PADRE, I was introduced to the dicky do club by my grandfather on a fishing boat on Lake Champlain in 1975. The event is burned into my mind.
It was a chilly late September morning, leaves rustling on the trees back on shore, about 6am as I recall. The water was strangely calm for a big body of water, and covered in a dense layer of gray fog. We could hear the turbine engines of the ferry just north of our location, churning the shallow water, as it pulled away from its dock, while carrying cars and their passengers from Vermont to the Canadian shore. As a young lad, at the young, innocent age of twelve, being in a small boat with an outboard motor on a big body of water with "men" , felt like being initiated into manhood. This was it! I was finally out fishing with the guys, and was finally privvy and front row, and excited to get to the fishing, where so many epic stories told by my grandfather had originated.
We had shoved off from a wooden dock after loading the boat with the essentials. The fishing rods were placed in the holders near the front of the 12 foot boat, poised and standing tall, while cutting through the wind and fog, while we floaged atop the cold waters. The 3 coolers were loaded between the seats. One, filled with bait... Night crawlers that I had dug out of my grandmother's rose garden the night before. After all, isn't that what fish eat? My "Opa", German for grandpa, opted to go the easy route, and buy them at the tackle shop back on shore. Only they weren't anything like my run-of-the-mill worms. These things were like something out of a bad dream,and made my prized night crawlers look like spaghetti. They were ominous...up to 8 inches long, blood red, and seemingly covered end to end with spiny tentacles, which seemed to want to latch into my small digits when I finally dared to pick one up at the urging of my Opa. They were the famous blood worms my grandfather had always told about. Another item in the cooler was the "chum", a mixture of corn, chicken parts, and other random, and seemingly inedible morsels. Some of the "bad" crabs became chum after the old man took a hammer to them and threw them back to the Flounder God's.
The second cooler, ahhhh the grub.... Hero sandwiches my mom had made last night from leftover meatloaf and gravy. Peanut butter and jelly, a staple in any young man's diet, each carefully wrapped in waxed paper to keep them fresh. There were Apples, Saltine crackers, 2 cans of Spam, a bag of potato chips, A bunch of red grapes, and some pretzel sticks wrapped in Saran wrap. It seemed we had enough to survive for days.
The final vessel, the largest of them all, was filled with crushed ice, bought at the boat rental place, contained a myriad of liquid refreshments. There was a glass bottle filled with milk for those PB&J's, a collection of glass coca cola bottles that I knew would be ice cold when it was time to pop those caps, and Opa's quenched of choice, something called Miller. I went to school with Ronnie Miller, that's how I remembered the name. I bet there were 50 of those shiny cans in that cooler. My grandfather was a thirsty man. Especially on fishing trips.
My first cast into the chilly darkened water was epic. Twin leaders, four razor sharp hooks, and an equal number of rose garden worms that barely covered those hooks. With an almost mechanical arm, and a twist of his wrist, Opa launched my bait what seemed like a mile, plunking loudly, and disappearing into those mysterious waters. "hold this!" he said " and don't let go until I tell ya" he bellowed, as he popped the top on one of those Miller's, and flung the shiny sharp thing into the water. I was officially a fisherman! I would "kill 'em" today. I would bring the haul home to mom and she would cook them like she did so many times before. Only this time... I would be the one to tell the stories... Yeah!! Before I knew it, he had two more lines in the water, mumbling something under his breath about "those little bastards", and something else about how life was great out here. In recollection of that very moment, I still smile and break into a nostalgic giggle every time. Especially as I relayed those stories to my son, and now... my grandson.
I could go on, but I'm sure you all have your own fish stories. Thanks for letting me reminisce with you.
Oh yeah.... The Dicky doo club. I'm not quite a full fledged member, but on occasion I breach the expansion limits after a hearty Holiday supper and dessert.
Thanks for digging that out of the depths of my cerebellum.