The Gen Z Era: Who Are We, Actually?

Resourceful, persistent, confident and most of all, curious.

Two anglers from the same generation find themselves at Colorado’s South Platte River. One, sporting a pair of oversized Vans as wading boots, a Bass Pro combo and a Wi-Fi-connected vape in his pocket. The other, whose dad has been pushing fly fishing since he could walk, has new Sitka waders and a Helios fly rod dragging behind him.

As they meet at the parking lot at the end of the day, they dap each other up and debrief over a warm backpack beer. Mr. Helios and Mr. Bass Pro met through their lacrosse team last year, and while Helios had been fishing his whole life, he was stoked to take Bass Pro out for a day. Now, they’re both in college, one at Montana State, the other at the University of Oregon. Summer break has arrived, and the boys are back in town. Bass Pro won’t upgrade his fly rod for reasons that Helios doesn’t understand, but he couldn’t care less.

Two other anglers from the same generation find themselves at the boat launch after a classic South Carolina flood tide. One grew up fishing in Michigan, and after seeing a video about flood tide fishing, took off on a dream to move there and fish every day. He’s now a full-time guide. The other is a financial advisor from Atlanta who moved his young family to Charleston after landing a job. Growing up poor in the city, he never had the chance to fish, but he’s now obsessed and books multiple trips a year with his guide buddy from Michigan. This trip is the first time he’s been able to bring his son.

Two anglers, again, from the same generation, find themselves on the bank of the Skagit River, near Rockport, Washington. They met through the local Trout Unlimited chapter. Both were new to town and eager to meet people while also giving back to the rivers they love to fish. One, a bartender who always loved to fish, but as a girl, never really felt like she belonged. The other had been fishing his whole life. They bonded over their shared love of the sport, but more importantly, their desire to meet other conservation-minded people.

What do these three pairs of anglers have in common? On the surface, it ain’t much. After fishing with all of them, I’ve seen the differences firsthand–race and gender, wealth inequalities and style decisions, to name a few. If you watched the news, you might think we hate each other. But we don’t. We’re Gen Z, and we’ve got more in common than what separates us. We are resourceful, persistent, confident and most of all, curious.

Whether it be finding blue lines on Google Maps or strapping on a backpack and booking it to New Zealand, we know no boundaries. At the same time, it’d be foolish not to acknowledge our differences, because this is the most diverse generation in the history of fly fishing. We’ve got more people of color, more women and more backgrounds than ever before. But there’s another kind of diversity at play here. Diversity of thought, style, mission, motivation and just overall vibe. In that sense, Gen Z is hard to pin down, but there are a few unifying threads.

We’re all in for the experience. Gen Z is willing to drive farther, camp colder and eat cheaper just to get out there and do the damn thing. At the same time, we’re in love with what’s in our backyard, and catching a local fish is just as exciting as the tug from a big fish in a faraway place.

We’re tired of the performance. Overpriced gear, social media clout, fish porn, fly-fishing influencers–get lost. As the social media generation, we’re looking for an escape from the overstimulation and constant barrage of advertising. Don’t get me wrong, we love a good fish photo or a high-quality piece of gear, but we can smell BS from a mile away.

We’re eager to ditch the phone. You may think that we “Zoomers” can’t ditch our phones, and sometimes, you’re right. However, Gen Z anglers get on the river to break away from the digital world in which we were incubated. Because of phones, our mental health is in the garbage, but we’re on the water to find some relief.

We’re not interested in unnecessary stuff. For the industry folks reading this, tune in. Gen Z wants quality over quantity in multiple ways, and our gear is a prime example. Not only do we expect it to be durable and perform, we expect the companies we buy from to give a shit. Simon Perkins of Orvis put it well in this article for Fly Fisherman Magazine, “When it comes to Gen Z and Millennials, they don’t buy stuff. They buy into stuff; 70% of them consider company values when they purchase from companies.” In other words, sell us something worth believing in, and we’re yours.

We’re willing to stand up for what we believe in: public lands, conservation, community building. Many older anglers claim to stand for these same things, yet their voting records say otherwise. They claim to want to share the sport of fly fishing with a broader community, yet act like Karens when we roll up to the river.

It’s NIMBYISM, but simply in an on-water form.

But that chip on our shoulder only tells half the story.

Because when our two Gen Z anglers at the South Platte are polishing off their warm beers, an older woman emerges from the bushes. Her canvas vest is stuffed to the brim, her gray hair is poking out of a faded straw sun hat. She stops by the tailgate and asks the boys how their day went. They swap stories, and the boys listen intently as she shows them the dry fly she caught her twelve trout on. The boys only caught six between the two of them.

So, we understand that we are following in the footsteps of giants. Many changemakers came before us, and we recognize that fact. We’re not here to tear it down; we’re here to build on it in our own way.

That woman gave the boys a lesson they could not have gotten on their own.

And lessons like that rely on both generations working together in an exchange of knowledge. We’d like to learn the craft, culture and history. And we’ve got plenty to bring to the table with our energy, large numbers and fresh outlook.

Fly fishing needs community.

The anglers of Gen Z are here to help build that. We’ve got a warm beer for ya whenever you’re ready…

Are you a next-generation angler? We’re building something for you. Reach out to watsoncliff23@gmail.com, and we’ll add you to The Rising community on WhatsApp–where we’ll share polls, ask questions, gather opinions and hear stories from young anglers across the country.

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Cliff Watson grew up in Wisconsin and now roams the Western U.S. like many other displaced Midwesterners. He has commercial fished in Alaska, hitchhiked with a fly rod through South America and developed some thoughts along the way. He writes about fishing, culture and the human experience. Also, give his Substack, Kudos, a follow. You’ll be glad you did.