What keeps fishermen going?

 A non-fishing friend of mine once said:
You go out in almost any weather,even when it's below freezing, you toil and try but almost never catch anything.
How can you possibly keep going?

Well first of this refered to winter fishing and as some of you know it IS hard.
Secondly i do catch fish but since i mostly practice catch and release i don't have much to show for my efforts at the end of the day.

But really,what keeps you going through the seasons, why do you keep going out there?
To fishermen the answers are as abundant as the flies we've stuck in trees.

To those of you that do not fish however i'd like to share my take on it all.
Fishing is a great hobby. Gets you outside, close to nature and with a sole thing to focus your attention on when you are there.
To some of us and certainly for me fishing is more,it's part of life and the year as a whole.

The thing that makes you go back out there is the knowledge that the big one is out there.
Not nessecarily a big fish but just as well a big day.
The day when the stoneflies hatch and dryfly fishing is at its best.
The day when you see the water rising over the attack of a big pike and all those small ones were just something to spice up your trip.
The first day of spring when you see waking fish.
And of course, the very first fish of the year.

Why flyfish?
As stated in "A backyard in Nowhere"; Years ago someone invented the hardest way possible to catch a fish. To succed and be good at that gives you a great rush.

While i don't agree it's the hardest way of catching fish it is indeed not always the most effective.
But it is more than just catching fish.
It's the ritual of it all, getting to the water, rigging your rod, choosing a fly that you believe in, placing that perfect cast and much more that need to be felt, not read.

We continue to fish because we know that the big one will come.
The big day, the big fish, hopefully at the same time.

Yellow hackle fly on double hook.
Weighted with chainbead eyes.

My fishing company.
These swans usually checks up on me when i'm fishing in the usual spot.