Fishing is great...But i live and breath STEELHEADING. Its an addiction that I cannot explain or figure out. I can hardly get myself to go to work in the mornings, its the only thing that keeps me going besides love for family.

I live for a Skykomish sunrise, the anticipation of the float going down, the subtle tap...tap...tap of a winter run picking up a corkie and yarn, the cartweeling jump of a summer run, hearing my fishing buddy spin tales of past fish, and atlast the adrenaline rush of your feet leaving the ground as you cross that tailout to steelhead shangri-la!!!!

Thats why i fish

For me... its time to reflect, every time I go out fishing (most of the time by myself). I remember mostly my father trying to wake me up at 2:30 in the morning all I had to do was hop in the car, he would have every thing ready. I'd sleep most of the way, but he would let me know when we were close. We would arrive at any one of his favorite rivers, and the outcome would be the same, my dad caught fish and well I learned.
My younger brother and I fish together now... probably for the same reason, or just brotherly competition but mostly because our father gave us this passion!!!
Reflection, Remembrance, Relationships.
Thanks Dad.

I know this thread has taken a turn, I will keep it going in the direction that it should go. I fish because the places that salmon and steelhead live are some of the most beautiful places in the world.

I love to fish....

...just because.

Last week, standing knee deep in the water, fishing a long, deep hole, I told the Good Lord that if I needed to die anytime soon would He please take care of my family.....and leave me right where I stood.

Sun was peeking through the clouds, hitting the snow on top of Mt. Sauk making it glow like a beacon. The water was crystal green..almost magical.

If heaven exists, that was where I was.

Mike

It's nice way to get my dog out to meet new freinds and go for a swim?

easy for me. . .the TAKE !

Because I can, and there is allways a bigger fish out there waiting to be caught!

My mother exposed me very early on when she said, “I think you fish to immerse yourself in nature”.
But the deeper I went, the more I realized that fishing was an experience best shared and not grasped.

Because I fish, I have been blessed to:
see my wife’s smile as she held her first steelhead,
rejoice with my father as he caught his first king salmon,
witness my son’s wonder and awe of releasing a 30 lb king,
spend precious moments alone with my daughter,
gain many friends,
know a mentor (thanks GZ),
give thanks for the Lord’s provision
and gently release one of his wild creatures that I had the momentary pleasure and distinct honor to hold in my hand.

Fishing is my quest to discover what it means to be alive, to share with others, to feel connected and know that I am part of something greater than myself,
but most of all, to be humbled, that I might know of God’s grace to me.

Blessings to all of you crazy steelheaders. Happy New Year. The best is yet to come.
The nates are coming! The nates are coming!

I actually stopped and thought about this one....I fish to fool fish primarily. It was mentioned earlier that it is the hunt that's attractive, and I would have to agree.

When I was younger, I hiked into a number of lakes in the Cascades and Olympics, but never would I go hiking unless there was a lake to fish at the end. I know that not all folks look at hiking that way, but for me, it's all about outsmarting fish. I quit using bait for all kinds of fish a number of years ago, so "fooling the fish" is the best part and I never consider a trip "skunked" unless I was unable to fool a fish into striking.


The icing on the cake is all of the other great things already mentioned, but if I was just out to socialize or observe nature, I wouldn't have a fishing rod as an apendage.

'Cause I ain't figured out anything better to do yet!

Nothing can compare to that feeling you get when you lift your rod up and feel that head-shake tug at the end of your line.

There's something about the old Tom Sawyer thing " A day spent fishing ..." that is as true at 50 as it was at 15. You know, I still have a tough time sleeping the nite before a fishing trip because of the anticipation!

We are incredibly lucky that the places where salmon and steelhead live are some of the most beautiful settings in the world. To see those puffy white clouds stuck in the deep green trees of a an old growth stand is beyond compare. Nature reveals its beauty in the mist rising from water at morning's first light. To come around a bend and see an elk or deer or bear quietly working its way through its environment is to understand that we are all connected and part of a much larger existence.

Fishing is an opportunity to interact with this environment rather than just observe it. In addition to the visual beauty of the setting and the sleek, silver bright fish, our other senses are filled with the fresh smells after a rain, with the feel of a fish's energy that travels directly from its heart and soul through the line and rod right down to your soul, and incredible sounds that a river can create with its water flowing over and arond boulders the size of homes.

For me, now I think the motivating factors are: the pure joy of being outdoors in a beautiful setting, Either being alone (mostly) or with good friends to share an experience, maybe having a chance to pass on some of the things that I have learned to others, and lastly checking out some new technique or lure/bait and hopefully continually improving my skills by tricking one of those sneaky devils into biting.


"Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."
- Henry David Thoreau

Chrome,

I had to look for it, but my response to a similar question last year still applies:

"I think it's called resource stewardship. We could give up fishing entirely, and that might be good for the fish. But it wouldn't be good for many of us.

"I don't need to bring fish home often, but I need to fish. Fishing is one of my direct connections with the world in a very organic sense. We were hunter-gatherers long before we became cultivators. I've been told that because I'm more highly evolved than a cave man, hunting and fishing shouldn't be necessary to my existance. Maybe, but hear me out.

"Some of us are more primitive than others, in terms of retaining a compelling need to connect directly with our environment. For some lycra and gore-tex clad northwesterners, viewing Mt. Rainier from downtown Seattle gets it done. Some of us need it differently. I need to bushwhack favored haunts on favorite rivers and stride off-trail ridges in the mountains to maintain an important connection with the earth. I need to sleep under the stars of the autumn sky, breath the air filled with the scent of the woods, feel the push of the current against my waders, feel the heat from a fishing camp fire, get dirt under my fingernails, and occasionally get blood on my hands. For the past 20 years or so, that blood has usually been from hatchery fish. It's OK. It satisfies a connection that is vital to how I experience life.

"Killing wild fish might be a purer connection to what seems important. But if killing wild fish is detrimental to our interests, that is, wild fish populations are declining or cannot sustain the harvest pressures of the oh-so-too-many of us, then our interests end up being better satisfied if we can exercise our connections by taking fish that are actually surplus production. In most cases, that is hatchery steelhead and salmon."

"Perhaps some of this is what is going on for you, too."

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Fishing Forever...Yardwork Whenever! Probably not a good quote to live by when you own a landscaping business. Call it a sickness, obsession, passion,addiction, whatever you want, it's still the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning.Take care all, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Can't believe I'm the first to say "Because it's fun."

Fish or no fish, it's the most therapeutic outdoor activity around, at least for me. Hell, five or six hours on the river and I'm nearly sane.

I fish because I've always fished as far back as I can remember. I was raised eating lot's of fish as well. Being a good fisherman was always a source of pride. I am also Scandinavian so it's in my DNA and most likely a flaw in some gene.

What Mr. Vedder said.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I'm with Dan S. on this. It seems that only when I can get the daily B.S. out of my mind can I truely fish. When it gets to the point when it's just me and the water can I truely relax.

I recently dropped 40 dollars at the casino at lk chellan.I walked out laughing to myself.Could not help but think that pulling the one arm bandit and casting a spoon sure stired some similiar emotions!