The other day I overheard two old coots in the Old Coots and Biddies Restaurant, discussing the fine art of fishing at a local man-made lake. Just before I left I heard one say, "I never go out there to the plain Plains Lake, 'cuz there ain't no damned fish in it". This comment brought to mind my old adage which is, fishing ain't about catching fish. What it is about is, communing. Communing with nature, or a friend, or both...and of course, having a brew or two with said friend...and nature. I am speaking for myself, mind you.
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| Breakfast at the Old Coots and Biddies Restaurant |
My brother is a dedicated fisherman of the traditional order... aka, an angler. That is, he goes fishing with the intent of...bringing back a fish or two...and usually a particular type of fish. However, that doesn't preclude doing it with a friend and several brews if the occasion arises.
The validity of my adage can be seen in the time my brother and his then teenage son were surf fishing on a beach down in South Florida. At one point, unexpectedly, my brother felt a piercing pain just below his right shoulder. You've probably guessed that the pain was the result of one of those by-God big ass, salt water fishing hooks...attached to the line on his son's rod and reel...and my brother's back. It was so deep they had to rush to the emergency room and get it dug out.
What is my point you ask? My point is, if my brother could have given up the manly idea that he had to catch a fish and instead had just gotten into the Zen of being there...sans hook...and bait...and just popped the top on the Heineken's and dropped the line in the water...he wouldn't have had to have those 10 stitches in his back. True, he may have gotten a DUI later in the day...but that is another post.
Pictured below is the fish I believe they were fishing for (probably a damned good thing he didn't catch it):
I will admit that it is unclear as to whether my fishing philosophy applies to that other type of angling...one that has it's own peculiar angle...and hook.
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| The Fisher of Men |
22 comments:
I have known people who go hunting just to sit in the tree stand and enjoy the quiet and whatever happens by. Why you need any kind of an excuse to do this I don't understand. I suppose to most people hunting and fishing are "sports" and enjoying the out of doors and companionship simply a bi-product. I'll cogitate over it with this evening's cigar and martini and let you know if I arrive at any conclusions.
Jesus, that is one ugly-ass fish! And if you were dining at the Old Coots and Biddies Restaurant, I bet you were there for their Early Bird Dinner Special at 4:30 p.m., weren't you? Geezers eat early. Don't ask me how I know.
You have me worried! How old do you have to be before your ass is called a "geezer"?
Sarge
I've always been afraid of that exact occurrence -- getting snagged by a fishhook. But I didn't know it ever actually happened.
This brings to mind the old saying: Give a man a fish and he'll eat today. Teach him how to fish and he'll spend all day sitting out on the lake drinking beer.
Mr. C---No cogitatin' allowed on this here blog. Martinis however are another matter.
D S W S---It was breakfast, but thanks for telling me about the special. They've been hiding that from me. Bastards.
BTW, it's mother loved it.
Sarge---Actually it's not so much age as the amount of ear and nose hair you have.
Tom---Yes it does happen more frequently than you might think. Of course the amount of alcohol one has consumed is directly related to the number of human flesh fish hooked...statistically.
There is a reason for old sayings...and fish markets.
So your brother is a girly boy? Rushing out of his communing with his son to go to a hospital to get treated like a number on a form--did she at least take the beer with her?
And don't believe that crap about nose and ear hair i have plenty and it's only when I ask for the old geezer prices that I actually get carded and yes the last time I trimmed my ear hair was the last time I shaved.
If today's "Fisher of men" are what they were intended to be two thousand years ago then those bastards can throw me back.
Your brother was farther ahead with the hook in his back, that kinna fish eats people.
At least I now know why I never caught nuthin' but a wet ass and hungry gut. I never used a hook. Who knew?
Have this crazy desire to go have breakfast at the Old Coots and Biddies Restaurant, ya learn stuff there.
I really dig the concept of going out alone and fishing on the beach. Its not as hard as it might seem even in the summer with all the tourists around. Most tend to congregate close to the walkway leading back to the cars.
And those who do walk the distance to get away from the crowd are sufficiently of like mind to me they are cool to be around.
w m---You'd have to ask him about the girly boy thing...although I wouldn't advise it.
Well, besides the hairy ear/nose syndrome, there is also the stiff neck clue...the neck that only turns 1/4 round...a major old coot clue by itself.
No disagreement with your Fisher of men assessment.
Sherry---You are right...that's a twenty-stitch fish.
You are right, with an open mind, the learning potential is limitless...as is the blog material there. I am sure there is at least one such eatery in your own town.
Beach Bum---Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you, we just passed in the either at the same time.
One of the things I miss most about Florida and California,living in Nebraska, is my beach time.
the fish looks like my supervisor... or is it the other way round??
what ever...
my second ex-husband was an avid fisherman. i hated fishing, but loved being out on the water.... it got uglier once we got into the weeds... so many things to get caught up on... and i always did.
perhaps it was a metaphor for the marriage??
ah, the lessons from nature...
my grandpa and I used to go fishing..I don't remember us ever catching a fish and we probably never said more than 15 words..but some of the best times I ever had.
Harlequin---My mother-in-law is your supervisor???
Yes indeed...pay attention to Mother Nature and you'll never flounder ;-0
YD G---What a nice memory.
I learned a long time ago about fishing. Seems like Thomas Alva Edison use to go out on his dock in south Florida to 'fish'. He always came back empty handed. Someone asked him why he was unable to catch a fish. He said, "I don't but a hook on the line". they say 'what'? He said who wants a wiggling wet fish while you are relaxing. I fish like mr. Edison.
Punch---Good story.
Also, this sheds new light on the old myth that he was fishing for electric eels, eh?
Even though I enjoy fishing, I don't feel a need to use it as an excused to commune with nature or to just meditate. I think some - not all - men need it so as not to appear less than manly. At least in their own minds.
That is one mean looking fish. My aunt was a victim of her own similar mishap when she reeled in a catfish and it snapped over her head and landed in her back. ER and stitches were also required. Those barbels (whiskers) can be pretty lethal.
I enjoy fishing, too. I usually take a camera when I go, and sometimes I'm not even near any water. Doesn't matter, since I don't have a line or a hook or one of those long poles, either.
Now I want to go to the Old Coots and Biddies Restaurant; it sounds like they have good omelettes and home fries there!
Leslie---Also there is the subterfuge of getting out of the house, methinks.
Wow, I never considered the catfish angle. Nasty little bottom suckers anyway.
Pixel---With ya. I never liked being around all that hook slinging in the air, even before my brother got it.
And pancakes.
The idea of fishing here in the gulf of mejico is getting into a crowded boat with 100 other strangers and all casting a line off the side of a boat. Don't sound like fun to me. However, there are still some jetties and free piers where one can fish alone or with a few acquaintances and have a brew at the same time.
So, I heard only three states in the US love to feed "pink slime" to their school children: Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota
I imagine that if I chose to hunt or fish, it would be more about the communing and a flask of tea (or some Heinies) than about the catch. Having said that, I'm entirely sure whether a load of Heinies would aid or abet the fish hooks/rifles and after giving it some serious thought, I'm tempted to sit at home and watch TV instead.
Chimp---From fishing to pink slime?
Yes, the plain Plains now has pink slime in the school system. My children do not participate...Board of Education reassurances notwithstanding.
mo.---I will admit Heinies throws me off. I am still trying to decide if you were referring to a load of Germans...a load of buttocks...or something edible.
I've never had the joy of having a fish hook removed from my back, or leg, or arm... but I HAVE hooked a kid who had ridden a bike up behind me while I was fishing on a dock, and later that summer I hooked his coon tick hound in the right rear leg. The kid's mom wasn't too pissed about it, though, 'cause she hired me to babysit him a couple of years later. I was about 14 at the time... lost two good lures, that's how I remember THIS story.
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