What do you love about Fishing?
Every now and then I’ll have a friend ask me, “hey what are you up to this weekend”? “I’m going fishing”, is my answer.
“Fishing”
The way they say it as both a question why, and a confused combination of how and where? Now I’m sure that a lot of you get that same why response. I get the confused combination of how and where because I live in the heart of Toronto. Even though Toronto is situated on Lake Ontario, quite a few people still assume that it isn’t a place to go fishing. Come on people, it isn’t just any old lake. It’s a Great Lake! That being the case I only spend roughly half of my time fishing in Toronto on Lake Ontario. I fish many of the rivers and ponds in the city as well. Now keep in mind that I prefer to fish from shore. If I owned a boat I’d spend far more time fishing Lake Ontario.
“Are they even safe to eat”?
I get this question quite often as well. Yes the fish you catch in and around Toronto are safe to eat. We’re talking about Toronto here, not Chernobyl! Now do I eat the fish that I catch? Actually I don’t. I’m strictly a catch and release fisherman. “Then what’s the point” they ask? I get this question quite often as well. It’s usually followed by “what if you don’t catch anything”? Of course I would like to land that trophy fish every time I go out. Of course we all know that it just doesn’t happen. Honestly though it doesn’t really matter. Whether I catch or not, just being out on a beautiful day with only the sound of the river is satisfying enough. In fact I enjoy some of the exact same things fishing provides that another one of my favourite sports Golf provides. You get to escape from the daily grind, enjoy beautiful scenery, feel a sense of solitude not easily found within a city, and challenge yourself to improve a skill not easily mastered. There is also the possibility of something absolutely amazing happening. Catching that particular species of fish that’s incredibly rare, or hitting that hole in one. If that doesn’t keep you coming back then you must be a total pessimist. Look I’m not a world class professional fisherman by anyone’s standard. I’m not sponsored by Minn-Kota, or Mepps.
Do I expect to land a trophy Musky some day? Damn right I do! It isn’t like I travel up north and fish Musky filled rivers. People have caught Musky in the Greater Toronto Area before, so why can’t I. To really be passionate about fishing. You have to believe that a day will come that inspires a story that you will tell for years to come. The kind of story that captivates an audience whether they are also Anglers or not. A story that you are so proud of, that you grin every time you tell it.
If you haven’t read my The Right Angle RA-12 My greatest catch post, then I suggest that you do. It contains one such story. This particular story happened when I was still a kid. Obviously I still tell it. Like any great fishing story it only gets better the more you tell it. People can’t stop asking me why I fish?
The sunrise that warms you while you are fishing on the river.
That monster strike when you least expect it.
That amazing story that you never get tired of telling.
The possibility of something truly magical happening at any moment.
Now you know why.
