I’ve blogged before how fly fishing is good for our health. I now have personal data to support it.

Fly fishing has a lot of benefits. It unleashes dopamine, the critical neurotransmitter that makes us feel accomplished (it’s also the critical chemical that gets released after we exercise, get a job promotion, earn a raise, have a smoke, take a drink, or snort a line). Fly fishing creates a mental “flow” state. Even a quick walk outside is beneficial: lower stress, reduced blood pressure, better cognitive function.

I started wearing an Oura Ring last year. It tracks all sorts of metrics from sleep to stress to stress recovery. I was pretty shocked when I saw the screenshots below.

The left chart shows “cumulative stress.” The right one shows “resilience,” or my ability to recover from stress. There’s a clear change the past few weeks when I started to prep for fly fishing: ordering some new gear, planning for some trips, and tying some flies. I’m eager to focus on sweetwater streamers starting this weekend, and I look forward to the time when stripers return to our shores.

It may be self-serving when we tell our loved ones that we are going to fish and that “it’s good for me.” But it honestly is.

Our blog is not a business. We happily donate all of our profits to Project Healing Waters (helping veterans recover from PTSD) and Casting for Recovery (supporting those who are overcoming breast cancer). I suspect they help people manage stress. Those groups foster community, introduce people to the the gift of fly fishing, and are great causes in general.

As blog writers, we also benefit. We meet up for group trips (we’re going to Maine in June), compare notes, and enjoy each other’s company.

So, as the winter snows start to melt, I hope you begin to get strapped for spring fishing. It’s good for you!