Editing 3179: Fishing

{{comic
| number    = 3179
| date      = December 10, 2025
| title     = Fishing
| image     = fishing_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x500px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = 'That's definitely above the catch-and-release size minimum for planetesimals.' 'I'm going to throw it back anyway.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A FISH WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE SUN. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Beret Guy]] are fishing in the middle of a body of water, and Beret Guy has hooked a rock. Similarly to the common meme that sees people catching objects such as boots and shopping carts, he exclaims that it "feels like a big one". Fishers may judge the size of a fish by the amount of resistance they feel on the line, using their judgement of what a given mass and power of fish feels like when submerged and resisting the leverage of their fishing rod, and non-fish objects that are 'hooked' (especially those stuck in the sediment at the bottom) can seem to be reacting like a proper catch. (Also, the boat would be pulled down when reeling, so they could only tell that their downward pull is greater than the boat’s buoyancy.) In this case, though, Beret Guy can apparently feel that it must be "at least 10<sup>24</sup> kilograms" — that is, an object with a size in the order of that of the {{w|Earth}} in its entirety, whose mass can be estimated at approximately 6.0&#8239;×&#8239;10<sup>24</sup> kilograms (~1.31&#8239;×&#8239;10<sup>25</sup> pounds). It would be unlikely that this could be confused with a fish.

This kind of "hook it and pull on the line" procedure could be used in weightless conditions, without a dense medium in the way (e.g. in space in a vacuum, or inside a spacecraft), to estimate the mass of a low-gravity object. That would be based on observing how much mutual inward acceleration was created by the measured force applied. The method would only be effective if the object wasn't too much more massive than the person (and their space suit / ship / etc.) doing the measurement.

Catch-and-release sizes restrict what sizes of catch of various species can be kept, generally to protect stocks. There may be minimum sizes (to protect young fish and ensure that they can reach mature reproductive age) or maximum sizes (to protect existing breeding populations). The title text claims the Earth is large enough to be kept, suggesting that {{w|planetesimals}} ({{w|asteroids}} and {{w|comets}}, for example) might be considered immature, and that they might be expected to eventually grow to 'adult' planet size. Beret Guy is big-hearted enough to want to release the planet back after reeling it in, even though he could keep it, or sportsmanlike, in allowing the catch to be potentially recaught by the next 'lucky' individual.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail and Beret Guy are sitting in a boat floating on a body of water, both holding fishing rods, with Ponytail looking at Beret Guy. One large fish and four smaller fish are seen swimming in the water, with three of the smaller fish in a group. Ponytail's fishing rod is about halfway down to the bottom, while Beret Guy has hooked his fishing line on an outcrop of bedrock overhanging the very deepest part.]
:Beret Guy: It feels like a big one! At least 10<sup>24</sup> kilograms!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Sport]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]