Zane Winterton remembers when he was the only kid he knew who fished, regularly heading out on trips with his dad. Now, he says, it is hard to miss.
"When I was in primary school, before COVID, no-one fished," he said. "It was just me, like, in the whole school. [Now] it's everywhere. People just fishing, putting it on their Instagram ... they think they're pretty cool."
Zane, Ivy Renouf and Xavier Clair, all 16, were fishing off Geelong's Cunningham Pier, an outing they said would once have lost out to indoor pursuits.
"It's just a nice day," Ivy said. "I didn't want to be in bed at home, or in town because I do that all the time, so I just wanted to get outdoors with my mates."
The trio described fishing as a way to make memories with friends. "Getting outside and maybe catching a fish or maybe not but, like, just hanging out with your friends and having a good time," Xavier said.
They caught little more than a pufferfish before heading to a new spot, passing a group of six younger teens who cheered each other along as they reeled in a bream.
Putting a number on the boom is difficult. Victorians under 18 do not need a fishing licence, and a handful of fishing clubs say they may have seen slightly more younger members signing up, but have few useful statistics to back it up. Instead, they say the growth is most visible on Victorian waterways, where teens and young anglers walking around clutching rods or setting up at popular spots have become a common sight.