catch and release

a friend and I went fishing at lac armstrong in the réserve faunique de papineau-labelle in québec and i have as story to tell

Note: The podcast version of this postings here.

Around noon I hooked a big trout. It came up slowly and I asked my friend to net the fish.

The trout, a bit wider than the width of our net, was elusive and became unhooked after a couple of attempts to haul it in.

I felt a sudden surge of emotion : frustration at the missed catch but then relieved to feel satisfaction that the trout was released back into the depth of the lake.

Then came a great calm and connection to that place and space.

I thought about what the trout must have felt, taking my bait and glimpsing another world.

I felt the fear and panic of being dragged into a bright, suffocating ‘air’ world, and the relief of slipping deep into cool wet darkness.

When I got home I came across this Instagram posting quote by folk singer and social activist Pete Seeger:

This panel got me thinking about why I fish in the first place.

Is it for the thrill of the catch, to connect with nature and/or to take an aquatic life for my own wellbeing?

I’m going to sit with this one (in the spirit of Donna Haraway’s ‘staying with the trouble’).

Note: with warm thanks to my wife Sabrina Mathews for assistance in editing.