If you’re trying to get in shape but can’t stand treadmills, you might try the Fishing Fitness System. It’s an exercise program I came up with by accident, but it’s fun, and it works. It works very slowly, but that’s part of the beauty of it. Since you don’t shed pounds quickly, you’ll have to do it often.
I came up with the program when a friend asked me if I thought a guy could lose weight fishing. That got me thinking about my own fishing style, and the Fishing Fitness System was born.
To start the system, grab a map of a place you’ve always wanted to go fishing but haven’t gotten around to going to yet. Find a few places on that map you’re likely to get into some good fishing. Now load all your fishing gear into the truck. Take the spinning rod and reel, the fly-fishing equipment and even the bait-casting rig, if you have one.
The more gear you have, the better the workout will be. With fishing gear, it won’t be a muscle-building exercise, because the weight is negligible. But you’ll get a great aerobic workout trotting back and forth to the truck to get the spinning rod when the fly rod isn’t getting results, or vice-versa.
Once you get to the hills and tromp around until you find a good place to fish, the key is to resist your urge to try different lures. If you need to, carry only one type of spinner in your vest. Instead of trying to find the lure the fish are biting on, try to find the fish that are hungry for what you’re offering. Try several casts in one hole, then move upstream to the next riffle and toss a few more lines there. Keep this up until you just can’t take it anymore.
So get out and try to snag the big one. With this method of fishing, the chances of that are slim. But maybe you’ll actually work off that spare tire.
