We were watching Jeopardy the other night and there was a question about fishing that I knew the answer to — Claire was amazed that I knew it. I’ve never been a big fan of fishing. Actually, I kind of enjoy fishing, I just don’t like to catch fish. Well I really don’t mind catching fish, I just don’t know what to do with them after they’re caught. I don’t like to clean or cook them. But after all that, I do like to eat fish — just about all kinds.
The first time I ever went fishing was with my granddad — when I was about four or five years old. There weren’t really very many places to fish around Maysville, Oklahoma. There were a few lakes, but they weren’t readily accessible. My grandad took me fishing in the Washita river. My grandad didn’t have a car, so we walked to the river — maybe a two mile walk. A long walk for a little kid, but at 4 or 5, you have no concept of distance. My dad was never a fisherman and thought us going fishing was kind of silly, but it was quality time spent with my granddad. My dad, as a joke, once sent the game warden out to get us because we didn’t have a fishing license. It was a funny idea, but my granddad knew that he was old enough and I was young enough that neither one of us needed a license.
According to the dictionary, a fish story is an exaggerated or incredible story, so my ‘fish story’ probably doesn’t qualify for a true fish story. When Dave was little, I often read some bedtime stories from a book of Aesop Fables. I’m not sure I remember all the details, but one was about a fisherman that had no luck fishing one day, but caught a very small fish. The fisherman was about to put it in his basket, when the fish said, “Spare me Mr. Fisherman — I’m so small it’s not worth while to take me home. When I get bigger, I’ll make you a much better meal.” But the fisherman put the little fish in his basket, saying, “however small you may be, you are better than nothing at all.
The moral of the story is a little thing in hand is worth more than a great thing in expectation.
So even though my story about fishing doesn’t really qualify as “fish story,” it’s the only one I have. But everyone should know how to fish… as the old saying goes, give a man a fish and he can eat for a couple of days, but teach him to fish, and he can sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
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