the same company but in a new dept and a new location downtown, now I will be able to take the bus to work and save my gas money for the weekends on the lake! 
311hemi hit the nail on the head with me and the wife…Our everyday expenses have gone up about 30%. Fuel for the vehicles just to get back and forth to work went up. Medical insurance and Food!!!( have you seen the prices and sizes going in opposite directions?) Lost all the tax returns because kids are grown. We used to use that to fund our trips.
Just hard to come up with the $$$ now a days. 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
