This is referred to as shifting baselines. The longer one has been doing something the further back they remember the past. Some here go back to pre-Boldt when "sharing" was 100-0. Given what I hear from my steel heading buddies, somebody beginning today might not find the fishing "poor". Work hard, get a fish or two on. To somebody who never fished streams that have been closed for 20 years, there is no loss to them.

Now, add in managers who have the same experiences; few waters open and modest catches. A little up-tick looks great.

It is the same with hunting. Last house I lived in in Sacramento was built in fields that I pheasant-hunted a few years prior. That was 50 years ago. I doubt anybody living in that neighborhood now even knows that hunting grounds. And, the hunters see no problem in driving a couple hours to hunt not knowing that where their house is now used to be prime hunting area.