Maybe it’s just the cavewoman/hunter-gather in my, but I am baffled by this “catch and release” fishing. Having a fishhook in your mouth has got to be effing painful, and having it removed (you are removing it, right?) has got to hurt too. I don’t buy the notion that fish don’t feel pain. They can’t scream like we do, but they sure do struggle and I’m not convinced it’s “just reflex” like I’ve been told. On the rare occasion I’ve had to go fishing it’s been to eat what I catch, which means a quick death. I don’t get the appeal of tricking an animal into impaling itself on a hook then yanking it out of the water into an atmosphere it can’t breathe to screw with tearing up it’s mouth to get the hook out, then tossing it back in the water. I mean, what’s the point if you’re going to do that? Why not skip all the trauma to the animal?
Using insects as fish feed has been widely researched, and three years ago there was news about introductory commercial insect feed projects being introduce in the UK and the EU. Here’s an event summary of a seminar that was held on insect feed in Scotland.
https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/insect-farming-scotland-event
I’ve also read articles about the research done by the first speaker, Dr Richard Newton, about his work in creating insect farms as a commercial supply of fish feed.
I think it’s the lack of hunter-gatherer in you. I think it’s fun to catch fish because we are wired to enjoy hunting, and succeeding at catching game. Once you’ve caught the fish, you get that satisfaction. If you aren’t hungry you can release it for another day.
I think bird watching is fun for the same reason. We are exercising mastery of our hunting skills.
Ha! One of the few times I’ve been accused of being civilized! 
No, I think it’s more the lack of animal in me - animals enjoy using their hunting skills and if not hungry may release the prey. A lot of hunter-gatherers have all sorts of rituals around hunting, I think they’re less inclined to hunt for fun.
But I could be wrong, that’s venturing into opinion territory.
I can catch a lot more fish than I can eat. Fishing is fun why would I want to stop when I’ve caught all I can eat? Most of the time when I’m fishing catch and release I’ll remove the barb from the hook. Then it’s just like stabbing them with a needle and it’s very easy to remove.
Again, I see the rationale here although I find being “stabbed with a needle” to be pretty damn painful to at times.
I’ll full admit I don’t get any of this on an emotional level however logical the rest of it is. Maybe if I actually enjoyed the process of fishing I’d get this.
Of course. Maybe you can understand not wanting to go home from a fun evening with friends just because you’re full.
Sure. Like I said, I wandered into opinion territory and fully understand that what I like and what other people like are often two different things.
But if you find yourself in my neighborhood with more fish than you can eat do please remember me.
When I first read your response I didn’t notice part of it was in the quote box.
I’m always happy to share fish particularly with someone who likes to clean and debone.
I don’t understand it either, unless it’s a protected species or a fish that’s not big enough to legally catch.