The Bloodthirsty Angler

So why is it? How come anglers especially salmon anglers need to kill salmon? Now in today's world, with the recent addition of social media, people will jump at the name calling. Neanderthal is a recent virtue signalling word being thrown around.

First of all, everything I talk about, can be brought back to myself. I was brought up around rivers and angling. Personally I built up my whole self esteem through angling. When I caught my first salmon in my early teenage years, I taught I reached the mountain top. Sad as that may seem its the truth.

Angling in its nature is not a hobby or pastime. Its actually a way of supporting your family. It's a way of feeding your kids but in the modern world that has long passed. Today you have a few different type of anglers, this is only seen really in the salmon world but can be seen also in other areas of angling. 

First you have the killer who kills fish only to make money. Its hard to admit but it's true. They might have started out trying to please a father or a father figure but slowly the Blood-thirst became a reality and they realized that they could actually make money form what they catch. They may also actually net rivers and coastlines from time to time, looking for the bumper pay day.

Then you have the perfect anglers, the lads constantly trying to be an upstanding citizen. They may even go about collage in marine science or some wildlife course and get a good job out of it. You will see them on the riverbank with the best of gear telling a story of what could have been. They practice only C&R and are better than most 🤔. That's what they think anyway.

Also you have the fella, struggling, the angler who really wants to catch good fish but just can't get his head together. His gear is a mess but he is likable and a good guy. He is your wanna be angler but sits at a desk-job and craves to be a Neanderthal every now and again. 

River Owenmore, Cloghane, 2022