I was fishing on a river in early summer. The water was cold, and it flowed handsomely in turmoil.
I wonder, standing on the banks of the river, where could all the fishes be. I thought the fish were probably in a milder stream and might be right near the shore.
I had a fly-fishing gear, a spinning rod and a box of lures in a lunch backpack. I decided to start fishing with a fly, fishing near the shoreline.
First throw and European grayling was caught. This went well! I released this individual quickly,
I didn’t pull it out of the water so it wouldn’t get hurt.
I kept fishing down the river. I got fish every now and then, but they were very small. So, I started to think where the big ones could be?
I decided to put the fly-fishing gear aside and put a small but durable quick lock in place and Pink Panther-coloured lure on the end of the line.
I was looking at the river. There was a milder current between the two streams in the middle, there could be fish. The toss hit exactly where I was aiming.
A few hand spins and bam!
The fish crashed down in a strong current, I followed. Sometimes the fish dived deep and sometimes it was going to jump, but I got it to stay in the water by pressing it with my rod and it give up its jumping intentions.
After a hard fight, the fish began to tire up and I was able to catch it in the hand net. It was a about 2,5 kilo rainbow trout in good condition.
During the battle, the fish (and I too) caused so much noise that there would hardly be another fish to be catched in the same place. So, I decided to change places.
I walked to another feel-good place. First throw, no fish. Another throw and a furious quiver!
The fish felt really heavy. It dived deep in a strong current. I thought to my self , this is going to be a big trout! The fish circled behind a rock a few times. Fortunately, I was able to swim it away from behind the rocks without braking the line.
Moments later, the truth was revealed.… A large pike’s head surfaced, with the fish trying to shake itself off. I finally got the fish on the shore. The fish was fat, 90cm tall, with a chumpy pike.
On the next spot, there was a big rock pretty close to the beach. I threw a short throw from the rock a little further, to the middle of the river. I reeled in the lure in front of the stone, felt a little twitch and saw the vortexes of fish on the surface.
I tossed few minutes to other places and I reeled the lure again close in front of the rock. A sharp twitch and the fish was caught.
I thought now I would get it!
The fish soon came near me. I saw it was a long, but skinny rainbow trout. I was able to hook it into my little, rubber-sighted hand net.
At that point,I let go of the fish and by the same second it pushed itself away from the hand net with its tail…
For a moment, I wondered what was going on. My expression would probably have been worth seeing…
Well, this is part of the fishing. Maybe one day I will get it with my Pink Panther.
