Humor writer Slim Randles is back as today’s Wednesday’s Guest. This piece reminds me of all the great times I had fishing over the years. I can almost taste the perch we caught on the lake in Michigan and cleaned and fried right there on the beach. Yum. Then there were all the wall-eyes in South Dakota. Still my favorite fish. I caught quite a few trout in Nebraska, but they are my least favorite to eat. My garden sure loved them though. If you have a favorite fishing story, do share it if you’d like. Meanwhile, let’s have a cool glass of lemonade this hot Texas day and enjoy….
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| Image Courtesty of KitchenTalks.com where you can read about the history of lemonade |
“What do you figure he’ll weigh now, Doc?” said Steve. Mavis topped off their cups at the philosophy counter of the Mule Barn coffee shop.
“A good three pounds, if my guessing is any good,” Doc said, shaking his head.
“Your dog?” asked Mavis.
“No, Hon,” Doc said with a smile, “Ol’ Lunker, that big trout down in Lewis Creek.”
The best fly tying and fly fishing had failed to bring O.L. to the net for a long time now. Oh, sometimes he’d investigate a fly closely and start a near panic attack in the angler, but then he’d turn back into his hole and let the fly drift on by. It was maddening.
“Maybe he’s just smart,” Dud said.
“Instinct, I think,” said Doc. “I just don’t think any trout is all that smart. But instinct could account for it. He knows what he wants to eat, and somehow, the flies we send him just don’t quite look right, or smell right, or float properly, or sink fast enough. Who knows?”
“I’ve tied my best for him,” Marvin Pincus said, looking semi-depressed. “I swear I don’t know what that fish wants.”
“You’re the best fly tier in the valley, Marvin,” Steve added. “If your flies can’t do it, I’m wondering if anything can.”
“Have you tried using bait?” Mavis asked. “My brother does okay with worms and salmon eggs.”
Every member of the world dilemma think tank gave hostile stares at their friendly waitress until she remembered something in the kitchen and left in a hurry.
“Bait? Use BAIT?” Doc moaned.
Marvin nodded. “Might just as well shoot the dang fish.”
Life, after all, would mean nothing without standards and values.
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Funny! I love the name: Marvin Pincus! Reminds me of the names in Fannie Flagg’s books! 🙂
Also, one of my favorite fishing memories is when I lived in Tacoma, Washington. My then husband and I fished on the Pugent Sound, and caught flounder one after the other. I never caught so many fish, so fast! It was a blast. Throw line in. Catch fish, etc!
Thanks for sharing your fishing story, Becky. I remember catching perch that quickly at times. Great fun.
And I love the names Slim comes up with for his characters. Very clever.
The husband took them fishing – not my thing. I’m glad he did lots of things with them that are not my thing – and that they are not picky eaters as a result.
But they did catch and release fishing – with the scouts. I kept thinking about the fishes and their sore mouths.
But I kept my mouth shut – it’s an honorable occupation, that has provided food for families since there have been fish and humans.
I didn’t realize there was an ethos to what goes on the hook.
Alicia