To keep hold of one’s sanity it is sometimes necessary to commune with the primeval; making contact with a dark, slimy tench is one way of escaping from the smoothness of 21st century living. Power, mystery, dignity, beauty; I sat in awe one evening admiring these qualities in the green flanks of the fish while we spent a few moments in each others’ company. As I slipped her back into the warm lake, I wondered which of us had been most out-of-water.