For me there doesn't have to be a reason to go fishing. Fishing itself is enough I'll just go at the drop of a hat but for those of you who may need a reason, here are ten. Who knows, when you need an excuse to wet a line one of them might come in handy. So here they are, in no particular order.

1) To get out in nature. We all get caught up in the day to day inertia that we call life, and sometimes just need to get back to nature. It helps restore the soul, as many poets have suggested.

2) To get your mind off of other things. This is what I used to use fishing for, before I learned some other techniques for clearing my mind. But spending a day waist deep in a river still serves me pretty well.

3) To have some fun with your children. If you haven't done this already, have at it. Kids love to fish. And I know with my daughter, I have every bit as much fun as she does. And in some way, that's what this whole thing is about.

4) To try to catch a trophy. This is a wonderful reason for me, but some people just don't want to work that hard. It took me three years of fairly hard fishing on the same river to catch the one trophy rainbow trout that I've caught out of said river. And it was worth every minute of fishing and frustration along the way.

5) Practice. In the immortal words of Allen Iverson, "What we talking about here? Practice? Practice?" Yes Allen, we're talking about practice. And anglers need it just like professional basketball players. If you want to attain any level of skill, that is. It's just like anything else, the more you practice, the better angler you will become.

6) To get out of the house or office. In this modern world, we can become like animals in a zoo. Just going through the motions, as if there were no real point to being on this earth other than making money to pay bills. At least that's how it can seem if you spend too much time in the house or office.

7) To get exercise. No many people may be thinking, "Fishing is not exercise, you just sit there." Not necessarily. If you go fishing with me, you're going to walk three or four miles and cross the river four or five times. It can be quite a workout at times. Even when I go lake fishing, the areas I fish are a nice walk from my vehicle. So exercise is a great reason to go fishing.

8) To get ideas. I've had some great idea's pop into my head while fishing, that might not have otherwise been discovered.

9) To hang out with a friend. If there's someone that you haven't hung out with in a while, and it's overdue, go fishing. The drive and subsequent walk to and from the fishing area is a great time to catch up.

10) To discover something new about yourself. This one is big for me personally. I've discovered a lot about myself while wading in various rivers over the years and you can as well. There's just something about standing in a river that's conducive to discovery. Maybe the silence. I'm not sure of much, other than the fact that it is.

There you go. The next time the old lady asks you why you want to go fishing again, and you draw a blank, just drop one of these bad boys in her lap. If you get to go fishing one extra time, then writing this article was worth it.