Do Fishermen Really Tell Lies?

I guess, at the risk of upsetting some friends and readers, that only politicians, car salesmen, and advertisers, have as bad a reputation for telling
pork pies as fishermen; it is a widespread prejudice. The picture of a fisherman, his arms spread wide, extolling the size of the “one that got away”, has become an over-worked cliché. But under the cliché, beyond the ‘lies’, there lurks a possibility.

Fishing, by its very nature, nourishes the imagination ,feeding it with a potent fuel of hope and desire. There we are, rod in hand, waiting for the
big one. At the back of mind is the hope, the picture, the dream, of the big one. The fish so big the negative of the photo will weigh ten kilos. The fish that will earn us the adulation, respect, and envy, of other fishermen.

Suddenly, the line pulls tight. Our quarry races off. The fight is short, or long, depending on the storyteller’s ability, but ultimately it ends in disaster. A disaster indeed.

This fish was the stuff of dreams. No fish pulled harder. No fish pulled line off the reel so fast. No fish put that much of a bend in the rod. Another dream shattered. A vision, hidden by a tyranny of invisibility under the water.

Imagination, desire, is the very basis of dreams. The mystery of the one that got away, is the spark that sets imagination into overdrive. Trouble is, it is not just imagination. We can ‘see’ the lost fish. We can ‘see’ it in every photo in the fishing magazines, on the net, or tackle shop bragging board. We can ‘see’ it in every story of big fish landed. We know our lost fish was the equal, if not bigger, than any fish in the photos.

The disappointment of the loss, is just the beginning. Like all “the one that got away” stories, our story is greeted with skepticism, if not derision. The cliche too strong to ignore for non fishermen. The loss is too close to home for fishermen. The reaction to their stories of losses, is played back as faithfully as a recording. It gets more insidious.

The “one that got away” reaction syndrome,the belief in the saying that ‘all fishermen are born honest, but they soon grow out of it’, extends into actual
capture stories. “Show us the fish.” “Where are the photos?” Catch and release fishermen know this syndrome too well.

In a world of cliches about fishermen, another may not go astray. “We prefer to believe, what we want to be true,” is an old adage, but true nonetheless.
Maybe what is true about our reaction to fishing stories, is that the fish we have not yet caught, breeds a derisive envy, about other’s success. Here may be a case in point. In any group of fishermen fishing together, in a boat, on a rock, in a river, on lake, the success of one or some of the anglers, can
have two broad effects on the unsuccessful anglers. One unsuccessful group will see the other’s success as an encouragement. If they are catching fish, it may be their time soon.