Does fishing make you happy

Er indoors has commented on a number of occasions about my genial demeanour either before I go fishing or on my return! She has said that my levels of contentment are noticeable even if I have blanked and the weather has been poor and noticeably more so if I have had a successful day! This got me pondering and drawing the undeniable conclusion that it does indeed!

I thought about what aspect of fishing induced this contentedness and decided it wasn't just the catching. Obviously a specimin fish( any tench!) or a good mixed bag helps but the ambience of the water , the chats with other members and the rituals all contribute! I am OCD and like an organised and tidy peg with most things to hand. I derive enjoyment about planning for the following days fishing , to messing about in the garage with tackle and bait to loading the car and to setting off full of hope and expectation! Take yesterday and as reported in the hdygo( the best thread on this forum) I arrived at the water at 7.00 am but didn't start fishing for an hour being content to admire the beautiful morning, the scenery and the birdlife! I saw a kestrel being mobbed by swallows! I wandered around the lake looking at suitable pegs both for fishing and shade! I had chats with fellow enthusiasts about all sorts before choosing the peg I did!

I set up the bank stand and rest, the chair, bait and rod and began! I had several conversations with fellow anglers , and not fishing related , about matters as diverse as the weather, football and bowel screening! I daydreamed about my next excursion, which curry I was going to have whilst watching the match and drank my chilled vimto! The fish were the icing on the cake!

I'll probably pop my clogs next week but I will be happy in the interim! I just wish it would rain!

I consider myself gregarious and do enjoy chatting to people from all walks of life and in doing so one learns a lot about fishing and how lucky some of us are! The water I visited yesterday like that visited by Wetthrough are close to the airport and I enjoy watching the planes emerge into the sky from behind trees at different levels of height and trajectory. The smaller jets and executive jets are often high and far whilst the A380 is so low and close you can almost see the passengers! As a plane enthusiast a bite at this precise moment is just perfect!

Even making a coffee on the bank is enjoyable! I am sure we all have our own reasons for fishing and enjoy some or all of the aspects I have alluded to! Diversity is important but being happy doing it is key!

Come on England do us proud!

Yes it does now but that hasn't always been the case there were times in the past when it made me bad tempered and moody but that was my fault entirely, beware of obsessions in angling.

Mike, I agree with just about everything you say. Except the gregarious bit, being MORE than happy if no one stops by for a chat.

I am lucky to have been happily fishing (not necessarily catching) since childhood. I could not envisage not fishing.
Could you imagine what it would be like stuck in an OAP home not getting out. My very elderly parents have made me think of this aspect lately.

I have never understood those who take up fishing, appear keen then just out of the blue give it up to try golf or tiddlewinks etc.
How can one tire of fishing? There are so many different disciplines.

It also bemuses me why all people don't like fishing. Nowt so strange as folk. Catch 22 though. If everyone liked fishing there would be overcrowding but the tackle shops would rub their hands together.

Im just about as happy right now as I’ve ever been when fishing, all will be explained in the HDYGO thread I’m writing this very minute.

I'm with everything you've said Mike. I don't mind, even like people stopping to chat though it does distract me sometimes. Fishing the Dam quite a lot you get lots of kids with their parents and they love it when you catch a fish. They're interested in what you're doing and they all want to see the maggots. On the other hand I like the solitude as well. Having the place to yourself improves the odds and noone can see you undoing birds nests

Well, I can vouch for what Mike says - you will indeed find him on the bank smiling beatifically and enjoying every minute, and more power to his elbow.

I wish I could live in peace with the ups and downs of fishing in that way; I'm much more mellow and que sera about it these days, but for a long time, I found fishing both irresistible, absorbing and satisfying, and frustrating, stressful and vexing. Sometimes at the same time. I could be tucked away in some idyllic swim, fishing a method I enjoy, catching a few, plugged into the waterside world. But why aren't I catching better? This wind wasn't forecast! How come all these boats are coming through? Who put these flippin' carp in here? Why has this dude sat next to me- there's miles of empty bank. And so on. I often fished with a combination of great enjoyment and a sense that the day was falling short of what I was hoping for. Or my fishing wasn't up to scratch.

I'm far less uptight about it these days, and I've learned to pick the where's and when's more carefully to reduce the frustration of disappointing sessions, and I flatter myself less if I catch and blame myself less if I don't.

I'm no fan of astrology..... but I'm Gemini, and I'd have to admit that that kind of ambiguity about things just seems to follow me around. With tackle, for instance, I'll hunt down a mint version of a decades old rod and cherish it, or spend an evening making a float for use in one swim on one water. But then I'll look at all this gear, and not bother to fish (that's the last two days) because I just can't be doing with all the paraphernalia of it, and stuff that needs sorting out, loading up, humping around....

But on balance, yes it does indeed make me happy; just not in a serene, zen way. Which I'm probably incapable of.

Fishing definitely makes me happy, that's not to say I don't grumble about the odd thing along the way though.

I changed my whole outlook on it a few years ago and it's now about doing what I want to do and using what I want to use, as opposed to optimising everything with a view to achieving the best possible result in terms of weight or numbers.

I might catch less but I enjoy it far more.

I occasionally sit there when things are a bit slow and wonder if I'd be happier using a method and/or gear which I didn't fancy, but which I know will catch more fish, and I can in all honesty say that I wouldn't

I'm not really competitive in my fishing and I don't feel the insecurities which might otherwise arise with not catching as much as those around me occasionally, I just enjoy stepping off the carousel and appreciating things at a slower pace.

I think it's the difference between being content at just practising the art of angling or really having to catch a fish.

Going fishing really makes me buzz, after several days of stressful work, I find it quite theraputic. However the places I fish have to have something about them, to make me want to go there. Mikes picture of the mere he fished is it Reedsmere? looks a great fishing place, and I could well see that with the mist rising off it. I guess I read too many BB books when I was a kid, but it has to have an air of mystery about it, sadly those places are few and far between.

I agree with Nottskev about the faff and gear, I had quite a walk back to the car, on yesterdays outing which in that heat, left me hot and knackered, only to be further compounded by a car that was at nuclear temperature. Then I started cursing the venue for lack of adequate car parking, lack of easy access to the river, if your disabled forget it, I was having a right chunter to myself. Did I enjoy the day, was I happy.......... absolutely.

In a nutshell yes, my OH dislikes it tells me it’s cruel and pays no attention to where I go or what I catch.
But do I give a rats ? nope I’m a happy bloke by the bankside. Probably happier there than anywhere else tbh.

Nicholas it's called Rossmere! Every time I see a heron I think of Dodder being transported away in Down the bright stream! I imagine the Jeannie Deans and am transported back to the Little Grey Men! My wife says if I pick up an acorn cup in autumn again and try and tell her about The last gnomes using them to drink elderberry wine she will scream! She does! I reread all the works by BB a few years ago and like fishing they made me feel happy!

mikench said:

Nicholas it's called Rossmere! Every time I see a heron I think of Dodder being transported away in Down the bright stream! I imagine the Jeannie Deans and am transported back to the Little Grey Men! My wife says if I pick up an acorn cup in autumn again and try and tell her about The last gnomes using them to drink elderberry wine she will scream! She does! I reread all the works by BB a few years ago and like fishing they made me feel happy!

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Mike, oh what a read, I’ve read it countless times even as an adult. Everyone should read a book by B.B. at sometime in their lives, a much rewarding and enriching experience.

Mike that water looks a great venue and one that’s not too far away, some good waters in your neck of the woods.

There are Nicholas! As a university law student and during the summer hols I had a job and I was given the moniker Perry Mason( one needs to be of a certain age) and presumed to be intelligent! When asked what I was reading and having given a brief synopsis and recommendation of Little Grey Men I lost all credibility! Wonderful books however!

Fishing certainly does make me happy and has done so for many decades,i firsts stated when i was about 11in 1961, then by 1965 in was earning [only apprentice pay] but i then discovered the joys of the female kind and drifted away from fishing i know now that with a little forward planning and a lot more sleep i could have persued both activities, i got back into fishing in my early 20's and have been very happy all this time apart from about 5 years with a match group, fishing team matches and winter and summer leagues, i got really p****D of with drawing bad pegs,being told where to fish every weekend and all the ego's and backbiting, now i fish when i want and where i want either solo or with mates, sometimes its good to go one your own and on other occasions it good to be with others and share ideas/methods and the general craic.

I am already happy. Fishing makes me ecstatic. Pete.

Glad to hear it! You are very fortunate!

I'm not sure if 'happy'is the correct word in my case. In a life plagued with mental health issues which began in earnest at 21 years old, fishing, along with all the help of others, has probably been the one single factor that has kept me from going under on several occasions. These days I am able to cope with those issues a lot better simply because I have a wife (and a GP for that matter) who fully understand and help me stay on track when things start to go sideways. My present predicament around back pain etc. is such a time and at the moment it is a daily battle to keep focused on the good bits of life......

Going fishing; Well, as you can see it is a pretty major factor in my life, and even after some 70 years of doing it I still love to stand next to water in the early mornings with eyes closed and just let that feeling of 'at peace with the world' flow over me. I never just go out and fish without thinking of the experience as a whole, so from the evening before to rising early, to loading the car is all part of it, and to this day the excitement and desire remains the same....

For all sorts of reasons I have to fish alone but perhaps this is no bad thing as it serves as a time to get my head in order and keep myself on the straight and narrow, to be calm and forget all other ills, so I suppose if 'happy' could be applied to my situation, it would be at this time.
I do have one 'vague' sort of pal who I meet on the bank from time too time and we chat very occasionally, although sometimes we pass no more than a few words. It would be nice to meet with others, but............................

Don't get me wrong. I do have many, many wonderful days on the bank full of moments to remember and after (almost) every session I am thinking of when I can next go, so life is good in that respect, but as anyone who has knowledge of depression/anxiety et al will know the 'next day' can be quite different..

Tee-Cee said:

I never just go out and fish without thinking of the experience as a whole, so from the evening before to rising early, to loading the car is all part of it, and to this day the excitement and desire remains the same....

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My sentiments exactly! Good luck Tony!

For the last 4yrs i have been a carer for my wife.
For the first 3yrs i probably only fished 5/6 times.
I kept my interest going with fishing forums and magazines etc and changing hooks , floats and line etc.
Then purely by accident in the last 3months i have had the chance to fish once a week.
A lot of things have to fall into place but i have been lucky up to now because my youngest daughter now has a car and comes with her sister to take the wife out for a few hours.
I can only fish locally but it is really important for me to have a few hours on the bank but sometimes i have to force myself to go.
I have noticed that when i come back from fishing i feel much more relaxed but it only lasts about 24hrs.
I really look forward to this time on the bank and it does make feel better in myself.

Tee-Cee said:

I'm not sure if 'happy'is the correct word in my case. In a life plagued with mental health issues which began in earnest at 21 years old, fishing, along with all the help of others, has probably been the one single factor that has kept me from going under on several occasions. These days I am able to cope with those issues a lot better simply because I have a wife (and a GP for that matter) who fully understand and help me stay on track when things start to go sideways. My present predicament around back pain etc. is such a time and at the moment it is a daily battle to keep focused on the good bits of life......

Going fishing; Well, as you can see it is a pretty major factor in my life, and even after some 70 years of doing it I still love to stand next to water in the early mornings with eyes closed and just let that feeling of 'at peace with the world' flow over me. I never just go out and fish without thinking of the experience as a whole, so from the evening before to rising early, to loading the car is all part of it, and to this day the excitement and desire remains the same....

For all sorts of reasons I have to fish alone but perhaps this is no bad thing as it serves as a time to get my head in order and keep myself on the straight and narrow, to be calm and forget all other ills, so I suppose if 'happy' could be applied to my situation, it would be at this time.
I do have one 'vague' sort of pal who I meet on the bank from time too time and we chat very occasionally, although sometimes we pass no more than a few words. It would be nice to meet with others, but............................

Don't get me wrong. I do have many, many wonderful days on the bank full of moments to remember and after (almost) every session I am thinking of when I can next go, so life is good in that respect, but as anyone who has knowledge of depression/anxiety et al will know the 'next day' can be quite different..

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With you 100% on this.

I think happiness is a fleeting thing, I enjoy fishing and it might make me happy briefly. Watching England play didn't make me happy but I enjoyed it and was happy for a few minutes afterwards that they had won; but it doesn't last. See what I mean, so I don't strive to be happy but I strive to enjoy my life as much as possible, sometimes that fishing, sometimes other things as the mood takes me. I think chasing happiness is the end of the rainbow but working at enjoying your life as much as possible is a far more realistic objective and let those moments of happiness just happen but, don't worry about it if they don't come often.
Whatever my situations been I try and keep that objective but fishing has been a good constant in my life, I leave it sometimes but the day always comes around, "I just fancy a bit of fishing today".