Confusion
I think Bourdain was right.
“People confuse me, food doesn’t.” – Anthony Bourdain
Of course, I immediately thought, is that true with fish?
Could I say something like, “people confuse me, fish don’t.”
I didn’t know Bourdain any better than what I‘ve read or watched, so I’m speculating and interpreting what he meant since I can’t ask him. And because it was a quote on social media, who knows if it is even something he said?
That’s a preamble to what it meant to me and how it got me thinking.
People confuse me for sure. There are plenty of examples to draw from and enough to make me confident in saying they confuse me. I bet it’s the same for many of you.
Fish don’t confuse me, at least not as often as people do. They are reasonably predictable when it comes to fly-fishing. If they want to know if something is edible, they put it in their mouth.1
Fly-fishing is about getting fish to think what I’m offering them is worth putting in their mouth. Pretty straight forward proposition as far as I’m concerned. They eat it or they don’t. When they don’t, I don’t take it personally. I don’t ascribe an ulterior motive, or some such, to their action. I don’t worry that they didn’t like what gear I used, the car I drove, where I went to school or what job I have. What they saw, if they saw it at all, didn’t justify the effort to put it in their mouth. End of story.
Fishing takes me away from people for the most part. Or at least away from people I don’t want to be around. It takes me to places, wondrous places, where fish are likely to be.2 When I’m there, the fish aren’t confusing.
Which got me thinking about confusing people, like the first person who ate a raw oyster. Who thought that was a good idea? I love oysters by the way, so hat’s off to that culinary pioneer.
There is no better justification for fishing than Traver’s Testament of a Fisherman.
Your motto should be, Brookies rule.
Tom- thanks for sharing this. Admittedly, the few times I went trout-fishing, a 5-year old schooled me on proper baits to use. I had those horrible orange balls that even the fish were smart enough to ignore. But a 5-year old stepped out with five fish he caught. Showed them to me ... and taught me to grab a live grasshopper. And once we did that: well, let's just say, "It was about to go DOWN!" :)