Using a non-reactive research strategy, the behavior of vacationing fishermen in northern Michigan was studied to see if fishing functions for temporary escape from privacy stress. Fishing activity was measured from a time budget. It was found that time spent fishing increased with the perception of inadequate micro-neighborhood privacy, even after numerous other correlates of fishing behavior and time use were taken into account. This relationship held only for those respondents who did not own the property at which they were interviewed. The primary value of this study lies in its validation of previous motivational research using introspective self-reports.