Fish in the water represent pure potential. If the water is not clear, we do not know if they exist at all. To get them to bite something connected to a line and pull them into our world is managing a birth that brings these creatures from the realm of mysytery into the world of reality. It is a kind of creation.
So how can I hold Tobias’s desperation against him, like I’m better than him, like I’ve never let my own brokenness blind me?