To truly take hold, sometimes one has to let go. It’s quite an amazing feeling really, and likely changes with every angler who commits the act. For some, the act of fishing itself is driven by the need to provide, to gather perhaps. I for one, don’t eat trout so I’m bound to release them. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve kept a handful over the years and tried to enjoy them but I am always left underwhelmed. The ‘catch and release’ ethos has been with me since a very early age, maybe 5 or 6 years old. One of my most cherished activities was to catch frogs, tadpoles and lizards. With the latter, I would catch, study and let them go. With larger blue-tongued lizards, I would pick the parasitic ticks from their body then have them gorge berries and grasshoppers from my hand before placing them back into their homes. Even back then, the satisfaction gained from letting go was enormous. Much like having a fish bleed from the gills, I occasionally had the odd lizard shed its tail, which would leave me gutted every time. Ironic then, that the very things that I keep letting go, keep me coming back to risk it all again.