Kev-mo Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 My wife has asked me on several occasions when I return from fishing "did you have fun". The first time she asked I had to think about it. I suppose first we need a definition of fun. According to Merriam Webster online fun is; : what provides amusement or enjoyment; specifically : playful often boisterous action or speech. I can't say I'm amused on all my outings, some are not that enjoyable due lots of hard work and little or no fish, as I fish alone a lot I would have to say "playful boiserous action and speech" don't enter into my day unless you count tripping over a rock and it's certainly not playful. Now I did have "fun" setting up those chairs for the photo op last fall with Don for our rest stop. I had "fun" on a couple outings last year when it all came together right and the fish cooperated. I don't know... I love to fish. I love being outside even in semi inclement weather. I can't pass a body of water without wondering if and what kind of fish it might hold. The anticipation of an outing or what might be beyond the next bend or what the next cast might bring drives me to do more. The sights and sounds of nature alone are worth the trip out. I can't say I would call it "fun" unless I was experiencing it with someone else or having a really good day of catching. Perhaps I'm looking at it from the wrong perspective...? What say the rest of you addicts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WILLIAM C. Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Kevin,that's a very interesting question and your discription was well put.When fishing by myself I would call it an "enjoyable experience" and if I'm catching a lot of fish I get giddy and the word fun could be added.Or when fishing with the grandkids it's always fun,tedious at times but fun.I will say this,my worst day of fishing was always more fun then any day spent playing golf.I never came home from fishing and threw my equipment in the corner saying I'll never do that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtroester Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 "is fishing fun?" "did you have fun fishing?" i don't think of fishing in those terms. i don't fish to have fun or think of fishing in those terms. i think those are the wrong questions and reflect a lack of understanding on the part of the questioner. maybe, "did you get it out of your system?" or "was it good?" would be more to the point. anyway, how do you explain it to someone who stands on the perimeter? finding a place to stand in the natural world brings a sense of peace, allows one to take a breath and renews our humanity. anyway, what i get i cannot get twirling in the dizzying,busy hectic circles that sometimes seem forced upon us. timothy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary L Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I find fishing to be more for relaxing and relieving stress caused by everyday happenings. It is usually a lot of work but it is enjoyable work and in a scenes you could say it is fun. I usually fish alone unless I have a Club Tourney then I will be coupled with someone else. So I guess I can say it is more of a relaxing pass time rather then a fun pass time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kast Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 If I didn't enjoy fishing I wouldn't do it. I don't enjoy things that aren't fun. I, like most everyone else, has dealt with enough crap and BS in our lives that when something ceases to be fun, we stop doing it and move. Of course things still come up that we don't have a choice to deal with whether they're fun or not.... that's just life! But when given the choice.... hand me a fishing pole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm M Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I would be fishing 250 plus days a year if I wasn't enjoying something about it. If I'm enjoying something to me that's having fun. Who cares what the dictionary says, language is mutable and ever changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 If it's not going to be fun, I won't do it. If it's so cold that my hands and feet throb with pain, that's not fun, I stay home. If it's back trolling a Lindy rig around a lake trying to catch walleyes that fight like wet socks, I'd rather paint my house. But if I'm fishing for smallies or even largemouth, muskies or pike, and I'm trying to figure out a pattern, casting different baits, working on my presentation, that's fun. If I catch a lot of fish it's more fun. I spent 8 hours casting Saturday with only one decent largemouth to show for it, but I had a lot of fun being on the water, fishing with a friend and believing that the next cast could be the big one. Lot's o' fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Clifford Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Very interesting question to ponder. There was one particular outing this past summer where I actually wet-waded for the first time in years. The air temp was hovering right around a hundred and the walk to a spot I really wanted to try was daunting, sticky and gnarly. When I arrived, I knew I had "arrived" at a place that I wouldn't have traded for any other place on earth at that very moment. I absorbed every detail in nature, the fast rush of water in the riffles and a few smallies (though short) on the end of my line. Not sure if I was having "fun", but my mind was at ease and all my troubles seemed to disappear for a few hours. Free psychiatric help, if nothing else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnapodano Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Something that provides amusement or enjoyment huh? That means fun is a perspective or a mental outlook and defining it is an individual exercise. You cannot make someone have fun if they don't have the right mental state nor can you ruin someone else's fun unless they allow you to do so(maybe short of telling em a family member died). Personally I always get enjoyment from fishing as I get to be down by the water playing in it. I don't know why but when I'm down by the water the fact I have a fishing pole in my hand is just a bonus. I can go down there and flip over rocks and check out the 15 different lil critters and maybe pick one up and put it on a hook, look at birds and try to mimic their whistles hoping they're in the mood to converse, tear a leaf off a low hanging branch of a tree throw it in the water and watch it sail away until you can't see it anymore. That's is fun. If I never caught another fish in my life I've still caught plenty It's more about the setting and the simplistic interactions with nature for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Sometimes I get a rush just heading to a favorite spot.I do it to rejuvenate. It can be relaxing too. Maybe not in a physical sense but definitely for my state of mind.If There is such a thing as a relaxing rush, it's wading a pretty stream, seeing and hearing the surroundig wildlife, the sound of running water, and the anticipation of what the next cast or river bend might bring. I do it because it makes me feel good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtroester Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 "Fly fishing is such great fun, I have often felt, that it really ought to be done in bed." John Voelker (Robert Traver, 1974) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don R Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Good stuff Kevin! By definition I surely have fun while fishing. I could take bits and pieces from several of the posts above to explain my feelings about fishing. They're all really great answers to the question at hand. Fishing to me can be all of these and more but usually not all at once! Relaxing Peaceful Exciting Frustrating Challenging Boring Competitive Hilarious Addictive Tiring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm M Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Good stuff Kevin! By definition I surely have fun while fishing. I could take bits and pieces from several of the posts above to explain my feelings about fishing. They're all really great answers to the question at hand. Fishing to me can be all of these and more but usually not all at once! Relaxing Peaceful Exciting Frustrating Challenging Boring Competitive Hilarious Addictive Tiring Death march Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyvac Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 OK Brother. Think about what you're saying, and what kind of a woman she is. Some gals just don't like when we have fun without them. So if your wife is like that, and you say, "Dang it honey, this was the best day I've had in a dog's age" she just might accidentally drop some bleach in your Gulp jar. But if she's just a non-fishing soulmate, with your best interests at heart, go ahead be honest. "Crap-fire, woman...of course I had fun! Do you think I'd spend ten times the cost of your wedding/engagement rings on anything that wasn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm M Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 OK Brother. Think about what you're saying, and what kind of a woman she is. Some gals just don't like when we have fun without them. So if your wife is like that, and you say, "Dang it honey, this was the best day I've had in a dog's age" she just might accidentally drop some bleach in your Gulp jar. But if she's just a non-fishing soulmate, with your best interests at heart, go ahead be honest. "Crap-fire, woman...of course I had fun! Do you think I'd spend ten times the cost of your wedding/engagement rings on anything that wasn't? I fish 250 plus days a year so I have a very understanding wife. I still don't think I'd phrase the second one quite that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon p Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 unequivocally, yes........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Funny you should ask. Take the unrecorded words of Eve as she watched Adam carying a custom carved branch and the boys carrying their rough hewn stick leaving to go fishing, "The only difference between the man and the boys is in the price of their toys." No matter how the day comes out, fishing is my chance to play with my toys or have fun. I surround fishing with these words-fun, pleasure, enjoyment, recreation, and excitement. That is a nice break from other things I have to do which are surrounded by these words-work, pain, drudgery, exhaustion, and boredom. Once in a while some of these negative words creep into fishing, but the overall experience is fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 When I head down to the river I'm on a mission. I have goals to meet, gosh-diggity-dang-it! I think smallmouth a good 10 hours a day (sorry if I'm not up to ISA standards), I dream samallmouth while sleeping and at the end of the day if all did not go as well as planed, I make sure I have fun.......River Dance! I don't like the cold winter months and this is why I don't really fish hard during the winter. It couldn't possibly be fun to me. Too cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Wow... this got way more commentary than I thought it would and some great answers to boot. I guess at the end of the day fun is only a subjective label that we apply to describe what we are feeling while engaged in the activity or the actions at hand. With that said I do have fun fishing although it goes much deeper than a one word summation and some days are less fun and others more fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Wow... this got way more commentary than I thought it would and some great answers to boot. I guess at the end of the day fun is only a subjective label that we apply to describe what we are feeling while engaged in the activity or the actions at hand. With that said I do have fun fishing although it goes much deeper than a one word summation and some days are less fun and others more fun. Kevin, It sounds like you are searching for a higher metaphysical truth that lies way above selfish fun. You are an idealist searching for something more altruistic to hang on to--something categorically good. At the end of the day you should be able to say,"It was good for me; it was good for my wife; and it was good for the fish." Continue the search, grasshopper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bterrill Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 FUN? YES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Going back to the wife's comment, that stuff should go in one ear and out the other and never ever enter into the realm of rational thought. Man card revoked until 18+" smallmouth is posted... ~The Men of the Square Table Kevin is the idealist. Don't be so hard on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 The committee has spoken. Mancard revoked until 18" is posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 I hate fishing! Is it fun?...............absolutely NOT. In all seriousness, it reminds me of saying...............do you live to eat or eat to live. Now appling this to fishing, I can definitely say I LIVE TO FISH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Going back to the wife's comment, that stuff should go in one ear and out the other and never ever enter into the realm of rational thought. Man card revoked until 18+" smallmouth is posted... ~The Men of the Square Table Good thing I'm on spring break with my kids next week. I'll get that card back yet Idealist... probably, although tainted with some cynicism. The wife's cool. I guess I didn't get what I needed from the river that particular day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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