By Ethan Hollifield
I was recently asked why I like to fish. This seems as innocent a question as anyone could offer to me, as most of the people close to me understand that if I could devote my free time to fishing and hunting, I would without hesitation. I would be honest in saying that I already have given most of my own devotions and inherent meaning to the outdoors in one way or another. I get asked this question all the time as a guide, but I donât really think that the persons who ask it really understand the question in the first place. To be honest, I think the majority of anglers donât answer the question with any sort of actual meaning other than with clichĂŠ answers such as âItâs how I find peaceâ or âIt provides me with an escape.â
Well, I always wondered then what people were trying to escape, or why they were trying to find peace, because that leaves room for a deeper introspection into our own lives, once we pull the waders off and the boats get trailered home.
Life, in and of itself, is chaos. If you think about your own life, I imagine your memory is flooded with mainly either the really good things that have happened to you, or with memories of your most painful moments, with very little in-between. We never really know for sure, on a day-to-day basis, what the next few seconds or the next phone call might mean to us. We articulate ourselves into a rhythmic pattern of what is a normal day, with all the routines and chores that make life necessary. But that routine is easily thrown off whenever something happens in our lives that essentially shatters the future we have set up for ourselves. Our minds have then evolved to be in a constant state of alertness for the unexpected as a result. Itâs no wonder then that people are driven mad and into states of depression and anxiety whenever an event occurs to change what their own perceptions are for their future selves.
So that brings me back to the question âWhy do you like to fish?â
Life in the river, or the lake, or wherever I happen to be within the natural world is predictable. What does that mean exactly? It means that, within our knowledge of the river, there is a sense of security that canât be found at any other point within our own lives. I can go and stand in the water, watching trout rising in the early morning mist or feel the brisk fall air blow against my face as I push against the oar blades of a drift boat. In those moments, you often tend to forget about the own chaos that is your own personal life and in turn, trade it for something inherently more worthwhile. It gives us as anglers an opportunity to then grasp onto a way of life that makes sense and has a relative sense of order in a world that, everyday, seems more and more chaotic. I donât have to worry in those moments about my other responsibilities or the bad things that have happened in my life. Fishing is predictable in that I can always count on the ability to lose my own inhibitions, even if for just a few moments, regardless of whether I end up catching anything.
In short, Iâve often come to the conclusion that when it comes to fishing: Iâm drawn to the simplistic, rhythmic patterns found in nature that are always predictable, and reliable. This is often the complete antithesis of everything else in life. That, my friends, is why I like to fish!
Ethan Hollifield is an Environmental/Physical Science Teacher and is also a guide for Southern Appalachian Anglers.