The numbers donât lie. More Idahoans and people across the nation decided to take up fishing or return to fishing in huge numbers this past summer. Experts, and at least one study, point to Americans rediscovering the outdoors during the pandemic. In Idaho, fishing license sales generally increase a few thousand each year, but this year more than 41,000 more people bought fishing licenses from January to through October compared with all of 2019 â 2019: 185,812 and 2020: 226,928 (Jan.-Oct. 31). The rush to do more things outdoors did not go unnoticed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. âThe South Fork at times was especially crowded,â said James Brower, regional communications manager for Fish and Game. âCamping was more crowded. Those places that are well-known and easy to access and close to the major population centers, those places got pounded pretty hard.â