Why Do We Do It?

nocturnus anglius · Apr 3, 2016

I have been presented with this question many times, I have looked for inspiration from many authors and pondered the thought my self for quite some time, and never have I found a definitive answer.

So, I shall put the question to you

Why do we go fishing?
What makes us endure all that mother nature throws our way?
What makes us go back time and time again? Even in the face of failure, we still have this overwhelming compulsion to get back and try again.

I have given up trying to explain my obsession to non fishers, it baffles me if I am honest.

I could have the worst session of my life, and in the short time it takes me to drive home, I am already gagging to be bankside once again.

So

Why do we do it? Or more to the point, why do you?

john step · Apr 4, 2016

Because it runs right through me like the writing through a stick of rock.

Who knows why. Its been that way since I was 4. I think you are born to it. Some people don't realise it until later in life...then it gets 'um.

binka · Apr 4, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4u2pSQulDE

no-one in particular · Apr 4, 2016

I often get asked by non anglers if I take the fish home and eat them, when I say no they usually look at me with a why do you do it or a you must be bonkers look. They do not usually say it, politeness prevails, just that "look".
I often look at them and think your soul has become so numb you just would not understand the concept of doing something for no earthly reward, just for the sheer pleasure of it and I feel a bit sorry for them..
I never say it, politeness prevails and they would never understand, poor dears, but its a look I have practiced many times.

mightyboosh · Apr 4, 2016

nocturnus anglius said:
Why do we do it?

Because we have to, there is no rhyme or reason to it. I've long given up trying to rationalise it. In fact, if you try to hard, you may destroy some of the magic.

I have to say though, in global terms, British coarse fishing is at the extreme of the eccentricity!

john step · Apr 4, 2016

markg said:
I often get asked by non anglers if I take the fish home and eat them, when I say no they usually look at me with a why do you do it or a you must be bonkers look. They do not usually say it, politeness prevails, just that "look".
I often look at them and think your soul has become so numb you just would not understand the concept of doing something for no earthly reward, just for the sheer pleasure of it and I feel a bit sorry for them..
I never say it, politeness prevails and they would never understand, poor dears, but its a look I have practiced many times.

When asked that very question I will say " Do you play football? How about golf? When the ball goes into the net, the goal keeper doesn't keep it. He throws it back. Just like golfers putting that ball down the hole".

terry m · Apr 4, 2016

Great question, I suspect we all have our own reasons and motivations.

For me the following apply:-
1. Me time, the solitude and time to reflect is very important
2. Being at one with nature. Helps to get a better experience with #1.
3. The fact that I choose to, I don't have to makes it more pleasurable. It is not like going to watch a football match that starts at a certain time and you must be there then. It is a pastime where you can generally choose when you go and for how long.
4. The strategy, planning and thought that is needed to outwit some very dumb creatures. Yet we spend a lot of time reading, and a lot of money on things that supposedly give us that edge.
5. Catching what I set out to catch, for me very rewarding. I understand the point of view that 'Just being there is enough' however after seven or eight blanks, just being there is barely enough.
6. The unpredictability leaves us all very frustrated or happy on so many occasions, and despite the work put in at #4 there are no guarantees.

Just my thoughts anyway.

john step · Apr 4, 2016

Terrym I like the bit about 8 blanks. I was beginning to think it was just me.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Apr 4, 2016

Why do we do it ??

Thats easy, for the BUZZ

Fishing is everything that has been said, Blanks and All.

Rain, Wind, Snow even Sunshine sometimes. There on your own or with mates, and Nature all around.

Its not us that are MAD, its the non Anglers, they don't have a clue what they are missing

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Apr 4, 2016

because we can

also gets us away from the Mrs

john step · Apr 4, 2016

Lord Paul of Sheffield said:
because we can

also gets us away from the Mrs

I bet you daren't tell her that

The bad one · Apr 4, 2016

Because there's a little adventurous boy locked inside an old man's body!

simon dunbar · Apr 4, 2016

I don't really know why , but what I do know is that angling has taken me to some really beautiful places in this world and has led to me encountering some amazing wildlife , that had I not been sat beside some lake or river , I would probably have never seen.

bracket · Apr 4, 2016

I don't need a reason. I do it because I want to and always have. It is ingrained in my being and I don't have to justify the why's and wherefore's to any non-angler. My standard reply to the question "Why do you do it?" is "Why not?". Pete.

Graham Elliott 1 · Apr 4, 2016

I do know that when, as my wife says....., I was important, and the job I was in was incredibly demanding, ....that fishing kept me from what could have been mentally, some very dark places.

robtherake · Apr 4, 2016

markg said:
I often get asked by non anglers if I take the fish home and eat them, when I say no they usually look at me with a why do you do it or a you must be bonkers look. They do not usually say it, politeness prevails, just that "look".
I often look at them and think your soul has become so numb you just would not understand the concept of doing something for no earthly reward, just for the sheer pleasure of it and I feel a bit sorry for them..
I never say it, politeness prevails and they would never understand, poor dears, but its a look I have practiced many times.

In reply to this one I usually ask them if they take the ball home and eat it after a game of footy.

This is a perennial question on here and there's no right or wrong answer. When asked by a non-angler, I usually come out with the usual stuff about relaxation and fulfilling a basic survival need deep in our genes, but it's way more than that. It's being out the real world - not the tacky human equivalent - and being amongst it is a celebration of nature and the wildness we all came from. It's one of those things that's inherently right.

---------- Post added at 20:38 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------

Graham Elliott 1 said:
I do know that when, as my wife says....., I was important, and the job I was in was incredibly demanding, ....that fishing kept me from what could have been mentally, some very dark places.

I hear that, Graham. Loud and clear. There's no better medicine - it's probably better for you than a daily apple.

nocturnus anglius · Apr 4, 2016

Once I did reply with
"I go fishing to get away from people who don't understand or go fishing"
I think in part, I go to be free, I go to be me

theartist · Apr 5, 2016

In a world full of bureaucracy where everybody is in a rush for everything, working their proverbials off for things they don't need, fishing is the only thing that makes sense.

Yet it's still bonkers and that's the best thing about it.

steve2 · Apr 5, 2016

To be honest I don’t know why, I just do. I could say it helps me unwind but sometimes it winds me up. There are many reasons that I could say I go for but the reason I go is I just enjoy it.

tom_moran · Apr 5, 2016

I've been trying to come up with an answer as to why I go fishing. I get so excited when I'm going fishing, each time is an adventure, a step into the unknown for me. I love learning things, and I'm always learning when I go fishing. I love going because it's about the only time I get to be 'me', when I'm at work I'm a technician, when I'm at home I'm a dad or a partner, but when I'm fishing I'm me.
It ticks a box inside me, makes the child inside happy, makes the caveman victorious when I capture something living. Before I got back into fishing my maim hobby was wild camping, but it was hard to find time for as you needed at least 24 hours, Fishing sort of ticks that box too but I can grab a few hours here and there.
Another reason I like it is because I like shopping, I love spending money but not wasting it and nothing I buy for fishing is a waste.

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