u/stephano288

Finally caught my first trout in a stream!!!
I live in the city, so up until now, I've only ever caught stocked trout in pay lakes, which is a pretty common thing in Italy.

At my mountain house, after 35 years and never went to the river, I finally decided to hit this river that originates in the Italian Alps.
After about an hour, I landed my first wild trout. This was after losing two off the hook and missing a couple of strikes.
Special shoutout to my Italian-made rod: the Tenkara Italia Torrente 3664 (3.6 m - 6:4 action).

After having some good success with trout and smaller fish, I recently picked up a couple of heavier Tenkara rods to catch something bigger: a Dragontail Hellbender and a Zen Tenkara Sagi.
I tied up a few marabou streamers, woolly buggers and some big kebari then headed out to my usual local pond.

The problem is that bass seem interested in the flies, they constantly follow them but just won't bite. I've tried everything from fast, erratic retrieves to almost dead-sticking with just tiny twitches, and everything in between. They just follow and turn away.

To be fair, I was fishing during my lunch break, so it was hot with the sun straight overhead. My only real chance was actually a pike that rushed the fly, but I missed the hook set.
Here are the flies I'm using. Any tips on what I'm doing wrong or how to actually trigger a strike?

For context, I'm fishing in Northern Italy. The fish just finished spawning, and there aren't many crawfish in this pond, only baitfish.

I was doing some urban fishing in an area where it’s fairly common to see people fishing. It’s a small waterway that runs through one of the largest cities in Northern Italy. It’s a very popular spot for walking, running, cycling, and so on. Up until now, I’ve only ever gotten attention from kids curious about fishing, or elderly folks asking how the fishing is going and sharing stories about what they used to catch years ago.
Today, while I was fishing, a woman yanked my arm and told me to stop fishing because it’s an "asshole thing to do." I was taken aback by the verbal aggression and didn’t know how to respond. After insulting me, she ran off.
I’m a big guy, 190cm (6'3") and heavily tattooed, so I wasn't afraid she was going to hurt me. However, I’m a gentle soul, and I rarely get insulted over something that is perfectly legal. On top of that, I even pay a fee to the association in charge of maintaining the city river.
Aside from feeling bad about the situation, how do you guys handle people who just want a confrontation?

Btw: it’a super light environment that I enjoy doing some Tenkara, in the pic there is the average catch