
Trout Tickling - kw71
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling
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a2tech
Ha! My dad can do this. People always call me a liar when I tell them about
the technique. It’s all about patience and wile.

When my dad sets out to do it what he’ll do is find a stream and walk along
the banks but a good 10 feet back watching for fish. When he sees a fish he’ll
go down stream a bit and then crawl up the bank slowly and quietly. When he
draws just behind the fish he’ll put his hand in the water and ever so slowly
work his hand up under the fish, tickling its belly as he goes. Once he gets
up to the front he slips his finger into its gills and pops it out of the
crick onto the bank. He makes it look easy. You can then dump the fish back
into the crick.

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ak39
Fantastic story, thanks sharing. Wonder who discovered this first? One of
those strange human achievements. Also, we should call you Danny.

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davidhegarty
I learned to do this 5 years ago as part of a wilderness survival program. I
was highly skeptical at first, but it was much easier in reality. I believe
the practice is banned in most states because it is so effective at catching
fish.

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deftturtle
How bizarre that such a primitive technique could be banned. You’d think
elaborate fishing lures and rods would also be illegal if using your hands is
wrong.

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js2
I guess it’s a form of tonic immobility. Which reminds me of one of the oddest
things I’ve ever seen on TV. This young lady who appeared on Letterman who
immobilizes lizards and then dresses them up and poses them.

[https://youtu.be/v6yuEuvXOnA](https://youtu.be/v6yuEuvXOnA)

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dang
Surprisingly discussed once before, in 2015:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10527891](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10527891).

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MentallyRetired
The fact that you knew that really tickles my trout.

edit: that sounds dirtier than I intended, but I still like it as a cliche.

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trhway
>The practice is currently illegal under most circumstances in Britain.

why? i mean i understand when for example explosives or highly maiming (while
not very efficient at actually catching) types of hooks, spears, etc. are
banned, or nets. What is wrong with tickling?

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foreigner
I think the reason is it's easy to do without a fishing license. That's why
poachers would use this technique - if they get caught by the authorities
there's no incriminating equipment, they just claim they were going for a
walk.

Fishing rights in the UK are very strictly protected. The are many places
where the public can walk along a river but are not allowed to fish.

~~~
gadders
Plus you need a government (Dept of Environment) supplied rod license to fish
at all [1]

[1] [https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences](https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences)

~~~
lostlogin
“You need a rod fishing licence to fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish,
smelt or eel with a rod and line in:

England (except the River Tweed) Wales the Border Esk region of Scotland You
must always carry your rod fishing licence when you’re fishing or you could be
prosecuted.”

That licence is for fishing with a rod or line, might tickling still be legal?

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crummy
My dad always claimed to have tickled trouts and I was always suspicious of
this claim. At least I know now that it's possible.

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lucozade
When we were children, my aunt used to take us to a trout farm to get dinner.

The farm owner taught us to tickle and the trout we took home were always
caught that way by us.

It was a lot easier than tickling in a trout stream, they were in ponds, but
fun for pre-teen children nonetheless.

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mcguire
Ok, where the heck did I see trout tickling in the last couple of days? I want
to say it was the biography of Montaigne, something about _The Compleat
Angler_.

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ilovetux
The response I got from my wife when I asked her if she has ever heard of
trout tickling is priceless.

(Gasps) "hunny, it's the middle of the afternoon!"

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megaman22
Is this surprising? It's almost a trope in fantasy and historical fiction.

The one that I find nutty is noodling for catfish. That's one of those cases
where you wonder who was the first to decide that was a good idea.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling)

~~~
abakker
+1 was thinking about this happening in Wheel of Time at least once, and
definitely in some other fantasy series I've read. It's got that feel of old-
timey-ness that just feels right for a tension breaking scene (like splitting
wood, stoking fires, playing dice, and moving through a forest without
stepping on sticks)

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hop
It’d be really hard to get that close to a trout and I’m calling bullshit on
this.

Wait, what do u know, a bunch of videos of trout ticklers on YouTube. Thx
internet.

~~~
gadders
Yeah, I've fly-fished for 20+ years now, and if I hadn't seen this on TV I
wouldn't have believed it either. Trout are skittish things.

