Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg

There's something truly primordial about our fear of being eaten. Death, of course, visits all of us in one form or another, and most folks eventually come to grips with the idea that our life will end and the world will go on without us. But getting eaten. . . damn. The prospect conjures up all sorts of nasty images, and it doesn't seem to matter whether it's a shark or a crocodile or a grizzly bear with its teeth in our guts. It's an ugly business, pure and simple.

When you take the time to think about it, our general aversion to being chomped actually extends beyond our own flesh, encompassing not only our loved ones and our pets but, surprisingly, a wild cutthroat trout whose sole tenuous attachment to our lives is through a 6-weight fly line on a gorgeous British Columbia river. The Elk River, say, in southern BC. You could almost say that while he's on our line, that trout is under our protection. It's supposed to be a fair contest between man and fish. Remember Michaleen, from the great John Wayne film, "The Quiet Man?"

"Gentlemen, if you please. This is a private fight. The Marquess of Queensbury rules will be observed on all occasions. . . Non-belligerents will kindly remain neutral."