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I’ve come to learn that on-line dating is a lot like fishing. Now, I lay no claim to being some kind of master angler, but I have spent a great many enjoyable hours just watching a cork bob on top of the water.

Just sitting and watching your float is quite therapeutic. I would compare it with sitting and staring at a fire. Either way, your thoughts are free to drift where they may. I digress

I will now attempt to correlate fishing and on-line dating

We’ve all been beginners when it comes to fishing. You might recall the anticipation of that first fishing experience. It’s a big event in a young person’s life and I don’t think I’m overstating my position if I add that it can be life-changing. What’s that old adage? “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime.” Isn’t that so true on so many levels? But, I digress.

I don’t know about you, but the first time I went fishing, I didn’t know a thing about it except that, if the “bobber”, as some people call it, meant that fish was as good as on the table. Well, naturally, every time the water rippled around that float I would give the rod a mighty pull and, of course, reel in absolutely nothing. Well, when one is a beginner in the on-line dating game, our reactions are much the same.

 

Now, I know most people have never tried on-line dating, so for your edification let me give you a very fast run-down on how it works. I’ll be brief. When you are on one of the thousands of dating site, you are free to look at pictures of the ladies you hope to meet and, if one is lucky, want to meet you. Well, because of the way the site is set-up, you know right away of someone has even so much as looked at your pictures. Well, that’s the same as that ripple in the water “you’ve ‘erd tell about.” You’re going to want to try and set the hook right away. You’re going to pull up nothing but the bait you started out with. That’s lesson number 1.

 

Now, after you’ve been fishing for a while, you learn to calm down and start really learning how to fish, that’s the key here; calm down. Enjoy the ripples for what they are and take your time. With experience, you might even decide to go fishing for some specific fish. There are those that like to fish for bass. Still others prefer pulling in a big redfish. Let’s not overlook the cane pole aficionado that enjoys hooking a big, ugly catfish. If my track record is any indication, I must prefer barracuda. Calm down. That’s lesson #2.

Ever watch one of those fishing shows where they expert hauls in something that might look nice on a wall or something like that, but he takes it off the hook and releases it back into the water? Well, friends, as cold as it may sound, that’s a part of on-line dating. See? It’s like this: You cast your line out and something hits it! It’s really putting up a fight and you’re all excited. You finally get it reeled in to find that it’s a gar fish. Well, that’s fine, but you were fishing for trout. Stick to your guns. Let the gar go its merry way Lesson # 3 – Don’t think you have to keep everything you catch.

Finally, you need to know this: There will always be at least one that will get away. There’s not much you can do if you’re the one that released back into the wild. You may not be everyone’s “Catch of the Day.” Get over it and move on.

Have you ever been fishing and thought you had a bite, but you reeled in your line to find a turtle munching on the bait. Yea, get used to it. A few times I thought I really had a prize catch on the line only to discover that the beautiful trout I thought was on the end of the line turned out to be a snapping turtle. Let me be succinct. There are a lot of snapping turtles out there and you’re going to encounter a lot of them on-line. Don’t even try to take them off the hook. Just cut the line and move on.

One last point to make about all this dating stuff; remember that all the people you are meeting are fishing too. To someone out there you may be the catch of the day. Then again, you could just be the turtle that steals the bait. Then again, you could find yourself in a frying pan before you realize that the bait is just a rubber worm.

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