No fish tale -- more hard evidence that recreational fishing is back in style

You know the saying, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Well,German philosopher Karl Marx had an interesting twist on the teach a man to fish quote: 'Sell a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity."

But Marx was thinking of the people selling the fish and not the $2.2 billion recreational fish industry, which is doing quite well and may be seeing an uptick in popularity, according to Reuters (and our own 2009 comebacks series, which named fishing among the top 25).

And there probably is something to what Reuters is saying. Element 21 Fishing Rods' revenue, for instance, has increased by 345% in the last year, and according to the National Sporting Good Association, spending on fishing rods and reels hit a 10-year high at $356 million in 2007, and it was December of that year when the recession actually began.