[Turing_Machine]

Dangling things attract fish. If he was wiggling his fingers, fish might well come to investigate.

Tickling trout is a well-established (though generally highly illegal) freshwater fishing method.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling

[lordnacho]

Why would that be illegal? You'd think it's the taking that's illegal, not the method?

[wahnfrieden]

I think because it's a way of concealing poaching (no artifacts besides your bare hands) so it's extra harshly punished, but it's just my guess.

[scott_karana]

Possible that it's not considered "fair chase"? In North America, a lot of conservation ethics are hard-codified into law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_chase