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Trout Tickling

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 2:36 am
by BarraBeast
no sure if this has been on the forum yet?

Trout tickling is the art of rubbing the underbelly of a trout using fingers.[1] If done properly, the trout will go into a trance-like state after a minute or so, and can then easily be thrown onto the nearest bit of dry land.

Thomas Martindale's 1901 book, Sport, Indeed, describes the method used on trout in the River Wear in Northumberland:


The fish are watched working their way up the shallows and rapids. When they come to the shelter of a ledge or a rock it is their nature to slide under it and rest. The poacher sees the edge of a fin or the moving tail, or maybe he sees neither; instinct, however, tells him a fish ought to be there, so he takes the water very slowly and carefully and stands up near the spot. He then kneels on one knee and passes his hand, turned with fingers up, deftly under the rock until it comes in contact with the fish's tail. Then he begins tickling with his forefinger, gradually running his hand along the fish's belly further and further toward the head until it is under the gills. Then comes a quick grasp, a struggle, and the prize is wrenched out of his natural element, stunned with a blow on the head, and landed in the pocket of the poacher.


In Scotland the technique is more often called "guddling" or sometimes "ginniling". The practice is currently illegal under most circumstances in Britain. A related method of catching Powertail by hand is called noodling in the U.S.A.

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:17 pm
by grumpy
Hey Beastie you may laugh but my Dad (an ex Pom) tells me stories of how he used to do the exact same thing as a kid. :idea: :idea:

Didn't realise he was a poacher the bl...dy old basta..rd. :rofl: :rofl:

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:16 pm
by jabsy
I remember pulling trout out of the rockpools below Middle River Dam on Kangaroo Island like this when I was a teenager. The kinky little rainbows didn't mind a quick fondle or a tickle, you gould give them some sweet underwater loving then grab the buggers tight before they knew what was happening.

Kinky little whores those KI trout were.

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:08 am
by Dutto
the northumberland creeks are bl..dy freezing. anyone that can stand thier arm in that water for a few minutes is a better man than me. cold enough sitting on the banks :wink:

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:07 pm
by Mud
Thats awesome....I'm chuffed if I can get close enough to a trout to throw a fly at them lol!

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:54 am
by grumpy
grumpy wrote:Hey Beastie you may laugh but my Dad (an ex Pom) tells me stories of how he used to do the exact same thing as a kid. :idea: :idea:

Didn't realise he was a poacher the bl...dy old basta..rd. :rofl: :rofl:
Further to this story my Dad just returned from a trip to his homeland and bought me back this little sign.

Enjoy. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:18 am
by Pecheur
Really great sign there Grumpy,

Placed out of contest, people would really wonder what this is all about.
:lol:

Have a good day,
Pecheur