I’m often asked the question – Why do I go fishing?
It’s not an easy question to answer, especially if you want to get an understanding response from anyone that cannot understand your logic. Apart from being looked upon by my friends & family as being slightly strange anyway. My angling habits of devoting the majority of my fishing time to the pursuit of bass & sea trout in the sea & upon catching them, photographing & releasing them, is viewed as bordering on near insanity by my nearest & dearest & others that know me.
I spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds every year on fishing tackle, fuel, travel expenses, clothing, vehicle maintenance, boat maintenance & waste hours of time in pursuit of, researching, talking & writing about these fish that I catch & release. It’s all about being out in a natural environment, fresh sea air, relaxing & taking my mind off all the world’s problems. But I could achieve all that by just going for a walk. So I have come to this conclusion & my answer to the question that I am always asked is this: fishing is a drug & I’m addicted to it. Quite simply – The tug is the drug.
I can think of nothing better than walking the beach with my two Springer Spaniel dogs & trying to outwit a wily bass or sea trout. I’m not disrespecting other piscatorial adversaries here, indeed I love catching any fish, but my two favourites are at most times a real challenge to convince to grab my lure. But that hard earned bump & miss on the bait, lure, fly or soft plastic or the solid bang as the fish hits the hook loaded offering is what does it for me. The fight can be an anti-climax sometimes but no matter, I have had my fix & it’s a legal way of getting high & feeling good.
So next time you are asked – How the worm drowning is going? You know what to say.
Author: Nigel Fairclough