You might be wondering some of the reasons to get into the sport of fishing, and you have a few different reasons for why you’d want to get involved in the sport. Let’s have a look at the biggest benefits of fishing, and the reasons you might want to get involved in the sport.
Benefit #1: Increases Your Vitamin D
Want to know one of the biggest benefits of casting a rod in the great outdoors? Fishing will give you an essential vitamin known as Vitamin D. Even when the clouds cover the sun, you get the benefits of topping up on this vitamin.
When you have Vitamin D in your system, it regulates the phosphate and calcium in the body to keep your teeth and bones healthy. Another benefit comes from how Vitamin D boosts the immune system to battle against disease. This prevents health complications from arising.
Sunlight has become one of the central sources of Vitamin D, and when you enjoy fishing, you get access to the sunlight for something that you enjoyed anyway. Good sunlight does matter, but please protect your skin while on the lake. You want to keep yourself from getting terrible sunburns while on the water.
Some of the other benefits that you get from Vitamin D include:
- Fights against depression
- Increases weight loss
- Fight disease
- Lowers the risk of osteoporosis
- Lowers blood pressure
Benefit #2: Improves Mental Health
As human beings, we live our lives as social creatures, and fishing has often been thought of as a sport where you take your buddies, wife or kids along. In doing this, you socialize, bond and have a good time with loved ones. You set memories that you won’t soon forget.
For thousands of years, fishing has passed from one generation to the next. Taking your kids out on a fishing adventure, it could be one of the best things that they remember from their childhood. You want to teach your child a love for the water, respect for nature and a connection with all living things.
At the same time, you may have been having a bad day, went out fishing and you came home with a 37-inch muskellunge. It does something incredible for your mood. Meanwhile, it promotes a sense of connection to your family.
In particular, when you have friends or family who aren’t as avid of anglers, you may want to target fish species that will be easier to catch like pan fish.
Benefit #3: Have a Relaxed Day
I’ve said this before on this blog, and I will say it again. The doctor originally prescribed my dad to take up fishing after his lung cancer diagnosis. He told him to do this to help him relax. Over the years, I’ve noticed how fishing helps you to have a more relaxed and happy day.
Our modern lifestyles give us endless deadlines, projects and appointments. We can let this overwhelm and stress us out, or we can hop out of the washing machine from time to time and take a break. To me, I like fishing because of how it has all the characteristics of a life lived well. Relaxing, having fun and connecting with your buddies. At the end of the day, this will have a positive impact on your health as well.
The long hours out in nature and relaxing become a type of meditation. Not to mention, your brain never stops working because you have to think strategically if you will reel the fish into the boat. Fishing can have a positive impact on high blood pressure because when you’re out in the boat, you’re not worried about anything else.
Benefit #4: Fish Give You an Excellent Source of Nutrition
Not everyone who goes fishing will keep the fish they catch. They might practice catch and release, or they might give the fish away. Whatever you do, you should never dump the fish as this is a waste of a life, and it’s illegal too. If the DNR catches you, they will give you a fine for it.
Fish provide you with an excellent source of nutrition. It can be extraordinarily healthy for you. When you eat omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy for you.
Some of the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids include:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Decreases the risk of a heart attack or a stroke
- Good for the health of your brain
- Slows the development of plaque in your arteries
- Improves eye health
- Fights back against depression and anxiety
Researchers have learned how omega-3 fatty acids helped to lower the risk of irregular heartbeats, and it improved the brain function in children. That in itself should give you an idea on the benefits of fishing because of how it gives you access to fish.
Some studies have also suggested how eating fish helps you to live longer. Think of places like Japan where they eat a lot of fish. The people have been known to live much longer in places like this. Japanese women, for example, have a reputation of living until age 87. Meanwhile, Japanese men will live until age 80.
Benefit #5: Lowers the Symptoms of PTSD
One of the awesome things about fishing comes from how some research has shown that it could lower the symptoms of PTSD. That comes from the fact that it helps people to relax. Meanwhile, it increases your mood because you never know what kind of fish that you might crank in. The smiles, love and companionship on the water make up for everything.
After people spent three days fly fishing, many of those suffering from PTSD reported how they felt an improved sense of well-being. In addition, many of these positive effects remained even after they had gone home. That could be one of the reasons that you may want to take a fishing trip.
Benefit #6: Improves Your Cardiovascular Health?
When you hit the water, fishing has been shown to burn up to 200 calories per hour. This depends on the type of fishing that you like to do, but fishing along the river can help you to burn calories as you walk from one spot to the next to catch some fish. In addition, the casting and recasting of your fishing line burns more calories, and the battle with each fish will improve your cardiovascular health.
Not to mention, when you eat fish, it has been shown to improve your heart health. In fact, the American Heart Association has even made recommendations that you fish rich in unsaturated fats at least twice per week because of how it helps your heart. Researchers have linked eating fish to fewer heart attacks.
Even taking fish oil has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, and that could give you an indication of just how great going fishing can be because of how it gives you access to better heart health.
Benefit #7: Learn Self Reliance
Like many of the other survivalist activities, fishing teaches you how to eat the fish meat that you have caught yourself. Fishing brings you out into the wilderness, and it calls on you to master a set of skills. In fact, maybe you’re a survivalist who wants to learn fishing because of how it teaches you self reliance.
Let’s have a look at some of the biggest benefits of learning how to become self reliant:
- Learn how to solve problems and master skills yourself.
- Teaches you how to be happy because no one is going to save you but yourself.
- Lowers the burden places on your friends and family members.
- You become an asset to other people.
- Improves your reputation among friends.
- Makes you capable of caring for yourself.
- Sets you up to further progress.
- Improves self esteem
The more skills that we learn in life, the better of that we will be because of how we never know what will prove useful to us. One of the things that we mentioned is improved self esteem. That will often come because of how self reliance teaches you that you can handle things yourself. You don’t necessarily need to be on your own with this.
Benefit #8: Teaches You Patience
If you have ever gone fishing, you understand how the fish don’t always bite right away. It can take time before you start to crank in the fish. We live in a world where we constantly face over stimulation, and many of the things that we do are instant gratification.
One of the benefits of fishing is that is that you learn patience. You won’t always go home with a fish. You have a mental battle where you have to figure out where to cast to crank in the fish.
In most cases, you won’t hook a fish the moment you drop a line. You have to wait for it to come in, but that’s part of what makes fishing so fun.
You will get benefits to your health for doing this as well. For example, some research suggests that those who are impatient may have a weakened immune system. In addition, it can raise blood pressure. At the same time, patience has been shown to make for calmer and more patient individuals.
Benefit #9: Improved Balance
Have you ever been in a boat before? It rocks back and forth based on the waves hitting it. That teaches you how to balance. In general, balance requires that you have both strength and flexibility. You have to learn how to stay upright.
When you have a better sense of balance, you will be less likely to fall. Did you know that falls have become the leading cause of death in people 65 and older. If you lose your balance, you have a much higher chance of falling. In fact, experts estimate that 646,000 people die from falls every year. Many people hit their head, and this can lead to brain injuries that can eventually lead to death.
Benefit #10: The Chance to Have an Adventure
You have so many types of adventures available that you could take. You could head to the Smoky Mountains for a fly fishing trip, or you could go to Alaska for an adventure in the great outdoors. You might even take your trip to another country. For example, you might go to China for a fishing trip. When you travel in these countries, truly, you will see fish that you have never seen before.
The memories have become one of the most important things about fishing. You have memories that you can’t replace when you go fishing. Fishermen have a reputation for being some of the greatest explorers. Not to mention, it gives you an excuse to go have adventures. It gives you an excuse to buy the sailboat that you always wanted because it will allow for you to go fishing on the Pacific Ocean.
Having a passion for fishing will give you a passion for life. Wherever they have water, you can cast a line out to see what you can crank in.
Benefit #11: Gives You a Reason to Stand
When you go fishing, it gives you a reason to stand up. In fact, you have some cases where you might have a hard time not standing up because of how you have a big fish on your line. We spend an estimated 80 percent of our day sitting down, and that isn’t how we were meant to live.
Sitting down for too long has been linked to many health problems, such as cardiovascular issues. This has increased the likelihood that someone might die from heart problems, or they could even develop cancer as a result of sitting too much. Many times, you will be forced to stand while fishing. For example, when you fish from shore, you may be required to move fishing spots on occasion to fish better. You might also wade out into the water to get closer to some of the fish in the water and cast farther out.
Benefit #12: Fresh Air Good for the Lungs
Many of the lakes that you head out to will be located out in the country where you will have access to fresh air. Sure, you might come home with the stench of worms and fish, but you will feel great. While out on a lake or the secluded mountain stream, you will have access to quality oxygen that is unpolluted by man.
Getting away from urban life will expose you to less polluted air that will leave you feeling fresh and energized. In particular, elderly people and young children will suffer the most from not receiving fresh air.
The bottom line is that you can have a lot of fun going out and fishing while receiving plenty of benefits. You don’t have to let it become a leisurely hobby that doesn’t have any benefits. There’s plenty of reasons that you might want to go out and start fishing.