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The Greatest Episodes Of Big Game Fishing In Great Books
Written by Max Cecena   
Tuesday, 13 April 2010 07:37
Big game fishing is something that has captured the imagination of the country for centuries. Fishing itself is thought to be a relaxing sport, but one quick look at someone trying to reel in a shark or fighting marlin dispels this notion; it can be really exciting and exhausting too! Authors of classical literature have not overlooked this dramatic side to the sport, and have often included instances of it in their work.
by MaxCecena


Big game fishing is something that has captured the imagination of the country for centuries. Fishing itself is thought to be a relaxing sport, but one quick look at someone trying to reel in a shark or fighting marlin dispels this notion; it can be really exciting and exhausting too! Authors of classical literature have not overlooked this dramatic side to the sport, and have often included instances of it in their work.

The most obvious example might be Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". In this novel, an old sailor named Ahab becomes obsessed with the great white whale that took his leg in a previous encounter. Despite that he has both a wife and child, he has no desire in the world other than to find and kill Moby Dick.

Over the course of the novel, one learns a great deal about whaling and the kind of people who might take part in it. On the other hand, though, the real thrust of the novel is Ahab's obsession and the depths to which it takes him and the rest of the crew. A nice reminder that life shouldn't be squandered on a singular obsessive search, no matter the object.

A little bit later, in the 20th century, we get Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea". This story is close to the hearts of many people because Hemingway, who was a fisherman himself for many years, imbues the story not just with exciting details of the trade, but also a great deal of insight into the character of the old man, one of the most heroic figures in modern literature.

And he does. One day he hooks into a massive marlin, but he cannot overpower it. All he can do is remain hooked to the beast, fighting its efforts to free itself, until at last it becomes exhausted and he can row it in. For days and nights, he hangs on, and we get a glimpse of just how much something like fishing can define and underline a human life.

Even the Bible chimes in with its own fishing story, and it too is a pretty good one. When the prophet Jonah hears the call of God, he attempts to shirk his duty by buying passage on a fishing vessel headed far away from his homeland. During the course of the voyage though, things do not go as planned.

Along the way, of course, the ship faces a host of obstacles and troubles, and soon the sailors realize that Jonah's presence is responsible and they throw him overboard. Then, a fish turns the tables on the fishermen by swallowing Jonah whole, and he is condemned to spend the next great while in the belly of the beast, praying for mercy from the angry God he rebuked.

In the end, of course, just as Jonah is redeemed from the whale, so too does literature help to redeem big game fishing from its reputation as a purely relaxing or brutish sport. Instead, in the hands of capable authors, it becomes a thing of beauty, a grueling contest not just between man and nature, but between man and his own limitations.

About the Author:

Are you thinking about taking-up big game fishing as your next hobby? Check out our online guide to big game rods for the inside scoop on amongst others Daiwa fishing rods.
 
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