About 6 months ago I found myself unemployed with an abundance of spare time on my hands and unfortunately with my living situation fishing wasn’t an option and I've been lurking here less and less, so naturally my restless brain found another rabbit hole to stick my head into - the game of chess.

 

I’ve always been a casual player but apparently spending hundreds of hours studying a board game is a perfectly normal response when you can’t go fishing. It’s been a fun ride so far and I don’t see it slowing down soon, though I’ll still fish any time I can. So I’m just curious what non-fishing hobby or obsession takes or has taken over your brain when fishing is not an option?

First, I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say that for the past 17 years

This Forum has been a very pleasant obsession. 

Also, between any fishing trips and during the entire 4 months or so of hard water season here,

I battle gravity.  Every other day for 45 years.

Still not sure what's wrong with me . . . . . 

A-Jay

 

I play in a racquetball league, pickle ball league, mens ice hockey league, and I deer/pheasant/turkey hunt when those seasons are open.

I bounce across a few.  I've always fished and hunted in some form over the past 35-40 years regardless of where I was living, what the target species were, or what the method to get them was.  I have a personality where I need constant new things so picking a new fish (trout, salmon, bass, carp, greyling) or gear (fly, conventional, float, etc) has kept me pretty content over the years.  I'm also a strong introvert so I need that time to myself in the quiet that only being on the water or hanging in a tree can provide.

 

That said, you can't always do either of those all the time so wine/spirits/cocktails/food have held my interest for a while now and my wife shares in all of those.  We scuba dive, but only on vacation (not locally) so that takes an amount of mental energy when we're not doing it as well as time when we are doing it.  I also used to do photography which I combined with fishing, hunting, and scuba diving.  Lately I've added cigars into the mix as something to learn about and pass a little time with friends.  

Year 'round, nearly every day, if I don't go fishing I hit the gym at 5:00 in the morning;  followed by an hour and a half dedicated to exercise and reviewed training for my Border Collie.

Off and on I do scale modeling - usually Sci-Fi or X-Planes (XB-70, YF-12, etc)

 

Here's a couple that I've done over the years

Workout.
Cook. I would say mostly Italian comfort food for family. I’m the only one who likes seafood so def like exploring new preps for seafood.

During early spring and late fall I have 5 houses between mine and my parents and I can spend hours just doing repairs. It’s not like work, it’s at my pace for whatever the pace is that day. No hurry to get it done. It’s eventually gets done.

@Bass Rutten I wish I had the patience for chess. About the only board game I really enjoyed was backgammon. I played that with my daughter. Probably the reason I enjoyed it so much. She was a tough player 

Duck hunting was my thing for many, MANY years. Loved it. Got really in to deer hunting back in early 2010, specifically Mule Deer. Bagged a few nice ones. 

 

Have a side gig, photography. Makes me a little fun-money (to feed the Monkey!). Build my own computers...but the last build was in 2016. Wife loves to travel. We have a 5th wheel and pull ATV trailer behind.

 

Fishing is very much #1 right now....okay, not during hard-water season...but you see the point. I should really get back in to restoring my 1972 Chevy K-20, while there is still ice on the lakes. 

Restored 1965 GTO Concours Award Winner
 

 

54 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

First, I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say that for the past 17 years

This Forum has been a very pleasant obsession. 

Also, between any fishing trips and during the entire 4 months or so of hard water season here,

I battle gravity.  Every other day for 45 years.

Still not sure what's wrong with me . . . . . 

A-Jay

 

Nothing wrong with that, a wise investment in time for sure. I was a gym regular right up until covid and then just lost the momentum. Gotta get back to it, thinking of building a small gym at home starting simple with an olympic bar/plates and a few kettlebells.

 

Not sure why it's combining my last 2  comments, just to be clear the sunglass lift is for the car not ajay 

54 minutes ago, gim said:

I play in a racquetball league, pickle ball league, mens ice hockey league, and I deer/pheasant/turkey hunt when those seasons are open.

Color me surprised, I pictured you out in the yard all winter furiously working on your dropshot technique 

My wife and I can finally travel some, so we do that.  My other hobbies are my '68 GS400 convertible and BMW K1200S motorcycle.  

 

 

 

My cardiologist recommends I no longer ride because I'm on blood thinners now, but I'm not ready to give it up.  I've barely ridden it in the last few years, and it's time to change that.   

Here's the bike.

More fishing. 
 

I also cook. 

My wife. My family. Motorcycle riding. Reading. Eating.

  Weight train 4 days a week but I recently had to lower my intensity per my doctor. I was showing signs of Rhabdomyolsis in my labs.

Shooting paper and steel at close, medium, long, and extra long range.

 

 

 

53 minutes ago, VolFan said:

I also cook.

 

WE'LL BE RIGHT OVER! 

(the ENTIRE membership)

2 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

 thinking of building a small gym at home starting simple with an olympic bar/plates and a few kettlebells.

IMO, a sweet little home gym virtually eliminates any and all excuses.

Do it ~

Start slow.

A-Jay

@A-Jay is right, the biggest hurdle when it comes to exercise is having the willpower to go do it. Having it in your own basement would greatly decrease that hurdle.

@gim Makes me think about all the folks that live on lakes that 2+ years old gas in their boats. 

23 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

@gim Makes me think about all the folks that live on lakes that 2+ years old gas in their boats. 

Three of my neighbors snowblowers wouldn’t start here the other day when we got that first big snow. Mine ran like a champ.

 

Their snow blowers have been sitting in their garages with old gas (that has ethanol) because we haven’t had hardly any snow the past two winters! The carbs are all clogged up.

 

I helped all three of them when I was done with mine and then explained the concept of using non ethanol gas in seasonal engines.

Deer Hunting of course but that only consists of the month of November.

 

My big hobby is chainsaws, rebuilding, modifications to the exhaust, porting.

I buy and sell chainsaws and my garage is full.

All the locals bring me their saws for modifications.

I only touch Stihl, Echo and Husqvarna.

 

 

 

Guns, reloading, cast bullets, knives, and yes... chess. I am Bazoo_II on chess.com, if you'd like to challenge me.

 

I also dabble in photography. Here are some of my favorite photographs from my hobbies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While bass fishing has always been my #1 passion, I’ve done a LOT of saltwater fishing, especially with light tackle. 
Used to do some bird hunting a long time ago then got into deer hunting for years.  I don’t hunt much anymore as I’m no longer on a lease.

I was also a big gym rat for years. Lots of heavy weights that eventually took its toll on certain body parts.  At 72, I still try to get 3+ days in a week but with much lighter weights. 
I’ve been tying flies and crappie jigs for a few years and recently started tying some bass jigs.
We have a vegetable garden that we both tend to.

Most recently I picked up an 84 Chevy K10 square body to tinker on.

 

31 minutes ago, SC53 said:

I’ve done a LOT of saltwater fishing, especially with light tackle

There’s nothing like fishing salt with light tackle! 

Medium - Heavy Daiwa Fuego bass rod

31 minutes ago, SC53 said:

I’ve been tying flies and crappie jigs for a few years and recently started tying some bass jigs

Same. The fish in the pic is on a bucktail I tied during the winter months 

At my age just staying alive