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Catching a Decent Fish -- Illustrated
Tuesday, May 13. 2008
Not a rise...
If a friend hadn't assured me that this pool was the home of "some decent trout" I would have thought the water barren. Decent trout, indeed! But with that word "decent" came an epiphany - all my flies had been appealing to the trouts' sense of sight... but what about their sense of decency! These fish - if indeed they existed - had been blithely ignoring all my offerings. Surely, that was a shameful act from any "decent" trout!
With renewed energy, I positioned myself on a rock in mid-stream and began to regard the pool with disdain - then switched to moderate annoyance, accelerated through active pique, and arrived in seconds at a withering scorn.
Two minutes later, I saw a "nice" fourteen inch brown roll to the surface in humble chagrin... but I casually ignored him. A moment later a sixteen inch rainbow with a visible blush on its cheek wallowed in the tail of the pool. I glared at it with a Force Five Contempt - it gave a few feeble wiggles of its pectoral fin in mute apology and then died of shame. Rushing downriver, I netted my first "decent trout" as it drifted slowly by. My second fish, a very decent fifteen inch brookie, was taken on a single glance of reproach cast to the eddy behind a boulder.
Since then I have refined the practice, having learned the following:
- Chub are delicate, very decent creatures, be wary of careless glowering unless you want to clean up a massive fish-kill.
- Some people will ascribe decency to a trout simply because it is large. Cutthroat trout, on the other hand, are usually perfectly decent when young but by the time they are six inches or so, begin to live up to their name and are soon beyond remorse. I attribute this to a problem in the schools.
- Recoil is to be expected.
- Some fish are not susceptible to this approach. For example, Comely Shiners (Notropis amoenus) are narcissistic and untouched by the regard of others,
- Black Crappie are beneath contempt, and Largemouth Bass, no matter what, are totally unabashed.
- Northern Pike have been known to shed a tear of regret, but their sincerity is questionable.
- Catch and release is not an option. They don't call it "mortification" casually - any truly decent trout who has once experienced near-fatal chagrin will never be the same. He will sink lower in the pool, leave school, begin to consort with suckers and other bottom-feeders, and eventually, consumed by remorse, be caught by a passing heron. I do not recommend this method of fishing as a frequent practice. Someone adept at this understands moderation - a river can be depleted of decent, humble, self-effacing trout within days. The wise angler follows the adage "A fish is too great a resource to be scorned - except in moderation."
© 2007 Reed F. Curry – text
© 2007 Eric Reaves – illustrations
hawgdaddy
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Comments
Wed, 13.08.2008 06:28
God, I could use one of those for crossing streams, if nothing else! Nice find.
Fri, 01.08.2008 22:47
Even though I have no association with the link I am about to provide it has significantly [...]
Mon, 30.06.2008 11:20
kbarton, I'm certainly glad to hear that. Of course, I was shocked to read about inbred [...]
Thu, 26.06.2008 09:47
hawgdaddy, While Kevin's recommendations have merit in the brownlining streams he [...]
Wed, 25.06.2008 17:23
He's teasing you HawgDaddy, all you need is an Iron Blue Dun, or a "Rusty" dun neck and [...]