Hunting for Catfish

I lived in Thomson, Ga. for a while in my twenties. I guess I knew I would one day leave once I got there but decided to make the best of it anyway. I ended up making some really good friends. In the photo, from left to right, we've got Keith, Mark, Me, Alan, and Somebody. The horror show we're hovered over is our "catch 'o the day" of catfish. I discovered fishing whilst in Thomson.

One day we someone said something about fishing. My brain immediately clicked: I HAVE TO FISH. You know that feeling? All of a sudden your life revolves around something you've never done? No? Oh well. We spent many Saturday mornings floating around in a boat fishing. Well, they were fishing. I always got stuck in the middle of the boat and couldn't get much done.

One day, someone mentioned catfish. An eerie silence passed over the room and suddenly we all jumped with glee for we were going to catfish! The next thing I knew I had a pole in one hand and a bag of chicken livers in the other. They taught me what to do. Tie a chicken liver to the end of your line, throw it in a pond..... and wait. "They fight, man! They gonna fight ya!"

Yeah, they fought. And they lost! We yanked those cat-like fish out of the pond all day. I bet the water level dropped a foot. It was great. That night we went to Somebody's home and nailed the fish to a tree through it's head and ripped the skin off of it. Then we chopped the head off, peeled out the meat and Somebody's Mom fried them up. It was easily one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.

It was actually one of the best days I've ever had. But not because I enjoyed the meal or that the fishing was fun. I considered these people my friends. They took me in and showed me a world I knew nothing about. It would belittle them to say that they were my friends because I had nothing else to do and knew then that I would soon move on and never see them again. Maybe they're the ones that moved on and I'm the one left behind.

All I know is that I miss those guys. Even Somebody.