He got caught on the hook. Then he got hooked on staying there. One gnome, one hook, no way down.
Move the boat, drop the hook, and catch as many wandering gnomes as you can. The deeper they swim, the more points they are worth.
Some chase the hook. Some get caught by it. This gnome decided to stay — and now he runs the pond.
No complicated lorebook. Just one gnome, one hook, and a suspicious amount of time spent near the water.
He is somewhere in the pond pretending not to be catchable.
Timing beats luck. Probably. The gnome refuses to confirm this.
Caught once. Hooked forever. That is basically the whole philosophy.