I did some horrible things to fish over the last couple of days, but it’s OK, I have a license. I needed it for the two day canoe trip down the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers that I just took with some friends and our sons (more on the trip in a later posting when I have photos to share).
I didn’t need a license to take a kayak on the river, I guess any idiot can drift downstream. And I think my new fishing license joins my driver’s license and marriage license as the only things I’m licensed to do, one I did once and one I do daily. Getting my fishing license didn’t require any knowledge, there was no test to pass. It just took $12.50, and I was given a booklet of regulations (I’ll be sure to look at that later).
I probably could use some more skill, I caught only about three fish over two days (a few others ‘got away’, really). My fellow fisherman were much more productive with their rod and reels than I. But it was fun, on the river with my son, putting live minnows on hooks, in hopes of luring something larger onto that hook, only to turn it loose again (we did eat some of them).
The catfish was particularly memorable for the odd barking noise it made. While I don’t claim to talk ‘fish’, it was very apparent what he was saying to me, “Why?? Why are you doing this to me? Get this f-ing hook out of my mouth and put me back in the water you a-hole!”. Not having a good answer, I did what he asked.