What drives us to go fishing?  I ask my self that question in the wake of seeing what Emma wrote about her experience of becoming a fishing widow. I began to think, what drives me to leave my wife at home and go fishing.

I honestly believe it is the pretty amazing locations I have been to, the company I have kept and also the fish I have caught.  By no means has it been just about the fish, because we all know how frustrating they can be at times.  Some of these remote locations like Papua New Guinea have the most beautiful people and scenery I have ever encountered in my short life but would be willing to bet, I won’t see much similar for the rest of my life.  One angler said, it would be a once in a lifetime experience.

A brief conversation with fellow angler Aaron Horne highlighted another possibility, he described hooking the fish from hell that ends up burning you back into a snag or busts you off from the pressure but generally just leaves you speechless as the reason he goes back in for more.  Aaron mentioned that it may be weeks, months or years before he would experience that elation of hooking a trophy fish only to be left empty handed but that would continue to drive him back to a particular species.

To add to Aaron’s motivation, for me it is the learning experience.  Being able to hook that monster fish again but get it a millimetre, centimetre or metre  closer to the boat or bank before losing, is about the achievement and the millimetres, centimetres or metres gained.

It is never about losing the lure or fish, never about the exaggerated story that we tell afterwards but definitely about the satisfaction of landing that trophy or bucket list fish and satisfaction of getting it done.

What makes you come back for more?