According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fishing was one of several outdoor activities that increased dramatically from 2006 to 2011.
Details are contained in the final report of the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Key data includes:
More than 90 million U.S. residents 16 years old and older participated in some form of wildlife-related recreation in 2011.
Overall 33.1 million people went fishing (saltwater and freshwater) in 2011.
27.5 million anglers fished in freshwater while 8.9 million anglers participated in saltwater fishing.
89% of all anglers were metropolitan residents.
73% (24.2 million) of all anglers were male and 27% (8.9 million) were female.
71.8 million participated in at least one type of wildlife-watching activity such as observing, feeding and photographing wildlife.
source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service