What's your favorite part of fishing?

[spinninBugs 0]

Okay ... I can't wait any longer. First of all ... I like all the answers so far, except flytire's !!! "It's just fishing." Really ???

 

Please allow me to explain my point of view why I don't agree with most of you, though.

1. "Getting away from it all" can be achieved in several ways, so fishing is only one way to do it and doesn't count for me as a reason to keep fishing.

2. "Getting closer to nature" only takes the hiking.

3. ANY good hobby requires intense concentration. It's not worth having as a hobby if it doesn't allow you to forget, at least for a while, everything else.

 

These are all good reasons for any one to have, but they don't work for me, because there are many other outlets that allow the same releases.

One of my friends said it was the fight ... but even that didn't ring true for me.

 

Then it hit me, literally: All of the reasons are secondary to the one thing that is exclusively "fishing".

For me, the single reason I keep going back to the water is ... the hook set.

That fraction of a second during which you detect the take and set the hook. Even the smallest fish (Unless you snatch it clear out of the water) feels like a monster in that initial moment when YOU pull on the line and know you've caught it. The fight is fun, but it's just a detail, "Will I land it or won't I?" But the hook set, ah, every fish is a trophy in that fraction of a second.

I agree the hook set is a magical moment and probably one of the most satisfying feelings I have ever had. It is a complete sense of accomplishment. I go out day after day because fly fishing is one of the rare moments in my life when I feel am I actually applying myself 110% to the task at hand. It allows me to tap into a part of my brain that I am unable to during the work week. I wouldn't define it as escaping reality but more or less entering a primal mind set and truly living in the moment, which is extremely rare in this day and age.

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

Might be travel and yes a moment not thinking of bills...

 

Some things i dislike, cleaning gear, line, the damage done to my wallet, huge tangles at completely the wrong moment. Etc

[Bryon Anderson 0]

In looking back at my previous response, it occurs to me that I didn't really answer the question being posed here. The quotes I supplied are really more in answer to the question "Why do you fish?" So, I'm here to try again.

 

My favorite part of fishing is that moment when you just know--not in the logical, reasoning part of your brain, but the more primitive "lizard" brain, the part that runs on pure instinct--the moment the fly hits the water, even before you see any sign of a fish, that you've Done It Right and that something electric is about to happen. It's hard to explain that feeling, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of you know what I'm talking about. That feeling, that pre-intellectual knowledge, that "sixth sense", whatever you want to call it, must have evolved over thousands of years of our ancestors' hunting and fishing, back when "doing it right" meant the difference between eating and going hungry, so that even now those particular synapses fire in response to just the right combination of movement, light and shadow, whatever it is, and just for that split second, we are directly connected to our primitive, atavistic selves. All the accumulated layers of cultural, intellectual, "logical" drivel and duff fall away and there are just two animals, man and fish, both about to pounce.

 

That's what I like.

[xrayts 0]

In looking back at my previous response, it occurs to me that I didn't really answer the question being posed here. The quotes I supplied are really more in answer to the question "Why do you fish?" So, I'm here to try again.

 

My favorite part of fishing is that moment when you just know--not in the logical, reasoning part of your brain, but the more primitive "lizard" brain, the part that runs on pure instinct--the moment the fly hits the water, even before you see any sign of a fish, that you've Done It Right and that something electric is about to happen. It's hard to explain that feeling, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of you know what I'm talking about. That feeling, that pre-intellectual knowledge, that "sixth sense", whatever you want to call it, must have evolved over thousands of years of our ancestors' hunting and fishing, back when "doing it right" meant the difference between eating and going hungry, so that even now those particular synapses fire in response to just the right combination of movement, light and shadow, whatever it is, and just for that split second, we are directly connected to our primitive, atavistic selves. All the accumulated layers of cultural, intellectual, "logical" drivel and duff fall away and there are just two animals, man and fish, both about to pounce.

 

That's what I like.

 

+1, but isn't it a dream crusher when nothing happens?! Lol

[Kudu 0]

My favorite part is hooking into a truly big fish. Will you get it in or will the fish win the day? The fear of losing it, the exhilaration of landing it, letting it go to swim again is all great but undeniably my favorite part is when I hook something and I don't know if I will win or not.

[Casper 0]

For myself there are several different reason, like most of you guys have said the escape from the everyday BS, getting to see nature in ways many people don’t get to see. Plus each day on the water is different the challenge what that fish want to eat that day, plus always trying to do better than my last time out.

[mikechell 0]

Everybody is answering with good thoughts. Philosophical, physical and metaphoric.

Keep them coming!

 

I am compiling a list of reasons to give the wife for going so often !!!

 

Joking, of course.

[Crackaig 0]

While I can see your point Mike I can't agree with your No.2.

"Getting closer to nature only takes hiking". Many moons ago I was keen on hiking (or simply walking as we tend to call it here), but as the years went by I found it delivered less and less of what I was looking for. Tramping across some moor, or climbing a mountain, only made me a visitor to nature. Whereas when I walk a river bank, with a fly rod in hand, I have become a predator in the natural system.

 

No fish (unless hugely overfished) expects to be released once caught. For them it is a life and death struggle. That makes you a predator in their eyes. If you give them any opportunity to avoid capture they will grab it. That puts you much closer to nature than visiting it.

 

Hunting, you could say, will do the same, but I don't ride. Shooting also, but, for personal reasons, I no longer wish to be around firearms. (I support your right to shoot, just don't want to do it myself). Shooting anything with a bow in the UK is now illegal. That leaves me with fishing. As Izack Walton said "Study to be quiet".

 

Cheers,

C.

 

ps. Another thought just occurred to me. Something else I love about angling, is the seasonality of it. We still have fishing seasons here (just). We can fish year round, but not for the same species, so different seasons bring different fishing challenges. Then again that may just be another point of contact with nature. C.

[mikechell 0]

While I can see your point Mike I can't agree with your No.2.

"Getting closer to nature only takes hiking". Many moons ago I was keen on hiking (or simply walking as we tend to call it here), but as the years went by I found it delivered less and less of what I was looking for. Tramping across some moor, or climbing a mountain, only made me a visitor to nature. Whereas when I walk a river bank, with a fly rod in hand, I have become a predator in the natural system.

 

No fish (unless hugely overfished) expects to be released once caught. For them it is a life and death struggle. That makes you a predator in their eyes. If you give them any opportunity to avoid capture they will grab it. That puts you much closer to nature than visiting it.

So, if you are hunting butterflies or other insects with a net, that would make you a predator, too. AND, some insects can actually hurt or kill you back, so the fight or flight thing goes both ways. I am joking, of course. It's all opinion, and mine is no better or worse than anyone else's.

 

In my opinion, though, every aspect of fishing can be duplicated in some other form of outdoor activity except the hook set and the fight.

The fight is just a question of who wins, you or the fish. That leaves, for me, the hook set. It's the only part of fishing that is full of mystery and excitement. It's just an opinion ... not a disparagement of others views.

I don't go saltwater fishing, because a fight with a fish that last more than a few minutes would start to seem like work to me. If my arms hurt, I don't enjoy it anymore. Give me a day on the water setting the hook on bluegill and whatever else hits and I'll be a happy man.

[Iroc_Jeff 0]

I just like the catching. I like it even better if its on something I tied or made (I make spoons, too) but, I could care less about just being out there. I guess I'm a bit more competitive when it comes to me and the fish. My friend just likes to get his boat on the water and be out there. He doesn't care if he catches anything. I have to have at least 1 for it to be a good day.

[Goats 0]

The hunt in an ever-changing environment.

[hairwing 0]

Good topic Mike.

 

Recently had a 40 year reunion with four of my ole fly fishing buddy's. Two of the old group of six were MIA but they were included in spirit and we had plenty of tales about them. We were all 20 year old's as a group back then.

We exchanged lot's of stories and passed around pics and ole fly boxes and gave some new-age rods some lawn casting for giggles. Geez those were good days ! We showed off the new fly boxes and tackle too ! It's one part of fishing that's worth it....memories. My favorite part.

[TheCream 0]

Too hard to pick one thing, so:

 

1) Escape/solitude

 

1a) Finding and exploring new places, especially those off the "beaten path"

[Chase Creek 0]

I have to drive about 5 hours to get to the Brookies. So I usually take a week or two, 2 or 3 times during the season, to head North by myself. I've decided ALL of it is the best part! The preparation (planning, getting the camping gear, fishing stuff together), the drive, setting up camp, and of course, the fishing. Like ketchup or sex - anticipation plays a big part.

[Jimr1961 0]

Well, everything can be mechanically duplicated, but the feeling cannot be duplicated because we are all moved by different things. Other duplications don't do it like one particular endeavor does. Perhaps, that's why it's so hard to nail it down. It's a combination of things that speak to the individual in a way that other things don't. I guess some things are just fun to do and some things speak to your soul.

 

Like the guy on one of those Alaska shows said regarding why we climb mountains.

 

"If you have to ask, you'll never understand the answer"