Thoughts on fishing you’ve always had in mind
When Did Fishing Get So Loud?
By James Thompson
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here was a day when fishing was pretty quiet. The appeal of fishing was, in fact, to get away from the meaningless noise that surrounds us – the childish histrionics of our bosses and colleagues, the uncomfortable political rants at a neighbor’s cocktail party, the daily bullhorn of traffic jams and seemingly ubiquitous delivery trucks perpetually in reverse. Our culture has become a cacophony of unpleasant sounds. It’s probably why most of us walk around wearing headphones.
Fishing, a true escape
Fishing, however, is a true escape from that world. Fishing is an attempt to connect with nature through an ancient endeavor, now mostly a sport, that links the energy of a person to the energy of the planet through tools and techniques developed over millennia of human history. We quietly learned to read the water to determine where the best fish were lurking. We studied the plants and insects that brought trout to the surface of solemn rivers. We fished the vast oceans like Santiago in Ernest Hemingway’s 1951 classic The Old Man and the Sea. And fishing always had it own sounds – from gurgling currents and crashing waves to buzzing insects and squawking sea gulls. Anglers have always known that nature is its own music.
So, how, exactly, did we end up here?
Pulaski, New York – anglers enjoying a peaceful day at the fishing mall while treble hook snagging salmon (a past practice). New York State Fish & Wildlife photo.
This place where fishing has become a bombastic and cruel form of human arrogance and disrespect for the traditions of fishing, the magic of nature, and the camaraderie of fellow anglers? When did grown men start celebrating landing a bass as if they were a tween girl who just scored tickets to the hottest boy band on tour? When did guys start guzzling beer through dead salmon and acting as if fishing were some testosterone-fueled reality show test of their manliness? When did we, and our kids, lose perspective?
Treat your surroundings with dignity. If there was one rule to fishing, it would be this
The truth is anglers today have sophisticated fish finders, satellite geolocation technologies, and sleek, modern fishing boats and rigs that make locating and landing fish easier than it has ever been in human history. Sometimes it is difficult to tell where an angler’s skills end and where someone, or something, else is responsible for the rest. But if an angler fishing 300 years ago didn’t celebrate catching a fish he hooked with gear and a canoe he made himself, then we should probably tone it down a bit in our bass boats. Sure, take a photo. Share it on Instagram. Be happy, of course. But nature is full of animals just as a library if full of books, and each one has a story.
It’s hard to say where things started to go wrong
Maybe the more we feel removed from nature the less we understand how to appreciate it. Perhaps fishing grew louder as our fishing resources dwindled and the competition increased, making each fish caught seem more like a remarkable achievement worthy of a raucous wedding reception. Few scenes are more disheartening than seeing dozens of fly fishing anglers lined up elbow-to-elbow clad in $700 of Orvis gear, casting at the same trout, which was probably dropped upstream weeks before by a fisheries department helicopter.
Anglers are known for being notorious liars. But sometimes the worst lies we tell, are the ones we tell to ourselves. And everyone knows the biggest liars are usually the loudest
NOTE: Featured Image titled A lovely June Friday in San Fransisco… credit Granite Rock Bloggers.
