One of the questions I get asked the most is "Do you ever get tired of fishing?" Without hesitation, I nod side to side with a bit of a smirk on my face. "Naw, I never get tired of fishing. I get tired, and I get frustrated, but I never get tired of fishing." Still not convinced, they press on with a similar inquiry. "Doesn't it ever feel like a job to you?" I try to explain the best I can, but if one has to ask, they truly don't understand the reason behind fishing.

Every man, woman, and child is born with traits and genes that separate them from the rest of the human genome, making them completely unique in their own special way. What we do share though, is something that cannot be changed, nor taught in any school. It can be embraced, honed, perfected, or completely ignored, but it never goes away. We have been given an instinctual calling that pushes beyond the bleeding hands, the hell bending wind, dehydration, lack of sleep, and the constant presence of failure. To live, we must eat, and to eat, we must fish. Our ancestors knew it, and though we are far removed from the perils of starvation, we still have to produce the bounty of the waters.

Fishing is not choice, it is everything. Fishing controls our lives, our moods, our well being, and frankly, we can�t live without it. If we don�t catch fish, we will not live the life as we have come to know it. We will wake up everyday, we will contribute to society, and we will sleep, but the space between point A and point B will be filled with very gray details. This brings me to the next, and most common reason, as to why we fish: happiness.

As Americans, we are granted the right to the pursuit of happiness. We are fortunate enough to pursue our prey with such passion and vigor, we come to the realization that there is no life without fishing. In order to be happy, we must fish.

Think of the reasons you put yourself up to the mercy of Mother Nature. At best, you get an educated guess, a mere chance at success, and it all depends on YOUR ability, and YOUR knowledge. A fishermen will do anything and everything to make the desired moment happen. Walk miles through the briars, post up on the bow with 3ft rollers, stare aimlessly at a Coleman lantern on a full moon night in mid March, cast one more time when you�re already too tired to care anyways. The bait is released from your hands, already chaffed from the cold and bleeding from a slice you took off the gills from a fish who just wouldn�t give up the fight. Always optimistic, and always searching, we continue to pursue.

And how many times must we fail? How many times must we fail? Thousands upon thousands of casts end up fruitless. We cast, we pitch, we shoot, we throw, we run lines, we cut bait, we tie lures, we make jigs, we purchase equipment, we take off work, we drive for hours, we put it all on the line. All of this for the chance to fail more times than we succeed, and all of this happens for the one moment we all lose sleep over.

A twitch of the line catches your eye, and your pole goes half moon. A hybrid slaps your bait, sending a sensation through the forearms of the battle to be waged. Tension in a hand full of trotline chord tells your brain that in .003 seconds, you better have it together because you�re about to get tied in knots with a fish half your size. Failure has taught you so much, and now in the moments of catching a fish, you will have been relieved of life for a few brief moments, and heaven is truly on earth. Grown men laugh uncontrollably at the site of surfacing and chaotic silver trains. Death and sickness is forgotten instantly in the seconds after the undeniable thump of a slab. Divorce and heartache are nowhere to be found as a baitclicker signals the inevitable. When there is a fish on the line, there is absolutely nothing but the fishermen, and the fish. And as the greatest Fisher of Men put it, when He had us all on the line many thousands of years ago, �It is Good.�

�Do you every get tired of fishing?� Well let�s see, yesterday, I caught fish. Today, I�m going to catch fish. Tomorrow, I�m going to catch more fish. And I will continue to do so until the Lord says I have caught enough of these fish, and then I�m going to catch a lot of fish! Join me brothers and sisters of the water, in this constant pursuit we call fishing.

Good read!

Very nice and well written !!! And so true

Amen.

Very well said!

Charlie

Amen! Thanks! So true about us anglers!!! But my wife and most of my family will never understand why I go through such madness over the little fish!! LOL

When I am on the water I do feel "heaven is truly on earth". Amen again!!

BTW, I think you are truly gifted

(Fishboy Frank needs to see this...will PM him shortly)

Nice. enjoyable reading.

Very well put, nice read. I will fish in a ditch if I can't get to fish anywhere else. The little fish are not as much enjoyment as the big ones but it still sends off some kind of reaction in me just to feel the tug.

I think all of us on this forum know that feeling without even saying it. To see it articulated in such a manner helps others to see that we aren't crazy, but simply subjecting ourselves to these conditions because it is part of who we are and it's in our blood!

AMEN! God bless us all. Very well put indeed.

Amen. Fishing has been the number one therapy in going through this divorce!!!

From one writer to another, bravo! Todd texted the link to me and that is an excellent composition. My daily devotional book is based on Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men." Fishing to me is where we do in fact catch both men and fish. Over the years I have had hundreds of encounters on the lake that are what I like to call God ordained appointments. It is so much more than just about fishing to me. It's about the people. Just this past Friday hosted a fish fry for many of us and we had great fellowship. We seem to operate at warp speed these days (I know personally from being in high tech for 30-years). Fishing is where we slow down. As you so aptly described we never tired of fishing. Every time out is a new adventure. But to sum it up so as to not steal your thunder I have to tell this story. When I was five my Dad took to me along to visit a Doctor friend of the family who owned a lot of land. On the land were several stocked lakes. So my Dad sets me down with a cane pole. He puts a minnow on the hook and sets the bobber in the water. He then said, "Son when the bobber goes under the water lift the pole up and you will have a blue gill." He then walked away with the Doctor to sit on the back porch of the house. So I'm holding the pole and the bobber dives under the water. I lifted the pole up and nothing happened. So I did what came naturally to me. I ran backwards as hard as I could! By this time my Dad and the Doctor were running down to see what happened. I had caught a six pound bass and had slid him up on shore. My first ever fish a huge bass! So they took a picture and three days later it was in the local paper. I still have the picture from the paper somewhere. So from that first day on I and the fish were hooked! It is so much more than just about the fish. Thanks for a great story. The world is losing it's story tellers and that's sad. It's a dying art. Again bravo.... Happy Fishing.

yup. gitterdone right there

So true!!!! Great reading