I recently caught a 2.5 pound rainbow trout in a small river near my home. On investigation I found in its stomach, in addition to a half digested minnow, two cigarette filters. The first reason I thought of for these to attract a trout's attention was some vestigial memory of trout pellets. However, the fish must have been stocked at least one year before, perhaps even two years. Does anyone know if the trout's memory lasts that long?
Other possibilities were, the attraction of nicotine, although this seemed less likely, the filters did not appear fresh (they were muddy coloured, though this could have been caused by other digested material), or their being mistaken for very large caddis grubs. The filters were from different brands of cigarette, indicating different fishermen as the source and lessening further the possibility of coincidence.
Before I go grubbing around the ash trays for bait, I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this.
Incidentally, the fish provided an excellent meal for my small family, done up with fine strips of root ginger inlaid into the flesh, stuffed with kaffir lime leaves, sloshed with dark rice wine, wrapped in foil and roasted for half an hour at a high heat.
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