And what is one of the favorite activities of men in the village in their spare time? - FISHING, of course. And somehow it turns out by itself that both boys and girls sooner or later begin to watch the floats of older relatives with interest, and then they themselves want a fishing rod to catch the treasured fish.

Interest in fishing at that distant time, I most likely acquired from my father, but my first "mentor" and "teacher", oddly enough, was my grandmother. She made my first fishing rod for me. The fishing rod was of an "original design" - a rod, a thread and a button tied to its end. With this tackle thrown into the water, we spent many hours and many days on the shore, my grandmother told me different stories, I listened to her and waited for my fish. It even seems to me that I was sure that she was about to bite, and patiently waited. As it turned out later, my father and my uncle learned the basics of fishing in the same way.

The next memorable stage of fishing in my life was fishing "for a grasshopper". Catching "on a grasshopper" took place in a cunning way. Three of us fished - me, dad and uncle. I already had a real float rod with a hook at that time. They fished, for example, for a worm. After catching the first fish, dad, as if by chance, clarified that he was biting on a grasshopper and I went right next to the meadow to catch a super-bait. While I was catching a grasshopper in excitement, the adults pulled out my fishing rod, hooked the caught fish on it and threw it into the water unnoticed by me. After shouting - "Albina, you are pecking !!!" I flew to the shore and saw that the float was dancing its frantic dance. Having seized the bait with excitement and emotions “overflowing”, I pulled out the fish. After that, the fish is in the cage, I'm after the grasshopper, and further according to the scheme - the fish is on the hook - "Albina, PICKING !!!" - fish in the garden. Positive emotions from this "carousel" were received not only by me, but also by adults. I imagine how they laughed when they saw my round eyes after the next carp! After fishing, I always wondered why there were so few fish, because I dragged one after another, but dad came up with well-aimed excuses and I could not even suspect how they were deceiving me.

After fishing “for a grasshopper”, I began to consider myself a fisherman and my “confrontation” with the fish who is smarter and luckier continues to this day.

There is a pond right next to our house. A reservoir of artificial origin, formed as a result of the installation of a dam-dam on a river. All kinds of fish were found in the pond: golden carp, tench, carp, perch, redfin, but another place attracted me. Below the bridge, on the river, there was a small overflow, which everyone called the "pit". There was a minnow, and its numbers were so impressive that it was not difficult to catch it even for me, a child! They caught the gudgeon with fishing rods, but he didn’t peck at the fishing rod very much, so they also caught the “old-fashioned method” - with a purse. The purse that we used was a deep basket woven from a vine, it was used to carry everything household (most often potatoes for livestock and during planting / harvesting). The method of fishing is not more intricate than the fishing gear itself. You go into the water under the shore, lower the purse away from you on your outstretched hand, slowly pull it towards you, and on the other hand you trample with your foot, when your foot approaches the purse, you sharply lift it up. This method worked flawlessly! Moreover, no one measured the caught gudgeon with either buckets or bags, everyone measured it with “frying pans”. I caught one, two "frying pans" and went, you don't need more. Loaches were also caught, fat little centimeters 20-25 long, but for some reason no one prepared them for us, and after being caught they went to their native environment. After the rains, such flocks of such carp entered the "pit" that no one would believe now!

Now a lot has changed in those parts. Or, having matured, everything does not seem in such a rosy light, or has everything really changed?