why do you go fishing?

Why do you go fishing?

Its the question thats dares not ask itself!!! I mean, I go out in all weathers - at any time of day or night. Maybe for a few hours, perhaps two days at a time. All this to out wit an effectively dull witted opponent!

But what for? I mean. What is the point? Catch a fish, weight it, photograph it and after all that effort return it! Only then to logon to FM and talk/type about fishing!!!

I have some ideas..... Mental challenge, being a part of the natural world, developing skills, competition - against myself, friendships with like minded loons.... I don't know.

I just have to come to terms that I am an addict!!! I crave the surge of adrenaline as the bite develops, the pull of a fish, playing the fish, landing and admiring my capture and then to watch it swim away strongly. its completely pointless - but totally fulfilling..... Fishing is a strange obsession.

Fortunately I have a wonderful family and a beautiful wife that gives my life balance. Time with the now not-so little one is precious and will never come again....... Perhaps I even have a job that fulfills my needs. Free time is so much more precious when its finite.

Why do you go fishing? but be warned.... don't think too deeply about it!

To get a bit of peace and quiet away from the wife and kids to be honest.

I like the countryside, I like getting a bit dirty and grubby, I like being out at the crack of dawn on a sunny morning when nobody else is about, I like catching a few fish here and there.

I find it takes the edge off life.

When I start getting a bit fed up and irritable, I know it's time for a good session. I'm always a lot mellower when I come back!

There is not a lot you can do about it it is a mental command I first heard this said by Bernard Venerbles when he was in his eighties he was talking to Chris Yates about why we go fishing and I must say it fits me like a glove. The idea of a bit of fishing whether it be for a few hours or a few days comes into my head and I just have to go no matter what the conditions say I have to wet a line no choice in the matter it just has to be done.

Fairly simple for me, it's one of the very few things I can do which completely takes my mind off of work.

Fishing's always been there for me, i've strayed away in the past and each time seem to return stronger and it's funny how I can have a day where I get so pi$$ed off that things aren't going my way yet a couple of hours after returning home in a huff i'm thinking about the next session.

I think its so many things to me but when I analyse it I cant really put my finger on it what it is, I think it’s a combination of things I enjoy I guess. The anticipation of will I or won’t I catch, have I chosen the best way to fish for what I came for, but fishing is not just about catching for me, 50% I would say is about just being out there in fantastic surroundings away from all the pressures in life.

All of the above really.

Theres also the challenge of capturing a living jewel, just to see it up close before you let it go. And for the time you are involved in the challenge you are tuned-in to the nature about you, more so than just going for a nice walk.

You go fishing to tie up the right side of your brain with a seemingly endless series of very subtle problems , shotting pattern , rig presentation , feeding pattern etc etc these myriad and succesive tiny problems engage your thinking brain so much , occupies it , so that your left brain gets the day out and you get to think the higher thoughts that you so deserve.

Thats why you can watch a float with such total absorbtion , its to keep good ol righty brain occupied.

The lure of Fishing is basically the continual anticipation of getting something thats elusive yet obtainable.

Thats why even after 12 hours in the rain we all still want that “one last cast..”

I can,t realy answer that question, my father started taking me fishing when I was 5 years old. We used to go to the canal at shireoaks, I don,t remember whether I caught anything or not but the first fish I do remember catching was a lovely 1lb perch and I have fished ever since to this day. I can,t imagine ever not going fishing it is just part of my life, yes it is relaxing and I love being out doors watching wild life and seeing the seasons change through out the year. Catching fish is only a part of a day,s fishing its being part of mother nature in all its moods.

I've always like nature and the outdoors and have always been very sporty , rugby, cricket ect so gettign back into fishinf satisfies my need to compete if only with a fish

I go fishing because I like to go fishing, a bit simplistic I know but at the end of the day it is the reason I go fishing. (motorcycling is pretty good as well and its amazing how much fishing gear you can carry on one if you try)

Warra loada cobblers!

It satisfies my primeval instinct to capture a wild animal in order to feed my family. Well the latter isn't true any longer, but the first need still exists and should it ever disappear in man, he is well and truly bu%%ered! So when I go out, it's with the object of catching something, how big doesn;t bother me any longer, neither does the trophy shot and if I want to be 'with nature' I can take the dog for his morning walk in the woods and be with deer and foxes, rabbits, weasels, trees and all other emotive stuff, which I do enjoy. But when I am fishing my entire thoughts are on how to con the little beauties into taking a bait that they were never taught to eat in their wild environment. Once caught, they are admired and returned as quickly as possible so I might meet them again when they're a whole lot bigger.

bennygesserit said:

You go fishing to tie up the right side of your brain with a seemingly endless series of very subtle problems , shotting pattern , rig presentation , feeding pattern etc etc these myriad and succesive tiny problems engage your thinking brain so much , occupies it , so that your left brain gets the day out and you get to think the higher thoughts that you so deserve.

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I thought it was the other way round - left side = analytical and technical stuff (like shotting patterns), right side = emotional luvvydubbyness and general girlie thoughts?

chub_on_the_block said:

I thought it was the other way round - left side = analytical and technical stuff (like shotting patterns), right side = emotional luvvydubbyness and general girlie thoughts?

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might be I'm just an ideas man

It's in my Blood, That is a true Angler!

noknot said:

It's in my Blood, That is a true Angler!

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Thats an intriguing thought Noknot...... I have always been drawn to water.... I used to live with my grandparents and would beg them to take me to a duck pond nearly every day - toddler Chav had not really discovered fish beyond a pond in their back garden by this point! My little brother would accompany us in a pram.

When my mum remarried, my new dad (lol.... people from broken families have these strange conventions new dad vs real dad) had a Mill pond with an old paper mill. You guessed it... we used to beg to go there - except this time you could see fish!

ideal opportunity for a bit of fatherly bonding! cane rod built with a 'garden cane' and a few wire rings taped in place, a line spool reel, lifting pots or anything on the ground for bait and off we went... My brother and I would happily be there all day and had to be dragged home. we would compare the contents of our buckets and gently return our quarry.

Real dad was pretty versatile and supplemented his income by making lobster pots for local fisherman - eventually turning to commercial fishing - his shoe mending shop turn over was devastated by the opening of 'bl$$dy heel bars' every where. Access visits turned to being kicked out of bed at 4am on our holiday sleepovers to launch a dinghy and set gill nets and pots to lift wonders from the sea! he would then come back and open shop! Real Dad could get quite stressed - he found his tranquility at sea.

My Brother and I shared a passion for angling forged through our shared childhood experiences. it was further fueled by crabtree and ladybird book of course fishing.

I reluctantly share this, but since my brother passed away - certain places I know fish still have powerful connections and are places where I still feel very close to my brother.

There I think thats about it really - water has a calming, perhaps even healing influence on the soul - fishing is the little bit of magic we anglers crave in our lives!

chav professor said:

I have always been drawn to water

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Same here Chav, as a kid I always had a jam jar and net (my Aunt made the nets from canes, wire and old stockings!) I fished until about the time I was thirteen and then discovered other interests (girls, football and on to drinking) I only started again when I packed in running football teams.

chav professor said:

There I think thats about it really - water has a calming, perhaps even healing influence on the soul - fishing is the little bit of magic we anglers crave in our lives!

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It removes you from all the pressures and hassles, the catching is the bonus.

I’ve always known fishing as part of my life. For the first few years I lived in Broxbourne with the Lea running past my back garden. My late father was a keen angler and was one of a local group of Lea anglers before the war. We moved to the Colne Valley in 1952 and carried on from there – I don’t remember life without fishing.
Jerry

I am always being asked this question by the poor people who dont go Remember to have pity for them. After more than 60 yrs of doing it I still almost run to the water and really think of little else. This started as a 3 to 4 yr old being taken to Welbeck lakes on the crossbar of a bike by my next-door neighbour in Worksop. This graduated to fishing the canal for chub and then to Shireoaks quarry pond for roach and perch Annother graduation to Fly fishing as I moved to Matlock and joined the excellent Derbys. C. club But course fishing never has lost its obsessive grip which is as well here in Spain as trout are an unknown hereabouts.
Why ? Simply cannot explain this to myself let alone dozy others. It is certainly all those things mentioned above ( a family of wild boar crossed in front of me recently and swam across the dyke - bliss! ) The mistakes I make cause me high blood pressure and foul language , it is a passionate obsession not peaceful ! still no nearer however to an explanation Just go fishing and enjoy everything about it. Pity Shakespeare didnt cover it !

It's a great stress reliever. There again, when the bits are iffy or non-existent then can cause more stress!!!