Hook Scare - Trout Puzzle

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing tales

And although I hoped that after the long rains that ended three days ago, the water in the river would be unclear, my hopes were not justified. The water was very clear. Fishing for trout in such conditions is quite difficult. Because the fish perfectly sees everything that is happening around, and will immediately hide, noticing the approaching angler. And that there is trout in the river, I have been convinced more than once from my own experience. Therefore, without hesitation, I decided to try my luck - to catch this fish.

Slowly I make my way with a spinning rod along the shore: where I climb a steep, where I crawl through thick grass, where I splash on the munching swamp slurry and throw a spoon at every opportunity. And all to no avail: no bites. Although, it would seem, I chose the most catchy places: under snags, near stones, under tree branches hanging over the water.

True, once, at the exit from the water funnel, the fish took a spoon, but so sharply that I did not have time to recover, as she dragged the tackle into the branches of a fallen tree. Not wanting to lose any spinner or fish, I undressed and climbed into the cold water. But I was only partly lucky: I freed the spoon from captivity, but the fish swam safely away.

Realizing that here I scared away all the fish for a long time, walked along the shore for a while, without stopping, until I found myself in front of a real windbreak. Either a strong wind knocked down the trees from the steep coast, or in the spring the spring waters washed away the roots, and the trees themselves fell down, they cluttered the coast so much that it was simply impossible to pass there.

I had to drag myself upstairs and bypass this obstacle. When I was on the other side of the dam, I saw a small barrel, the darkening depth of which went to the washed-out precipice. Since there was a bush in front of me, it was a very suitable place for casting gear. And the fishing began …

The first cast of the "turntable" gave nothing. But when I tried again, and slowly led the spoon across the barrel, in the clear water I noticed a fish rushing towards it with lightning. I even froze, waiting for a bite. However, for some reason it did not follow. After waiting for a while, I began to raise the spoon out of the water. To my surprise, four hundred grams of trout accompanied it to the very surface. The fish kept close, but did not take.

I made a new cast, and history repeated itself: only this time two fish rushed to the spoon at once. And not one even touched her. Then, instead of a spoon, I put my most prey bait - artificial insects. First, the wasp went into action (Fig. 1), then the grasshopper (Fig. 2) and, finally, the beetle (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, this did not work either: two or even three trout rushed to them, however, when they approached, they suddenly slowed down sharply … And that was all. I looked vexedly at these strange attacks and wondered why the trout didn't take the bait? What is the reason for this behavior?

When casting, looking at the bait sinking into the water, I noticed that every time approaching it, the fish tried to be above or below it. And after some thought, it dawned on me: "What if the trout is afraid of a naked hook?" How to close it? I looked around and saw butterflies fluttering among the flowers nearby: whitefishes and bluebirds. Without delay, he carefully crept up to the nearest of them and, having contrived, covered it with his hat.

After that, he tore off the wings of the captive, planted the rest on the hook so that it covered the sting. With understandable excitement, he threw the tackle into the barrel. As soon as she plunged into the water, the long-awaited bite followed. I hooked, and after a few moments the trout fluttered on the shore. It was followed by the second, third, fourth. Moreover, each new fish pecked in different places in the barrel. Apparently, each of them had their own parking there. True, the biting stopped soon after.

Despite this, I was very pleased: not only did I manage to solve the puzzle, which the trout had in mind, but I also ended up with a decent catch. And this does not happen every time …