Why fishing is multi-beneficial

About the Author:  Tim Rippon, MBCI, has been recognised by the BCI for his involvement and efforts in Business Continuity, receiving the ‘Continuity and Resilience Personality 2017’ and ‘Continuity and Resilience Professional (Private Sector) 2015’ at the Australasian BCI Awards. Having worked in various industry sectors in a diverse range of roles, Tim has a far-reaching network of industry professionals with whom he engages regularly and from whom he is able to draw upon for advice and support. Tim has commenced writing LinkedIn articles to share some of his unique views and experiences. In 2016 Tim 'activated / invoked' his Business Continuity Plan and now runs his own consultancy 'elasticus'.

Why fishing is multi-beneficial

Recently I took some downtime and spent five days fishing in rural Victoria. 

Having grown up on a rural farm, fishing was a key part of my childhood, whereby I learnt this skill at a very young age, along with plenty of the locals who would visit our well-known lake.  During summertime, the locals provided my parents with a very effective child minding service, with me spending many hours fishing at the lake with them, often catching fish and bringing a meal home at the end of the day.

Over the years I have had other priorities in life, though always look back with fondness at the time on the farm, particularly fishing with ‘Arthur’ who was our workman on the farm for some fifty-three years.  He would constantly whistle without any particular tune and loved tuning into the country races on the radio on the weekends.

 As I have grown up, my priorities have been focused in other areas and I have not made the time for fishing like I would have liked.

So in February it was time to have a decent break trying to catch ether English Perch (Redfin) or Golden Perch (Yellow-Belly), preferring to not catch any carp if possible!  The two may seem related by name, however, the redfin is an introduced species and must not be thrown back into the water… perfect as they are a great tasting fish!

Prior to the trip, I decided to ensure that I had plenty of fishing gear and was well prepared.  I carried a two-way radio and had all the provisions required for safe motoring on the water.

Once I arrived at the lake there were reports of not many fish being caught.  This did not deter me as it was a great opportunity to have some restful off-line downtime.

A couple of other people at the campsite and I planned to go out fishing for a few hours on the first evening.  A big thunderstorm ensued and disappeared as quickly as it arrived!  We seized the opportunity and headed out.  Finding a suitable location we anchored up and put the lines in.  Within 30 seconds we were catching redfin!  That evening we caught seven reasonable size fish and I was up until 11 pm filleting them for the kids to enjoy at a later date.

Over the five days, I caught a few fish each day and enjoyed a relaxing break to recharge my energy.

I thought I’d jot down a few benefits of fishing as I see:

- Relaxation / down-time: enjoying some quiet time, being on the water for hours at a time

- Solitude: learning that having time to one’s self can be very rewarding and fulfilling in our ‘always full-on’ modern world

- Resilience: enhancing basic skills of survival, if ever required / needed

- Nature: back to a natural environment outside of the city

- Catching fish: great to be able to provide a tasty meal for the whole family!

Note I did not put down ‘childminding service’ though recreational outdoors time such as fishing with children teaches them all sorts of skills to help prepare them for adolescence and adulthood.

Here at elasticus we have a vision to see people, companies and communities recover quickly from difficulties, by establishing a form of toughness or elasticity that hold all of us in good stead.

For more information, feel free to contact me directly or take a look at the elasticus website:

 elasticus

 1300 elasticus

 [email protected]

 www.elasticus.com.au

 Suite 777, 585 Little Collins St Melbourne VIC 3000