fallfromgrace

Actually, here's a real entry.

I kind of realize why my birth father insisted on teaching me to fish. The parallels between it and dating are undeniably evident.

First, a lot of dating and fishing is just waiting for a bite. And sure, there's a lot of bait choices, but it really all depends on how the fish feels.

All you can do is apply bait and cast. There'sreally know way of "knowing" what's going on beneath the surface. You just have to feel for the bite, which is tricky.

When you do get a bite, it isn't usually enough to hook your quarry. You have to tease, taunt... Make the fish want it.

Then there's the struggle. Sometimes, you get one, but they break away. Sometimes, you think you have one hooked and they weren't. It's painful for the fish and time consuming for you to reel in and get set up again.

Finally, if you do manage to get a fish, you won't know what you have until you pull them out. Maybe they are a "keeper". Sometimes, it wasn't the fish you wanted, so you have to dehook it, which is painful no matter what, even if you are gentle, and then toss it in, wondering if it will just die soon from your handling.

You can spend and entire day waiting for a bite that can never come. Some people enjoy the sport so much that they'd play "catch and release" all day if they could. Other people hate the sport because they have bad luck, it's time consuming, or there's too much mess involved.