nice cats! Nice to see another catter on here. glad to hear that you catch and release more now. Nothing wrong with eating some, just hate to see the monsters end up freezer burnt. plenty of little fellers for that.
For me the fear is rebar and jagged rusty metal. Get hooked on something like that underwater and hope your adrenalin helps rather than hinders you.
Right or wrong I don't fear the snakes, turtles, beavers, muskrats, blue/green algae, leeches, ticks, Mosquitos, or gar very much at all. I have had exposure to most all of these.
Just like anything you fear things you don't understand or can't control. The more I'm around them the more comfortable I get.
I will tell you it makes you feel pretty damn good when you yank a monster out of his layer.
I'm pretty sure it's illegal in Ohio where I do my fishin, I watch those noodling TV shows though, saw some guy get hooked by an old trout line, ouch!!!