Some Fish Hurt More Than Others

It doesn't matter that I've lost big fish before. It doesn't matter that I've experienced frustrating days countless times. It doesn't matter that today did not end with me going home fish less. I lost a true leviathan, and I worked my butt of or that fish. It was cold. The wind was howling. Gloves were not enough to keep my hands dry and warm. I had to tuck the rod under my arm and shove my hands in my armpits while my fly sank down into the cold, deep, lifeless looking pond. I had to put up with that for an hour before I got so much as a bump, and when I finally hooked into a decent fish, I got a really good look at it. It was a huge pickerel, getting near though doubtfully reaching the magic 30 inch mark. And it was fat like a bass. This fish was easily a couple pounds heavier than my previous personal best, and yet for no apparent reason it popped off 15 feet in front of me and slunk back into the abyss.

That really hurt. My heart sank. I stood there on that bank and cussed out that fish and the fish gods that let me believe my effort would be rewarded, even for just a minute. I've lost many fish, and I can say that most do not hurt. Almost all of them, actually. But there are some that do, and that pickerel was one of them. It made me want to break my rod in half and huck it in the lake. Instead I opted to keep fishing. I caught a perch on the very next cast, and a bass a little while later. Do you think that made up for it fish god's? Nothing short of an even bigger pickerel could have.

I know I can't expect any of you who are not serious fisherman to understand this. Some experienced guys will think is is a little ridiculous too. But deep down they remember that one fish, that one they wanted so badly it hurt them to loose it.