Why fishing improves your state-of-mind 

When you are packing the rods into the car, hooking up the boat, or filling a backpack with lures to cast along the riverbank, what is the fishing experience you’re dreaming of?  

Do you define the success of that outing in respect of how many fish you landed, or does fishing merely act as the vessel for you to get out and gather your thoughts?  

As we approach Gone Fishing Day for 2021, which this year coincides with International Mental Health Day, these are all questions worthy to ask.

With Covid-19 having an additional strain on many of our busy and at times chaotic lives, it’s pertinent to acknowledge those activities, such as fishing, that play an important role in maintaining a positive headspace.  

Whether you are young or old, fish for sport or leisure, fish alone or with family and friends, I think we can all agree that recreational fishing offers so much more than just the chance of catching a fish.  

For some, it’s a chance to get away from the office desk, close the emails, and give the mind a chance to relax out in nature.

It’s the activity they set aside for winding down on a Friday afternoon or Sunday morning where they know the only thing that will interrupt them is the sound of a drag ticking over under the weight of a fish.  

For others, it’s a chance to call up their best mate, or a family member, and spend a few hours together out on the water having a good old yarn.

These people might know that catching a fish is no certainty but are happy to get fishing anyway because it’s time for them to truly reconnect and catch up on the lives of their loved ones in the surrounds of the local waterway.  

Fishing can also be a chance for some to explore and connect with nature. Australia has some of the most unique marine and aquatic environments, and for many fishing is a way to experience these areas with purpose and to take in the minute details of our beautiful country.  

Whether it be the inland rivers and creeks that house Australia’s most iconic fish, the Murray cod, or the estuarine waters that gorge through Australia’s coastline, there is something for everyone when it comes to connecting with nature.

It has long been reported of the mental health benefits of nature connectedness and new evidence shows us that the quality of our relationship with nature is part of the reason for its positive impact on our wellbeing. 

Fishing, for some, might even be more nuanced than that. It can be the activity or task that many devote their lives to, exert their problem-solving skills, their attention, their spare time and their energy to.

It might not be the thing they go to in order to escape, because they have chosen for it to already consume a large part of their life. These are guys and girls across Australia who spend hours upon hours casting a lure, or soaking a boat, and do so with the understanding that a goal in their fishing ‘career’ is a goal as worthy as anything else in their life.  

Whatever the case may be, I think everyone will agree that you always catch more than fish, when you go fishing.  

So, this weekend, take the time to ask yourself, why do I go fishing? And make the time this Gone Fishing Day for a few hours on the water to celebrate the fact we have the luxury of having this healthy sport in our lives.