But according to some operators, the trouble began long before the current economic slowdown and goes beyond people's wallets.

For Barry Taylor, owner of Arctic Safaris, it's been four years since he's taken a party of more than 10 people out for a fishing expedition in the barren lands north of Yellowknife.

Instead, Taylor - who was busy last week preparing a bear hunting trip for an antique book dealer - has switched his focus mainly to hunting trips to make sure his operation escapes extinction.

"There's a lot of competition out there (for fishing), and there's just so few customers out there, I said, 'I won't bother with it. I'm backing out here unless I've got a big enough contingent,'" said Taylor.

Taylor cited the high cost of doing business in the North as another factor for pulling out of the water: transportation by Twin-Otter cost him $5,700 per trip, with gas at $29 a gallon.

"We're losing the whole market on fishing in the NWT," said Taylor, who added avid fishers can travel to Manitoba for as low as $500 a week.

The number of fishers who choose the NWT as their destination for summer trips has been in steady decline over several years, according to a recent marketing report from NWT Tourism, the GNWT's tourism marketing agency.

In 2000-2001, 8,611 fishers dropped their lines in Northern waters; in 2007-2008, the most recent recorded year, that number shrank to 7,470.

Fewer visitors has resulted in less spending in the North. Fishers pumped $21.8 million into the NWT economy in 2000-2001, compared to $17.5 million in 2007-2008.

With the recession putting a dent in people's luxury spending, the outlook for the future looks dismal, said Taylor.

"Everything that people have spare money to do, they're holding back and not spending it right now," he said.

If that wasn't enough, "there's an age-declining market, too," said Taylor. "We've got a whole new generation coming in and they're not going to waste their time sitting around in a boat fishing."

Loyal customers, who in the past could be counted on to return to his lodge on a regular basis, aren't being replaced by a newer breed of fishers, echoed Gord Gin, owner of Yellow Dog Lodge, which is a 15-minute float plane ride northeast of Yellowknife.

"A couple of my regulars died over the winter," he said. "The demographics haven't shifted to the younger groups. The clientele are getting older or they're dying off or getting sicker and they can't travel any longer. We're seeing a decline because of that."

While bookings at Gin's lodge are up compared to last summer, they're still down overall.

"We experienced a downturn of between 30 to 40 per cent last year," said Gin, many of whose clients work to support the oil and gas industry, which has seen the price oil per barrel fall from $135 to $66.

Companies have been forced to adopt a stricter corporate stance, tightening spending on group trips to lodges like Gin's, while the problem of attracting younger visitors remains.

Gin agrees with Taylor: there's simply too many other activities clamouring for people's attention.

"Most of the media is promoting different types of outdoor recreation. The younger crowds seem to go more toward biking, rock climbing, that sort of thing. Golfing is another area that's being heavily promoted and targeted for an industry," he said.

"We don't seem to promote very well in the fishing industry for the younger crowd."

Things have indeed changed for the industry, providing a challenging marketing environment for operators, said Gerry LePrieur, executive director of NWT Tourism.

"The older fisherperson, in the old days, was in his 30s and 40s. They were young parents and they (were) brought up by their parents to enjoy fishing," said LePrieur.

"The generation now - which is in their 20s and close-to-30s - they didn't necessarily have that experience with their family. And so they've developed their own type of unique fishing experience."

Today's clients don't just want to fish, but are seeking a variety of experiences rolled into one package, forcing operators to change their game, continued LePrieur.

"They'd like to hike, they'd like to look at birds, photography ... There's lot of other things that they want to do."

While the current economic climate might, on the surface, cast a pall over the $137-million NWT tourism industry (a recent poll among members of the NWT Chamber of Commerce found zero per cent of members cited tourism as the most promising growth market in the territory), the recession has reduced the cost of advertising.

"We've taken advantage of that," said LePrieur.

Thanks to full-page colour ads in publications like the Globe and Mail - ads that one year ago might have cost $50,000 but are now going for a fifth of that cost - NWT Tourism has been aggressively plugging the territory and its fishing lodges.

The campaign is helping stave off a potential deterioration in fishing inquiries, which have remained steady in number. NWT Tourism received 1,333 inquiries from Jan. 1 to May 29, compared to 1,352 during the same period last year.

LePrieur sees other signs for hope, like increased air travel options (and cheaper seats) to Yellowknife thanks to new carriers like WestJet.

"Now, if you're lucky on a sale, you can be looking at anywhere from $75 to $350 from Edmonton or Calgary. So there's some new opportunity to market," he said.

Greg Robertson, owner of Bluefish Services - which primarily caters to business and leisure travellers seeking day-long fishing trips on Great Slave Lake - agreed additional flight options will make Yellowknife a more attractive destination for fishers.

"I suspect we're going to be OK, especially because now there's four airlines coming in and prices have gone down. I expect a lot more business that way," said Robertson. "I expect to have a really good year."

So does Don Stretch, owner of Hearne Lake Lodge, which accommodates up to eight people per trip. Asked if the recession has cut into his bookings for the summer, Stretch said, "Not really, but we had to work a bit harder to keep our numbers up.

"We have done a lot more advertising and are staying about the same as 2008. I would say that business is down for most if they did not anticipate a problem and react in advance."

Lodge owners like Stretch and his wife - who reside on site and run things on the ground themselves - will likely fare better than sites with staff, he added.

"We operate as a husband-and-wife team and if (staff) numbers are down, so are expenses," said Stretch. "This is our home, so it makes a big difference."

For his part, Gin has managed to keep on the two Yellowknife residents on his staff at Yellow Dog Lodge, but he said, "My personal investment will go higher."

How long Gin can keep it up is anyone's guess.

"It's to the point now that I may look at operating the lodge as a family operation or changing the lodge to a more self-serve (operation) - kind of like a timeshare where you could book the place for a week," he said.