I lean toward “efficient entertainment”, but I do sometimes wonder what that chunk of my free time would look like otherwise.
Well, I’m not here really trying to sell ya on fishing, I just really enjoy talking about my own hobbies, honestly!
And, of course, different strokes for different folks. Sucks you need a daily license to fish where you are, though. I pay like $10 once a year for a license and money goes to maintaining the ecology of the state and programs to revitalize local fish populations through reintroduction of farmed fish to the wild. We’re encouraged to catch certain kinds of fish and report tagged fishes to the state so they can better understand the effectiveness of their programs and we get a little prize for the trouble.
I think a lot of the similar joys of nature of fishing can be achieved through hiking, if that’s more your speed, and that needs far less equipment. Sure you can buy fancy gear, but all you really need is a pair of shoes and probably a water bottle.