Describe the fish.

The fish is very ugly. It is described in such detail to
give us a sense of its identity and therefore its value. The fish has been caught before
and has, on five previous occasions, broken the line and gotten away. It is a fish of
almost legendary prowess in the battle with its human enemies. The action of the fish is
abrupt, but in the light of the fish’s unusual passivity (a fish hooked and pulled out
of water fights and wiggles desperately) and its almost Olympian refusal to meet its
captor’s eye, release is the only appropriate act. Letting the fish go signifies both
the speaker’s respect for this old fighter and her realization that to have caught the
fish is victory and achievement enough.