By Ben Bailey
Most of us have heard the adage, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you get rid of him on the weekend.” But why? Why is there such a strong pull for those of us who fish to do what we do? We rise at the crack of dawn, or before, in all kinds of weather. I remember, as a kid, I was in the creek the first Saturday of April, regardless of whether it was raining, sleeting, or snowing. I remember a few times my father and I had to get out of the creek and build a fire to melt the ice on our pant legs. Waders didn’t appear till I was grown and I could buy my own. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I remember feeling very good about myself. I felt alive and wild. It was a rite of passage into manhood but it also gave me a deep respect for both the water and the fish.
The water was a force to be reckoned with and the fish did not come easy. John Eldridge, in his book, Wild at Heart, says that, “There are three things a man requires: a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to win.” I know in my own life, fishing definitely falls into the category of “adventure”, and some trips could even fall under “a battle to fight”. I almost bought a hat once that said, “women love me and fish tremble at the mention of my name”. That may be a bit of a stretch but at least the adventure part is true. We need to test ourselves and prove to the world that we’ve got what it takes to brave the elements. That we’ve got enough sense to outsmart a fish and put food on the table for our tribe.
The Scientific definition of life is very simple. It is the ability of an organism to interact with its environment. I feel most alive when I’m standing knee deep in a rushing mountain stream with a big rainbow or brown dancing on his tail at the end of my line, or standing in a boat with my pole bent double hollering, “Get the net! Get the net!”
Herbert Hoover once wrote, “To go fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul in pure air, with the rush of the brook, or the serenity of a lake, or the shimmer of the sun or blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and ego, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you don’t have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is a discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish.”
Ben Bailey, is a native of Western North Carolina, Master Carpenter, Avid Angler, and Naturalist.