This is a very good question that could take a book to answer. Nevertheless I thought it would be interesting to jot some reasons that come to mind in this short article.
For those of us where a birthday necessitates counting the current year from the birth year and being shocked at how large the number is, school holidays resulted in us being kicked out of the house and we had the great outdoors to muck about in. This is where many of us started as we tagged along with our mates to the local village pond, river or canal. Our first fish were often the greedy perch or gudgeon but whatever, we became “hooked” and the passion morphed into a lifelong addiction. For many of us to not be able to fish or get out frequently results in a nasty dose of shack nasties where we go stir crazy. It is at that point that you must get to the river bank no matter what the conditions or the marriage is on the line! Last year was a bad example of that with constantly high or flooded rivers proving extremely frustrating.
A question commonly asked by non-fishing folk is “what do you think about when you are fishing”? From my perspective it is all pleasant thoughts. From the moment I depart to go fishing to returning, all work related and other stressful concerns are left behind. My thoughts then turn to how to fish the location and in particular how to fool the quarry. It is amazing how long can be spent figuring out how to capture one particularly tricky speckled nomad. Frequently I just transpose into auto-pilot thinking of nothing in particular but taking in the general ambience and being at peace with the world. It is quite remarkable how often one solves the world after a day out fishing; actually the same occurs after a few pints with friends. Preparation for a forthcoming trip is almost painful as we wrestle with what to take to cover all eventualities. The night before almost guarantees sleeplessness, and before we know it the trip is over. Where did those days go? The phrase time flies certainly comes to mind post these trips.
For most of us part, and often a large part, is being outdoors enjoying seeing and sharing the wildlife that shares our waterways. When one thinks about it we are very fortunate in that they attract a bounty of birdlife, mammals, insects and flowers and it is fascinating watching how they develop through the season. Ironically we are often cursing the access points later in the season as nature rapidly takes over.
It is hard to describe the pleasure of seeing the aquamarine flash of a kingfisher or a rare sighting of a water vole or otter. Likewise seeing trees come into leaf, develop their fruits and then transform into those wondrous russet colourations in Autumn is a joy to behold. Similarly we associate different flowers with periods of the year with snowdrops being replaced by primroses and wood anemones, then daffodils and bluebells and then a cornucopia of traditional wild flowers throughout the summer often sadly including the ever invasive himalayan balsam.
For many it is a form of general relaxation from the stresses and anxieties of the modern world. Catching fish is an added bonus and so once again when one returns and answers the stock question “any luck” the questioner is baffled with the response “no, but it was a lovely day”. They fail to understand that is only part of the picture and frequently are of the impression we sit on the river bank all day hunched under an umbrella! Long may that continue.
For others, they may have taken up the sport at a later time in life perhaps curtailing another activity that was quite frankly too active and realising they need to slow down as the body was already telling them! Once again they immediately realise they ought to have done the switch earlier and thus frantically catch up devouring information, accumulating tackle, living and breathing the complete package. I often chuckle reading some of the many forums with some of the comments from brothers of the angle, as it is apparent how badly some have caught the bug to the point of it being a drug.
Is it harmless? I think so but we must bore some non-fishing colleagues senseless. I fear my wife has developed selective hearing when I drone on about it.
Is it compulsive? Absolutely to the point of it being a disorder.
Is there an alternative? Quite frankly, no.
Thus in summary fishing is a healthy obsessive interest that when taken up becomes your life. But, so what as the alternative is golf and that now IS a silly sport unless they let me fish all the lakes on their course!
Tight lines all.