At The Net: Game, Set, And Fish?

At the Net: Game, Set, and Fish?         Sorry Wimbledon fans, this is non intim take inly tennis. It is, how invariably, about opposition -- competition among more distinct competitors and played out on many planes. Some competitions argon purely cerebral while others are brutally natural and usually stop over in death.

        Fishing, wish well life, is a competition: It pits tiltermen against lean, fishermen against the elements of nature, fishermen against predator animals, fishermen against fishermen ( both(prenominal) commercial and sports-fishermen), and, arguably the biggest difference of opinion, fishermen against himself. This is not the laid back, unoccupied afternoon, worm drownin, bobber watchin, or cane pole twitchin diverseness of sportfishing so vividly portrayed in many of Norman Rockwells Kodak moment corresponding paintings. Any American young-begetting(prenominal) over the age of ten can instantly pick out with that Huck Finn variety of fishin. The fishing here is different; it is not for relaxation or pleasure; gone is the tranquil mollification and idyllic calm. This is the daytime to day and hand to hand struggles of commercial unclutter fishing. John Cole and Nancy Lord each offers us a different, notwithstanding insightful, glimpse into this grueling labor intensive existence. The commercial authorise fishermens work is much more than comely their job: It is their way of life: They eat, sleep and fish.

        In fact, course - Sleep - Fish is the sales motto of Skeeter, a circus tent selling brand of fishing boats, it is also the mouth- pissing envisage of a life time of many sport fishing enthusiasts, and is in reality the dreary day in - day out mundane routine of net-setting fishermen. In her metaphorically enriched essay, A Day in The Life, Lord opens her story with a scent out of anticipation, Nights before fishing, Im never really asleep but still wait . . . (Lord 131). The excitement and anticipation of a fishing trip acquire left many of us with eyes huge open and unable to sleep, equal an excited child, bursting with ecstatic anticipation, trying to sleep on Christmas eve while waiting anxiously for Santa. She leaves me with the feeling that food for her is purely for sustenance, having nothing what so ever to do with any semblance of epicurean pleasures, . . . then prove myself a bowl of instant oatmeal (131). She further defines her eat habits with, [I] unwrap a Fluffernutter sandwich, an obscenely high-fat, high sugar, [a] sticky assortment for fishing food (139), and I peel an orange with pass that smell as foul as the insides of my leaking rubber gloves (144). This is only a food plan with any appeal as to content or dining etiquette, yet they seem dead reasonable and rational to the author. The characters in Coles Striper did not serve much better; ... a cup of instant coffee, [and] a piece of toast... and adding: Its the same breakfast every time, and its nothing special, but there arent many other skippers who would do as much (Cole 150). What is it about food and fishermen? I once saw power President Jimmy Carter as the celebrity guest on Tom Manns fishing show; they ended the show by sitting in a brand new, sparkling same a diamond, top of the line, Ranger bass boat and both were sucking eat canned beanie-weenies like there was no tomorrow. Only one character out of both of these stories ate well -- the harbor seal who stole pink-orange by swimming along the net and [biting] out just the odoriferous belly (Lord 137).

        There is the question of ethics. Should net fishing be allowed to continue? Lord describes a roe laden salmon being hauled aboard and ...spills eggs like jewels into the boat (134). This is winning more than just a fish; it is taking that fish and all its future progeny. Both authors address the semipolitical ramifications of net fishing and the peaceful co-existence with sport fishermen: A catch like that on a rod and reel must for certain be a thrill, but the burgeoning sport fishery thats veritable around kings [salmon] threaten those who fish commercially, and ...the ?sports get the main assignation of silvers as well as the kings, and now theyre casting into the political pool for more sockeyes, our money fish (141). Them surfcasters are forever and a day on the beach. They dont like to see us haul seiners down there. Gives them fits if we catch fish and they dont (Cole 156).



Sport fishermen feel justified in their anger and hostility towards commercial fishermen: Commercial fishing nets have no conscience -- they indiscriminately kill all fishes they net; . . . most fish we bring into the boat are already dead; once theyre in the net, the web caught into the gills prevents them from working water through properly to extract oxygen. In fishermens language, the fish ?drown (Lord 135).

        These fishermen, like modern day wader wearing gladiators, are in a fierce dog eat dog battle for the fish they do bring to the net. They battle against Mother constitution in plying their trade in adverse weather conditions; shout out winds, raging seas, bitter cold, freezing rain or toothsome heat. These die-hard fishermen compete with each other to get to the honey-hole commencement and better their chances for a full hold of fresh fish: Ted wants to be first when [the fish] come around. He always wants to be first (Cole 155). They sometimes begrudgingly share their booty with a peckish predator; the seals, sea lions, sharks and whales have to eat too. In these scirmishes between fishermen and their avisaries, death is a reality: Dead fish is the end product of a successful days work. Facing death on a daily basis seems to have desensitized some to its finality. When aware that is brother Smiley had fallen overboard and drown, Ted responded noddingly: It happens, boys. It happens (167).

        For me, Striper presented a bone-chilling and hardheaded account of this way of life. I felt cold and damp, tragicomical and scared, and tired and sore as Cole weaved is story lines together, like the seine nets his characters used. Coles use of stong and vivid imagery established a setting where I felt I was part of the story. Who were the winners in these competitions? I guess it depends on your perspective. Being a regular(prenominal) American male, I routed for the underdogs! Works Cited Murray, John A., ed. The Seacoast Reader. immature York: Lyons Press, 1999.

Lord, Nancy, A Day In The Life. Murray 131-146.

Cole, John, from Striper. Murray 147-170.

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