Women who are hooked on fishing
Somehow
it seems natural for men to have a hunting instinct rather than for ladies
to be addicted to our chosen sport of angling.
After all, men of old were the hunter gatherers while the women did the
preparation and cooking of the prey.
However, though male anglers far outnumber female anglers I have met several
lady anglers who were very much addicted to the sport.
Sometimes the ladies were keener than the men, and often they had great
fishing skills.
I welcome the ladies, though it is nice to enjoy the company of male angling
pals and I suspect that just a few female anglers go along on outings
to keep an eye on husbands, partners, or boyfriends.
In America I believe angling is even more popular than it is in Britain,
and apparently a larger proportion of American anglers are females.
This was brought home to me recently after a friend gave me a gift of
two fishing books from the USA, both of them written by American writers.
One of the books, called ‘Deeper Than A River’ was written
by a lady angler called Teryl T. Johansson.
I have always found it difficult to find the right words to explain to
someone who does not fish just why our sport captivates us so much and
why the occasional perfect days give us a thrill and a sense of satisfaction
that possibly rivals the euphoria experienced by a drug addict. Not that
I would ever be so stupid as to take drugs myself!
In her book, which is about great days spent fly fishing on different
rivers in America, Teryl manages to explain the thrills that anglers get
very explicitly.
She obviously understands that a lifetime in which some angling triumphs
have been enjoyed means that whatever the future may hold we keen regular
anglers have already enjoyed a heaven right here on earth.
The memories built up go some way towards offsetting our dismay at the
awful mess that politicians have made of this world due to their determination
not to have adequate punishments for wrong-doers.