Why Do You Fish?

[the reel ess]

When people asked me I always said that when i got that familiar "tap-tap" on the line I forgot all my worries. And when they were really biting, I forgot them all day. But I heard it put succinctly recently. "It's impossible to worry while fishing." I've heard it said that days spent fishing don't count against your life span. And it really does feel like they add to your life.

Now I'm really fishing for big ones. I want more PB's. I've gone through most of the phases on the way here: Cane pole and worms, crappie fishing, keeping and cleaning everything, catching white bass and stripers where I find them, bass fishing the local big lake, now kayak fishing at a nearby water hole with trophy bass in it. I even like to watch others catch big fish nowadays. Of course, I still want to feel that familiar tap-tap that empties out my mind.

[blckshirt98]

I quit fishing once I went off to college and for the next 25 years it was all classrooms, cubicles, and being indoors at home watching TV or playing video games.  4 years ago while on a family trip to Pismo Beach my brother convinced me to fish from the pier for the first time in ages, and the wide open bite hooked me again.  I started to fish again but mainly in the surf, but a few months later decided to give bass fishing a try again.  Lots of stumbling around only fishing a Carolina rig (since that's how i rig in the surf, and it was the only rig I knew), reading online about Texas rigging, reading up on wacky rigging and how if could work because I couldn't fathom how a plain stick with no action or flappers would catch fish, then getting more and more comfortable and confident as I found good spots to fish.

Somewhere along the line something just clicked and now I'm confident I can go to any new body of water and catch SOMETHING!  For me it's getting out of the house/office and away from the concrete jungle.  I still don't like going to places with paved/manicured shoreline or a lot of man made structure when you look around.  I like going to a lake and seeing just a lake, walking on dirt trails, hearing the ground underneath my boots, hearing the water and wildlife.  As for the fishing, each cast and twitch of the rod is like scratching off a lottery ticket, with a bite being like a "winning" ticket, landing a fish confirming a winning ticket, and the size of the fish being the prize.

One other thing I've noticed is that when i fish, all I think about is the fish.  Where they could be, how I can get them to bite.  I don't think about other distractions in life, not work, not people, just me and the fish.  BUT if I'm on the water and there is something I'm thinking about besides the fish, whether it's something going on at work, finances, something someone said, another person, then that's when I know that's something I need to address when I get back to the real world.

[Luna2406]

5 hours ago, the reel ess said:

When people asked me I always said that when i got that familiar "tap-tap" on the line I forgot all my worries. And when they were really biting, I forgot them all day. But I heard it put succinctly recently. "It's impossible to worry while fishing." I've heard it said that days spent fishing don't count against your life span. And it really does feel like they add to your life.

- I've never heard it put like that but that has no become one of my favorite sayings. Im the same way man if I'm fishing its just me, nature, and those little green guys. I dont have any worries, the only worries i get is when I catch a bush or a tree haha 

4 hours ago, blckshirt98 said:

As for the fishing, each cast and twitch of the rod is like scratching off a lottery ticket, with a bite being like a "winning" ticket, landing a fish confirming a winning ticket, and the size of the fish being the prize.

One other thing I've noticed is that when i fish, all I think about is the fish.  Where they could be, how I can get them to bite.  I don't think about other distractions in life, not work, not people, just me and the fish.  BUT if I'm on the water and there is something I'm thinking about besides the fish, whether it's something going on at work, finances, something someone said, another person, then that's when I know that's something I need to address when I get back to the real world.

- Im no betting man but your lottery ticket comparison is spot on! Maybe we now know why fishing gets so addicting, always trying to win that bigger prize. Sometimes when I'm on the water and there is something really bugging me, it also tells me I need to deal with it. And its usually on the water that i figure out the solution to that problem. Being able to completely clear your mind of all distractions and focus on one thing makes solving issues so much easier. 

[N Florida Mike]

Mainly because my dad took me.When I was 4 I caught some kind of little fish while fishing at Ft Fisher NC.When I was 8 or so I caught a good size black drum while surf fishing at ocean isle beach in NC.Then I was hooked and wanted to go all the time( when I wasn't playing baseball).I started bass fishing when I was 14-15.And its consistently been my favorite although I love all kinds of fishing.I do it now for fellowship with friends and family and God,sometimes for food( although we usually eat more saltwater and other freshwater fish than bass.) And just because they're really interesting and fun to catch.I think they're really cool fish.The adrenaline rush when a fish picks up the worm..Enjoying time on the water but seeing the lights on at home down the lake...Feeling that nice little breeze as you make your way up the lake..Seeing the G-kids excitement in catching even a small fish...The shock of a fish nailing a top water bait when you least expected it...Seeing bass bedding around the full moon when you were expecting they would...And on and on And on.....