Sisters Fishing
After the regular work was done, Roy and his dad would put out a trotline
for catfish in a small lake nearby. Roy's two sisters, Peg and Della,
would go with me to run the line, especially if we had unexpected company
for dinner. It took all three of us – one to bail out the leaky boat, one
to paddle, and one to take the fish off the hooks. Once when I was trying
to get a hook out, one of the girls offered to press on each side of the
fist so it would open its mouth. The fist did open its mouth long enough
for me to get my thumb in, but it closed it before I could get the hook out.
I didn't have much skin left on my thumb when I finally got it out. Since
none of us could swim, Roy decided it was too risky for us to keep this up
long, so we had to wait for him to bring in the fish.
