Why do we fish? Most fishermen (and women) don’t stop to analyze why we love fishing. We’re too busy planning our next trip or daydreaming about the fish that got away.

We hook fish; they hook us. It’s that simple.

Yet, the subject is deeper than it appears. Nationally recognized fishing writer Robert U. Montgomery began pondering this question about 20 years ago, when he realized how fishing helped him survive the death of his best friends.

Robert discovered that we fish to remember, and we fish to forget. We fish when we’re happy, and when we’re sad. We fish to bond with friends and family, or to be alone. Whatever our motivation, no matter where we are on the success spectrum, fishing makes our lives better in ways we never could have imagined. It slows us down. It sets us free. It teaches us about nature, even while showing us how much we don’t know. And fishing becomes the foundation for our fondest memories.

In Why We Fish, Robert Montgomery examines the reasons we keep going back to the water and how fishing enriches us, both individually and as a society. Contributed by ten passionate anglers, the essays on these pages celebrate the tangible and intangible blessings we derive from one of man’s oldest pastimes. What is life all about? Go fishing and find out. But first, enjoy the wonderful essays in Why We Fish.