Posted By: Lloyd5
Fishing vs Catching Fish - 07/07/15 12:47 PM
It takes a long time for some ideas to soak through my thick skull. The difference between fishing and catching fish is one of those. I'm not a hundred percent sure I understand all of the nuances yet, but I think I have the major gist of it now.
When I was younger I thought going fishing was about catching fish. And I guess for me that is what it was about. We kept and ate fish in those days, and bringing home a good stringer was bringing home the bacon. When I'd come home with a big stringer of fish every one was happy because we all loved to eat fish, and we didn't buy fish in the store - you could if you lived in a big city, but we lived out in the boonies.. Except for fish-sticks, you could buy those in the store, but those were pretty nasty. Family faces lit up at the sight of fish coming in the kitchen door, and for a young-un - that was pretty good stuff.
Later on in my life the fishing was about catching fish too, but now it had morphed. I was only after bass, only large mouth bass at that, and size is all that mattered. Small bass were somehow embarrassing to catch. Every other kind of fish caught was not just accidental, but a waste of time that could have been used on bass instead. This was a highly defined kind of fishing that had a very specific goal. Catch a 10lb or larger large mouth bass, that was the goal. I didn't fish tournaments, they had different but quite similar goals.
Then that somehow lost its appeal and fishing morphed again into a different form. Now I was happy to catch any kind of fish using any kind of technique. I'd fish for catfish one night, then bluegills in the morning, bass in the afternoon, and gar in the evening. Or I'd go pier fishing in the ocean when I had the opportunity. I went deep sea fishing off a small boat for dolfin (mahi-mahi or some such [censored] name now), or mackerel or barracuda or just whatever we could get to bite. Then carp the next night, and so on. That was my anti-bass specific phase, where I no longer considered myself a "Bass Fisherman", but just a "Fisherman". I think it was something about everybody and his brother getting onto the bass fishing bandwagon that got me off of it. I have never liked being in crowds, physical or metaphorically, neither one. I was a "Fisherman", but it was still about catching fish.
Then I got turned on to fly fishing. So I became a "Fly Fisherman". That's not a crowded field in Texas my brothers. While there is a huge amount of opportunity for fly fishing, most Texans are in the bass craze, or they are after a specific kind of fish they like best - like catfish for just one other example. Not that I criticize them - I was there too, and for a long time, and it is definitely a lot of fun. Hell, I love to catch bass and catfish on the fly rod, they are both wonderful fighters. Of course these days I do the catch and release thing. I rarely measure or weigh or photograph them unless I'm planning to write about that fish. I almost never, but still sometimes do, bring home fish to eat. That could change at any moment though. Nothing about me and fishing seems to be settled.
While waiting on the river to go down so that I can get out there and fly fish, I have passed up innumerable opportunities to fish, right in my own yard, much to my wife's head scratching curiosity. She's been fishing like a fiend because the water is up and it is so easy to get to. She doesn't understand why I would pass it up. And for a while I wondered too, but just didn't "feel it" so to speak. So I didn't do it.
I think it is this: There's a difference between fishing, and catching fish. I want to go fishing, yes. But I want to do it the way I want to do it, and if it was just about catching fish, I'd be catching them right now, from my own yard. I do want to go fishing though. I want to wade waist deep into the river water, and throw the long slow cast of the fly rod. I want to watch the fly sail out and out and out and then turn over and land just where I wanted it to. And if I happen to catch a fish or two while fishing, why that'll be just fine.
But I no longer think its all that necessary. I suppose that if I never caught fish on the fly rod I'd eventually quit - maybe, maybe not. Its that close of a thing. And honestly, there are times when I go several trips in a row without a fish. And yet I keep going with no diminishment of pleasure.
So these days I think I am a "Fisherman" and not a "Fish Catcher." That could morph into something else some day - seems like I'm always changing. The changes come more slowly now though, so maybe this is the last stage, maybe it's not. I'll just have to keep fishing to find out.
When I was younger I thought going fishing was about catching fish. And I guess for me that is what it was about. We kept and ate fish in those days, and bringing home a good stringer was bringing home the bacon. When I'd come home with a big stringer of fish every one was happy because we all loved to eat fish, and we didn't buy fish in the store - you could if you lived in a big city, but we lived out in the boonies.. Except for fish-sticks, you could buy those in the store, but those were pretty nasty. Family faces lit up at the sight of fish coming in the kitchen door, and for a young-un - that was pretty good stuff.
Later on in my life the fishing was about catching fish too, but now it had morphed. I was only after bass, only large mouth bass at that, and size is all that mattered. Small bass were somehow embarrassing to catch. Every other kind of fish caught was not just accidental, but a waste of time that could have been used on bass instead. This was a highly defined kind of fishing that had a very specific goal. Catch a 10lb or larger large mouth bass, that was the goal. I didn't fish tournaments, they had different but quite similar goals.
Then that somehow lost its appeal and fishing morphed again into a different form. Now I was happy to catch any kind of fish using any kind of technique. I'd fish for catfish one night, then bluegills in the morning, bass in the afternoon, and gar in the evening. Or I'd go pier fishing in the ocean when I had the opportunity. I went deep sea fishing off a small boat for dolfin (mahi-mahi or some such [censored] name now), or mackerel or barracuda or just whatever we could get to bite. Then carp the next night, and so on. That was my anti-bass specific phase, where I no longer considered myself a "Bass Fisherman", but just a "Fisherman". I think it was something about everybody and his brother getting onto the bass fishing bandwagon that got me off of it. I have never liked being in crowds, physical or metaphorically, neither one. I was a "Fisherman", but it was still about catching fish.
Then I got turned on to fly fishing. So I became a "Fly Fisherman". That's not a crowded field in Texas my brothers. While there is a huge amount of opportunity for fly fishing, most Texans are in the bass craze, or they are after a specific kind of fish they like best - like catfish for just one other example. Not that I criticize them - I was there too, and for a long time, and it is definitely a lot of fun. Hell, I love to catch bass and catfish on the fly rod, they are both wonderful fighters. Of course these days I do the catch and release thing. I rarely measure or weigh or photograph them unless I'm planning to write about that fish. I almost never, but still sometimes do, bring home fish to eat. That could change at any moment though. Nothing about me and fishing seems to be settled.
While waiting on the river to go down so that I can get out there and fly fish, I have passed up innumerable opportunities to fish, right in my own yard, much to my wife's head scratching curiosity. She's been fishing like a fiend because the water is up and it is so easy to get to. She doesn't understand why I would pass it up. And for a while I wondered too, but just didn't "feel it" so to speak. So I didn't do it.
I think it is this: There's a difference between fishing, and catching fish. I want to go fishing, yes. But I want to do it the way I want to do it, and if it was just about catching fish, I'd be catching them right now, from my own yard. I do want to go fishing though. I want to wade waist deep into the river water, and throw the long slow cast of the fly rod. I want to watch the fly sail out and out and out and then turn over and land just where I wanted it to. And if I happen to catch a fish or two while fishing, why that'll be just fine.
But I no longer think its all that necessary. I suppose that if I never caught fish on the fly rod I'd eventually quit - maybe, maybe not. Its that close of a thing. And honestly, there are times when I go several trips in a row without a fish. And yet I keep going with no diminishment of pleasure.
So these days I think I am a "Fisherman" and not a "Fish Catcher." That could morph into something else some day - seems like I'm always changing. The changes come more slowly now though, so maybe this is the last stage, maybe it's not. I'll just have to keep fishing to find out.
