Fishing 102

..............Old Trunks thinks the purpose of fishing with parents was to catch walleye. Mother would wrinkle up her nose about pike, saying they were too bony. For those of us who ate fish, we may remember having a slice of bread in one hand lest a bone get caught in our throat.

His name was Harry. Oh, he was a wonderful soul. He came to the farm to clean fish for us. He asked mother for a tin knife. He was old school Scandinavian and talked with a brogue. What he wanted was a THIN knife. Only after riddling through the cutlery drawer himself did he find the perfect knife.

We had fish on occasion. Mother would dredge it in flour and cook it in Crisco. The skin was left on the outside of the fillet. When you were done eating, there was the skin on your plate and a few bones on the edge. It was always served with Cole slaw.

The best fish I will ever eat was always at the VFW in the winter. Although we know it was frozen at the beginning of its bath of hot oil, it was rarely wet from the freezing process. Was it walleye? Who knows, we just knew there would be no tell tale skin but there would be bones on the edge of the paper plate!

Who cooked it? Clarence, of course, the same man who painted houses and was imagined to be the veteran who made poppies...............

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