Fish, the other other white meat

Ever since I found out we were moving to Bermuda, I've thought about fishing. Tried buying a rod at Outdoor World the last day the movers were at our house in Bolingbrook, but they didn't sell saltwater stuff. Didn't buy a rod the first five months we were here cuz they seemed a lil expensive, and I'm against supporting Bermuda businesses. Weird thing is I don't even like fishing. I think my mom's whole "it's cruel to the fish" thing rubbed off on me. Saddest part is I used to go with Randy and his dad, and they bought me a tackle box and some fishing stuff for my 13th birthday. I kept it all the way up until June of last year. Cam ended up selling it at the garage sale when we were clearing out my mom's place for the renters. I kept it for over 17 years and then got rid of it 4 months before I actually needed it!

I tried fishing with Ben's gear about a month ago. I see all these fish just swimming off our pier. Figured I could catch a ton of fish. It'd be like "shooting fish from a barrel" rite? Wrong. You know why your parents used to always tell you to eat fish if you wanna be smart? Cuz fish are smart! Those damn fish would just nibble away at the squid off my hook. Ate an entire squid without touching my hook. Didn't catch jack.

Anyways, finally ordered a saltwater rod from Outdoor World and had it shipped to Chicago. Bought a ton of other gear from their store in Bolingbrook and brought it all back with me. Basically told a sales guy I knew absolutely nothing about fishing and asked him to help me pick out the right stuff. So today I decide to go back out on the pier with my own tools and have another go at it. Didn't use the rod, just the extra spindle line thing I bought and threw a sinker and hook on it. Don't even know how to properly tie that stuff on.

First couple attempts ended up same as before. Fish would just nibble away at the squid and avoid the hook. But then, on my third or fourth try, got a bite from one of the bigger fish. And it stayed on the hook! I excitedly pull it up. It's an ugly ass looking fish. Green with red horizontal stripes. Small sucker too. Barely a foot long, if even. Actually started to put it back in the water but then decided not to. It's my first fish! I've been dying to cook fish ever since Taiwan. Got a buncha recipes but no fish to cook with. And I was determined to cook fish I caught on my own.

So now I'm here, sitting in the den, writing this blog while dinner sits in the kitchen sink. Now I remember why I don't like fishing. You kill an animal. They're easy enough to catch and plenty easy to eat, but what about all that's in between! How am I gonna prep this thing?! I think I hafta scale it, which means I hafta touch it! It's eyes will be staring up at me..."why did you kill me, Jim? I'm not even big enough for an appetizer. I had a family. I had my whole life ahead of me." And it's freaking ugly! It's like an alien fish. I don't even think I can bring myself to eat it after it's cooked. It'll be like trying to eat frog legs. How do you even scale a fish!?

It's kinda like those movies where the guy's supposed to kill someone, but he ends up meeting him and hanging out with him and ends up liking him. It ends up being a conflict of interest. He can't do it anymore. There's this bond. The fish and I have a bond. I took it's life. Am I gonna be an even bigger dick and eat him now? Wouldn't it be worse if I don't eat it? Ugh. FML.

So now I'm just dragging out this post, trying to delay the day when I hafta go into that damn kitchen and look into the eyes of the fish who's life I took for my own pleasure. WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO?!

[edit] Sandy asked around. Apparently the fish I caught is called a slippery dick fish. No joke. Figures.