Reminiscing

Recently, my mom passed away and is with all of Sue and I’s family in heaven. It was a painful time and one I can never forget. Her passing has pushed me to reminisce about the good years with our families. Looking at old pictures and keepsakes she had of Dad’s and hers caused many a tear to well up in our eyes.

We lived on the skinny as all our families did not have a lot of money, but our moms and dads and grandparents taught us well. Our heritage was farming, 100 acre or less family, self-made clearings, hay fields, big vegetable gardens which were the source of hundreds of canned goods in our dirt and concrete cellars.

We played in the dirt and used our imaginations of what the world was like. We prayed every night and went to church on Sundays. No matter the time of the year, we ate fish on Fridays—every Friday. These were fish we caught throughout the year that had been filleted and placed in ice boxes and freezers. Every type of fish was fair game.

Any waterway within safe driving distance in the bootheel of Missouri was open season. We fished the Mississippi River, the North Ditch, Mingo Reserve, Big Oak State Park, Duck Creek, Charlston ditches, field drainage creeks and so much more.

We were armed with fresh cane poles, nylon line, big Eagle Claw hooks and ancient steel rods and reels until the dawn of Zebco. My first Zebco 33 was my prize and glory.

We mainly used cut-bait for catfish. Butchers’ cases in old grocery stores like the one in Oran, Missouri would always have chicken livers, stinky shrimp and other choice parts we could use to entice our quarry.

To catch gamefish like crappie, bass and panfish, we would use long handled, small-mesh pole nets. With these, we would seine roadside ditches that held water most of the year to catch crawfish, minnows and other bait. Occasionally, we would buy a couple dozen minnows, but mostly it was a mission of stocking tubs with live crawfish and minnows.

When grasshoppers were in season, we would go on hand grabbing missions to capture our bait. Crickets and worms were fair game as well. One key summer bait was catalpa worms. These black and yellow grubs were wonderful bait for all species.

After each trip, almost every weekend and in the summer and even weekdays, we had big fish-cleaning sessions. The kitchen tables were lined with newspapers, fillet knives were sharpened on whetstones, and the cleaning began. The fresh fish was wonderful. I have some pictures of these events, and everyone had fun.

As I wipe away some tears while writing this, I hope every one of you have some memories like this. I have had waves of these memories invade my mind, and I want every one of them to always be there. God blessed us with some of the most beautiful places. Stay united as families and with nature.

Join and have fun!

God Bless,

Dan Dannenmueller, Publisher