For me it pretty much comes down to my mental health, my peace of mind  Before retirement, my time on the water was my safe place, somewhere to get away from the pressures of my career. Don't get me wrong, I love catching bass. I've just found that I subscribe more to the Henry David Thoreau quote, "Many people fish all their lives without knowing that it's not the fish they are after." My apologies if I butchered the quote.

I question myself the same while fishing on extreme temperatures or when I see my credit card statement.

"Life is the crap that happens between fishing trips"

4 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

"Life is the crap that happens between fishing trips"

Saw a bumper sticker yesterday while running errands.

 

"Work is for those who don't know how to fish"

I started fishing in my mid 30s having never really done it as a kid. My work involves a lot of travel and I end up with an awful lot of free weekdays. I needed something to do to keep myself out of trouble.  
 

 

I tournament fish because of the little bit of competitiveness that comes with it. I am not able to do very athletic sports now, without risking injury etc, so I like the competitiveness that tournament fishing provides me. 

 

Additionally, I enjoy being outdoors, and the water is something I grew up around, and so it just fits with my personality. 

A bumper sticker once told me that a bad day of fishing beats a good day of work.  And I'm highly suggestable.  

I gotta do something while "I'm sitting on the dock by the bay". 

 

☺️ 

Enjoyment!  

I think it’s the challenge. Like putting a puzzle together , only way more fun. 

Because I can't fly.

Because once in awhile I get a bite.

The adrenaline pump I get from landing a solid fish is the closest feeling I can get to going wide open throttle at night on a CBR900. The bike is long gone, I'm less insane now and feel mortal, and I actually get weak in the knees even thinking about doing something that dumb now. Perhaps if I knew the world was ending next week...yeah, I would. Bass fishing's my rush now..

Fishing(and hiking) is my time to get out away from all the BS of every day life and allow me to clear my head. I work in a job that is generally very high stress, and my time outdoors allows me to decompress, and just really shut my brain off for a while. 

I've loved fishing since I was a young kid. At 64 I still do.Its a lifelong pursuit, and a great hobby.

Been doing it since I was a kid and I legitimately enjoy it. It gets me out in nature with friends and family, and of course the thrill of the hunt and the allure of the unknown. You never know what you will land next. 

It’s catchy.

So I dont choke people....?

Fishing has always be a pleasurable moment in my life, even when it sucked, it was better than normal life. Example… my nephew called the other day, ask me if I remembered the time we went fish on the old skyway bridge…. Storm came up it was lightning and we were laying as flat as we could on the bridge. Then it rained for about 20 minutes hard as we’d ever seen it. Every body else packed up and ran for their cars, we stayed it cleared up and we fishing all night, we were soaked and all our gear was wet. We laughed about that night for a while on the phone…. Fishing is just good times. 

 

Genes

Tom

I fish because I can, therefore I am.

 

I like the calmness of being out on the water, and fishing presents me a proper challenge.

I’m introverted, I like doing things by myself. Fishing alone brings me peace, even better when I start getting bites ?

I grew up playing a ton of sports and always loved challenging myself to be the best at whatever I did.  When I was young, I fished here and there with my old man or my grandpa but it was typically river fishing for catfish but nothing religious about it.  As I continued to get older, I had a pretty good amount of success with my athletics but I worked my tail off to get to that point.  I always loved the "games within the games" aspect of sports.  I was lucky enough to go play college basketball at a small university in Sioux City, IA.  After I was done, my time playing organized sports was over. I switched that love of a challenge over to bass fishing.  It's those little challenges that keep me coming back, regardless of how successful/unsuccessful I am each outing.  Trying to figure out what bait works that day, trying to make the perfect cast to an area, trying to always catch a bigger fish than the last one, etc. always keeps me wanting more.  

It's my "me" time where I can forget all the drama going on with life.  I like to catch fish too.

On 3/16/2022 at 11:07 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

Fishing = fun.  Simple. 

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