Hide, Horn, Fish, and Fowl: Texas Hunting and Fishing Lore

OUR FAMILY FISHING TRIPS

Checking the seine 7978-ch03.pdf 10/6/11 8:16 AM Page 182 OUR FAMILY FISHING TRIPS by L. R. McCormack  One of my fondest memories of my Coney family is the fishing trips. Fishing was one of the activities the Coney boys loved. The “boys” were the four sons of Leon Josephus Coney and Ida Augusta Hawkins Coney. Their farm was located about five miles southeast of Ladonia, Texas. Not only was fishing their favorite sport, but it also provided some good meals. Their fishing was not done with a rod and reel. They used seines, and “grabbled” for the fish. My dad, Lowell (Sheep), and his brother Roy Leon (Buster) were the only two of the boys who could swim. Being the two youngest boys, they had developed a close bond through the years. Dad could hold his breath under water so very long that they sometimes wondered if he had drowned. Buster could dive deeper than Dad. between the two of them, they checked out each fishing hole for suitable fish—as well as for water moccasins that were living in those holes—and selected the holes they would fish. They had several places that they visited regularly. One place was on the South Sulphur River. When they chose to go, it was really only a creek instead of a river; by the time the early spring rains had ceased, the water had run on down, so the water was not extremely deep. During such times, the catfish would choose places for their nests and would not be as active as when the water was running swiftly. The boys took two seines along. One was placed below the fishing hole, and another was placed at the entry to it; then Sheep and Buster got side by side behind the entry seine. Holding the bottom edge of the seine as close to the bottom of the creek as they could with their feet, and with their arms swinging back and forth in front of the seine, they slowly edged forward, pushing the entry seine toward the bottom seine and “herding” the fish in front of them. Edgar and Dave, the two older boys, who were positioned behind 183 7978-ch03.pdf 10/6/11 8:16 AM Page 183 the bottom seine, used their feet to keep it positioned on the bottom of the creek so the fish could not get out underneath it. As the fish tried to get through the seine, the boys caught them in their hands and tossed them up onto the creek bank. Of course, they never caught all of the fish. They left some of them to grow and produce more fish for the next year. The location of these “fishing holes” was kept a family secret, since they did not want others to completely “fish-out” their well-searched out holes. In later years, they would go fishing several times a year and bring back loads of fish to fry at home. These fish were always a welcome change to our diets. Once or twice a year they took all of their families along for a day on the creek, and we had a “fish-fry” out in the open. This was an event we all loved. Since these trips were planned in advance, the anticipation of that excursion had we children all agog! Our mothers had a lot of planning to do. There were no paper plates nor plastic utensils, so the family dishes and silverware were packed, as well as the needed pots, pans, pot-holders, plenty of water, and even some first-aid supplies. Basically, we had a chuck-wagon, with meal, flour, coffee, lard, sugar, potatoes, and catsup. Although our mothers always seemed happy to go on those fishing trips, I’m sure that sometimes they were not as happy as they appeared to be. They had to cook over open fires, and since it was always warm weather when we went on those jaunts, their faces would be red as beets and streaked with perspiration. They took a big cast iron wash pot in which to cook the French fries and then the fish. One or two coffee pots were also placed over the fire. Desserts were made at home and carried with us. One luxury food was the loaves of bread bought at the store. And that was all we had: Fried...