Why do you fish?
A post was made on the wvangler.com message board that begged the question "Is catching fish the point?" and it linked a video response. It got me thinking....
Here was my response on the message board, copied to here:
"If it didn't matter, we would focus as much of our time and energy in the least productive times of the year as we do in the most productive times. I'd have to say that the Elk has more people fishing during hatches that make catching fish easier. The freestone streams don't get pounded in the middle of winter when the water temps are 34F, so yeah catching fish matters.
With my increasingly busy schedule and additional responsibilities, I find myself scheduling my longer fishing trips into periods when the probability of poor fishing is as low as possible. I don't take as many winter fishing trips. I don't fish as much in the heat of summer. I try to maximize my potential, and we all do something like that to an extent.
But its still not ALL about catching fish. If it were, I would save money for gas and expensive equipment and go to a pay pond. Recently, I hiked into a remote section of stream to find overnight temps the night before had dropped the stream temp drastically and thus shut the trout down completely. It was frigid. We fished for 2 hours and didn't even see a fish, let alone have a strike. That kinda stunk, but the exploration of a new place, the beauty of the wilderness, and the isolation was worth the hike and the time spent. Definitely a better way to spend a saturday than stuck looking at flipflops at Old Navy...."
So while I definitely enjoy catching fish, I enjoy and appreciate most everything else about fishing too: the peacefulness, the challenge, the camaraderie, just being in nature and not behind a computer screen.
Here was my response on the message board, copied to here:
"If it didn't matter, we would focus as much of our time and energy in the least productive times of the year as we do in the most productive times. I'd have to say that the Elk has more people fishing during hatches that make catching fish easier. The freestone streams don't get pounded in the middle of winter when the water temps are 34F, so yeah catching fish matters.
With my increasingly busy schedule and additional responsibilities, I find myself scheduling my longer fishing trips into periods when the probability of poor fishing is as low as possible. I don't take as many winter fishing trips. I don't fish as much in the heat of summer. I try to maximize my potential, and we all do something like that to an extent.
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| I go after these guys mainly for their beauty and the beauty of their homes |
But its still not ALL about catching fish. If it were, I would save money for gas and expensive equipment and go to a pay pond. Recently, I hiked into a remote section of stream to find overnight temps the night before had dropped the stream temp drastically and thus shut the trout down completely. It was frigid. We fished for 2 hours and didn't even see a fish, let alone have a strike. That kinda stunk, but the exploration of a new place, the beauty of the wilderness, and the isolation was worth the hike and the time spent. Definitely a better way to spend a saturday than stuck looking at flipflops at Old Navy...."
So while I definitely enjoy catching fish, I enjoy and appreciate most everything else about fishing too: the peacefulness, the challenge, the camaraderie, just being in nature and not behind a computer screen.
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| An interesting ice formation on a limb across a cold mountain stream |
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