Traveling Trout Co
Member
As the cold of winter sets in after a dry (albeit warm) fall, I ask myself - why do I fish?
I started fishing in my late 20's as a diversion from other less than savory habits on weekend nights. Waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to drive 2+ hours to and from a premiere Pennsylvania wild/native trout stream cannot be accomplished consistently hung over.
In some genuinely significant ways, fishing saved me from myself (cue the finger sized violin). As I became more focused on fishing and less on partying, the new challenge was to learn fly fishing. From nervously entering my first fly shops and not knowing what questions to ask, to visiting new streams and states, it was quite the adventure as I got started.
Now that I've learned a little bit and transitioned through the fly fishing stages of "I want to catch a fish" to "I want to catch a lot of fish" to "I want to catch the biggest fish" to "I just want to enjoy nature and catch a few fish and actually enjoy it", here are my thoughts on why I fish.
As a guy who grew up and still lives in the suburbs outside of Harrisburg, my biggest desire related to fishing (putting aside the mediocre YT channel) was to disconnect from modern society, leave my cell phone in the car, and get lost in some state forest or other public land with no cell phone reception or internet connection even if I wanted it.
Acclimating myself to the art of fly fishing (which I am still a novice at) is of course part of the process. Learning incrementally is part of the fun. But truly the reason I fish is to get away from my job, my wife (who I love dearly), and the ever encroaching/big-brother-ish expansion of technology for long enough to feel connected to whatever that thing is that we have moved away from for far too long (god, traditions, etc.).
To put this into perspective, my favorite stream just so happens to be a small trib. of Pine Creek which runs next to my family's rustic hunting/fishing cabin in North Central PA surrounded by state forest land. I've never seen anyone else fish this stream. It's got native brookies up to about 9in. and stream bred browns pushing 13in. with the occasional German brown transplant over 16in. I love it because I'm always alone, surrounded by nature, with nothing to hear but god's gentle stream currents and tree branches brushing from side to side.
So with all of that personal BS provided that you don't care about provided...why do you guys fish? Is it to catch the big one? Get away from it all? Did you dad and grand-dad and great-grand-dad all fish and your entire lineage going back generations? Do you do it in the spring only because its trout season? Is this a cry for help because my YT channel has slowed down? Who know. But Merry Christmas and Happy New Years brothers!
I started fishing in my late 20's as a diversion from other less than savory habits on weekend nights. Waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to drive 2+ hours to and from a premiere Pennsylvania wild/native trout stream cannot be accomplished consistently hung over.
In some genuinely significant ways, fishing saved me from myself (cue the finger sized violin). As I became more focused on fishing and less on partying, the new challenge was to learn fly fishing. From nervously entering my first fly shops and not knowing what questions to ask, to visiting new streams and states, it was quite the adventure as I got started.
Now that I've learned a little bit and transitioned through the fly fishing stages of "I want to catch a fish" to "I want to catch a lot of fish" to "I want to catch the biggest fish" to "I just want to enjoy nature and catch a few fish and actually enjoy it", here are my thoughts on why I fish.
As a guy who grew up and still lives in the suburbs outside of Harrisburg, my biggest desire related to fishing (putting aside the mediocre YT channel) was to disconnect from modern society, leave my cell phone in the car, and get lost in some state forest or other public land with no cell phone reception or internet connection even if I wanted it.
Acclimating myself to the art of fly fishing (which I am still a novice at) is of course part of the process. Learning incrementally is part of the fun. But truly the reason I fish is to get away from my job, my wife (who I love dearly), and the ever encroaching/big-brother-ish expansion of technology for long enough to feel connected to whatever that thing is that we have moved away from for far too long (god, traditions, etc.).
To put this into perspective, my favorite stream just so happens to be a small trib. of Pine Creek which runs next to my family's rustic hunting/fishing cabin in North Central PA surrounded by state forest land. I've never seen anyone else fish this stream. It's got native brookies up to about 9in. and stream bred browns pushing 13in. with the occasional German brown transplant over 16in. I love it because I'm always alone, surrounded by nature, with nothing to hear but god's gentle stream currents and tree branches brushing from side to side.
So with all of that personal BS provided that you don't care about provided...why do you guys fish? Is it to catch the big one? Get away from it all? Did you dad and grand-dad and great-grand-dad all fish and your entire lineage going back generations? Do you do it in the spring only because its trout season? Is this a cry for help because my YT channel has slowed down? Who know. But Merry Christmas and Happy New Years brothers!
