"The Death of a Fish" sparked a lively debate. For the record, I don't condemn the angler for killing and keeping the trout to be mounted. In his waders, I might have made the same choice. He was very excited to have caught such a great brook trout, and I congratulated him before he hauled it off to be stuffed.

As I mentioned, in my earlier angling days I kept every fish I caught. I thought that was the idea. When the Bro and the Old Man and I went on those early expeditions, we ate trout until gills began to form. And when I caught my first trophy brookie, I took it straight to Dave Footer for mounting, and his artwork hangs on my office wall.

Somewhere along the line I lost my taste for killing wild things. I gave up hunting after seeing humans shot to pieces in battle. I didn't give up fishing, but I did give up killing fish. There are certainly good arguments for catch-and-keep; John McPhee, one of my favorite writers and the author of The Founding Fish will have none of the catch-and-release business. He catches, he keeps, he eats.

Such fish as the one caught that day will be caught. Some will be killed and grilled, or mounted on a wall, and some will be set free, perhaps to be caught again, or perhaps to spawn a new generation. As someone who prefers to dream that the wild brook trout will endure in our waters, the latter fate seems vastly preferable to the eat-or-stuff options.

Again, I fully understand the thrill of catching such a fish, and the desire to possess it beyond the moment. But -- also again -- the death of a magnificent wild animal is a sad and diminishing thing to see.