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Why do I fish? Why do I love it so? I don’t know about everyone else, but I have been asked that question many times over the years by people who are not fisherman. I’ve also had non-hunters ask why I love to hunt. Do I get a thrill by killing they ask, or is there something more to it? Of course, not all those who inquire about fishing and hunting are against it. In fact, many people ask about it because they are genuinely interested and would like to try it themselves. So, how do you explain to someone who has never experienced it the thrill you get when the animal you have worked hard for and maybe even suffered for, finally steps out of the brush within range? Or, how do you share with them the feeling of excitement and anticipation you have as you make that first cast into new, untested waters? And, how do you put into words the closeness you feel to God when you are out in the cathedral of His creation?

I have always loved books and have built up quite a library over the years. My favorites are old books about hunting and fishing. This Christmas, my father gave me a first edition of Zane Grey’s “Tales of the Angler’s El Dorado New Zealand”. For those who may not know of him,, Zane Grey was an American author who wrote many popular novels of the American West. Many of his books have since become classics. Grey was also an avid fisherman who fished all over the world. It is said that he fished up to 300 days a year. He held the world record for Bluefin tuna for a time and has the distinction of having caught the first 1000lb marlin on rod and reel. And he caught those fish (and many others) using wooden rods and reels with very simple drag systems!

I have several of Grey’s other books on fishing and I was very pleased to add this one to my collection. It was published in 1926 and chronicles his fishing expedition to New Zealand. In the first few paragraphs of this book, Zane Grey put into words what I have always loved about fishing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

‘There is always something so wonderful about a new fishing adventure trip. For a single day, or for a week, or even months! The enchantment never palls. Years on end I have been trying to tell why, but that has been futile. Fishing is like Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece.

The most humble fisherman has this in common with fishermen of all degrees. Whatever it is that haunts and enchants surely grows with experience. Even the thousandth trip to the same old familiar fished-out stream begins with renewed hope, with unfailing faith. Quien sabe? as the Spaniards say. You cannot tell what you might catch. And even if you do not catch anything the joy is somehow there. The child is father to the man. Saturdays and vacation times call everlastingly to the boy. The pond, the stream, the river, the lake and the sea! Something evermore is about to happen. Every fishing trip is a composite of all other trips; and it holds irresistible promise for the future. That cup cannot be drained. There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find, always the beauty of the lonely stream and the open sea; always the glory and dream of nature.’

- Zane Grey

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