trout Lake view

Soon it will be too cold to swim in this lake. What am I going to do ? I got into such nice shape swimming that I would hate to see my body go to Pot after this long summer of fun.

In this area

The best moment of the day is when I sat in the waste high water here, and over 200 small 2 inch fish gather to eat my last pork sausage. I spread it all around me and I am eventually surrounded by all these loving fish ? It lasts twenty minutes and they also eat it from where the sausage settles on me . I also notice they start eating the loose skin on my legs. And indeed do bite my small moles occasionally.

A sculpture by the lake.

Eventually I go back to my swimming partner and get my camera because after this day I want to build a little sculpture to signify the day properly.

Along the shore

So I swim along the shore for about 100 meters feeding small groups of fish as I go along my way. This is fun because it's like they are expecting me. Eventually I find a group of stickle backed fish and they are only the size of small smelts. Easy pray for any bird or duck. They gather all around my knees but one to my surprise swims up right to my face and is looking at me directly. It was such a breath taking moment. I guess there is always a brave if not fool hearty one among every bunch of creatures. But it stays there longer than I can hold my breath so i must surface. I quickly grab a breath of air and return back under only to see it swimming away further under the water where the other hangout about 10 feet under by the Lakes floor.

Favorite sitting Place

So as I was saying, I went up to Trout Lake and immediately went to my sheltered little spot to take in the view. It's so beautiful here with the tranquility and the view. Plus the water is shallow here and warm. Very small fish play at my feet and I encourage them by not moving. Eventually my swimming partner Byron Ayanoglu will swimm down the way and I will join him. So I joined him and I was thinking I wonder if the fish know that I am here ? I always signal with the rock pounding but I also wonder if any other sign clearly represents me and what I am there for. So I am swimming with Byron and about a minute goes by and I feel something bite my mole on my back. Just like the way the fish always did particularly in this lake. I thought it couldn't be and then a few seconds later another bite and I am truly surprised because I am always looking for another sign of our unique friendship. Another bite from the fish so I tell Byron about this and swimm in the few meters to the shore and sure enough a group of fish are there playfully catching my eye and swimming around me. Do they know if I have the sausage ? Well I whip it out and sure enough about 50 fish are around me of three different varieties. They are all on the small size but big enough to perhaps remember the earlier 3 years I fed them here. I squish up the sausage into small pieces and sweep it around the area. I wait calmly and before long some settles on me and they are then eating it off my body from chest to toe. The sensation is great.

Scenic day at the Lake

Today I was up north visiting Trout Lake: I didn't know what to expect but I bought some frozen sausages from a Breakfast Restaurant. I got three sausages for 2.50.

Last official open day of Casino Beach.

Today is the last day that Casino beach officially is open for the public. I have now spent over 4 years coming to this beach. Now that my first place of fish contact is fenced off and impossible to go there, I have moved my feeding and petting spot to the other side of the pond. I would have to say after spending so much time doing this, that when I just swim in any body of water all fish seem friendlier to me. I really am not sure how much further I should go with this relationship anyway. I do know in late fall they drain part of pond making the entire swimming area unavailable because there is no water in it. The fish leave as well to better winter living grounds. I was down there in mid November but all fish have dissappeared. Even after I have banged rocks together repeatedly. Mind you I only waited 10 minutes. It might take as much as a half hour for them to come back to that spot from where ever they are.

I have been trying to get the fish to show me something or to reveal something to me that only they can do. I take the mysticism of Jesus and the Fish. I take the legends of mermaids and mermen plus other fish/human history and ask the fish to produce something for me that only they can offer and one must be true at heart. I actually have had more luck communicating with Cows having grown up on a farm in Maine.. Plus the eight years I spend documenting Cows in India with many amazing stories to be told.

The other side of the Pond.

Now that my regular place to feed the fish has been fenced off I have had to move to the far side of the pond nearly 500 feet away. I arrived and immediately started banging my rocks together and found all the small ones immediately came over as they remember me and the whole process of feeding them. Then My other larger fish from the my favorite place soon came over. I was allowed to touch them and that pleased me. I see that they get excited when they see the plastic bag because they understand that means more food. Today I let the big brown trout have alot of the Hotdog. he ate nearly two hotdogs himself. At one point I gave him half a hot dog which he swallowed totally. he immediately came back for more too. So I started chewing up the Hotdogs in my mouth into small pieces them throw them over a wide area so everyone gets some. Other wise the trout just chases the smaller fish away and they stay away as well until I do this. The carp and trout do not seem to be competitive towards each other. Instead they just leave each other alone.

The Fish like Chicken Hotdogs

Much to my surprise the fish love the Chicken Hotdog. They also get excited when they see the plastic bag come out that contains other Hotdogs. The gladly nibble from it while in my hand. or rather take a big bite and can eat quite a large amount of Hotdog pieces.

Biting the Hand that feeds them

Other views of the pond

Lots of Friendly Fish wait for food.

New Location Works

So I went to the other side of the pond and got in the water up to my knees and pounded the small rocks together in my usual type beat. I did it off and on for a few minutes and only a few small fish came to check out the commotion so I fed them some chicken hotdog. After a few minutes I pounded the rocks again and within a minute two of the larger fish from the other side came over and allowed me to feed them. I didn't get to touch these two green trout much but it was nice seeing them respond to my calling of them so I fed them a couple of chicken hotdogs.

Another view of the perfect fish pond.

Goodbye Feeding Spot

I went to my feeding spot today a couple hours earlier than usual and found that area of the pond fenced off. I did see a few fish swimming there but access was no longer possible. So I stomped as I usually did and decided to go to the other side of the pond and see if I could call the fish over there by banging rocks together in the manner that I do.

River Surfing and Wild Fish

Three days off from the Casino Pond.

For Three daysI was away from my daily casino pond fish feeding routine and I wondered who would be there waiting for me. It was curious because the largest of the green trout and the large carp were the only two. The green trout immediately let me touch it under it's chin. I know for sure this is was my favorite fish from last year. It was still amazing that those other two large brown trout who took over the place and became so friendly , allowing me full fondle, in order to get the most sausage. I am still waiting for the Carp to actually take the sausage from my hand. it certainly sees the other fish getting as much as it wants if it comes over and snaps the end of the exposed sausage off and then swims away. Oh yes, I fed them a Chicken Hotdog. I was surprised that they ate it. Seems I even saw the carp get a nugget and keep it for digestation later.I also wonder after all this if I will be found politically incorrect for doing this

Lake Life

I was swimming at Trout Lake again and along the banks I found a few schools of small fish. Three different kinds enjoying the warmest the water will ever be this summer. Funny how theyare not as scared of me as I thought they would be. Instead they swimm about me and a few actually let me touch them as they are swimming away but still I touch them. They too like the sausage that I feed them. Some of them must be the same smaller fish I fed last summer just 35 feet away arounf the big rock thats underwater and near the surface. I hope to go back one more time before the water turns cold.
I also spotted some ducklings that I saw a week earlier that had grown at the same rate as the Pigeons I raised on my balcony this year. In one week from small duck to large fully grown bird still on the small side but in one week the transformation to all real feather , enough for flight is quite astounding. Birds go through a really rapid change and quickly when growing up. I image it's 30 days between hatching and leaving the nest.

Gold Lake, Val David

I went up to Val David the other day and found no large fish responding to my call of banging two rocks together. I guess they must have been fished out. The smaller lake Bass and Sun fish were there though and came over and enjoyed 3 sausages that I fed them. I guess the glory days of this lake are over now that I have lost those other large trout. Still the small ones allow me to touch them and the cycle continues but unfortunately for me I have lost access to the particular place I was feeding them...so I bade them farewell.... Lucky for me a Rainbow appeared durning that time so I am left with good memories .

Yesterday the fish were plentiful

Yesterday the fish were really plentiful. 3 Carp there are now. I tried to get the fish to come to the other side of the pond but they would not come. Instead I attracted some small sun fish near by and fed them. I returned and fed them the final 2 sausages. it was a flurry of activity. The Carp seem to like to dirty up the water to hide them foraging by the bank. I guess this is because racoons might like them.

Rainy Visit.

While walking in to the Fish Meeting place a big summer storm started and changed my plans. it's a shame because I brought 5 sausages. But because of the rain I only stood by the shore and tossed in all the sausage broken up in bits. I left one sausage whole and that got eaten with one easy swallow by a medium sized fish. I was excited to see what it would do immediately after and it returned and faced as if it was ready for more. Wow what a hungry fellow. I wonder if fish have crops in order to do this. What I didn't see was the two Carp but their were plenty of Trout and Bass. My finger is still sore and I also tried to take some photographs of them but the reflective properties of the water and over hanging tree make that pretty difficult. So I cannot post any images of them yet.

A corner stone in my fish friends relationship.

I started feeding the wild fish on Lac Dore for the entire summer back in 1999 . Then I had a bad spell in my life that lasted quite a few years. It's still not good today but better than back then because I had to seek professional help. So I had a year of monthly appointments with a Doctor at a local Hospital.

When I would enter Queen Mary's Hospital through the front door , there was a large tropical fish tank. One fish in particula caught my eye . it was a blue fish. I used to kneel by the tank and tap a friendly message to this lonesome fish. It would come over and we would catch eyes. I would tap the tank lovingly at the bottom right hand corner. It became a game after that. When I would arrive I would go over and tap gently and amazingly enough the small blue fish would swimm over to be in front of my tapping finger. This lasted the whole year. I never tried to feed this fish either. He would catch eyes with me and sort of float there lovingly, glad for the attention directed only at him. I felt that this was indeed above and beyond what we would expect from a stray fish in a busy hospital entry but it was the case. After a year , the fish inside were changed and I lost my little fish friend.I wondered if the fish ever had dreams of me tapping on the glass saying HELLO !

Before I go down today.

As I look at my index finger, it's pretty beaten up from the fish biting it. What is consistent, is that the fish always bites on the same place. I noticed this with wild cats on Crete. They would always attack the injured place on a rival cat, if it had any. I wonder if the fish knows a repeated attack on a certain spot is more effective for it's purposes than random biting.I am going to have to use the other hand today when feeding them. I truly have to be careful now for lately I have been rather unstable on my feet. I need to take some more footage of them. You can see the place in this video link. : http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5577727/14646411

Touching wild lake Fish

In Trout Lake, near Val David, a lot of small fish live near the shallow banks of this pristine lake with no motorboats. When I go to feed them, I find myself enveloped by hundreds of wild fish pecking the dead skin off my body, all over the place. They particularly like to bite my dark moles. I become, for awhile , the ultimate feeding ground that is also radiating warmth. For these fish, I spread the sausage evenly broken up through out the water around me. They swimm through my fingers, up to my nose, under my arm pit and between my legs. Oh this feels good now !

Just after feeding

Just after feeding, the fish seem to keep eye contact with me for a little while while resting there, digesting their catch. I think the larger fish can eat a whole sausage each and maybe two. When the fish, who make off with a whole sausage, come back , they are still just as hungry for more. I wonder if they like the smooth sweet taste of the sausage? I have tried feeding them white bread and bagels, but they don't like these. I even tried to feed them coissants but they don't like that either. Not even whole grain wheat bread or even Artificial crab stick. They do not like Crab Stick at all , none of them do. Surprising.

This is a real Fish Story

Big turnout of Fish

I always wonder, before arriving, at my fish meeting place about who will be there and how will the contact go. Today as I arrived I noticed a number of fish swimming around. Upon getting about on the edge of the bank, the largest brown trout, immediately swimms over and makes eye contact. There has been a lot of eye contact over the entire summer and all the years I have been doing this. In the past when I got in the water I could then become face to face with my wild fish friends underwater.

So we make eye contact a few times and the BT brown trout then chases off any other fish that might lingering near by. It eventually swimms back over to me and we hold eyes for a minutes or so. I decide to chip off a piece of the trees bark nearby and see if the fish goes after it and it doesn't. I am surprised doesn't acknowledge it for more than a second and knows I guess I took it off the tree. So it's not as greedy for food as I thought .

Now this trout in big and I am quite proud to say that even though it was late coming to our meeting point, it must be one of the ones I had been feeding the past two entire summers. Daily for 6 weeks just about. What is amazing is that, this 15 inch fish allows me the most touch and foundling of the lot. Does it understand that getting close to me and dominating the pond it will get more food ? perhaps so I like to reward a good fondling. So this fish which is a more mature fish must be one of the ones I fed over the last 3 years as I said. When I go to where I actually pet these fish its laying down on a large rock . Where I lay makes a nice little cove of arms length water and a cave under the rock. So I lay down and at this point first thing I do is put my arm in the pond and wiggle a finger of come on over. In the early days they would mistake my extended index finger for one of the Pork sausages. They would come over and give it a bite. No let me start over, when the realized it might be that special time in their lives, eating sausage, when the saw my extended finger thay would strike at an enormous speed and then upon biting would splash and go back in the opposite direction with tremendous force. It really would shock in the early days. You almost had a heart attack it was so precision and acrobatic. So I had to get through that period of the viscious full out attack. The bite though was surprisingly mild, Not as bad as one would think. bearable actually.
So what happened is that the small bass by comparison learned quicker that they were allowed a gentle bite as they demonstrated. The small lake bass has a very large mouth but still does not strike like a trout. So the trouts over time saw that this little guy was getting all the good stuff because I started to pull the sausage away over time. It started to see and understand that only gently swimming to the food and allowing my finger to touch them was the way to go.

This systematic approach to conducting myself with the fish at the beginning proved to be the method worked at all three of my fish ponds. Eventually the biggest fish will understand the rules and then allow lots of touch and tickling in order to get it sausage. Oh yeah today I tried some plain ham besides sausage and they liked that.

So today i put my hand in the water and my BT comes over and allows me to touch it under the chin. Just stays there and allows me to eventually rub the bottom of it's belly. This is so cool, I am addicted to our relationship. In exchange I try to broadcast images as pictures using the waters conducting ability because I also believe in Dr Rupert Sheldrake, theory about animal Morphic Resonance. http://www.sheldrake.org/homepage.html I want our exchange to be as good as it could possibly be.

The surprising finding I have made that over time , when I arrive I want them all to swimm over to me so we can catch each others eyes. Then I shall put my hand in the water and when they come over I touch them. They are allowing this but still a little unsatisfied. It only when I reach behind me and open the big white platic bag that sparkles do they start to show real enthusiasm. They understand that the sausage comes from this shiny bright bag and then into the water. I have noticed wthis with two sets of fish in two different places 100 km apart. They know the sausage only also comes out of the clear glad bag too. It at this point they will swimm right up to me.

So today it started with about 3 large brown trout two medium sea green trout 2 bass and a sun fish. Others too showed up seemed the entire communitiy was here today. Except for the two carp they are not around today. I bang some rocks and then start to let them feed on one sausage. It's good today all 4 large fish come over and kindly bite off the part of the exposed sausage. Its good everyone large got a few good bites each. The surprising thing is that when the food is over and I am just relaxing with my arm in the water not thinking of anything but how totally beautiful this spot is. Like a Monet painting for sure. And then I get a good bite in the finger exactly where this fish always gives me the bite in the same spot. Ouch and I forget it then a little while later another bite exactly on the same place on my index finger.This time the fish has managed to break skin. it's like it's saying OK we let you touch us and fondle with your hearts content and I want some more sausage so get out of your days and get on with business. They also seem to know how much food I usually bring. So they know there is three sausages. Occasionally I have noticed some of the other fish sneak towards my hand and try to grab the sausage from the back and they manage to snag the whole sausage. This also occurs from the front even though I am holding on quite nicely, that during your time there if you take you mind off the sausage, they will strike and get it away from you. Like I have been there offering the sausage, a lifeguard comes by and calls what are you doing there ? You turn your focus away to respond and the fish then snags the whole sausage.

I do this so much that I do space out occasionally and it makes it a bit sad that some fish will not get a good snack.

So then after feeding them a sausage and ham today the carp come back and join the party. These are large Carp about 17 inches long and have golden large scales. They are graceful slow swimmers and have a bit of a mustache. I can tell them apart totally.The large one has been very shy and today actually allows me a good feel down her side. The other one freaks out when it gets touched as well and makes for a spectacular exit by splashing the water and twisting about. I get three good feels of the large carp today and I spread the entire sausage out after squishing up into small bit so everyone gets some. My little cove is now at this point filled this about a dozen fish. The large BT doesn't ever act aggressive towards the Carp which is much bigger. Only it's own kind and smaller Sunfish and Bass.

I wondered if this was a method Jesus Christ might have employed when he got all the fish from the Sea. I could easily fish these all out with a net in the midst of todays feeding frenzy. Then you stick you arm into it and feel all these furtive bodies I wonder if my arm feels warm to their skin. I cannot tell. I remember though Up in Val David the Lake bass would actually allow me to cupple them in my hands and they would stay there as if in a warm bath. I would love to achieve this this summer as well.

This summer I have lost my access to the places I carried this out over 9 years now. Yes at Lac Dore I maintained a good friendship after being turned on to the fish by my friend Liz Edwards. She and then Larry Demeures who said a large fish would come back and hang out under his warf and seemed quite comfortable there. it was here last summer that I came every three or 5 days and the largest fish always came back which I recognized from a scar it had in it's back. At the end of Oct I couldn't make contact this summer he never came around I think he's been caught and eaten.

So in the end I had a very sore finger and a BT who wanted all of my attention and sausage. it also really tries to keep the others away from me except for the Carp who are bottom feeders. They have lovely full pink lips.

Wow I am friends with two big Carp.

Two big carp joined my holiday feeding grounds this year by the Casino. One of them first appeared last summer and has become friendly enough with me to allow me to touch it. It has another carp thats just slightly smalled bot a good 15 inches for sure. it truly freaks out when I touch it. Funny how that is. The bigger trout which are very aggressive to just smaller trout and are always charging their buddies to keep them away. They also seem to be the most touchable these days understanding that this leads to more food. When I say fondle I mean putting my hand directly under them and lifting them up vertically through the water. They them just slither out of hand before reaching the surface. This is such a thrill i am grinning ear to ear at this time.

Feeling sorry for fish

I found myself after many enjoyable years of sushi eating that currently I am very distressed about fish levels around the world.No longer plentifully abundant they are now a crippled species with their very survival in question as we plunder our resources with little for thought other than those of greed and desire to eat even more fish. So I figure somebody better feed them and offer some kind of thoughtfullness. If GOD was to appear and ask, but who cares for the fish ? I at least could stand up and try to rectify the situation and say I have cared and been consistent over several years now and have my one partially scarred finger to prove it.. This summer I was also afraid two of my biggest fan were fished out of Lake Dore. They were there for me over several years and I think my feeding of them resulted in much bigger fish sooner.
One time I did not make it back over two years and yet with the banging of rocks they came and fed while i patted them for such good behavior. But they didn't return this year. I guess someone must have fished them out and fried them up. I wonder if they tasted of pork after eating so much for so many years.

Feeding fish around the world.

I have tried my fish feeding around the world as well. My best results were in Greece and south India at Kovalum beach. I had some results with wild dolphins in Bali Indonesia as well. Greece had the most controlled results though. After a week of feeding the fish I found them following me at other times. This was a real chuckle for me. I wanted to know if now they followed everyone or knew the sound of me swimming. Water carries sound waves 5 times faster and clearer so this is a distinct possibility. I know at Lac Dore in Val David, Quebec the fish seemed to know the sound of my footsteps going down to the lake because of the hollow earth above the ground leaves a dsitinct vibration that carries down and around the lake. I really think they new my personal sound because they would appear shortly. I also noticed they would watch me and stick around as long as I was in the vacinity. Even 20 feet away up on the bank I could catch eyes with the fish and they would swimm beconingly.

My deal with the fish is

You see my deal with the fish is I must touch them before I feed them. This year on Parc Jean Drapeau I got to touch the small Bass and sun fish upon arriving the first time in mid june of this year. Imagine I have known these small bass and sun fish and they know me, I guess. The swimming season ends the middle of August and the park closes, although I can climb over the gate and check them out after this date. It's just s waste high gate and I figure my friendship and research is more important than getting caught. Which I did just before the water was freezing at that place , I went and banged some rocks but the community had disappeared. I tried a few more times over the next week and nothing happened either.
They drain part of the pond during the winter months so I guess the fish make off to deeper and more plentiful regions of the aquatic surroundings that are fairly vast with different types of march and what have you. But when I thought of them this spring and wondered who would return I found these smaller fish first. But it was not to last.

I have been friends with fish for many years.

This is the third season I have communicated with some wild fish, in a pond on a isalnd just south of Montreal. It's the casino Island or Parc Jean Drapeau. Whats is amazing is that this has also taken place in three other bodies of water that I would visit frequently feeding and touching the fish. I have found over time that the food they like the best is Pork Sausage. I am giving them MacGerries sausage mostly although thats a bit too expensive so I have switched to a Pork and Beef blend that they practically fight over. I make them feed directly from my hand. More or less they have to snip it off as I only present a small piece at a time. Occasionally they manage to get the whole sausage and make off with it. it's tricky feeding all the fish now because I have about 8 regular customers feeding at this time. A few of the very big ones also allow me to touch and actually fondle them. These must have been the ones that have grown so nicely over the past summer and return each summer to my magic spot.

I also bang some rocks together in a hockey games type beat , so they relate this sound to my presence. In Lac Dore or Gold Lake, I trained the fish there to the banging of rocks during our contact time. When I arrive at the Lake I merely bag the rocks and within ten minutes they will come. Year after year.

Oh my fingers sore

Today the wild fish of mine really chomped on my index finger. I cannot tell if they want more food or this is the pay off for me fondling them so much. What ever the reason the youngest of the trout allowed me to tickle him/her under it's mouth upon first arriving at the pond. You can see a video of the place I am going to be talking about in this short video. http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5577727/14646411