Best Adult Sports

Too often, there’s a conception of literature as something dusty and inactive. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The great books feature tons of examples of strong characters doing dramatic and compelling things, and this is true from any perspective, even that of the sportsman who isn’t accustomed to being drawn in by literature. A good example of this is the proliferation of big game fishing in classical books.

Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” is a fantastic example of this trend. Published in America more than one hundred years ago, it tells the story of Captain Ahab and his fanatical quest for vengeance against the white whale Moby Dick. The whale had injured him some years previous, and now with a wooden leg, Ahab thirsts for revenge.

Ultimately, of course, the trip does not go so well. Those who are accustomed to the thrill of fishing might be particularly attuned to the strange psychological corruption that Ahab seems to undergo as his quest consumes not just his own soul, but the lives of nearly his entire crew. In presenting the story this way, Melville is able to use the naturally interesting foundation of fishing to limn the human condition itself.

A little bit later, in the 20th century, we get Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”. This story is close to the hearts of many people because Hemingway, who was a fisherman himself for many years, imbues the story not just with exciting details of the trade, but also a great deal of insight into the character of the old man, one of the most heroic figures in modern literature.

And he does. One day he hooks into a massive marlin, but he cannot overpower it. All he can do is remain hooked to the beast, fighting its efforts to free itself, until at last it becomes exhausted and he can row it in. For days and nights, he hangs on, and we get a glimpse of just how much something like fishing can define and underline a human life.

Even the Bible chimes in with its own fishing story, and it too is a pretty good one. When the prophet Jonah hears the call of God, he attempts to shirk his duty by buying passage on a fishing vessel headed far away from his homeland. During the course of the voyage though, things do not go as planned.

God continually besets the ship with one hardship after the other, including devastating storms and a total lack of successful fishing, until at last the crew throws Jonah overboard. Once they do, the ship continues on unabated, but Jonah himself is swallowed up by a whale or shark (the exact type of fish is unspecified).

As we all know, though, Jonah is delivered up from the whale in the end, and this is very similar to the act of deliverance that literature performs upon the sport of big game fishing. Far from being something un-intellectual, it is a passionate undertaking that can mean the difference between life and death for many people. The great authors of the world have known this and their wisdom should be heeded.

Are you thinking about taking-up big game fishing as your next hobby? Check out our online guide to big game rods for the inside skinny on amongst others Daiwa fishing rods.