North Country Angling: The grasshopper: Don’t leave home without one

As the summer doldrums come upon us, an amazing thing happens on our rivers and ponds. After sizing down our flies and lures or dredging deep into the thermocline, fish miraculous throw caution to the wind and start to eat Mother Nature’s sweetness — terrestrials.

A terrestrial is defined as an inhabitant of the earth. A terrestrial animal is an animal that lives on land and not the water. To the angler, a terrestrial animal is a bug that comes from the earth. These bugs include ants, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers. Survivalists snack on these bugs regularly for the protein. Fish do as well.