An embarassing confession

[sm2k]

I'm quite serious.

[beadleech]

Uh-huh....

donald

[Jeremy]

sm,
Wierd isn't it...this fear? I'm sure you can mentally understand it's a silly thing to be afraid of. Does nothing to dispell the anxiety though.

How about this...think about it a whole lot. The silliness of it, irrational fear. I mean it's not like being afraid of an animal that "could" harm you. So..it's irrational.

Try...to get some experience handling them. Slowly it (might) help you get around this. Kind of like being afraid to get on a bus with people all around. Keep at it. Some time it's got to let up. It does take courage.

You'll never like it but you can get by it enough to not get so anxious. And, I applaud you for posting your fears. It's not easy to "come out"...seriously!! It takes guts.

I personally have this (loathing) of grasshoppers. And I need to capture some to ref. the colors of th eundersides etc. This week sometime. I"m tying some...and I"ve put it off for a week already.

Ya ain't alone here.

Do 'hoppers have teeth? Anyone?

(I just HATE the struggles and the 'spit' and the FEEL of the damn things....)

Lets face it sm..we're both a coupl'a wussies.........*BG*

Jeremy.

[This message has been edited by Jeremy (edited 21 June 2006).]

[sm2k]

I figured out a very long time ago that it was easier to just admit my phobia instead of trying to hide it. After all, it's pretty difficult to make intentionally losing a fish look real...especially when trying to lose a big lipped fish since they don't seem to wriggle free very easily.

I don't even mind getting teased about it anymore because I can certainly appreciate that it's pretty silly. I'm not sure that I've ever run across somebody who was afraid of suckers. A few people have "tested" me, and the results were not pretty (unless yelping, flailing arms, and running away are attractive).

The main reason that I want to get over it is because it's a ridiculous weakness that at times can interfere with fishing. If a fish is playing like a whitefish or sucker then I don't fight it properly because I'm more concerned about getting a look at it than landing it. I've probably lost some fat browns because of this. It can also be expensive sacrificing flies, and it's certainly not sporting.

[sm2k]

Big bugs scare me a bit too. Not in the same way though. I was checking for signs of salmon flies this weekend and picked up a carcass that was attached to a piece of grass. They're pretty nasty looking and wouldn't want them crawling all over me, but they don't produce the same level of fear in me.

I couldn't get within inches of a dead whitefish without feeling extreme terror.

[nick0danger]

greyling are much like trout, there mouths are large and do not look like a suction cup, whities kindof do but dont scare me SUCKERS DO.

here is a link to a good pick [url=http://thinkoss.homelinux.org/index.php?currDir=./06-05-06&pageType=image&image=IMG_3284.jpg:aaa10]http://thinkoss.homelinux.org/index.php?currDir=./06-05-06&pageType=image&image=IMG_3284.jpg[/url:aaa10]

[sm2k]

Yeah I could probably handle a grayling. I've never caught one. They look a lot more like a whitefish than a trout though. Visible scales, goofy looking heads, etc. I bet it'd look like a whitefish on the line so even if I have caught one, I might not have known it.

Actually, after looking at some pictures online, I think that a lot of the whitefish I've hooked have been mountain suckers and white suckers. I don't get close enough to any of them to check though.

[FlyFishinRick]

Now I know why I broke my 6wt. rod on a carp! When my hand HAD to go close to his mouth, he kicked, I freaked, rod point went high, got converted unintentionally into a three piece! Maybe I have the same fear... (and Diane hit it on the head what happened to me!)

[JeffHamm]

There are two main forms of treatment for phobias (which this is basically). The quickest is called flooding, and it's rather unpleasant. Basically, you get intense exposure to the item of your fear (ie. suckers) until you become so tired from the fear that you end up being unable to maintain that emotion, eventually become angry, but after a few of these kinds of "sessions", the phobia is usually cured. And by "intense" I'm talking things like "if you are phobic of small places, then you might be locked in a closet", with suckers, then you might be tied to a chair and a bunch of them placed on your lap so you can't get them off and they are put back if you shake them off, etc. The danger of this kind of treatment is that if you do not continue right through to the final exhaustion phase then you can just increase the fear (i.e., make it worse).

The other basic approach is one that people have mentioned; successive approximations. Basically, start off by just thinking of the word sucker (don't think of the image of the fish or anything, just the name). This might make one a bit nervous, so while doing this, practice relaxing at the same time. Slow breaths, get your heart rate down, eyes closed, and relax.

Once that is mastered, and the word "sucker" no longer is fearful, move up a notch. Think of a photograph of a grayling (which isn't as bad as a sucker). Again, practice relaxations until that no longer increases your heatbeat, etc. Then, move on to a photograph of a sucker, repeat the relaxation training, etc.

Basically, each time you "master" the relaxation, move closer and closer to imagining yourself removing the hook from a sucker that you caught.

It's not expected that you move from "stage 1" through to the final "de-hook the sucker" on the first session. It may take some practice each day for a week or more before you move on from just the word sucker.

This method is far more time consuming, but is far less intense in the unpleasantness. Flooding is stressful, unpleasant, and in this case, unnecessary (you do not have to get over your phobia quickly, but it would be nice to eventually not have to worry about what fish is on the end of the line).

- Jeff

[Jonezee]

I vote to put this tread in limbo and revive it around holloween.