FISHING FOR MINDFULNESS
Why it matters and how a supportive club or group can make all the difference to your mental health Four anglers tell Humberside contributor Tony Burman how a fishing group has helped their sense of wellbeing…
Why it makes all the difference.
F of our mindful activities and why so many people find it essential to their peace of mind and good mental health. People often ask me why I fish. Fishing is part of my mental peace process. It forms a set of situations that can be experienced whenever I get out my fishing tackle. Some people cannot see the benefits although others understand my love of being in the countryside or watching wildlife. Fishing normally involves a quiet area but I also love to fish urban places too. How can both be part of the same mindfulness experience for the same person? e answer lies in the different elements of fishing.
CHASE & OUTCOME
e first element is like a chase. You need to understand your quarry. en you must factor in the time of day, the weather, water clarity and depth, and the tackle required.
Fishing is set of puzzles that needs solving. A good puzzle can focus our thoughts, bring stress relief and train us to assess situations to produce results. Like each puzzle has an answer, so fishing brings a new set of puzzles, teaches us how to make initial assessments and then to use our experience to form a plan of action. Having gained the answers to your first set of puzzles, you examine how to get the desired results. Matching tackle and rigs to your fishing environment will test your knowledge, skill and initiative. is teaches you how decisions have consequences. At this stage of fishing you learn how to carry out a plan and how to produce expected outcomes.
If you have made all the right decisions, you may catch some fish, but that is only the start. e environment is a factor in your success. rough small adjustments you refine your reply to another set of puzzles. It teaches patience and not only the chances of getting things wrong but also how to accept that and make new decisions. It’s about how to match your resources to produce an outcome and how to refine those decisions if you do not get it quite right.
For me, the actual catching of fish is not the most important element because that is the appreciation of the wildlife and environment. I fish because it soothes me. I fish because it speaks to a more primal place in me and it can be so complicated that it uses all my abilities working together to catch the fish I seek. I have never found another pastime that has brought all these elements together into one activity. I fish for mindfulness. It never matters where I fish, it matters that all these elements are present and they always are. I never cease to feel better, more at peace and more in control of myself then after I have finished a fishing session. ■
I’ve been an angler for more than 50 years and it keeps me sane, although many who know me might not agree. If I do not go fishing I am moody and on edge. Getting out into the fresh air and meeting people was initially a great way of relieving the stress of work.
In these strange and difficult Covid times, angling has been widely acknowledged as a benefit to our mental and physical health. Among those who are retired, many take up angling as something to occupy their time. Around 10 years ago, Steve ‘Robbo’ Robinson, from Grimsby, got together with Jack Barlow, Nigel Crabtree and Steve MacGregor to form the Friends Fishing Group. The club has gone from strength to strength and the fishing has benefited their physical and mental health too. Here some of the Friends’ members give their verdicts…
STEVE ‘ROBBO’ ROBINSON
QWho comes to the matches?
Robbo: We get a variety. Some of the anglers have health issues and they are reassured to know that they are in safe hands.
We have several anglers who have retired and they just want to get out and meet fellow anglers. It has also attracted shift workers. Before the lockdown we had some matches at weekends and this attracted more anglers. The best we had was 26.
I want to keep the anglers coming here. We could do with more retired anglers to attend most weeks . When permitted to have events, I send out texts to let anglers know when a match is being held. I make sure that everything is run properly.
QWhat are the skill levels of the anglers?
Robbo: Some are returning to the sport, others are new. We get a few who have fished at a decent level. The good thing is that everyone helps each other and we get different people winning rather than the same anglers all the time. At only a fiver to enter, it deters those who just come for the money. It is not serious. Every session is enjoyable.
TB; What affect has Covid-19 pandemic had on the group? JACK BARLOW
QWhy did you and the others decide to start the friends group?
Jack: It was Steve’s idea. There were many retired anglers who wanted to go fishing midweek and meet other anglers.
It is something to do. Most of the anglers are roughly the same age and we have a good laugh.
The group has grown over the years. It’s also a chance to take on some of the better anglers, which is great especially if you beat them. It has been brilliant. It cheers me up especially in these present times. After having a heart attack, fishing kept me going. It also helped to combat stress.
STEVE ‘NEVO’ NETHERTON
QYou changed from coarse fishing to sea fishing. How have you found the switch to saltwater? friends group. Before I joined it was hard to get any fishing information, but since joining the friends everyone is so helpful. As one of the younger anglers, I have been made very welcome. I have suffered from depression and angling has been a massive help particularly mixing with people which before I didn’t do. The group had a big impact on my health and certainly in a good way.
I take my son Ben too. He suffers from health problems, but he has enjoyed the fishing and it has had benefits for him.
JOHN WINCHESTER
QAs someone in their seventies and with health problems, how has the club helped you?
John: Covid has been terrible. I have to keep indoors most of the time. It is only when I go fishing and know that I am going to be in open spaces and well away from people that I feel safe.
If it wasn’t for Steve MacGregor coming to pick me up I would be stuck indoors. I have to take things easy. Being outside does me the world of good. Robbo and the lads are brilliant, they let me have a peg close to the booking in point. Then everyone helps me get my tackle to my peg. I don’t do a particularly well in the matches but I love it.