The senior fishery control inspector Trofim Rusanov is old, morose and unsociable, he considers all people surrounding him criminals and is unforgiving of even the slightest deviation from fishing rules and norms of humanity. During his usual route across lakes Trofim gets into conflict with local fishermen and loses his boat. On his 20 km way home around the huge lake he finds abandoned child in hunters lodge. His 5 days quest through the forest and search after that for guilty mother of the child turns out a quest for Trofim’s soul. He finds his own soul and maybe for the first time in his life feels compassion…