The Spinning Grub Catches Dinner

By Gregory Thomas


Anyone who ever played hooky from school in order to spend a day at the lake remembers the time taken to dig up worms. This was not always possible to do on the day prior to a fishing trip because, if you were skipping school to do it, your parents just might ask about the bucket of nightcrawlers in your room. Many people would make their own lures from colorful string known as jigs, but these days kids can buy a spinning grub from their local retailer.

Colorful threads spun around the length of a hook to create a plump-looking body was only the beginning of such a creation. The brighter the colors the better, since only bold and flashy color can be seen from deep under water. A long tail would cause the jig to wobble in the water, and this is where the real deception lies, as this wobble actually tricks any fish or other creatures nearby into believing an injured fish or insect is nearby.

The better the wobble, the greater potential for a fish to be tricked in to coming for it. Wobbling creates a disturbance in the water that fish, fowl, snakes, and even turtles might mistake for an injured insect or fish. These lake-dwellers are notorious for eating first and asking questions later, which is how we trick these animals into biting down on a hook that keeps them on our line.

The modern jigs are being called grubs, but their similar design has many advantages over the old-fashioned, hand-made variety. They are made of a rubber material that will not erode, fade, or decay from the time it spends in the water. Also, the tail is much more rounded around the back-end, so it creates a wobble that makes the other fish nearby believe that a larger creature than the lure is nearby.

Not all people who fish actually eat their catch, but those who do love the larger wobble on such a small lure because it brings them a bigger result. Small fish will feel this wobble in the water and are likely to avoid whatever animal might be creating it, as they cannot eat anything larger than themselves. Attempting to get near it actually creates a peril for the smaller inhabitants, and this means that fisherman have less catch-and-release to deal with.

The lake world has inhabitants who are familiar with their realm as an eat or be eaten environment. Every member of this environment is prepared to eat any other citizen, given the opportunity. Each creature is on the menu, being both predator and prey in their world, making it the most terrifying of environments imaginable.

Humans are merely tourists in this realm, and are basically the masters of their universe while they visit. Most lakes and rivers do not possess creatures large enough to eat human beings, although this generalization is not always true. There are some catfish and gar on record who have been large enough to kill and possibly eat humans, and the piranha in South America can collectively take down human beings.

Our ability to trick animals onto a dinner plate has allowed human beings to survive in spite of our vulnerability. We create faux prey to attract the attention of those we wish to eat, and then we take them by surprise by jerking them right of their world. We must seem like gods to them, and one cannot help but wonder if the younglings who are caught and then released return with wild stories of the world above the water.




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