###IF I'M NOT ###FISHING, ###I'M THINKING ###ABOUT IT A retrospective on popular entertainment by Dr. Jessica Herrington (set: $lt1 to "< =")(set: $lt2 to "= >") &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->quote]]Jag går och fiskar oo~oo~oo Och tar en tyst minut Jag går ut, ut och fiskar oo~oo~oo En chans att andas in Andas ut &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Per Gessle [[$lt1->title]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->tianyuan]]###40,000 BCE ####THE TIANYUAN MAN In 2007 researchers found 34 bone fragments belonging to an early modern human near Beijing, China. This is considered the earliest known case of a human with a fish-based diet. Today, it's hard to imagine what the world would be like without this culinary mastermind. [[$lt1->quote]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->bass]]###1997 ####SEGA BASS FISHING The next innovation in fish-based technology came in 1997, when Sega Bass Fishing appeared in arcades. This was the oldest fishing video game i could remember, and thus most likely the first one. You play as an unnamed, but very stylish, protagonist fishing for bass around Lake Paradise. The choice to focus on a single type of fish is something we see mirrored in many fishing subcultures to this day. [[$lt1->tianyuan]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->minigame]]###1998 ####THE RISE OF FISHING MINIGAMES While some fishing minigames had been spotted in the preceding years (Link's Awakening, Breath of Fire, Pokémon), it was Sega Bass Fishing that truly revived humanity's interest in the noble sport. The following year saw both Ocarina of Time and Sonic Adventure include fishing as a central activity in otherwise combat-centric adventure games, followed by other iconic titles like Animal Crossing, Dark Cloud, Okami. [[$lt1->bass]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->2010]]###2010 ####THE RISE OF FISHING MINIGAMES The 2010s started strong with deep and engaging fishing systems in games like Nier and Yakuza 3, but we soon saw a decline in fish-based minigames. There were a few notable exceptions, of course, with indie games like Stardew Valley and One Night At Castle Snackerel, but overall a sharp downward trend. At the same time, more people started thinking about the environment, became interested in learning real, physical skills, and many began returning to nature. Not many returned to fishin, specifically, but we believe this trend still laid the groundwork for what was to come. [[$lt1->minigame]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->omori]]###2023 ####Takahiro Omori The early 2020s saw growing interest in fishing, but the true boom didn't come until June of 2023 when competitive angler Takahiro Omori caught seven sharks in a row during a televised fishing tournament. Every sport has at some point seen a great competitor, pulling the eyes of the entire world to their little subculture. Fishers finally got an icon in Omori, the Shark King. And suddenly everyone was fishing. All over the world people were buying rods and heading out to catch those most noble of creatures. in 2025 fishing.wikia.com became the 3rd most visited site of the year as people applied modern organizational techniques to an ancient activity. [[$lt1->2010]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->bass revolution]]###2026 ####SBFR2:LLC After a few years, with fishing still more popular than ever, media companies were forced to realize that this was no passing fad. While film studios were quick to start releasing movies about heroic fishers, the game industry struggled to recapture the magic of classic fishing gameplay. A great new fishing game was finally released in Sega Bass Fishing Revolution 2: Legend of Lake Champion But it was already too late. All those who once would have flocked to such a deep, polished game were now engrossed in something much deeper. There were a few more major attempts, but when they all fell flat the games industry was forced to admit defeat. [[$lt1->omori]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->bluefintunaisoverparty]]###2027 ####`#`bluefinTunaIsOverParty Among the earliest fish to develop a large-scale fandom was the bluefin tuna. With its going rate of up to $7 million per fish, it became a highly sought-after target despite its size and incredibly swimming speed. Fans of the 500 pound "queen of the tunas" congregated in the tens of thousands on sites like Twitter and Gumble, posting so-called 'fancams' and declaring their love. Fans of other popular fish (who often feuded with the bluefin army) finally got their way in 2029 when the IUCN Red List categorized the species as Critically Endangered and placed a blanket ban on hunting it. Following this announcement, the hashtag `#`bluefinTunaIsOverParty trended on major social media platforms for 20 consecutive days. [[$lt1->bass revolution]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->AFCQ]]###2033 ####Kraken In late 2033, new yorker Sofia Bombolina became the first person in modern history to catch an epic-level fish: kraken. Bambolino said in interviews that his accomplishment was built on years of work by theorists on the epicmode.glub forums. This set off a huge boom of people racing to become the second epic-level fisherman, and just four months later the loch ness monster was hooked by net fishing experts the Morrison Brothers. About a dozen Confirmed Epics have been caught in the years since, but the scientific community theorizes there could still be up to a hundred varieties still out there. [[$lt1->AFCQ]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->fish go]]###2029 ####Awesome Fish Caught Quick In its fourth year of running, the speedfishing event "Awesome Fish Caught Quick" became the most succesful charity event of all time. The previous record was broken during a run by spearfisher Salm0Nite in the "chum salmon boatless" category, by an anonymous $50 donation. The message read as follows: "Boatless hype! shoutout to Sal and the entire chum salmon community, you guys are the best. Let's catch those fish and kick cancer's butt. Money goes towards the Dumbo Octopus donation incentive" [[$lt1->bluefintunaisoverparty]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->kraken]]###2035 ####The Most Valuable Catch By 2035, millions of people were using the augmented reality system Fish/Great Octopus while fishing every day. On September 17th, while streaming to a small audience, a young girl in Mumbai caught the ultra-rare Gold Hammerhead, Bridal Ver. This variety had never been seen before, outside of promotional material, and soon sold for 3.3 billion Indian Rupee (approx. $46 million) While F/GO and other similar "fishing games" have grown even more popular in the three years since, nothing quite so valuable has been caught again. We're sure it's only a matter of time though. Isn't this a wonderful fishing life? [[$lt1->kraken]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [[$lt2->end]]###IF I'M NOT ###FISHING, ###I'M THINKING ###ABOUT IT An imagined future of popular entertainment by Em Lindqvist thanks for reading <3 [[$lt1->fish go]] [[Title Screen->title]]