Why do we do it?

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:42 pm

Great forum this, wish I had found it earlier. Seeing as I cant get out due to weather I have been getting a bit philosophical of late, yearning for that feeling that only fishing seems to bring, and it occured to me, what is that feeling, what makes us stand there for hours in freezing temps watching that little led and thinking ok just one more baitup and another chuck and they will start biting (had a lot of that this year LOL!!!) and I couldnt really decide what "IT" was. Anticipation? Perhaps the planning and the dreaming? I am a bit of a tackle tart so mabye its that new reel or some bit of kit. All I know is I keep on doing it even though er indoors thinks I am mad. What say you? what floats your boat??

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:48 pm

why?. good question.
to escape the humdrum and stress of life at home/work?.
to forfill some primal need to hunt?
to raise to the challange of catching a specimen/ a big fish, or any fish?.

i dunno really, probably a mix of all three for me, i was lucky enough to spend my childhood and most of my life in a small village in the test valley
and so 'country persuits' have always played a big part in my life, whether it was rat/rabbit hunting with my dog , and various guns as i got older. or messing about minnowing down the river, to fishing the south coast with dad.
this became part of my vocation as i left school and joined the game/waterkeeping profesion and so the hunting/trapping and fishing continued as part of my job.
however circumstances change and now mainly fishing is all i have left to amuse myself with.

so, when i sit on hurst shingle in sub zero temprtures , WHY? do i do it?
i guess its the activeity that i've always used to relax while attempting to relive the old thrill of the hunt, with the wife and family and especialy work, furthest from my mind
for a while anyway happy

geejayy.

Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:13 pm

Yes! Hunter gatherer ,thats one I forgot.
Theres something primevial in that.
I've been thinking about all this since I put the original post up and the closest i could get was that great relaxed feeling when all is going well, bit of good bait, bit of a sea on , a nip in the air and the hiss of the tilley while you sup tea ,smoke a fag and think of nothing else axcept how big that next cod is going to be

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:49 am

Ever the one for amateur philosphy;- I have thought about this and decided that we do it because it can provide 'instant gratification'. There is something in the pleasure centres of our brains which gets a huge boost when that big bass takes and charges off to wherever, same happens when you manage to shoot a rabbit or whatever. Addicted gamblers get it too - we all want to win a prize with as little effort as possible because back in prehistory, the bloke who succeeded in regularly getting something without much effort got to survive and breed quite comfortably, thus those who could do it because they had the right bits in their brains survived and those who didn't, didn't, if you see what I mean. Sorry to get all scientific but thats probably the answer. Personally I didn't fish much for years because I had a job which gave me a lot of gratification, it was only when I began to approach retirement that I started fishing again and looking for other things to do which would give me what my brain craved!

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:14 pm

Ok, a little metaphysics from me on this one: when I'm sitting on the shingle I can see the whole world, I can see everything there is and it's huge - all of life is in view and it's a wonderfully humbling experience to know just how small a part of it we are. You see, no matter how prepared we can be as hunter-gatherers, nature can deny us our prey at it's whim so we are never able to control things - as I said, it's humbling...

So why do we feel the need to go there when it's freezing, dark and wet? well perhaps it's the need to know how insignificant we really are in the scheme of things, yet to pitch ourselves against nature and try to beat it, to know what we catch will have been hard-won and so much better-tasting as a result.

Member Joined: Oct 24, 2005 Posts: 31 Location: Midlands

And I thought it was all about escapeing from the wife for a few hours :wink:

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:53 pm

That's what Tim ment,

but his wife was watching over his shoulder as he was typing the message.

Hope to be out there soon being humbled by nature myself (this weekend, fingers crossed) or was it to escape the wife :wink:

I must admit I have just had to tackle decorating the childrens bedrooms before I got permission to be able to tackle natures' larder. Have to strike a balance somewhere... ...

HoOkEd

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:12 pm

Trouble is I suppose that given a few fish now and again there wouldnt be as much time to ponder the universe although I do know what Tim means.

The reason I asked the question in the first place was as a result of blanking on my last two trips at Cromer & Weybourne and yet still dreaming and planning the next trip.

With good bait more expensive than best steak there has to be some other reason for doing it than catching fish thats for sure!!

Occasional Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 144

i don't think there's another sport like fishing, everytime i sea a patch of water i can't help but wonder if there's something in it for me to catch. LOL.

i think it's the never knowing what your going to catch it could be a little crab or it could be a british record.

or maybe just a chance to get away from EVERYTHING. weather dreaming of fishing or actually getting your line wet you're free.

Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 7:47 pm

bigguy wrote:

i don't think there's another sport like fishing, everytime i sea a patch of water i can't help but wonder if there's something in it for me to catch. LOL.

Hehe - we all do that don't we? even if it's on telly!

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:12 am

OK you guys, top this if you can: Sean and I went fishing new year's eve, high water is at 11pm so we start at 9.30 and fish through 'til when? - 12.15 of course, fireworks going off all round us and anyone with any sense in the pub or at a party! Not us though - completely bonkers aint we? - especially as it came on to rain and we went home soaked. Catch and bites? - zilch of course, cant understand why though, there should have been codling/whiting about. Ah just realised, they were all at the pub celebrating........ :lol:

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:46 pm

Eccles - with all due respect mate - you're a nutter! big grin

I doubt anyone could top that Eccles, but I have to confess that as I stood on the beach (where I live is on the beach nr Dungeness) at midnight watching the fireworks my thoughts did turn to thoughts of monster Cod and what bait I still had left...

Tight lines and a Happy New Year to everyone
Tim