What does bass fishing or fishing in general mean to you?

[Calvinrocker]

I was just wondering what bass fishing or catching a fish means to you?

[keithdog]

For me it's my way of escaping and leaving everything else behind, all the stress and worries, and enjoying the fellowship of mother nature. It calms me, "usually", lol. It's the best anti stress medication out there. Maybe take a few pictures while I'm at it. Sit in the warm sun enjoying my lunch, and maybe just rest for a while.

[dave0943]

I'm with Keithdog on the stress releiver. If I didn't have fishing and hunting I would have lost it years ago! The outdoors for my family and I is more than that I guess. It really is a way of life! On the water, hunting camp, has always been a big family activity and am sure my boys will pass it down. My grand kids already think fishing is special. Can't wait to take them hunting as well.
Dave

[Tavery5]

For me, I love it because I don't know how to get any further away from work. I can totally concentrate on fishing, get into that crazy zone where even if someone did try to talk to you, you probably would not hear them. Kinda like standing right here but being a million miles away. I lOOOOVE it, I hope when they find me dead, it is with a rod and reel in my hands and smile on my face.

[bamabassman]

Like keithdog, to me it is TOTAL ESCAPE from the outside world. Time to relax, reflect on what is happening in my life while trying to get dinner to boot. I enjoy the "hunt" of fishing. It don't hurt to catch a good one either, lol. but mainly I like to just relax and enjoy GOD'S great wonder of the world........NATURE.

[CMorg]

Basically it means I am going to get my As# chewed out for being gone too long...

[HarveysMinnow]

All that KeithDog said goes for me as well. A better form of relaxation has yet to be invented.

But there is an element of mystery about fishing as well. We throw our baits out there and they sink into the fish's world, and we are faced with the hope and the expectation that something will take our offering. And no matter how many fish we have landed, no matter how big our all-time best catch may have been, we still get the feeling that an even larger one is lurking just around that next point or under that next submerged log. This uncertainty and the potential exhilaration that we feel when we get a strike is a strong motivator that keeps us coming back, even after a fishless day.

All the above paragraph is a generalization that applies to most fishermen. For me personally, I'm becoming more convinced as time goes on that I actually enjoy twiddling with the rods, reels, lines, and lures (and the multiple variations they offer) almost as much as I enjoy actually catching something. I can come up with a new combination of tackle and take it to the water and have fun with it, even if I don't get a nibble.

/

[Callin' In Slick]

Of relaxation and excitement, no pressure and real challenge. It's an authentic opportunity to appreciate and be grateful for God's gifts. You can enjoy it alone or with friends. Beer tastes better when fishing though I fish more often without it than with. It's a relatively cheap hobby. And the best part is the sense of accomplishment and the realization that you never know whether the next cast may bring in the mother of all largemouth bass. I am
late to the game but I am more and more hooked with every passing season.

[bassboogieman]

It's a relatively cheap hobby

Can be. I'm not a tx fisherman and I'm not going to list prices BUT - I run a 21' bassboat, have a 4WD V8 tow vehicle and have a lot of relatively expensive rods & reels and several gross (count not appearance) Japaneese lures. Take a guess at the investment, and by no means is fishing CHEAP for me. Heck, I'm probably due for FOUR new batteries in the spring. Gasoline and oil - fill up a 56 gallon tank, two gallons of 2 stoke oil and half a bottle of Ring Free you've blown the better part of two Franklin's. Add a fill up for the truck to get the boat to the water and and you'll be digging for at least another Grant. Cheap hobby for some maybe, but not for me at all, and don't get me wrong - I AM NOT COMPLAINING as I CHOOSE to fish in this manner and am very happy doing so.

[Callin' In Slick]

A better way of saying it is that it is accessible to most without the bass boat, a dozen rods and all the baits the monkey suggests. I am two yrs into it and have gradually invested in five very good rods and reels, some tackle and a trolling motor. I fished twice this week and will fish this Sunday and Monday all day and it won't cost me a dime. I don't need 12 rods and will take care of my five. Of course, talk to me in a few yrs. I'm already daydreaming about buying a bass boat so I definitely get your point.

[bamabassman]

Slick is right in that it CAN be cheap to do this hobby/passion/ ADDICTION, HAHA. But it can also lead to the poor house too. Rods, reels, baits, boats etc can become very expensive. So it is a curse and heaven, depending on how your wife looks at it. Lmao!

[Chancho]

Originally Posted by CMorg

Basically it means I am going to get my As# chewed out for being gone too long...

Now, that's just funny right there! Ha! Too true...

[falcooon]

Originally Posted by Calvinrocker

I was just wondering what bass fishing or catching a fish means to you?

Church...spirituality ...Paz y tranquilidad (peace and tranquility)...camaraderie ...excitement (the hit, the hookset, the fight and the final lipping and landing of the fish!)....joy of nature....motovation....joy...sometimes it's a jerk on one end waiting for a jerk on the other.....

[carolina-rig-01]

For me fishing represents a few things. First off it's a great way to escape day to day problems for a while and clear my mind. I can also spend time on the water with some of the people who mean the most to me. I am also a very competitive person by nature. I played sports the whole time I was growing up, I played baseball at a very high level and once it ended I was able to continue my competitive drive by fishing tournaments. I have several hobbies and to be honest I could give up almost any of them and be no worse for wear, but if I lost fishing I would be in bad shape.

[Old Hooker]

Several things.
1. Stress relief. It works better than anything I've tried.
2. Me trying to outsmart a creature on his terms and territory. I used to get the same rush from deer hunting. It gives me a sense of acomplishment when I accidently catch something.
3. Hobby. It gives me something constructive (I think) to do when I do get a day off.
4. Lastly, it keeps my checking account from growing out of control.

[weekendfisherman]

An excuse to buy more lures! Lol! Seriously though, I agree with the above. It is great stress relief. I love the time to think without being surrounded by electronics - And hopefully people. I love being out in nature...It also teaches me patience as I have to slow down and concentrate on what I am doing...Of course, "fishing" is even better when there is "catching"!

[Ebbetsguy]

I posted this last year, so I just copied it and putting it here;

I started fishing, for snappers,mackrel and blow fish, off the shores of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in the very early 60's. My dad, who was an Italian Immigrant, owned an Italian Butcher Shop and a part of a Pizza Place with a couple of uncles. He worked 61/2 days a week! He started to send Mom and us kids up to GREENWOOD LAKE NY/NJ Border,for the summers, to a bungalow colony full of NY Italians called CONTI's. My dad got me my first tackle box with a pocket knife, I proceeded to carve my initials into a neighbors tree/My dad made me go over and confess it was me and told me I had to cut the neighbors grass ( hand powered mower) for the rest of the summer. The neighbor owned a boat livery on the lake, buy the old 17 bridge, from which he had see me spend hours catching bluegills,sunnys,perch and the occasional pickrel.
His name was Brickner, he told me he did not want to interfere with my dad, but felt it was a bit severe. He told me if I would come by on Mondays to clean out the boats and primitive livewells, he would toss me a dozen minnows and take me out bass fishing.
So we go a few times with the minnows, he is using an old 3 ounce pyramid sinker and a rope, with color stripes on it to see the depth, when he brought up weeds, and it was deep enough, he said we fish here, I was getting an early lesson to stay away from the shore!
Anyway he is killing them on minnows, I am feeding fish. He ties on a #9Black and Silver original floating Rapala. AND MY FIRST BASS all 10 inches of him is on and I get hooked.

Now I have been fishing a lot of years, I lived in New Orleans for a time, and I sank into the desperate life of a 27 year active addiction, the last 6 years of that addiction there was no time for fishing, and then i wound up homeless.

Any ways a guy I used to get loaded with comes to the park where I am living and takes me to a 12 step meeting and i continue to go for 30 days and I GET MY FIRST CLEAN DAY!!!! I got clean in May, so a group of the older guys, who were retired would fish between meetings, they gave me a rod and reel and took with with them every day, no more Blow Fish, as the water was too dirty, but they kept me busy between meetings and fed me, got me some clothing and most of all we would fish and they would teach me how to stay clean.

When I made my 90 days they took me to my boyhood lake;Greenwood and 6 of us went bass fishing, I cried that day and when they handed me a calendar it was pointed out I had made over 200 meetings in 90 days and fishing had a lot to do with it

So now here I am 17 years and nine months later , still clean and still fishing. I live in rural PA now, soon to move back to my beloved Brooklyn. I have given a rod and reel to at least one guy getting out of jail or just getting clean , yearly since I got clean.
Now , so many have stayed clean, that several of us were doing this yearly, and we would get a big campout for 6 guys a year to get set up. We give them some basic spinning equipment, a few lures, have a couple of campfire meetings and host them and their 12 step sponsors to a weekend of fishing, and for many it has turned into a good ,clean passion

We formed int a Club last year SERENITY BASSERS, whose main Mission is to honor the fellas who hepled me get and stay clean , by equipping 6 guys a year.

I love bass fishing, never grew up from it IT IS THE ULTIMATE ANTI JOB!!!!!!
I went on some big lakes: Fork in TX.George and Champlain here, but in the end, even though we caught fish I prefer small bodies of water, with my 12 tinny and MinKota TM, period.

I catch some fish,have great company and do not like competition at all. We participate in no competions and are affiliated with no one, and i am grateful for all of this.

[bassinbob]

It means doing something I enjoy doing. Plain and simple.