When I was a kid, I liked to fish. Well, I liked the rods and reels, and I liked the idea that if I put something on the end of a hook some stupid fish might bite and be caught and taken home and be eaten. Nice idea. Never happened. I mean I put a lot of bait into the water, and I snagged a lot of hooks on rocks and logs unseen, but I never got the two actions coordinated the point where I could actually CATCH a fish.
In the south, this is considered enough of a handicap to get me a special parking space. Fishing in the south is another of those time honored things that all men (and some women) do and do so well as to be genetic in origin. I don't fish. At least not any more. Even more so after I met James.
My friend James, now he Fishes (with the reqisite capital F). James fishes the way most people breathe. It's in his genes, and I've seen him in action. Every year James throws this huge Fish Fry. One year, not too long ago, I spent the night at his place so my wife and I could help set up for the big event which was to be the next day. The next morning, in the faint light of o-dark-thirty, I catch James hooking up his boat. I slip out and ask him what's up. He explains that he doesn't think there is enough fish so he's going to catch some more.
Most of us (ok, not me, people who really do fish) can spend an entire day fishing and come back with a few fish..maybe a nice string of 10-12. James headed out before dawn and returned a couple of hours later with two big coolers full of fish. James is the undisputed master. Hejust knows where the fish will be when he needs them.
James also stands out in my mind as The Catman. He is mostly retired and fishes every day now and one day called me up and told me that he had caught the biggest fish ever. If James had called me and told me he caught the Lock Ness Monster in the middle of Percy Priest Reservoir, I wouldn't doubt it. As for this monster catfish, I saw the picture. It's the biggest catfish I'd ever seen weighting in at 56 lb and over 4 foot long, one monster of yellow flat head catfish. I was so impressed I made a web page for him. It has since been deleted for reasons which have nothing to do with him or me.
Or you can just see the picture here:
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