Catch Release vs Trophy

In our parents generation, you kept the first fish you landed. For better or worse, you promptly took it home and mounted your trophy. Didn’t matter if one of you was a trout and the other a halibut. Or a flounder paired with a guppy.

The Sixties showed us people could actually “Catch & Release”. You simply took the fish home, played around with it, fed it occasionally and after awhile, you could return him to the wilderness and go out and fish for a completely different species and repeat the process. There were plenty of fish in the waters so there was a high rate of success.

It didn’t take long before our preferred fishing styles start to emerge. Some people like Deep Sea Fishing – dressing up a hoochie lure & sitting & waiting while drinking a beer. Others like Fly Fishing – being slow and methodical in the approach upon the unsuspecting specific targeted fish, and finally, the Boondoggle- drifting along allowing the current to take you wherever and happy when any kind of fish bites.

In our thirties, we start to show preferences for specific species based on the traits we appreciate. It’s not long before we realize we are better equipped to compare and critique our new fish against past “catches” and we no longer take home any old fish. We look for ones that are bigger, brighter, stronger, smarter? Can he spawn or has he already spawned?

This is when the goal of the hunt changes from “Catch and Release” to wanting to find a trophy worth hanging on to as “The Prize Catch”. Only the waters are not nearly as stocked with available prize worthy fish based on our preferences. Our rate of success dramatically decreases despite the quantity of hours spent fishing. This is in part because the number of fishing holes has increased dramatically and spread out the available fishes, making it increasingly difficult to locate our favored species.

In my forties, my ego has suddenly reared it’s ugly head based on people asking me- “Why aren’t you dating (or caught) any one?”. I find myself explaining the fishing conditions as an excuse towards what? My failure? Have I really failed? Why am I’m allowing a stupid question from a well intentioned person to prick my pride like a wayward hook?

Any true fisherman will tell you it’s the “act of fishing” and the joy they get from doing something they love. I can honestly say that when I’ve been “fishing”, I have been doing something I love. I am with friends or on a bike, in a bookstore, or running in the park. I’m not worried about whether I spot a fish or catch one because I’m already enjoying the adventure. I don’t want to feel the need to defend my day in who I did or did not “catch”.

Therefore, because my pride and ego can’t take any more failure in the eyes of myself or whomever…. I’m declaring, “I’m laying down my fishing pole” and simply enjoying my friends fishing expeditions. But don’t worry about me; I’ll still carry a hair-net in my purse just in case I stumble across a fish out of water.

— Reel Deal