White Hand

It’s the waiting that’s the hardest part.

Butch and Sundance ride again.

“Käsi valgeks” goes the Estonian saying, “getting your hand white” — the first fish caught, a bit like losing your virginity, though you get to do it every season. At the beginning of the season you want to be outside and the weather doesn’t cooperate. Then it warms up a bit and you do get out, but the fish aren’t there, despite the hundreds of photos people post on Facebook that would suggest otherwise. It feels like you’re the only one in the country who hasn’t caught a two-kilo sea trout or a one-kilo brown.

These are the photos of the waiting.

An angler on the opening day of pike season. There were many fishermen but few fish.

The fish don’t bite? Strike a pose.

Photography by Jacques-Alain Finkeltroc, ©2023, Tous droits réservés.