Thursday 27 January 2011

My Fishing Prowess


I have gone fishing only once in my life. Many years ago I had a girlfriend named Big Bad Butch whose parents owned a lakeside cabin at a northern Saskatchewan lake. Every day during fishing season, her retired father would take his little boat out on the lake and fish for pickerel. One morning (at the crack of dawn, I seem to recall) we went with him.

He used little teensy-weensy live frogs for bait. I felt bad for them, of course, but hey -- circle of life, etc. Needless to say, BBB's Dad baited my hook for me. I learned how to cast the line out and jiggle it up and down a bit, like the frog was swimming along in a tantalizing fashion.

Eventually, after a few tries, I felt a tug on my line. Oh Gawd! Oh Gawd! I've got a fish on it! Feeling the fish fighting just about scared me to death. But I managed to reel it in and there it was, on the bottom of the boat, gasping out its last breath, my pickerel. Not a real big pickerel but a legal catch nevertheless.

For dinner that night we ate our catch battered and fried in butter, my little pickerel included. Later I got diarrhea, bad diarrhea. Guilt, I think.

21 comments:

brandi said...

~what a tale little lady...you make me feel a wee bit bad now as this was quite discriptive of your emotions towards the wee little frog and fish...

i grew up by the waters...crabbing fishing shrimping clamming...you name it...it was very much apart of me...instilled in me as a way of life...

but having littles of my own...who are not quite as experienced...they have their moments just as yours...and its hard to explain that it is part of the never ending circle that will forever remain...the toughest is our littlest...who every single time we catch something says..."ooohhh...poor little fishy...poor little wormy"...its enough to break ones heart...pack up and head on home! i feel your pain but learned to work through it...hhhmmm...could i be a bit cruel???

wishing you a wonderful day ahead...much love light and blessings~

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Oh yeah! Nothing like guilt-induced-diarrhea!!! -moan- ,-)

I only attempted to fish, once in my life. With my husband-to-be. This event, and my one try at playing tennis, with him....... Well let's just say, it's a wonder he went through with the ceremony! LOL!

But he did. And I never tried to fish or play tennis again. Fair is fair, after all. Plus, I did not, not, not like doing either thing. ,-)

Hugs and ♥'s...
'Cause Valentine Day is coming!

Anonymous said...

I used to go fishing with The Husband (pre-kid, after-kid I refuse to use any free time touching slimy stinky stuff) and pickerel (If I recall correctly) are in fact uber slimy and stinkified.

We used minnows for bait and I too always felt bad.

Magaly Guerrero said...

So the fishy gave you the poopies, huh? I've done a lot of crabbing and shrimping, but I, too, have only fished once. And unlike you, what I caught looked so pitiful that we couldn't eat it ;-(

Jeanne said...

Funny Tale....
Used to go fishing with my Dad. Didn't like it. In fact, I'm not all that fond of fish. They all taste too fishy. Go figure!

Mistress Maddie said...

BIG BAD BUTCH!!!!! She sounds like she scares the Jeebus out of this queen!LOL! I use to love fishing when I was young, and was never going to do the cleaning of them. And I never ate them either. Not a huge fish eater, I'm more a shell fish person.

Travis Erwin said...

Come on down to Texas I'll take you fishing. We'll drink Shiner Bock until the guilt goes away.

Wendy said...

This is so funny! I prefer to have several degrees of separation between me and the animals that will eventually become my food, so I think I'd have diarrhea in this situation too!

BugginWord said...

I went deep sea fishing once. A little kid had to follow me around a bucket, hosing off the deck everywhere I puked. Good times.

mxtodis123 said...

I grew up fishing. Never used the wee little frogs, though. Actually, it was a fishing accident that injured my back for life. We were night fishing and I caught something really big. Always the independent one, I refused any help. Wanted to reel this one in myself. Slipped backwards on the rocks and suffered a slight fracture of the lower spine. Meanwhile, my peers reeled in the 25 pound snapping turtle I had caught.
Mary

SUZY8-TRACK said...

I once went deep sea fishing in my boyfriend's father's boat many years ago. We were using little tiny fish as bait...and I couldn't bear to put them on the hook. After a few hours of not catching anything, I released it into the sea...while it left a trail of blood...i'm sure he eventually got eaten by another fish, even though I convinced myself that I save it!

Kat said...

My father was always fishing but I never really fished until a few years ago. I was so excited I thought I was going to pee my pants. I was so thrilled I kissed him. Poor little trout <3

Patsy said...

My dad was a (fairly) famous angler and fishing author. We'd argue for hours about his fishing (I thought it was very cruel!)

yellowdoggranny said...

I love fishing..if your with people that love to fish too..other wise it's not peaceful...which is what fishing is supposed to be..catching fish is secondary.

K(Banterings of a Basketcase) said...

yep- I'd never be able to eat an animal I actually met while it was still alive! - actually I have eaten fish I caught- but if I had a pet cow I'd never make her into hamburger!

Beatnheart said...

Can’t bear to catch them, the thought of cleaning them gags me...but I like to eat them as long as there are no bones. My brother loves to fish and is a great cook so when i go back to Wisconsin I get to eat his delicious catch.

Suzie said...

My Grandpa taught me to fly fish when I was little, and then to fish with a spinning rod. I never, ever liked it. .felt sorry for the live bait, sorry for the fish, and could never eat them. So to keep my elders off my back, I began using all artificial lures and practiced catch and release. .but that is also stressful for the fish.

But I loved being out in the stream, or in the boat, so as an adult, I used only flies or poppers, made benign with a quick snip of some sturdy wire cutters, cutting off the hook. not just the barb. If a fish nibbled at my lure, I considered that a "catch" and called it a day!

(You gave me a HUGE laugh the other day, in response to Joyce's Huge Meatball Recipe. .I can only fathom what you would have said!)

Lois said...

I grew up fishing in Lake Simcoe where we would catch 6 inch perch. Yummy fried in butter, I think I'll go fishing this summer.

Heading to Value Village next week and will keep my eye out for a mumu!

:) Lois

Anonymous said...

Big Bad Butch!! Sorry, I just can't get passed that... :)

Battered pickerel with Big Bad Butch - Lovely!

Andrea on Third Street said...

Hee hee!

Moving with Mitchell said...

I wouldn't even eat MY fish. Too much work, too many bones, and too little meat! So I didn't get diarrhea. That should be a lesson to you... or maybe don't go out with someone named Big Bad Butch! I never have!