Shaving 3, named after a righteous TV western marshal and a movie gun fighter having second thoughts, developed into one of those many who like to catch more than they like to fish. However it did not escape his attention that fishing generally preceded catching so he was often up for going but began lobby to go home if the action was not up to his standards. So predictable was his “when are we going home” refrain that all three of us agreed his first utterance generally marked the midpoint of the adventure.
He may have become thus by imprinting on a quality, and quick, success at the Chimneys’ picnic area in the Smokey Mountains. He was duly trained in the art of casting so when I handed him (~ 5) a light weight spinning outfit with a small sinking Rapala attached to the line and said “You know what to do”; he did – rainbow trout #1.
Baseball, Boy Scouts and our steadfast habit of fishing twice as long as he wanted to, dampened Shaving 3’s fishing tendencies but every so often – he knew what to do. On one family vacation to Red River, New Mexico fishing was a major activity. While the three of us generally prowled the streams together, one morning in the condo Shaving 3 declares he is going fishing by himself (all the better to quit when he wanted). So off he goes: rod, reel, Power baits and photographer’s-jacket-turned-trout fishing-jacket. Not long there after comes a knock on the door; which was not locked. I knew immediately who, and with what, would be standing there when the intended audience opened the door (he’s always had something of a flair for the theatrical). And so it was; there stood Shaving 3 with a big rainbow trout for breakfast.
His most dramatic reinvigoration on a fishing trip occurred below Guntersville dam one mid-April. The intended main attraction of this venue was skipjack herring (with whom I had been dealing for many years) because they were abundant, hit like a ton of bricks and then flew through the air after hooked. Being basically inedible, they were what one goes after if “pulling fish” is the mission objective.
What turned out to be the real main attraction of the day at first appeared only as a glimpse out of the corner of the eye; something you are not really sure you saw. Then I spotted the guy with the bow & arrow about 50 feet up stream and what was a glimpse turned into many long nosed gar chugging up stream only about 10 feet from the rock shore – capital taunting!
Wellllll, the sawed-off are nothing if not prepared to deal with every possible situation twice per outing (which results in really big tackle boxes and goofy things like the Fisherman’s Quiver, etc). Having neglected to bring bow & arrow, fish spear or spear gun (yes they can be fired from the air into the water) we had to improvise. Standard improvisation amounts to large treble hooks and a 1 oz barrel sinker. The sinker is tied to the line’s end with one or two treble hooks spaced about 6 in apart and above the sinker. A useful art is to wrap the line around one of the treble’s hooks so that their points remain
aligned with the line when pulled through the water.
As Shaving 4 and I were preparing to deal with the gar, Shaving 3 decides he needs a break and climbs the steep rock bank to the bathroom / vending machine area. In his absence, Shaving 4 snags a 3 ft 8 lb gar and drags it to the shoreline. By this time Shaving 3 (whose calls to go home were about to end) was sitting on a small wall, sipping a drink, and looking down toward the unfolding action which he could not see the details of as his view was blocked by us getting control of the gar.
I was pretty sure there would be some reaction when we turned and hoisted the impressive fish so Shaving 3 could see what had transpired in his absence. His reaction was even better than I expected. The first thing he did was jump right straight up in the air while maintaining a sitting position (a feat Hugh Durham, one time FSU basketball star and coach, often preformed on the sidelines during a game). When his feet finally hit the ground he then engaged in a gyrating ‘dance’ worthy of the proto-humans in Space Odyssey 2001 around the monolith. Scurring down the bank he proceed to add another gar to the collection. We took the two gar home and rendered the heads mantle-worthy where they rest to this day (A hack-saw was needed to get the heads off the bodies).
Shaving 3 has given up on gar fishing (been-there-done-that) and of late confines himself to occasional shark fishing because it usually draws a crowd and he likes to socialize. But the gar day was a definite moment all around.
ML
7/2/08
He may have become thus by imprinting on a quality, and quick, success at the Chimneys’ picnic area in the Smokey Mountains. He was duly trained in the art of casting so when I handed him (~ 5) a light weight spinning outfit with a small sinking Rapala attached to the line and said “You know what to do”; he did – rainbow trout #1.
Baseball, Boy Scouts and our steadfast habit of fishing twice as long as he wanted to, dampened Shaving 3’s fishing tendencies but every so often – he knew what to do. On one family vacation to Red River, New Mexico fishing was a major activity. While the three of us generally prowled the streams together, one morning in the condo Shaving 3 declares he is going fishing by himself (all the better to quit when he wanted). So off he goes: rod, reel, Power baits and photographer’s-jacket-turned-trout fishing-jacket. Not long there after comes a knock on the door; which was not locked. I knew immediately who, and with what, would be standing there when the intended audience opened the door (he’s always had something of a flair for the theatrical). And so it was; there stood Shaving 3 with a big rainbow trout for breakfast.
His most dramatic reinvigoration on a fishing trip occurred below Guntersville dam one mid-April. The intended main attraction of this venue was skipjack herring (with whom I had been dealing for many years) because they were abundant, hit like a ton of bricks and then flew through the air after hooked. Being basically inedible, they were what one goes after if “pulling fish” is the mission objective.
What turned out to be the real main attraction of the day at first appeared only as a glimpse out of the corner of the eye; something you are not really sure you saw. Then I spotted the guy with the bow & arrow about 50 feet up stream and what was a glimpse turned into many long nosed gar chugging up stream only about 10 feet from the rock shore – capital taunting!
Wellllll, the sawed-off are nothing if not prepared to deal with every possible situation twice per outing (which results in really big tackle boxes and goofy things like the Fisherman’s Quiver, etc). Having neglected to bring bow & arrow, fish spear or spear gun (yes they can be fired from the air into the water) we had to improvise. Standard improvisation amounts to large treble hooks and a 1 oz barrel sinker. The sinker is tied to the line’s end with one or two treble hooks spaced about 6 in apart and above the sinker. A useful art is to wrap the line around one of the treble’s hooks so that their points remain
aligned with the line when pulled through the water.
As Shaving 4 and I were preparing to deal with the gar, Shaving 3 decides he needs a break and climbs the steep rock bank to the bathroom / vending machine area. In his absence, Shaving 4 snags a 3 ft 8 lb gar and drags it to the shoreline. By this time Shaving 3 (whose calls to go home were about to end) was sitting on a small wall, sipping a drink, and looking down toward the unfolding action which he could not see the details of as his view was blocked by us getting control of the gar.
I was pretty sure there would be some reaction when we turned and hoisted the impressive fish so Shaving 3 could see what had transpired in his absence. His reaction was even better than I expected. The first thing he did was jump right straight up in the air while maintaining a sitting position (a feat Hugh Durham, one time FSU basketball star and coach, often preformed on the sidelines during a game). When his feet finally hit the ground he then engaged in a gyrating ‘dance’ worthy of the proto-humans in Space Odyssey 2001 around the monolith. Scurring down the bank he proceed to add another gar to the collection. We took the two gar home and rendered the heads mantle-worthy where they rest to this day (A hack-saw was needed to get the heads off the bodies).
Shaving 3 has given up on gar fishing (been-there-done-that) and of late confines himself to occasional shark fishing because it usually draws a crowd and he likes to socialize. But the gar day was a definite moment all around.
ML
7/2/08
