Kitten of the Sea

As I mentioned in a previous post, despite a lot of preparation and homework, I had a heckuva time landing my first fish. No matter what I tried, I was just a wannabe fisherman. Then, after years of struggling, suddenly, there he was! I hauled a pretty big smallmouth bass into the boat two weeks ago. What changed, I asked myself?

Not long before my triumphant fishing expedition, the animal rights organization PETA (People for the Eccentric Treatment of Animals) had started a PR campaign involving the oppressed piscine population. They wanted to remind people how cute fish are (like the cuddly guy pictured above) and start fish on the road to being fully-engaged, taxpaying members of society.

I must say, though, that the part of their campaign that affected me the most was their insistence that fish now be referred to as "Sea Kittens." I paid little attention at the time, but I think a seed had been planted -- perhaps subconsciously -- by their clever maneuver. Up until then, I had been INTELLECTUALLY engaged in the pursuit, but not viscerally. When I would think of a captured fish, my digestive juices did not begin to flow. My salivary glands did not work overtime. I didn't have the immediacy, the focus of the subsistence hunter and gatherer.

But the PETA campaign changed all that. Who hasn't had their mouth water at the thought of a breaded, broiled, sauteed or steamed kitten. With hush puppies. And some cole slaw. The next time I went out I was ... I WAS PUMPED! And the result was ... a smallmouth bass.

Thanks PETA!

P.S. I released the bass, so PETA's important work is not entirely done.