6 ms·

A water-based religion: how fishing liberates the mind

42 points by Vigier 9y ago

SirLJ 9y ago
That’s life... I am back into fishing my local river and this is the most relaxing experience I can think of
ZenoArrow 9y ago
In my early years, my dad used to take myself and my brother fishing. What I found to be the best is that it's an excuse be busy doing nothing. Sure, you're waiting on a sign that a fish has taken the bait, but most of the time you're just in a relaxed state, surrounded by nature. The fishing line gives you something simple to focus on, and by doing so it frees up your mind to appreciate your surroundings. I didn't understand the connection between fishing and meditation when I was younger, all I knew is that it was both relaxing and interesting, and a way to bond with my family, but even though I don't go fishing much now I still feel like I "get it" because of those early experiences.
- bitwize 9y ago
  You put, rather succinctly, into words the idea that the article's author seemed to struggle with. Or rather, he seemed too in love with the sound of his own head-voice reading back his words to choose his words carefully.
- mbrock 9y ago
  As a son of a dad who loved taking me fishing, I find it all very beautiful and meditative right until the part when an animal gets caught on your meat hook and you have to break its neck and flay it.
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    When I went river fishing, we used to keep the fish alive in a keep net, and put them back in the river to swim off as we were leaving. You wouldn't want to eat the fish from the river closest to where I grew up. On the other hand, we did use to keep and eat the fish we caught in the sea, and seeing the fish die wasn't very pleasant. I just want to emphasise that it's optional.
  - rubidium 9y ago
    What wasn't beautiful about that?
    - mbrock 9y ago
      I don't have a particular theory about it. Your question seems... not exactly ungrammatical, but somehow strange.
    - ZenoArrow 9y ago
      What kind of beauty do you find in that?
peterwwillis 9y ago
I fish and hunt for food, but I find catch and release to be the human equivalent of a cat playing with its prey. I don't think putting holes in animals for fun is an ethical use of one's free time, regardless of whatever weird navel-gazing metaphysical ecstasy you might get from it. Hell, even from the perspective of a "sport", fishing is lame: a trot line left for two days has the same effect as sitting on the lake for five hours.
- overcast 9y ago
  Do you immediately dispatch the fish you catch? Or do you let them suffocate in your boat?
  - megaman22 9y ago
    You want to snap their necks or bleed them out immediately, if you want them to be fit to eat.
    - peterwwillis 9y ago
      Killing them on the boat makes them less fresh, and a slow death can impart a negative flavor to the meat. The best thing to do is to keep the fish alive on a stringer in the water. You can transport them in a bucket of water to land. When you're ready to clean them, push a thin metal rod into their brain. You can then bleed them without affecting the flavor (bleeding them isn't necessary, it just makes whiter looking meat).
      - serf 9y ago
        >Killing them on the boat makes them less fresh, and a slow death can impart a negative flavor to the meat. The best thing to do is to keep the fish alive on a stringer in the water. At the risk of sounding contrarian or argumentative, which I assure you isn't the intended case here : Do you consider there to be a dichotomy between your desire for fresher taste, and your moral considerations about 'catch-and-release' behavior? As a layperson outside the realm of fishermen, and having spent little time thinking about my moral position on fishing -- or researching the impact of catch-and-release, there seems to be a contrast between the two opinions. basically, if you care enough about fish morally to oppose catch-and-release, does your moral positioning on lengthening their period of suffering stem directly from the positive benefit of fresher taste? I'm really trying not to impose a moral judgment through my questioning, If you perceive such (as I said before) it truly wasn't the intention. I am genuinely interested.
brosirmandude 9y ago
Might be an odd question but do any of you have hobbies that are similar to fishing but without, well, fish. Specifically something that doesn't harm any fish/animals.
- rgrieselhuber 9y ago
  When I lived in Japan, I took up pottery for awhile and it had a similar effect on my mind.
- enigmango 9y ago
  Kayaking works similarly for me. Nothing serious or intense, just a cheap rental in a slow river or bay.
- 75dvtwin 9y ago
  target shooting (either pistol, or long distance rifle with bolt action (like .308, 6.5 Swiss, or other 6.5 calibers). This requires a lot of preparation (like re-loading cases with right powder and bullets, calculating ballistic performance of your reloads, projecting weather on the day ahead and optimizing your setup for that weather, etc). Also very slow an deliberate. --- Another one, is bird photography. Also requires preparation, thinking about technology and physical/nature stuff. Also slow and requires patience. You can extend bird photography, if you use film -- into subsequent print development, including printing on non-traditional media/canvases. This works well for folks, like me, who do not have painting skills but would like to express their view of the worlds/ideas through pictures... That makes into art, producing very unique non-repeatable artifacts (that's probably not possible to achieve with digital). -- In both of the above, at the end you have something to show for it (either paper targets, or pictures). So that creates memories, enables story telling, etc.
  - fian 9y ago
    Second target shooting but suggest Archery instead of guns. Less noise, more walking to retrieve your arrows after each end (round) and you can choose from a range of draw weights to find something that you comfortably sustain. Like all hobbies you can start affordably then take it to extremes in a variety of ways.
0xcde4c3db 9y ago
I'm reminded of A River Runs Through It, whose opening line is: > In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.
- sizzzzlerz 9y ago
  And just as meaningful, the very last line is > I am haunted by waters. Great story about fishing and about life.
jboggan 9y ago
Spearfishing is even better!
- anitil 9y ago
  My kindred spirit
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

42 points by Vigier 9y ago

That’s life... I am back into fishing my local river and this is the most relaxing experience I can think of

In my early years, my dad used to take myself and my brother fishing. What I found to be the best is that it's an excuse be busy doing nothing. Sure, you're waiting on a sign that a fish has taken the bait, but most of the time you're just in a relaxed state, surrounded by nature. The fishing line gives you something simple to focus on, and by doing so it frees up your mind to appreciate your surroundings. I didn't understand the connection between fishing and meditation when I was younger, all I knew is that it was both relaxing and interesting, and a way to bond with my family, but even though I don't go fishing much now I still feel like I "get it" because of those early experiences.

bitwize 9y ago
You put, rather succinctly, into words the idea that the article's author seemed to struggle with. Or rather, he seemed too in love with the sound of his own head-voice reading back his words to choose his words carefully.
mbrock 9y ago
As a son of a dad who loved taking me fishing, I find it all very beautiful and meditative right until the part when an animal gets caught on your meat hook and you have to break its neck and flay it.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  When I went river fishing, we used to keep the fish alive in a keep net, and put them back in the river to swim off as we were leaving. You wouldn't want to eat the fish from the river closest to where I grew up. On the other hand, we did use to keep and eat the fish we caught in the sea, and seeing the fish die wasn't very pleasant. I just want to emphasise that it's optional.
- rubidium 9y ago
  What wasn't beautiful about that?
  - mbrock 9y ago
    I don't have a particular theory about it. Your question seems... not exactly ungrammatical, but somehow strange.
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    What kind of beauty do you find in that?

peterwwillis 9y ago

I fish and hunt for food, but I find catch and release to be the human equivalent of a cat playing with its prey. I don't think putting holes in animals for fun is an ethical use of one's free time, regardless of whatever weird navel-gazing metaphysical ecstasy you might get from it. Hell, even from the perspective of a "sport", fishing is lame: a trot line left for two days has the same effect as sitting on the lake for five hours.

overcast 9y ago
Do you immediately dispatch the fish you catch? Or do you let them suffocate in your boat?
- megaman22 9y ago
  You want to snap their necks or bleed them out immediately, if you want them to be fit to eat.
  - peterwwillis 9y ago
    Killing them on the boat makes them less fresh, and a slow death can impart a negative flavor to the meat. The best thing to do is to keep the fish alive on a stringer in the water. You can transport them in a bucket of water to land. When you're ready to clean them, push a thin metal rod into their brain. You can then bleed them without affecting the flavor (bleeding them isn't necessary, it just makes whiter looking meat).
    - serf 9y ago
      >Killing them on the boat makes them less fresh, and a slow death can impart a negative flavor to the meat. The best thing to do is to keep the fish alive on a stringer in the water. At the risk of sounding contrarian or argumentative, which I assure you isn't the intended case here : Do you consider there to be a dichotomy between your desire for fresher taste, and your moral considerations about 'catch-and-release' behavior? As a layperson outside the realm of fishermen, and having spent little time thinking about my moral position on fishing -- or researching the impact of catch-and-release, there seems to be a contrast between the two opinions. basically, if you care enough about fish morally to oppose catch-and-release, does your moral positioning on lengthening their period of suffering stem directly from the positive benefit of fresher taste? I'm really trying not to impose a moral judgment through my questioning, If you perceive such (as I said before) it truly wasn't the intention. I am genuinely interested.

brosirmandude 9y ago

Might be an odd question but do any of you have hobbies that are similar to fishing but without, well, fish. Specifically something that doesn't harm any fish/animals.

rgrieselhuber 9y ago
When I lived in Japan, I took up pottery for awhile and it had a similar effect on my mind.
enigmango 9y ago
Kayaking works similarly for me. Nothing serious or intense, just a cheap rental in a slow river or bay.
75dvtwin 9y ago
target shooting (either pistol, or long distance rifle with bolt action (like .308, 6.5 Swiss, or other 6.5 calibers). This requires a lot of preparation (like re-loading cases with right powder and bullets, calculating ballistic performance of your reloads, projecting weather on the day ahead and optimizing your setup for that weather, etc). Also very slow an deliberate. --- Another one, is bird photography. Also requires preparation, thinking about technology and physical/nature stuff. Also slow and requires patience. You can extend bird photography, if you use film -- into subsequent print development, including printing on non-traditional media/canvases. This works well for folks, like me, who do not have painting skills but would like to express their view of the worlds/ideas through pictures... That makes into art, producing very unique non-repeatable artifacts (that's probably not possible to achieve with digital). -- In both of the above, at the end you have something to show for it (either paper targets, or pictures). So that creates memories, enables story telling, etc.
- fian 9y ago
  Second target shooting but suggest Archery instead of guns. Less noise, more walking to retrieve your arrows after each end (round) and you can choose from a range of draw weights to find something that you comfortably sustain. Like all hobbies you can start affordably then take it to extremes in a variety of ways.

0xcde4c3db 9y ago

I'm reminded of A River Runs Through It, whose opening line is: > In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.

sizzzzlerz 9y ago
And just as meaningful, the very last line is > I am haunted by waters. Great story about fishing and about life.

jboggan 9y ago

Spearfishing is even better!

anitil 9y ago
My kindred spirit

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]