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A little while ago I replied to a post about catfish. I mentioned that I used to fish a lot in the drinking days, and although I carried a poll for years after on the rack in the old van, I rarely used it at the campground (or anywhere else). I also mentioned, without explanation, a stick in a bottle. So I'll explain that too.
I have to say first off that it was amazing how I was able to clean fish the morning after with a wicked hangover. I'd often puke in the morning under normal conditions, but adding fish guts to the mix didn't seem to make matters any worse. I think it was easier to to a lot of things in the drinking days, probably because I felt so crappy that I didn't too much care about whatever it was I was doing.
Although we usually caught fish, I can't say it was the only reason for heading out. Sometimes we'd take a portable grill and hot dogs, other times, just brew. The evening out was as much about drinking as fishing. This is where the stick in the bottle comes in. The procedure is to anchor yer poll behind something solid, usually a Y-shaped tree branch, and coil the line (after casting) around a stick that is placed in an empty bottle. When a fish grabs the bait and tightens the line, the stick knocks the bottle over, and you know you have a bite.
This system actually works very well, and although one would get away now and then, we'd usually come home with a full bucket of bullheads. Perch were also plentiful on the east side of the reservoir, but bullies were the goal.
After I got sober, I lost interest in fishing, although I continued to do it from time to time. if I was on water, I'd usually find it more enjoyable to row whatever craft I was in, rather than drift with a line in the water. Standing around, or sitting around, for that matter, just didn't appeal to me much any more.
I know that fish (minus the mercury) is supposed to be healthy, but I can't get into store bought fish either. We're too far inland here for anything that actually resembles "fresh" fish, although there are some places, restaurants mostly, that claim their fish is brought in fresh daily from the markets in New York City. Thanks, but no thinks. If I'm going out to eat I'll go for broiled pork chops, or a steak.
I have to admit that my eating habits wold change drastically if I couldn't obtain my food from a grocery store. I don't know what I'd end up eating, but I have no doubt that I'd be a hundred pounds lighter. Yumm... I could eat dandelion greens, but then the guinea pig would starve. Maybe umm.. I don't know... It would be a different world for sure.....
