Married Into Fishing Luxury
I grew up poor. Yard sales provided a large part of our wardrobe. Patched jeans were the norm rather than the exception. Those same jeans became cutoff shorts when summer rolled around. Gardening, foraging, hunting, and fishing all contributed to our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. I still have the same fishing pole my folks bought me when I was twelve. Back then we used big rusty nuts as sinkers. We hunted nightcrawlers with flashlights in the dark. We dug worms from the compost pile. We used those rustic tools and tactics to fish for suckers in the creek near our house. Occasionally we would get lucky and catch a trout as a special treat, but it was mostly suckers. Sometimes we would go camping at a lake that had bluegills, bass, and pike. This was high adventure for us and that fishing pole has caught everything from perch to pike, crappie to catfish, along with the countless sucker hauled from the "crick." I don't say all this to bemoan my upbringing and lack of ...