Catch and Release

A debate is raging among fishermen about the fate of fish caught for sport. What should happen to them after they're snagged, played, landed and photographed? Do we break their backs and throw them up on the bank or remove the hook as gently as possible and release them back into their element? Well, it depends on who you talk to.

A lot of fishers contend that once the fish has been landed it is permanently injured. They take into consideration the damage the hook does and how spent the fish usually is after giving the angler such a good fight. They even argue that by the mere act of touching them, we sear the oils and goo off their skins that protect them, leaving them vulnerable to most anything an ichthyologist can imagine. They have a point. And just think of the concept of the treble hook.

On the other hand, there are those who believe a good fighter should be allowed to reproduce. Even though the fish are spent at the end of the fight and have a rip in their jaws, lips or worse, the angler who releases them believes he is helping the species to survive. As a small child I asked my dad about that. I know he knew better (He held a master's degree in the 1950s), but he had to answer me, a five-year old curious boy in a way that I understood. He asked me if I had ever heard a fish scream. When I answered in the negative, he nodded his head and told me if it didn't scream, it didn't hurt.

So now I have to extrapolate that argument to life. I have not been at this writing for about a month now because I moved out of my home, leaving my wife in charge of our house and its well-being. There are big reasons for doing so that do not need airing in this venue, but, strangely, it has had a positive impact on both of us.

My friends ask me if women in my life are 'catch and release.' It surely seems to be that way. In aggregate I have close to 30 years of marriage. But, it's not to the same woman. Hell, it's not even to the same couple of women. So, I must be practicing catch and release.

But, unlike fish, my wives all have vocal chords; they have emotions. This combination allows them to scream and cry. So, please don't try to tell me that taking the hook out doesn't hurt. Or they'll get over it even if they swallowed all the bait and are hooked deep inside. Sure, they will live, but they'll be scarred and hurt for life everywhere I touched them -- even if my touching at the time was with good intentions.

So now with all this pent-up emotion inside me, I must go fishing to get my heart rate back to normal. I doubt I'll bring any home. Ironic, huh?