"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink." That was not penned during Jackson's recent water problems, it was written over two hundred years ago for a play by Samuel Coleridge. It reminds me of the brackish water I plan to visit with my fishing buddies in Lake Calcasieu, near Lake Charles, La. There will be six of us in all. Three from the Jackson area, and three from much further west.
During our spare time on the trip, we plan to discuss next year's fishing possibilities. The two candidates that have made the initial cut are a return to last year's venue of Homer, Alaska; the second is Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Homer is the halibut capital of the world. As one of my tee shirts says, it is "a quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem." Besides halibut, we also caught some rockfish and many king and silver salmon, also known as chinooks and cohos.,
The second candidate for next year--Sturgeon Bay-- is in Door County, Wisconsin, which is a peninsular sticking into Lake Michigan. On the east side is Lake Michigan, and on the west is Green Bay. How many people know that salmon can be caught in the Great Lakes? They were introduced in 1966 to combat the exploding alewife population. These small herring-like fish caused many beaches to be littered with decaying carcasses after a storm. The imported salmon feasted on the alewives, thus controlling that species. On the Green Bay side of the peninsular fishing in mainly for walleye and smallmouth bass. Unfortunately, the walleye and salmon runs do not coincide. So, if we go for the salmon run next August, we will only catch smaller walleye. We will have to decide which of the two candidates--Homer or Sturgeon Bay--is preferred by the group.
We fishermen are all in our sunset years. One of my buddies says that he doesn't buy green bananas anymore. That reminds me of some Christians I have met that say "D.V. I will do this," or "D.V. I will go there." D.V. stands for the Latin words--deo volente, or God willing. Yes, we should keep this in mind. In fact, the bible says (James 4v15) that we should preface all our plans with that caution.
My green banana friend was with me on our first fishing trip to Alaska several years ago. We fished out of Whittier in Prince William Sound, some distance to the east of Anchorage. He caught a one-hundred-pound halibut on that trip. Unfortunately, he has succumbed to FT syndrome. It's quite sad really. He told some of us recently that it was a two-hundred-pound halibut. The syndrome appears to get worse with age, because the other day he claimed it was three hundred pounds. The authorities recognize the problem and are trying to help with Fishy Tale syndrome. They have placed number and size restrictions on many fish catches. For example, in many gulf coast locations fishermen are limited to three redfish, and the size must be no more than thirty-six inches. Thus, thanks to the efforts of the authorities it is difficult for someone with FTS to brag that he caught the most or the largest fish.
When we go to Lake Calcasieu, we will probably catch redfish (with the aforementioned restrictions), and also hopefully flounder. But with the latter the authorities have only been partially successful in curbing the Fishy Tale syndrome. They have placed a ten fish per person limit on flounder catches, but there is no size limit. Can you imagine how my friend with FTS will react during happy hour when we return to camp? Under those circumstances it is possible that FTS may be as contagious as covid. (Remember, we won't be drinking the water.) If any reader of this column can suggest a remedy for this unfortunate malady, I'd be grateful to hear from him.
Peter Gilderson, Madison.
