Plus cher que le poisson

Quand l'appât vaut plus cher que le poisson, il vaut mieux arrêter de pêcher // When the bait is worth more than the fish, it's best to stop fishing.

Today's Inktober prompt is "bait", "appât". I looked for some phrases containing the word and google came up with this creole proverb. It was obviously created a goodish while ago, when people fished to eat. Now, if you consider how much an average hobby fisherman spends to catch a fish (the gear, the transportation, the time spent), the input/output ratio is astonishingly high (of course, some of them don't even eat the fish, so we are talking about division by zero here).

I understand it is a pastime, not a way to feed yourself. Still though.

I also remembered one time when we were on a several-days hike in Crimea and met a fisherman fishing for trout in a small stream. He was using red caviar as a bait. I remember being rather puzzled by it.

So, here is the cat fishing. And no creole proverb can possible stop him.