I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE...

[Mmathis]

.... but please don't stone me, YET

I've always found fish to be BEAUTIFUL, fascinating creatures. Couldn't wait for my first aquarium, loved visiting SEA WORLD, and other aquariums. I got SCUBA certified so I could swim with them! But take a fish OUT of the water and, GROSS, GROSS, GROSS! And, BTW, I am a Tom Boy, so go figure.... I LOVE to fish, but it's either throw 'em back in, or give 'em away.

They smell funny, they FEEL funny, they wiggle and are hard to hold onto, they get slimy diseases, they act funny, they have sharp, pointy fins, they taste funny (and have little bones!!), they look funny.....

So, I have a pond now. I have these gross (but beautiful!) little creatures swimming around in my back yard. There are times when I have to ..... touch them, or worse, pick one up! They are totally dependent on me.

When I had a beautiful Wakin die recently, you could have made a record-breaking YOU TUBE video from my reaction to handling and examining it. But I WANTED TO KNOW as much as I could about what happened to it, so I did what I had to do. I touched it. I looked at it. I moved it's little body around. I manipulated its fins. I pulled back the covering and looked at its gills. I opened its mouth. Etc. I took pictures.

I apologized to it for, I don't know, desecrating (?) its little body (opening the gills & poking around in there was the hardest thing for me.....).

Then I started feeling more relaxed and less grossed out. I started wishing I had a microscope, and a better camera that would take better pictures. I noticed things on its little body that may or may not have been significant in its death. That sparked my curiosity to want to see pictures and learn the "normal" from the "abnormal." I realized I was starting to OBSERVE my fish as opposed to just "looking at them."

I was seeing them more as animals and less like bugs (can't stand bugs, but different story....).

So, last week I did summer camp with our Boy Scout troop. One activity I could do to earn a special "leader" patch (had to do 12/18 requirements -- I was limited in my choices) was to "catch a fish." Cool, I could do that! Of course, conditions weren't ideal (temps in high 90's with 100+ heat index), no shade, had to go out as part of a merit badge class so "early AM," or "early PM" wasn't an option. No options on bait -- I had the rod & reel as handed to me.

First day was a bomb, so I complained to the camp director that catching a fish under these circumstances was 95% luck. See, there were the 4 SHOOTING SPORTS included, but they didn't say ANYTHING about having to make a certain score or even that you had to HIT the target! Not fair that you had to CATCH a fish -- why not just say that you had to "go fishing." Anyway, he said he'd sign me off. But, darn, if I didn't want to catch that fish, or at least give it another try.

So next day one of our Scouts let me borrow his gear & tackle. I CAUGHT A FISH!! I was by myself (was supposed to have a "buddy" with me, but....) so I took pics with my iPhone, and even did it as a video with the aquatics center in background just in case I was challenged -- LOL, please keep in mind that this really was all in fun. Probably could have gotten away with buying something at WALLY-WORLD to put on my hook, but "A SCOUT IS TRUTHFUL!"

So, here I am, 100+ degrees, no shade, and no one around to help me. Tried to pull the hook, but I suddenly felt very sympathetic toward little small mouth bass, and decided I would cut the hook and back it out instead. Looking back at the video, it was interesting to hear what I said, -paraphrasing - "well, let me dangle him in the water for a minute while I find cutters, 'cause he's looking pretty stressed." HA! But before I cut him off the hook, I pulled his gills for a look inside, peered into his gaping maw (I never realized you could see through the gills from the mouth... duh!), noticed "things" on him (spots of jelly-stuff, dis colored areas and various spots, torn fins....) that I would never have taken the time to even be concerned about before. I held him gently, cut the hook, and held onto the barbed end as he slipped off and swam away.

He didn't even look back and tell "thank you!" But I told HIM, thank you, as I wished him a happy life.

Oh, and BTW, I aced ALL of the shooting sports, including archery! I even took a class and qualified in muzzle-load, black powder rifles! YES!!

But my greatest, fondest accomplishment was my relationship with that fish!




Not a big fish -- including tail, prob about 8"-10."

 

[crsublette]

Very nice. I very much enjoyed reading this and stories like this.

Fishing is incredibly therapeutic and an adventure for everyone, even for folk that just despise it. Everyone seems to come away from it with a story. There's nothing like catching a fish.

 

[capewind]

Loved the story ...

 

[Mmathis]

It was hard to admit it .....

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Cool Story I loved it.

But you are such a girl :claphands:

Ruben

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Great!, now you can move on to snakes and spiders. :spider:

 

[HTH]

I used to fish. We had a cattle pasture with a small river running through it, The banks were and rose steeply and you had to walk the last 1/8 mile to get to it. The therapeutic part for me was relaxing by the water with nothing to do but wait for a bite. I eventually stopped baiting the hook. Less chance to get interrupted.

 

[Dave 54]

Wouldnt worry about it we serious koi keepers even go so far as to Autopsy our fish when they die of an unexplained thing or from a Tumor so that we can learn from it gross or not thats up to you perhaps a carreer in Marine Biology awaits you the tom boy who knows .?

rgrds

Dave

 

[j.w]

Fun story TM and I love to fish but now that I have my g-fish pond I kind of feel sorry for catching and eating their relatives :cheerful:
Tip: Fishing poles are great for getting your husbands wallet out of and outhouse..................yes, gross but it had to be done :grumble:

 

[Dave 54]

Fun story TM and I love to fish but now that I have my g-fish pond I kind of feel sorry for catching and eating their relatives :cheerful:
Tip: Fishing poles are great for getting your husbands wallet out of and outhouse..................yes, gross but it had to be done :grumble:

I love a tuna sandwich or two whilst sat by the pond watchng the koi swim lazily around ah you cant beat it yum yum

rgrds

Dave

 

[Tiny Termite]

Just Imagine a Fishing Hook piercing through your Lip.

 

[Dave 54]

Most new age people would pay good money for having their lips pierced well the ones I have seen in the UK.
In the punk era I was in the Royal Navy I knew of one sailor who was so disgusted by one of them that he took a hold of the punks piercings which ran from nose to ear to mouth, they were all joined together by safety pins and just ripped them off, made a right mess of the guys face too sadly all we did was laugh .
Strange isnt it that nowadays they are just a fashion statement and folks look at them as normal but back in the 70's, well that was a different era altogether, to the police and the military they were seen as pure scum so sad really we are all allowed our differences now but back the they were a no no and thought of as anti establishment which we were sworn to withold.

rgrds

Dave

 

[HTH]

One can go overboard. Like the people who will not let their meat eating pets pets eat meat.

My wife's health has forced her to shop in health food stores. While she was there she was looking at some elk burger for me. A mother and daughter pair accosted her bitching that she should not be eating meat. They even took it to the manager. All the help in that store has the sick pasty white complexion.

It is called the food chain for a reason! We may not care to see animals eating other animals or people eating animals but it is the natural way. Last I heard it was eating meat that allowed man to develop our 'high powered' brains.

I would not care to eat my koi but I sure like good salmon.

To each his own but not a good idea to force it onto others including pets.

 

[Mmathis]

One can go overboard. Like the people who will not let their meat eating pets pets eat meat.

My wife's health has forced her to shop in health food stores. While she was there she was looking at some elk burger for me. A mother and daughter pair accosted her bitching that she should not be eating meat. They even took it to the manager. All the help in that store has the sick pasty white complexion.

It is called the food chain for a reason! We may not care to see animals eating other animals or people eating animals but it is the natural way. Last I heard it was eating meat that allowed man to develop our 'high powered' brains.

I would not care to eat my koi but I sure like good salmon.

To each his own but not a good idea to force it onto others including pets.

Almost bought a t-shirt that said, "P.E.T.A. -- People Eating Tasty Animals"