Evolution of Fishermen

[Garry2rs]

A non-fishing friend recently asked me, "What motivates you to waste time and money on fishing, when you don't even keep the fish you catch?"

I mumbled something about communing with nature, the challenge, relaxation and recreation, but knew that I was talking to the fishing equivalent of a Troglodyte...

This got me thinking about the Evolution of Fishermen (or Fisher-persons) and the dangers that lurk on the Dark Side.

I suppose most people start with a rod and some worms, perhaps at a family outing or vacation. Sometimes you catch fish and sometimes you just go wading...In the worst case you are "taken fishing" and made to sit still and be quiet...Boring.

As a youth, my friends and I rode bicycles to this Creek or that Pond...But, this ended when as teens we forget all about fishing, and everything else when we discovered Girls!

Having survived the hormone explosion, some went back to fishing and some didn't. Today most of those friends still own a fishing rod, but many only own that one, old first rod that they bought or where given.

These folks might still buy a license, to wet a line while on their summer holiday, but seldom if ever, actually go fishing.

Others, came back to fishing as a hobby. By now we were working and raising families and a fishing trip meant taking time away from the family, so there wasn't much evolutionary progress.

Still, over time most folks become proficient with the basic tools and how to find fish on there home waters. Some begin picking up more advanced concepts and techniques. At the same point most of us learned a little about fish habits and habitat. But for many that's where evolution stopped.

A few fishermen take the next step. Curiosity, or competitiveness might be the trigger, but something in their nature drives them to refine things a little further. This next step, is to search for outside knowledge. The philosopher George Santayana once remarked "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

In my time, evolving fishermen could be found hanging around the .799 aisle in the Public Library, and swapping dog eared copies of In-Fisherman magazine with other victims.

Today, this generation might be found sitting stupefied, in front of computer monitors or swapping Internet addresses to fishing web-sites. Regardless of the source, I think our continued evolution requires influential, outside stimulus.

A strange fact is that as most fishermen evolve, the original goal of catching fish, becomes less important. The focus shifts more to how they caught them. In fact the fish are often thrown back to justify continued fishing!

The evolving angler is constantly learning new techniques and nuances on old ones. Other than in competition, days on the water are often spent fishing for fishing's sake. The actual fish simply providing an indicator as to whether or not the new technique has been mastered.

And now a word about the Dark Side...

Knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge is wonderful, but be warned! There is a dark side to the " Fishing Sub-Culture."

The truth is there is a slippery slope attached to fishing knowledge. Various forms of insanity often seize the unwary.

Some fishermen become dogmatic and can be heard ranting about the "purity" of their favourite technique verses all others.

Others become so monomaniacal that they disrespect anyone who isn't also fishing for their personal Holy Grail.

In advanced stages these maladies include a snobbery toward others who use their technique or seek their desired species, but are deemed to be unworthy, for some obscure reason.

At the height of their madness many will speak only in tongues, using argot and and idiom that only the initiated can understand.

Fishing Evolutionary Disease is ramped within the Fishing Sub-Culture and has other manifestations, especially amongst aquatically challenged individuals who don't get out fishing often enough.

Many of these folks become hopeless tackle junkies. In less severe cases perhaps fondling the hardware releases some of the anxiety caused by water depredation. In extreme cases the hardware might completely replace fishing!

These poor souls have slid around a corner into a place where they aren't so much fishermen as they are collectors of fishing memorabilia!

On the street, all of these gear oriented degenerates would be known as a "Lure W hore."

I hope this brief sketch will help you gauge your own state of evolution and serve as a warning of the potential dangers. Forewarned is after all Forearmed!.

Hahaha.
Garry2R's
Fishing is my favorite form of loafing.