People have always asked me why I enjoy fishing so much (especially since I always come home empty-handed) and I have always just brushed their questions away with phrases like "it allows me to think about life" or "I don't want to socialize with people" (which is true because sometimes people can be a real pain to deal with. Like there was that one time, Hitler). Honestly, I don't quite know what exactly I like about fishing. But this post has got nothing to do with why I enjoy fishing it might ,however, shed some light for myself once I'm done.

Yes, I know, after looking at the titles in bold below some of you are probably going "awwww crap. This post is going to be sooooo dull and full of fish guts (kinda like goodyfeed)" AND YES, you are right. :|

Perspective

I've only picked up fishing again in the past few years and had to educate myself on many things which I didn't know back when I was younger. Rods, reels, lures, bait and all their subcategories had me realized that what I had initially thought I knew about fishing was but an impression of an otherwise complex identity that is the sport. It made me realize that to really appreciate something, you have to understand it in a deeper aspect. Thanks to online educators including posts on blogs, forums and YouTube videos, I started to take notice of the setups the people around me were using. Shimano, Daiwa, Penn, Abu were now a more common sight than before and in all its fanciness, are fish that are myopic to brands. In my new journey, I encountered rods so long they seemed to reach for the skies and could cast distances bounds beyond mine. In this, I understood that size does matter (ifyouknowwhatImean) but soon realized too that size was like a heritage and that life in its fairness and just will reward even the shortest of rods the right opportunities with the right attitude (or bait or lure or casting distance or retrieval speed etc.) but of course, the bigger fish are in the deeper waters and sometimes you need to cast far to get the rewards you desire. 

Hope

This one is easy and I'm sure most anglers could relate. Every fishing trip is the beginning of a hopeful journey and every cast is an attempt at success. Of course, sometimes life gets frustrating when you are unable to get the results you want even after you've tried until you ran out of fight(or bait) but as long as you persist and keep that hope alive (along with the right perspective....or bait), you will some day be able to attain your dreams (unless you're one of those weirdos who cast briefs into the sea in an attempt to catch mermaids).

Patience

Yeah yeah, all you smartasses would be thinking that waiting for fish requires a whole bunch of patience and yes you're right about that. However, in fishing, true patience is learnt not by waiting for fish, but by learning to tie rigs with really small hooks (especially when you have fat fingers). So if you really want to learn how to be patient, go tie some rigs with exceptionally small hooks (it gets easier with practice though).

Less is more

When I started out tying my own rigs, I got excited and bought a whole bunch of hooks, swivels and weird tackle I didn't know how to use. After tying a bunch of rigs which could pass off steampunk necklaces, I realized that my ways were too obscene. I had too much line getting entangled with all these contraception to the point that fish were probably snapchatting with these new man-made reefs. With simpler rigs consisting of mostly line and knots, there was better presentation of bait which converted to more fishes. I would compare this closely to women who tend to put too much make-up on. Ain't gonna catch no fishes that way ma'am.

Timing

This has got to be one of the most important things I learnt. Fishing is fundamentally based on timing. Tides, first light, last light, casting action, retrieve rate. Everything is about timing. A fish may be at a spot waiting to take your bait or lure and a fraction of a second off and its fate changes. Such is the same in life. Everything is about timing and time in itself is the most precious of commodity. A second could be the difference between first and second and a snooze could be a lecture missed. A mastery of timing and time itself would no doubt put one in a most advantageous position. 

Hmmmm.... so why do I love fishing? It might be my way of connecting with nature and the bigger, greater more amazing world that we are in, it could be just an excuse to escape civilization (well not quite) or maybe its because there are so many fun little trinkets to fiddle with. A combination of everything leads to the now and I guess maybe I enjoy fishing not because of one reason, but because of a combination of discoveries and joys which comes with it. Or maybe I just like BBQ fish. mehh.

If you like this post and my #deep thoughts, drop me a comment. If you hate it, drop me two. 

smiley face :)