It's the LAW

My father was an avid trout fisherman. He liked to hunt and did a lot of that in his younger days, but what he really like to do was fish. I spent many summer days in Montana fishing with my father.

Movies like "A River Runs Through It" and a general misunderstanding of the nature of fishing has produced a lot of "Catch and Release" sentiment which is very popular now. People don't seem to understand that playing a fish until exhaustion is just as detrimental to the fish as catching a fish and eating it. I can't tell you how many times I've been downstream from the "Catch and Release" crowd and seeing dead fish float by... caught by people who kept the fish on the line, played it until it was near death, then released it thinking they were doing the right thing.

My father grew up in another era. In his day, you caught fish to keep them and eat them. And quite frankly, a tasty trout dinner can't be beat. My father was not a fan of the "Catch and Release" crowd and often spent time debating it with the fly fisherman that would frequent the Yellowstone area. They would come in with their expensive ORVIS equipment and fancy tied flies. My father, on the other hand, preferred a regular old night crawler and some sinkers.

One of the most unusual things my father ever said to someone one day, after a debate about "Catch and Release" versus "Catch and Eat" was the following:

"Worm fishin' is FUNNER than fly fishing, and THAT'S A LAW IN THREE STATES."