In this work, Goya represented two different country activities. The background shows hunters, but the foreground has a boy fishing in a river, which gives this work its title.

This was a cartoon for one of the tapestries in the Prince and Princess of Asturias' dining room at El Escorial. In it, the artist resolves the relation of the different planes with greater freedom than in other examples.

In the background, on the right, are leaves and branches drawn with black pencil, which might have been a variation or retouching of this area, or even something added by the weavers.