Some fish are likely smarter than others. I long ago read that the average largemouth bass is smarter than the average bass fisherman. I don't know much about bass fishing, so I can't say one way or the other. What most fish are is wary. Evolution reinforces that. Fish that lack wariness are more easily preyed upon than fish that are wary. The reason an individual fish may be caught repeatedly is because they have to forage for food. Evolution forces fish to choose between foraging and hiding from predation (being wary).

If Rich G's time at college was a waste of time, either he took the wrong classes, didn't apply himself to the classes he did take, or simply wasn't college material. It's not for everyone, but most people benefit from the educational opportunity. My own path through college was a long and winding one. I had no money, so had to drop out to work, drop back in, which often put me at the end of the line to sign up for classes after all the most popular or most needed classes were filled. So I ended up taking a lot of classes that weren't relevant to my eventual major. But I don't think they were a waste of time. I've got a curious mind, so knowing things has always proven useful, even when it didn't seem so at the time. Even calculus, which wasn't all that handy in fisheries, has been useful because I worked a lot with engineers. Rate of change and acceleration is worth knowing about.