Does anyone FISH?

Or do other really outdoorsey things??

I am just testing some thoughts for a project I'm doing ... and am trying to get some feel for the 'experiential' aspect of some of these activities. Being more of an art gallery girl myself :> .

How does being out there make people FEEL - what is their motivation / motivations for getting out there into nature?

We have Didymo (an algal bloom) in many waterways in the South Island and this project is evaluating a communications campaign to try and get people to stop spreading it by cleaning their gear between different rivers etc. It's ruining some of the fishing / kayaking experiences so a very serious problem.

So I'm just writing some strategy outputs but am scribbing a bit of contextual stuff for the client too ...

Quote from an angler: "Only about 20-30% of it is about actually catching a fish. The rest is just being out there and enjoying the surroundings. When Didymo gets in the river all that's ruined."

Any thoughts appreciated!

Yes I do fish, also hunt, hike, work on my yard and gardens I find them all soothing I also tend to sleep somewhat better if I am outside for a time daily

So pooh:

What is it about fishing that is 'soothing'?

What do you like about being out there?

How much of fishing is related to actually catching something?

Thank you for the PMs too, you know who you are

I am interested in hearing ANYTHING anyone has to say!!

When you are out there you have a sensation that everything is in harmony with one another. All your senses are on alert and very strong. The bird that sing in nature you will hear while the one that sing on a street you will not hear because of the noise, the activities going around you, the traffic, the people. Your mind is more at rest in nature while in the city or a village. you mind can go crazy and never stops thinking and thinking not appreciating the things that is around you like the bird that sings.

Your eyes will see the flower that stands alone by the creek while you will not see the flower that stands alone beside the road. You will notice and feel ( touch) how tall and big is a tree in the forest while you will not feel it even if you walk right by it in a city or village. You will sit down by a river, a lake, a stream and listen to its murmurs, hear the breeze in the leaves, let the aroma of the grass enter your soul.

In nature, the pressure of the every day life, the responsibilities, the feelings of being watch, of being judge, the stress, everything you have to struggle with, you can forget and let go because nature has a way to bring you the calm, the harmony, the beauty of what life is all about.

In one word it brings you: Peace

Wow

That's beautiful.

I fish too. I love being outdoors. to me it is very relaxing and you can let your mind just wander. it is a stress reliever for me. and I do like to catch some fish too lol

i think it is like cricket. i mean you don't watch a 5 day test match to find out who the winner is (especially since it is often a draw). it is about the DRINKING. thats what it is really about IMHO ;-)

Skipping school, six-packs of Bud, fishing off the rocks on the beach.

Guys to put the worms on. Guys to take the fish off. Guys to make a beer run.

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Petunia said:

Guys to put the worms on. Guys to take the fish off. Guys to make a beer run.

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Sounds like they were well trained ... :>

hahaha Pet! here you can go to jail for fishing while intoxicated lol can you believe that? please! do they think you are going to get the fish drunk? lol

Drinking on the water is extremely serious; because of the sun, movement of the boat, and other aspects 1 drink on the water is equivalent to 3 on land. I'll never forget what our boating safety guy (retired Captain in the Coast Guard) taught us; when they have to drag the bottom for a missing person they almost always find him with his zipper down (stands to take a leak and falls in but he and/or his buddy are too drunk to save him; he told the story of one fisherman who didn't report his buddy missing until the next morning! He went home, etc. and then reported it).

We don't have the nasty Didymo yet up here, hope we don't get it: http://www.tva.gov/river/neighbors/aug05/algae.htm

Hee-hee bebop...there were a lot of things I could have gone to jail for back in the day but that never stopped me.

The ocean was down the street from where I grew up, lots of hidden coves along the coast. We mainly fished/partied off the rocks, which for the most part, were smooth.

Living near the ocean is so wonderful; I grew up going to my grandparent's beach house on the Chesapeake Bay and still remember the sound of the waves on the shore at night when you're going to sleep. Now I live on a tributary, tidal but no waves :-) I love watching the birds; heron, comorant, gulls, osprey, eagle, etc. I usually only fish from my dock, crab from the boats :-) but we have people coming down our canal fishing, lots of activity, and I like watching the boats too.

I love art galleries AND fishing! I rarely catch anything, but love the suspense! And, OH, I bait my own hook and take the fishes off too!
Patty

I love art galleries AND fishing!

Then you need to go to Rockport Massachusetts. My old stompng grounds.

Edited to add-- AND Rocky Neck Art Colony Gloucester, MA

http://www.masstraveljournal.com/fea...0701rocky.html

I don't like slimey things. I don't think I'd be good at fishing at all.

I also don't think I'm that fabulous at being a hunter-gatherer - I prefer my fish filleted from the fish market to be honest

Guys to put the worms on. Guys to take the fish off. Guys to make a beer run.

:>

sorted.

Then we could both be drunk--in the sun--flowers.

Growing up here in 'Sportsmans Paradise', I've always been an avid fisherman. I would enjoy the peace and quiet sitting along the bayous all day. Watching the oyster and shrimp boats go by and sometimes seeing a manatee swim by. It's fun to catch a fish, but not always necessary. And yes, I bait, catch and clean all of my fish. I can't wait to go fishing again. It's been to long without it.

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Petunia said:
Then we could both be drunk--in the sun--flowers.

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Ima down wid dat :>

i shoot, fish, rock climb,hill walk, camp, and off road mountain bike but to do any of it i have to get out of london, i got my air guns confiscated last week for target shooting on waste land by the armed police, that was fun, i have been done for poaching for fishing on the london canals, it is free outside of london, the climbing walls are to easy, expensive and over crowded, you cant camp in the numerous vast royal parks without being arrested, been there done that, i normally go north to wales and do all my activities there.

the reason i do all these activities is to get way from the stressors of everyday life, i go to a abandoned cottage in wales thats in the middle of a forest, when i am stressed i kick the crrap out of a tree, scream and shout knowing noone can hear me, when i fish i dont care if i catch anything has long has i am alone

we have the same problems here concerning the algi on the rivers and canals, most of the fishermen clean there gear on site, but to do so they use the river/canal water they are fishing in, so cleaning your equiptment on site is not a good idea has if there is algi present then you contaminate all your equiptment, so i guess what i am saying is you should wait til you get home and clean all your gear there

Exactly mellors, people are dumb sometimes though