Every Fish We Catch Should be Appreciated

Dink.  Trophy.  Lunker.  Minnow.  In the slot.  Under the size limit.  Wall hanger.  Monster.  Sardine.  Little guy.  Whopper.  Nothing special.  Fish of a lifetime.

If you fish, you have probably used a few of these words before to describe a fish that you have caught.  I know I sure have.  Like me, you might have even thrown small fish back without even giving them a solid look.  On the other hand, folks can be guilty of appreciating a bigger fish to the point they accidentally kill it due to keeping it out of the water for too long to admire it and pose for pictures.  I'm guilty on that one too and I will readily admit the fact.  I still regret killing a grass carp last summer because I mishandled it and kept it out of the water for too long.  Either way, let me propose a different perspective.

Every fish is special, and I mean that literally.  No matter the size, species, gender, or location, every fish you catch is pretty spectacular.  Just think about what it takes to catch a fish.  You have to be in the right place at the right , month, week, day, and time.  The fish has to be hungry or in an aggressive mood.  You need to have the right type, size, and color of lure/fly.  You need to move it in the exact way the fish wants it or motionless if that what the fish wants.  If you do, by chance, happen to get a fish to bite, you have to hook it.  After that, you have to hope that all of your knots hold, that they hook doesn't bend/break, and that your line doesn't have any week spots.  If your line gets wrapped around a snag, you might lose the fish.  If your equipment breaks, it's game over.  The fish can swim at you and cause slack in your line and get off the hook or might jump and toss your hook.  

There's a lot of things that have to go YOUR way to avoid all of these things.  If you do indeed land the fish, take a moment to appreciate how things worked in your favor.  Regardless of the size, you were pretty fortunate to land it at all.  So enjoy every speck of color, every scale, and every bit of beauty that fish has to offer.  I'm not trying to sound preachy because I need to do all of these things too!  Just sharing some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head a little.