When I was a kid my parents would catch fish off the back of a boat -- just dragging a long line with lures on it across the channel, would catch mackerel which they'd cook and eat... I liked the idea of eating something you'd caught, but really don't like fish.
We'd end up in various marinas and harbours around France for the summer, and I fishing a great way to pass the time while they sunbathed allll day long. There was one recently built marina in France filled with stupidly easy to catch crabs. Since I didn't intend to kill/eat/do anything with the crabs, I used a hook too big for a crab to swallow, and rely on them being dumb enough to hang onto it trying to get the bait off while I pulled them out of the water and dumped them in a bucket to admire. Most marina crabs are wise to this -- Guernsey has ninja crabs that can get the bait off the hook in a second.
I did like to fish too though, though I never caught any actual fish. There'd almost always be some locals around fishing, and they'd occasionally catch stuff. But the trick to actually catching things was patience -- and that was dull. I just endlessly perfected my casting technique -- cast, reel in, cast, reel in.... for hours. A couple of times I just really wanted to catch _something_ so left baited hook in the water with the line attached to the boat, then entertained myself elsewhere. Both times I did that I ended up with Conger Eels, which are surprisingly strong, have teeth, and are always very pissed off. The second time, my parents were yet again helping me to get the hook out of its mouth - it was thrashing all over the place. It got loose from them and got tangled on the cockpit floor in the fishing line. The line was cutting into it as it struggled. My parents obviously chopped up the line to get it free -- but it did quite a bit of damage to itself in just a few seconds. It was pretty disturbing, and there was a lot of eel blood all over us, and the floor. It wouldn't have been so bad if we'd killed it and eaten it... or even if I'd had fun catching it, but as it was it was just pointless suffering inflicted. I went back to practising my cast....
So I suck at fishing, but I see the appeal. Fish Friday Thread!!
I'm having a bit of 6-APB tonight. It's fun
