If you needed a reminder just how futile our efforts as anglers can be compared to the evolutionary prowess of the osprey, photographer Mark Smith is here to help. Smith captured this video of a diving osprey pulling a pompano from the water. Likely the same spot you just spent an hour tossing lures. Hey, all you can do is sit back and watch in awe as the greatest of all time does their work.
Before you go, here are five fun facts why ospreys are better anglers than us, courtesy of The Cornell Lab:
- Ospreys are using barbs with those hooks. Barbed pads on the sole of an osprey’s feet help them grip fish.
- An osprey makes a catch on average one in every four dives. Imagine those odds on each of your casts.
- They have a treble hook of the natural world. Ospreys have an unusual feature among hawks, a reversible outer toe. This lets them sink two talons into a fish in front and back.
- Incredible control with a fish on. An osprey has the dexterity to line up their prey head first into the wind while in flight to create less drag.
- They need little time to get their limit. The average time an osprey spends hunting before making a catch is just 12 minutes.
