Why Do We Fish?

This month I thought I would depart from the “how to” and “what to do or not to do” to something perhaps a little more philosophical. Why do we fish? I started thinking about my own past and family-fishing traditions. It turns out my father was the only person in my family, on either side, that fished. In fact, we usually fished once a year on the family vacation to Yosemite. Occasionally my dad would take me to the lake and rent a boat, but he never taught me how to fish, so to speak. Therefore, I began to wonder where I learned and why I continued to go fishing.

I would watch my father fish on streams and he would turn over rocks looking for bugs, which he would put on his hook, and then start fishing, but he never explained why. It really was not until I started fly-fishing that it all began to make sense when I started to learn about entomology. Now 50 years later I cannot hardy remember not fishing and it seems I have evolved from the idea of catching as many fish as I can to I’m going fishing and just enjoy the day.

After 20 years of working in the tackle business, I have talked to countless individuals about the sport, and what motivates them to get out there, no matter what the weather to catch whatever species they can. Some have said it is because people in their family have done this same thing for generations. Others who are newer to the sport watched a fishing show on TV and thought it would be great fun for them and their family.

Still others have made it a more spiritual adventure where they are relating to nature and the environment. The reason we fish are as varied as the people who do it. As I get older, and now spend most of my fishing time by myself, I have gone through a transition from being extremely technical and mechanical to a more relaxed and calm approach. I spend more time looking along the river’s edge to see what may be happening with any indigenous life or watching the insects do their thing and see if the fish are noticing them.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not so “relaxed” that my excitement about being there has waned, but some days I take a less “must catch” approach. In fact, my wife, Sue and I, just came back from a week on the Kern River where we spend more time these days. When “you are there”, you do not feel as anxious about getting up at “0 dark thirty” and getting up river to fish at break neck speed. Now it’s more like, the fish are there and I will get to them eventually!

I have noticed the feeling of fishing by myself is much different now from when my friend Jimmie and I would fish together on a river or stream within a few yards from one another and we would watch each other fish. I miss those days we shared on the river and the great conversation we had as friends for 30 years. Jimmie was another reason I fished. He is gone now and I miss him dearly every day. I fish with some of his gear, and it keeps me connected to him, which for me will be, the rest of my life. Why we fish is as personal as anything else we spend time doing that brings meaning and purpose to our life.

I will leave you with the words of Norman Maclean who wrote “A River Runs Through It”. For me this is a deep and meaningful quote.

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rock from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by water”