The Lighter Side Of Fishing

[Lee Borgersen]

This was written in all good fun?




 

"Being in the outdoors for the better part of 40 years I have come to the realization that fishing is the greatest story telling enigma there is.

When ever I have talked to a fisherman I have felt like I have been in the boat eye witnessing the actual catch. What is it about people who can tell a fishing story?

Well, folks I have some theories about this very subject, we as listeners are not there to witness the catch so we are at there mercy of the story, let alone the terminology that a fisherman will use.

This brings me right to some of the terms used in this wonderful sport of fishing such as ?Pigs, Hogs, and Monsters? And not to forget ?She?

When listening to the fisherman tell the story one of the three words mentioned will be in the conversation somewhere, and they will all be female. Imagine that, your buddy went fishing for pigs, hogs or monsters, this is a fishing phenomenon that I personally never witnessed and truthfully I hope I never do.

Imagine explaining to your kids you are going to go fishing for monsters, That should go over real well with the kids right? Well, if you haven?t already scared them by now I am sure they are wondering why you want to go catch those anyway.
Just the thought of catching a monster would have me staying home even as an adult.

I always wondered why a fisherman always use?s the word ?About? It?s a fascinating word that will just fit perfect in every story. So Joe how many fish did you catch on your awesome Canadian trip you went on. ?Oh About 15 or so?

Well did you catch 15 fish or not? I have always loved the fact that a fisherman will never commit to a true amount of fish caught as they don?t want to tell you they were skunked, let alone caught little ones by a fisherman?s standards.

The word ?about? also works with weight of fish. ?How much did that nice looking walleye weigh?? ?Oh about 6 to 7 pounds,? well what was it six pounds or seven pounds. What great word ?About.? The word will even fit with a weight of a fish

I find it particularly funny how fisherman with no scales in there boat will estimate a weight to be true for the simple fact they have been fishing for umpteen years which makes them an expert.

I always wondered why a fish never weighed nine pounds three ounces. And when you really listen to the fisherman?s story you will hear the weight of the fish in even numbers. Very seldom will you hear an odd number weight? of a fish such as a seven pound, nine pound and so on. That has become one of the fishing story marvels.

How about the fisherman that has a real rod bender, and then fights the fish for seven minutes. By the time he gets home to tell you the story he changes the fight to twenty minutes then tells us the listener, the fish got off the line and was a big fish. My question would be ?Why is it always a big fish, were you able to see it?? heck for all we know as the listener the fisherman could have caught a tree stump.

I have always marveled at the ?secret spot? when listening to the fisherman tell the story of the great day on the water, this really peaks the interest on where this place is. We as the listener would like to go there also to enjoy the fun.

This is the only sport in the world that I know of that has a secret spot and most fisherman have one or two of them, I still to this day really can not figure out how they become ?Secret Spots?

One last observation that I have seen with most if not all fisherman is there equipment that they use, from there high tech graphite rods to there high gear ratio reels, electronics, boats as well as there top of the line tackle which most fisherman have invested thousands of dollars into there sport and believe me they will tell us listeners about it.

I do have a question to ask when the fisherman is shopping ?Why is it when you are walking by the bargain bin at your favorite sports store you stop. dig around the bin like a gopher and pull out a spool of line like a big prize.

Most of the line is outdated and has started to deteriorate that is why it is in the bargain bin, most fish are lost because of this practice.

After spending all kinds of money on everything else you cheat your self on the most important part of fishing, the line.

So the next time your buddy starts to tell you about the great fishing trip just ask him why he use?s the word ?About? or some of that fancy terminology when he is out catching Monsters.
The look on his face will be priceless."

[Big Slick]

Funny stuff...Thats why it called a fishing "Story".