By Virginia Livergood
Why would you want to tickle a trout? To amuse yourself, to amaze your friends, or to provide a great fish dinner. Maybe you’ll come up with your own reasons to tickle or not to tickle a trout after you read this story.
My friend, Hap Chapman returned from a campout at Crater Lake, altitude 11,700 feet, near South Fork, Colorado. He planned to fish for trout to feed the nine campers in his party so had taken a rod and reel. Finding the trout not interested in the fat, juicy worms he had dug, he claimed he caught the fish by hand. I’m incredulous. How in the world do you catch a trout with your hands? I can barely hold on to one well enough to get it off my hook!
Hap explains to me that he “tickled the trout.” Well, this image tickles my funny bone and I think he’s not tickling the trout but pulling my leg. Curious to get to the punch line I ask him how he did it.
Hap said he stretched out on a log and slipped his fingers into the water behind a nearby trout. He began to tickle the trout’s belly, gradually working his fingers toward the gills. Now, maybe the trout are spawning and in the mood for romance but I’m having a hard time imagining the trout tolerating this procedure. Hap shows me bite marks on his hand, so apparently some trout do occasionally take offense. Hap says he got his fingers near the head, slipped them into the gills and lifted the trout from the water.
One of the trout, estimated at 24 inches long and eight pounds, pulled Hap into the frigid lake with water at about 38 degrees. Now I’m sure I’m hearing a real “fish story” but the other members of the expedition confirm every bit of Hap’s story. He caught enough trout to feed all the campers who were just as amazed at witnessing Hap’s trout tickling as I was when hearing about it. So there was no punch line, for it wasn’t a joke. In fact there’s no kind of line involved.
I told this story to friends and they said they’d seen a television program about “Noodling Catfish” but hadn’t heard of “Tickling Trout.” I don’t know about you but both those terms amuse me and arouse my curiosity. So I went online to see what I could learn.
An article by Daniel Eggertsen entitled “Noodling – Adventures in Bare-handed Fishing!” states that all you need is quick reflexes. No gear to buy or carry. “Noodling” is the term related to catching catfish. This author says the male is guarding his young and attacks when threatened. This is when you “get a handful of fish guts and pull,” quips Eggertsen. I’m sure there’s more detail available but basically he says he noodles catfish in holes, under logs, etc. I came from the Ozarks Eggertsen refers to, and I know catfish live in muddy water. I don’t care much for sticking my bare hands into places where I can’t see what’s there for the purpose of grabbing the “guts” of a fish intent on attacking me!
Hap Chapman’s trout tickling was done in a clear mountain lake where there’s no threat of snakes, turtles, or other inhospitable aquatic life. So I might actually like to give trout tickling a try. If you feel adventurous and aren’t afraid of an occasional dip in cold mountain water, here’s a recap of how Hap tickles trout.
• Find water inhabited by trout.(Hap recommends the San Luis Valley of Colorado.)
• Stretch out on a log or rock so as to be near the trout.
• Roll up your sleeves if you have any and sneak up on a nearby trout.
• Make initial contact by gently stroking the trout between the tail and the rear fins.
• Slowly work your fingers toward the head of the trout, tickling its tummy as you go.
• Be aware that a trout’s belly feels like a cold, slick, moss-covered log.
• When your fingers reach the gills, with your palm up, very gently slide your ring finger and thumb into the gills on each side of the trout, clamping firmly.
• Hold on tightly to the fish and to your perch.
• Raise the trout high into the air to impress any and all folks who may be near.
• Have someone take pictures, for no one else is going to believe your bare-handed trout fishing stories.
• If by chance you fall into the water, spend the time wrapped up by the fire mentally composing stories about the trout that nearly caught you!
