"Fishing is more interesting than weightlifting." Tokyo Olympic weightlifting champion Shi Zhiyong mentioned in an interview that his biggest hobby off the court is fishing.
Then the Chinese fishing king Deng Gang called Shi Zhiyong, who was far away in Japan at the time: "After returning to China, we will go fishing together." One is a post-90s Olympic champion, and the other is a 50-year-old fishing circle celebrity uncle, seemingly a cross-border dialogue. It just confirms that fishing, which was once considered an exclusive sport for middle-aged and elderly people, has broken the circle and entered the life of the post-90s generation.
According to consumer insights disclosed by Tmall, there are 2 million people born in 1995 who buy fishing products every year.
During the "June 18" period of this year alone, the number of people who consumed fishing gear on the Tmall platform exceeded 300,000.
The investigation found that in a QQ phishing group composed of 2000 members, there were 1004 people born in the 1990s.
Fishing, a slow sport that requires patience, has sparked sparks with lively young people and has become "tide". Post-90s are also redefining fishing culture with their own words.
"Catch a few small fish, my world is healed"
"Fishing makes me feel excited. In three or four hours of fishing, every time a fish is hooked is a surprise." A year ago, when he went camping with a friend, he came into contact with fishing. The 26-year-old Zhou Yang fell in love with it. Activities, "Basically I go once or twice a month. Fishing is different from playing games or other entertainment and leisure activities. I like to be free when fishing. I can look at the surrounding scenery while waiting for the fish to be hooked. Shen, I will be nervous and excited when I start fishing. If I can meet a connecting rod, I will feel more fulfilled." Last year, Zhou Yang caught a dozen fish in a row, and I still feel very excited in retrospect.
The connecting rod means that every time the fishing rod is raised, there are fish. In addition to the skill to pass, it also requires a certain amount of luck. If you "fish for a whole day without gaining", it is called the "air force".
In the view of 18-year-old Jin Xiehui, the "air force" is normal, and he prefers to go fishing with a "lying flat" mentality.
“It often happens that I can’t catch fish, and I gradually got used to it. I prefer to watch the scenery and the quietness when fishing.” Jin Xiehui just graduated from high school. , If you don’t play games, your favorite thing is to go fishing."
In addition to alleviating the pressure of study, fishing has also changed Jin Xiehui's mentality. "I was very impetuous before. After I started fishing in my second year of high school, I learned to calm down, which is very helpful for listening to classes and writing questions." Under the influence of, some of his classmates also became interested in fishing. "In the beginning they just followed me to watch fishing, and then slowly started fishing by themselves. I can clearly feel that they have become more patient and calm after fishing. NS".
Why do more and more young people like to fish?
This issue has sparked discussions among more than a hundred netizens on the Zhihu platform.
Most netizens believe that fishing is a sport that can effectively balance "excitement" and "leisure".
Some netizens also concluded that because they never know what fish is the next shot, the process of getting the fish can bring a sense of control and satisfaction. If the corresponding fishing method can be adjusted for the target fish species, it will bring extra catch. Satisfaction, and you can also enjoy the natural scenery outdoors, especially relaxing and decompressing.
The recreational fishing market expands to the post-90s
When fishing is no longer an exclusive activity for middle-aged and elderly people, the trendy post-90s have added the keywords of "leisure" and "social" to professional fishing.
According to Nielsen data, the scale of China's recreational fishery will exceed 110 billion yuan in 2020.
According to data disclosed by Tmall, there are 2 million people born in 1995 who buy fishing products every year.
During the "June 18" period of this year alone, the number of consumers of fishing gear on the Tmall platform exceeded 300,000.
Among them, Gen Z and young people in small towns are more willing to "chop hands" for fishing equipment, and the consumption amount of Gen Z buying fishing equipment online has grown the fastest.
"As an entertainment player, I buy equipment according to my ability. Fishing rods and fishing reels will buy big brands with guaranteed quality within the budget. However, in terms of consumables such as bait and fishing lines, priority is generally given to them. Cost-effective." Tan Jiayu, 23, was exposed to fishing in his junior year. After that, he would invite friends to go wild fishing every weekend. After two years of fishing, he spent about 3,000 yuan.
Xu Bei is an online shop owner who has been selling fishing gear for 8 years.
She told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that with the rise of short video platforms for live delivery of goods, competition in the fishing industry has become increasingly fierce.
"Fishing is also an addictive activity. The entry barrier is low. When I was young, I used a bamboo pole to bend the wire into a hook and string earthworms on the river. Now young people have more choices for fishing gear and peripheral products. There are more and more, ranging from hundreds of thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan." According to her store data, there are nearly 30% of young consumers aged 18-30, and they generally pursue cost-effective products.
However, where to go fishing has become a new problem that young people from different regions have to face.
Tan Jiayu lives in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. There are many surrounding waters. It is common to go wild fishing every weekend. However, Zhou Yang who lives in Beijing finds it difficult to find a place to go wild. Every time he goes to a suburban reservoir or "black pit" Need to pay a large fee.
The so-called "black pit" is the name given to commercial fish ponds by fishing enthusiasts.
The type and size of the fish in the "black pit" can be controlled artificially. The density of fish heads is much higher than that of natural waters, and the admission fee of several hundred yuan or even thousands of yuan is generally required.
"Going to the reservoir or the'black pit' is part of liquidity expenses, and it costs about 200-300 yuan each time. This cost is for a better fishing experience, but it will not go to the very expensive'black pit'. "Zhou Yang said.
"My current set of equipment is about 3,000 yuan, which can be used for a long time without other additional costs."
Zhou Yang believes that, compared to middle-aged and elderly fishing friends who spend huge sums of money on equipment, he is more willing to focus on training skills and is more rational in consumption.
Searching for "fishing" on an e-commerce website, you can see that from the one-stop complete "novice fishing set combination" launched by the merchant, to the auxiliary equipment such as fishing umbrella, folding fishing chair, convenient fishing rod bag, etc., all are hot. Selling products, even came into being a variety of "lazy artifacts", such as fishing hand washing devices, fish finder, automatic bait feeding device and other high-tech fishing "magic equipment."
Although young fishing enthusiasts born in the 90s are relatively rational in purchasing basic fishing equipment such as rods, fishing lines, and hooks, they also have their own consumer propositions.
The owner of an online shop operating "fishing peripherals" told China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily that in addition to basic equipment for fishing, there are also non-essential items such as fish guards, fish barrels, dip nets, and night fishing lights, especially those with a sense of technology. The fishing artifact is highly sought after by young anglers.
"I am very happy to try these technologically-conscious equipment, which can satisfy my curiosity of early adopters and improve fishing efficiency." said a consumer who has bought a fish finder.
Onlookers of "Fishing Atmosphere Group"
In addition to spending money and energy, fishing also needs time to do a lot of preparatory work. For the busy young fishing young people, these are all problems that have to be faced.
The 29-year-old Pan Pan came into contact with fishing when he was playing at the farmhouse in high school. After studying in the United States, he would go out to sea with fishing boats every weekend.
Now that Pan Pan returns to Beijing to work, his fishing hobby has been put on hold. "Usually I am too busy at work. If there is a fishing ground where I can rent fishing gear, prepare bait and other facilities, I would like to try fishing again."
There are many people who like fishing like Pan Pan, but are hindered by various realistic conditions.
By the Tonghui River in Beijing, there are often a group of onlookers next to anglers.
Every weekend, Hu Yu would come to the shore to watch other people fishing for a while. “I thought it was very interesting to go fishing with friends before, but after knowing that a lot of pre-preparation needs to be done, I gave up and came to the shore to see other people fishing, or online Watching the live broadcast is also very decompressed."
Even if they do not participate in fishing offline, young people still have "one hundred" new ways to watch fishing.
From "Animal Crossing Friends" to "Moore Manor", it is the young people who are fascinated by fishing in the game that have frequently rushed to the hot search.
On the short video platform, there are not a few young people watching fishing.
According to the "2020 Douyin Data Report" released on January 5 this year, fishing is one of the favorite leisure sports for Douyin users, and videos related to fishing have received more than 800 million praises.
The content of various short fishing videos and live broadcasts has been upgraded from the daily fishing activities of fishermen to fishing PK competitions and campaigns for fishing kings, etc. The anchors spell out tricks and have their own ways of playing.
Li Nianen, a fishing anchor on a certain platform, positioned himself as the anchor of "fishing chicken soup".
As a female angler, most of her video content revolves around life perceptions associated with fishing, PK matches with male anglers, and other content that is biased towards female users.
"Everyone would think that girls have nothing to do with fishing, but there are many young female anglers." In her opinion, girls have a great advantage in being careful and patient.
Li Nianen currently has more than 10,000 fans and has also signed a contract with an online company.
Deng Gang, a professional fisherman called "the top stream of the fish circle" by netizens, has gained 20 million fans in two months with just a dozen fishing videos because of his superb fishing skills. Similarly, there are 7.95 million fans. Liu Zhiqiang, a female angler with 1.35 million fans, Li Mengyao, and so on.
An ordinary fishing live broadcast will be watched by hundreds of thousands of people at the same time. "Although watching others fishing is mostly still, I am looking forward to seeing what they can catch in the next second. This kind of unknown is very fascinating. Me", Hu Yu said.
(In the text, Zhou Yang, Jin Xiehui, Pan Pan, and Hu Yu are pseudonyms.)
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily, trainee reporter Xu Ziwei and reporter Meng Peipei Source: China Youth Daily