When ever I think of the month of May, I think of the fishing season opening. It also happens to be Asian Heritage Month, where we celebrate the contributions of Asian people and the diversity of our country.
I figured it would be a good time to touch this topic. I was born here but raised by immigrants. I identify as Canadian and I am proud of being one. However, no matter how hard you try, you never truly escape your blood and your family’s ways. Being of a minority ethnicity will always give you a different experience than a regular mainstream Canadian.
Just to note, I cannot say that my personal experiences reflect all anglers of Asian descent. Within Asia, there are different cultures even within the same country. Someone who lives in Iqaluit is a far different person than someone from Mississauga even though they’re both Canadian. I will say I grew up knowing other Asian kids and to a certain extent there are similarities in our experiences.
Keeping Fish
One of the main stereotypes of Asian anglers is the fact that they keep fish all the time and there is a lack of respect for the resource. Poaching does happen unfortunately whether it’s done knowingly or out of ignorance.
I will say that I (as well as many others) have thought of fishing as a way of sustenance. Like there was almost no point of fishing if you couldn’t keep fish. I pretty much kept what was legal (fortunately I learned not to poach from an early age). These days I still keep fish pretty often but I don’t make all my trips solely around keeping fish. I don’t see a point in stockpiling too many fish in the freezer. I go on many trips where we don’t necessarily aim to bring home fish. Plus selective harvest is important as letting breeding sized fish go back is very important.
One picture that actually hangs in my room is a picture of my 12 year old self holding a 6lb walleye in the kitchen which would get me crucified on social media these days. We used to keep everything, like even drum and bullheads (which actually aren’t as bad as they look).
This does stem back to culture. Often immigrants come from countries that were developing and the conservation culture is just not there. Plus eating fish tends to be more frequent compared to western diets. So even today, when I show off my big fish pictures to relatives, the initial question is “Did you eat it?”. I once took my grandma fishing at our cabin lake in a boat and she scolded me for releasing an 10″ walleye. My family did come from extreme poverty where it was actually quite common to forage for food, fish included. Despite years of living in the west and being in an above average financial situation, old habits don’t die easily.
Eating Fish
Growing up, my family often ate fish steamed with their heads on (and we still do). A lot of westerners find this method quite squeamish as they aren’t used to seeing their dinner look back at them. Plus having to spit bones out at the table which is honestly my least favorite part of eating whole fish. My family often viewed filleting as a waste of meat. There is nothing against eating fish this way, it’s just different. Unfortunately I’ve seen people on social media mock our ways of eating fish or were completely unwilling to try. Even saw posts about not wanting to eat fish cooked whole as it would give Covid.
The very first time I’ve actually ate a fried walleye was when I got to work up north at a fishing lodge. They held a staff shore lunch so I got to eat the classic shore lunch. That was only a few years ago. I ended up learning how to fillet fish when I became a guide and I had to practice many times before I could do it well. While I can’t eat fried fish too often, at least I learned how to spice up our meals at home.
Overall being from an Asian household has taught me that people eat their fish differently. It’s actually great that I know of quite a few different ways to eat fish now. Somedays I’d like a beer batter walleye while other times I want a simple fish congee when I’m not feeling too well.
The Touchy Topic
It’s an unfortunate fact that minorities are not always viewed favorably in the fishing community. Oftentimes I’ve encountered relatives or people on the bank that have fulfilled the stereotypes of showing poor etiquette. Even for myself, I don’t think highly of other Asian anglers until I get to know them better. Having been on fishing social media for years, I’ve seen quite a bit of open racism. Covid didn’t help either.
Ignorance does play a part. Some people legitimately have little exposure to people of different ethnicities. To an extent people will not know what the acceptable boundaries are. We’ve all made distasteful jokes at one point. Definitely I’ve met people who have said things that were offensive but without malicious intent. It’s even harder online as sarcasm doesn’t translate well.
Now for myself, I will say that I’ve not actually experienced a noticeable amount of discrimination in the fishing community. People see that I fish with expensive gear and speak English with zero accent. If there were any preconceptions, it disappears quickly. I will say I do sense that there are people out there who don’t like the sight of visible minorities succeeding in angling. Though these are a very small minority of people at best. However I can’t deny that it does have an impact to a certain degree.
The best thing to do is to simply not care about what other people think of you. Despite it being a lesson I preach, I will admit it can be hard to follow that advice at times.
Escaping My Blood
It always feels like there is a point when growing up as a minority that you question whether you should be proud of your background or you want to escape it. It’s an internal struggle as you don’t truly identify with your ethnicity but you’re different from other people around you. I find this video very relatable.
As I began fishing, I was immediately aware of negative stereotypes our people faced. In fact it was a reason why I focused so hard on fishing as in a sense I felt like I had to prove myself that Asians can fish like anyone else. I didn’t want to be like all those other Asians who only fished the shores of the Red River with a pickerel rig. To this day, I hate using pickerel rigs unless I have to.
I really didn’t like the fact that many of my peers were more successful academically like a stereotypical Asian kid. I embraced fishing because it was something I could be proud of and it would be an edge over other kids. That way I wouldn’t have to focus on the fact that my mom’s friend’s kid managed to get a Masters degree in the time I finished my Bachelor degree. Coming from an Asian background means that you frequently get compared with your peers and I hated that.
In the end, I decided against building an online identity that would place emphasis on my heritage. For example, I gave this blog the most neutral name possible. There were thoughts that there would be people who wouldn’t take a give a fishing blog a read if they knew immediately that an Asian was behind it all.
Fishing definitely played a big part of the identity crisis of straddling between two cultures. Over time, I learned to be proud of certain aspects of my heritage but there are parts I don’t like as well.
Final Words
Well that was a lot of weight off the shoulders. I didn’t think I would ever touch this subject but here we are.
Overall, I had some unique experiences throughout my fishing career due to my background. It’s interesting to see how fishing was affected by my heritage. I’m sure that many anglers are influenced by their own background and there’s nothing wrong with that. In the end, fishing is a damn hard sport and we’ll all struggle to be good at it.
Thanks for reading this piece and reflecting on Asian Heritage Month.
