11-18-2008, 12:22 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Z. Glad to be able to contribute to your vicarious fishing pleasure.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yeah, the wrangling part was "interesting". It all happened very fast, but it was almost as if it were happening in slow motion...and like I was watching it play out on a screen instead of being part of it. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Only when it was all over, and I had successfully released "Mr. T" did I replay it in my mind. Then, I realized how many things could have happened much differently. First, that toothy fish could have bitten through the line on the hookset...or any time afterward. Second, it could have popped the line on any of its twisting jumps at close range. Lastly, when it joined me in the tube...jaws snapping...it could have inflicted grievous damage upon me or my gear. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I surprised myself at how calm and collected I had been through it all. In my younger (and more exciteable) years, I probably would have freaked out. But, these days I simply savor every experience and accept the outcome. I truly enjoy every fish I catch, but if I lose a big one it is seldom more than just a minor disappointment...part of the game we must play to call ourselves fishermen.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All that being said, that fish added a couple of megabytes to my memory database. I shall never lose the image of it twisting in the air, higher than my head, less than a rod length away. If I were an imaginative person (who...me?), I could almost imagine its
eyes fixing upon mine and the fish asking..."Well, how many points do I get for that jump?" [/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Yeah, the wrangling part was "interesting". It all happened very fast, but it was almost as if it were happening in slow motion...and like I was watching it play out on a screen instead of being part of it. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Only when it was all over, and I had successfully released "Mr. T" did I replay it in my mind. Then, I realized how many things could have happened much differently. First, that toothy fish could have bitten through the line on the hookset...or any time afterward. Second, it could have popped the line on any of its twisting jumps at close range. Lastly, when it joined me in the tube...jaws snapping...it could have inflicted grievous damage upon me or my gear. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I surprised myself at how calm and collected I had been through it all. In my younger (and more exciteable) years, I probably would have freaked out. But, these days I simply savor every experience and accept the outcome. I truly enjoy every fish I catch, but if I lose a big one it is seldom more than just a minor disappointment...part of the game we must play to call ourselves fishermen.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All that being said, that fish added a couple of megabytes to my memory database. I shall never lose the image of it twisting in the air, higher than my head, less than a rod length away. If I were an imaginative person (who...me?), I could almost imagine its
eyes fixing upon mine and the fish asking..."Well, how many points do I get for that jump?" [/#0000ff][signature]