And this got me thinking a little more. Are we anglers just a bunch of posers? How often have you heard the sentiment, “Fishing isn’t about the fish, it’s about ___” (fill in the blank with your favorite ending). Or maybe, “I didn’t catch any fish, but that’s OK because ___” (again, fill it in). Or some other cliché? Downplaying the importance of catching fish is a crock! (I know because I’ve used the clichés plenty of times too.) If it wasn’t about the fish, we’d be hikers, not anglers. We’d be called “waders,” not fishermen (or fisherwomen).

Do we like to respond with the lie because we think it’s some sort of noble or eloquent response? Or because we don’t want to be seen as competitive. Or is it just a lame excuse for not catching fish? Sure, we can still have a good time out of doors even if we get skunked. But the fish is the goal. Fishing is about the fish. Is it only about the fish? Probably not, but I don’t want to go there because I’ve got a nice rant worked up and that would just dampen my fiery words.

If you truly think fishing isn’t about the fish, make a deal with me: Determine the approximate number of times you fish in a year and the average length of each outing. Agree to go that number of times for that length each time the rest of this year, but you’re not allowed to take any fishing stuff with you. Whaddaya say? Yeah, I thought so!

So can we drop the pretense and just man-up with our true feelings that it is about the fish. And this brings me to my real topic: Can we admit other things about fishing, things we want to tiptoe around just as much?

Like, does it matter if fish feel pain? Or, does it matter if fish feel pain exactly like humans–physically and psychologically?

This is where you’ll want to pooh-pooh me: “But fish don’t feel pain the same way humans do, so it doesn’t matter.”

OK then, let’s drop the pain issue and look at this: Why aren’t there birdermen? You think I’m kidding, don’t you? I’m not. You tell me why people don’t “bait” hooks with artificial flies, or other artificial bird food substitutes, and wait in bushes and trees to catch birds so that they can release them to catch again.

• Birds are wary, which would provide excellent opportunities to practice one’s stalking skills.
• They are just as lovely as fish, coming in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, etc.
• They are found in exotic locales giving the birderman great excuses for traveling the world in search of species x.
• I’m sure they would put on an excellent display when they strike the artificial, thereby giving that little adrenaline rush of surprise for the birderman.
• Some entertaining flapping and thrashing would surely commence when hooked.
• I imagine the beak is much tougher than a fish mouth, thereby lessening the potential concern of mouth damage (although the eyes are just as close to the mouth).
• Raptors would probably give one heck of a fight and take some careful playing on 7x tippet so they could be released again for the next birderman.
• No slime.
• You wouldn’t have to get waders or drift boats unless you wanted to bird for waterfowl (the emperor penguin would be a fun one).
• Winter birding would be a lot warmer because you could avoid the water.
• Plenty of urban birding opportunities.
• You could still have just as much fun buying all the doodads and thingies for catching birds.
• You could pluck a few feathers from the bird for your next pattern you tie up.
• Etc., etc.

So why fish? Really, give me a reason why bird hooking shouldn’t become as much of a sport as fishing. I dare you. No, I double-dog dare you!

I’m looking into how we can respond to those who are anti-fishing because their ranks will grow, I guarantee it. Do you think the angling community can give a valid response to anti-fishing groups if we do not know for ourselves why we are fishermen and not birdermen (or some other species)?

Caveats: Serious responses only. I’m looking for responses that deal primarily with the ethics of it (not “historical” reasons, i.e. there is a long history to fishing and birding would be  a new sport making it too hard to, blah, blah, blah). I will play devil’s advocate and try to refute your attempts (I’m hoping I can’t). And please, no coup de grâce triple-dog dare retaliation questions back to your host.

Interesting birdermen here, but they weren’t the catch-and-release birdermen.