The Saddest Fish Ever!

  We catch a lot of different types of fish from the pier.  Obviously, the Bay and Bayou are good fishing spots as the waters supply us with a steady supply of good eating!  There are a few different fish that I just toss back in the water.  A stingray is one of those lucky ones that gets to see another day.  This is not because I am partial to the rays more that I do not wish to clean them.  So, I unhook the stingrays and let them go free unlike a lot of other fishermen.  A lot of folks treat the rays like they do snakes....kill all of them!  I never could figure out the reasoning behind this so unless I am going to eat something...it lives.

  The stingrays have always fascinated me anyway.  Not many folks take the time to "get to know" their fish.  I am far too curious.  I want to see what "the bad end" of a stingray looks like and what is down its throat and why there are so many different holes and crevasses in the critter.  I still have not figured out that last one!  But, I do look at everything I catch and I have just about decided that a stingray is the saddest fish ever!  Not so much from the top but if you flip one over on its back, it has a "face" (that is not really a face at all but looks like one to me.)   That face seems to be an upside down "smiley face".  The fish has a permanent "down in the dumps" look about it.  I mean, the little joker is cute as a bug but it sure must be forlorn.  Poor, sweet baby....maybe that is why I toss them back in the water.  That little "face" tugs at the heartstrings.  Live and let live.