I’m not sure how I feel about this one.
Frabill VP of marketing Jeff “Kolo” Kolodzinski will attempt July 30 to beat his own Guinness World Record for the most fish caught in a 24-hour period. According to a press release on the event, that means he’ll have to hook and release more than 1,680 fish.
The attempt is being held in conjunction with a fun-raising event for Fishing for Life, an organization focused on promoting outdoor activities – especially fishing – as lifelong passions among kids.
It’s a good group to back, but part of me cringes at the idea of the massive hooking-fest that I suspect the record attempt will be.
I don’t want to dismiss Kolodzinski’s ability as an angler; that’s a lot of consistency to keep the fish biting for that long. But as someone who approaches hunting and fishing with an eye to their roots – methods for clawless, toothless humans to prey on food species – I don’t feel good about hooking, fighting and landing that many fish. Odds are a few will swim away injured, possibly seriously.
Catch-and-release fishing has its role in the sport, I firmly believe. It would horribly wasteful to kill every too-small or wrong-species catch, and when done right, the practice can produce bigger lunkers in a given body of water.
But where’s the sport in hooking that many fish at once? Where’s the connection to the core – the soul if you will – of what fishing is supposed to be about?
Catch a big fish. Go to some out-of-the-way place and hook a species you’ve never seen, caught or tasted before. Prepare the catch with respect, and dine with joy. But don’t turn this food-harvesting activity into a numbers game, or a publicity stunt.
That’s a little soulless, it seems to me.