By special guest Activist Angler Nikola Pisarev
If someone asks me, or any European fisherman, to choose only 3 lures to put in a backpack together with a small rod and be dropped from a plane in an unknown place anywhere on the planet I’m sure that 90% of us will choose a Mepps spinner, Rapala minnow, and DAM Effzett spoon. What is interesting about these lures, is that all of them were invented to work locally on the nearby waters of their inventors for certain fish species. This is true for the history of most artificial baits for predatory fish: their invention is connected with knowledge of local context, conditions, and behavior of the fish.
Almost 100 years ago, in the early and mid-1930s, Lauri Rapala from Finland, Andre Meulnart from France, and Fritz Ziegenspeck from Germany were developing lures to satisfy their needs. All of them were excellent fishermen with engineering knowledge. Lauri Rapala was monitoring and studying minnows and predators in crystal clear waters of Finland lakes near his home in Sysma when he noticed that in a group of minnows, an injured minnow swimming with an odd wobble made it the target of a larger fish looking for a meal. Based on that observation, he created the first Rapala lure in 1936 carved from cork with a shoemaker’s knife, covered with chocolate candy bar wrappers and melted photography film negatives for a protective outer coating. This became the model of the 9cm long Rapala original in white-silver color with a black back. Just 2 years later, in 1938, in fast waters running down from the alps, French engineer Andre Meulnart observed how trout attack their prey in seconds in places where the main river current is cut by stones or similar obstacles in the water. Based on that observance and the need to have bait that will be able to stay in a fast current without changing depth or action, he created the first Mepps spinner. Just a little earlier, around 1930, the Germanconstructor and fisherman Fritz Ziegenspeck was watching pike, perch, and zanders in the channels and how they attack small tenchs, redeyes, perches and similar minnows just after their belly flashes when hit by a sunbeam from a certain angle. Based on this knowledge, he created a wobbling spoon with one silver and one gold side that was produced in 1933 by D.A.M. (Deutsche Angelgeräte Manufaktur, which translates in English as “German fishing equipment manufacturers” ) as the Effzett spoon. These lures, developed locally, spread around the world. There are funny stories about their spread, like the first Mepps lures being brought to the USA from soldiers from after World War II, and later on in 1950s, they were objects of exchange between two shops, with the American shop sending women’s nylon stockings to France and the French shop sending Mepps spinners to the USA. Regardless of how they spread, we can say that all three lures work successfully on each part of the planet – from tropical shallows and mangroves, through warm seas to cold depths of northern seas and lakes. From strong currents of muddy tropic rivers to ice-cold mountain rivers and streams in the northern hemisphere.
As an activist, I start asking myself why this is. How is world-wide success possible when the local context in which the lures were developed is so different, with the habits of the fish as well as conditions of the water different from place to place? Then a few weeks ago, when Greece finally opened borders for vaccinated people from North Macedonia and other states, I was trolling for blue fish and arrow fish in Greek coastal seas with a Rapala on one side of the boat and an Effzett on the other and I found the solution. Fish behavior is led by a simple problem: hunger. And the fish are trying to solve the problem in the simplest way: getting a meal without using and spending so much energy. Lures like the spinner, spoon and minnow, with their wobbling and imitation of wounded fish, offer fish exactly that.
A few years ago, I started working on a joint project using artistic activism to raise awareness and fight against corruption in my region of Western Balkans and in the region of West Africa. At the very beginning, we were all confused about how we will cooperate and work together considering all differences in local contexts, behavior, habits, and everything we can imagine. People in West Africa dance and perform as part of everyday culture, we in South Europe dance and perform mainly when we drink or at weddings. They gather together to solve problems, we gather together to create problems and start endless discussions. It seemed like the difference in local cultures was insurmountable. But never say never. After working together for 4-5 months or so, it was impossible not to conclude that there is much that is similar in that behavior of the different local audiences to the global issue of corruption. People in Western Balkans and People in West Africa are both aware that corruption is eating their society and preventing progress and social welfare. (Actually, it is the same everywhere on the planet.) Like the fish, this problem pushes people to search for a solution and start organizing for change. Activism is the universal tool to address that problem and help achieve that change. Like the Mepps, Rapala, and DAM Effzett, creative, artistic activism works because it becomes a way to mobilize people and to fight the problems our communities are faced with. It is a solution to a problem.