"Should I or shouldn't I?" I asked myself as I
read this... Oh what the heck!
People who fished before "catch and release"
really existed as a philosophy and a law often have a very different view of
what fishing is and what it isn't.
To us it's a "blood sport". It involves
hooking into your dormant predatory drives, acknowledging the changes of the
seasons on you, the water and your prey. The only difference between it
and duck hunting is that it's generally quieter, and you can choose to allow
your victim to continue living. That makes it MORE ethically and morally
demanding, not less. It should make you think every time you hook
one.
Those who were "born" into the culture of catch
and release on the other hand OFTEN think of it kind of like an easter egg
hunt. "I bet there's one behind that rock!". There is no "what are
the implications of my actions here". They are taught that a properly
released fish WILL live, so SOME believe that hey, what the funk, catch
all you want.
I'm not claiming either is superior to the other,
just that there is often a big difference in the view one takes of the
resource. Old Timers, regardless of age :-), often do hold "secret
waters" as something to be cherished, because of the blood sport influence of
their youth. They probably made the mistake of fishing out a pool
at the tender age of 8, and know what a dead resource looks like. They
probably feel some version of guilt over that to this day. I know I
do. You take a different view of stewardship when two years later you
still can only find a straggler or two.
I've been fishing as long as I could hold a pole,
and I love it. But every three months or so, on a day when I feel tired,
I think about packing it all in, selling all the gear, and stopping. I
pretty much release ALL the fish I catch. Sometimes out of convenience
(storing and bring them back is a hassle), sometimes out of health concerns
(ever notice that most urban lakes are LOWER than the roads that service
them? Think about it), and sometimes out of respect for the
critters. I've probably caught the largest trout, bass, and steelhead I
ever will. I've been lucky, and I've been at it a while. So why
fish? A friend of mine once said "because of the battle of wits"
He was cleaning a salmon at the time. I opened the head and showed him
the brain. He said "no, it's that bigger thing", and said "nope, that's
the olfactory gland" :-)
I understand both sides of the argument that
happened here. Let's hope we all can look past the Issue, and look at
the reasons we hold the positions we do.
Man, talk about a windbag!
Phil
If these
fisheries are so delicate, what the hell are you doing fishing
there. Do you have some magic mandate from upon high that gives
you the right to affect these fisheries while denying that right to
others?
The fishing
culture here baffles and saddens me. Before I moved here I never
heard of people getting into fights over a fishing hole. I was never
"low holed" by a gear chucked let alone another flyfisher. I never saw
people snagging with flyrods. I never saw a public access
area treated like refuse dump. This list could go on and
on.
