The Deer Hunter, Chatter, and Austin have been doing a lot of fishing lately. I’m happy to say that means I’ve been eating fresh fish a lot.
The Deer Hunter grew up fishing with Papaw Tony. Many spring and summer days found them trout fishing. Once we started dating he took me along. I didn’t fish much, but I did love playing around the edge of the creeks and looking at the stunning beauty of the mountains.
After we were married The Deer Hunter became a lake fisherman. Although I prefer trout I still enjoyed eating the fish he brought home. Somewhere along the way he quit fishing. Too many irons in the fire I suppose.
When I was a girl Pap let me tag along with him when he took my brothers fishing. I didn’t care anything about fishing in those days either, but I sure liked to play in the water…well at least until I wanted to go home 🙂
Pap and Granny were just crazy about fish and we ate what Pap and the boys caught. I’m crazy about fish too. I’d rather have it than other meat.
The fish dinners of my youth always took on a celebratory air because the meal of fresh fish, hushpuppies, french fries, and slaw was so different than our usual fair.
I’m thankful for the wonderful memories I have of eating fresh fish with Granny and Pap and I’m thankful I’m reliving those times with my family now.
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Daddy tried to take us kids fishing once, but six youngin’s was probably a bit much to try and get any decent fishing done. I remember we did take along snacks, a cooler filled with bologna and crackers and those little glass bottles of Coke. I love fresh fish, hush puppies, homemade fries and slaw, best eatin’ ever!!
We love to trout fish. We fish all up in Ashe County. Nothing like snagging a trout then frying it up!!! Heck even if you don’t get any….the scenery is magical.
I remember when I was young, we went fishing. I never baited the fishing pole, but I did catch a small fish. I put it back in the water. That was fun.
Your post brought back memories for me too. My Grandpappy Herman used to have his famous fish fries outside near his beautiful Asher, Oklahoma veggie gardens.
He cooked the catfish outside in a big vat of oil and had homemade hushpuppies for us to enjoy. I think we all preferred being outside on those summer days but I’m thinking now it had a lot to do with keeping the fish smell out of the house.
You’ve brought me a wonderful memory, Ms. Tipper. Thank you, and God Bless You!
You nailed today Tipper. My husband would go fishing every day if he could. We went trout fishing the other day but they weren’t biting. He likes trout but I’m not a fan of it. To many bones. I love bass. I truly believe my husband would drather go fishing than have me. lol I have to say he sure is a fishermen. We went to the beach a moth ago and I had my game on, I caught more than he did. He loves when I go fishing with him.
Seeing all those fish in the picture made my mouth water. So many good memories over my 69 years of fishing with friends and family. My dad always cooked our fish and he was so good at doing it right. Worst fishing memory was when my ex husband hooked me in the back then gave an extra tug to set the hook. Had to go to a doc in a box because it was Saturday. I was so embarrassed walking in with a Rapala lure hanging from me. It was over an inch in and took double stitching to fix. lol. Last time I went fishing was with a friend and we went to a State Park that stocks catfish in its lakes. For three days straight we ate fresh catfish. Walmart sells a bait called Stinky Bait that smells awful but the catfish loved it. Wonder when your hubby is going to mention getting a boat again?
I love fishing! Daddy took me when I was growing up and now my husband and I go every chance we get. I do like a good fish fry but nowadays we mostly catch and release. My only problem is that I have a terrible time trying to get the dern hook out of them! If Tim is out of earshot I usually end up cutting my line…I heard tell a hook will rust out after a bit but I don’t know if that’s true or if I was just told that so I wouldn’t feel bad about having to leave a hook in the poor things. No telling how many hooks I’ve lost to fish that swallowed them, the rocks in the shallows, and tree branches lol.
As a child my Grandpaw had a cabin on Lake Hickory. The men would go out fishing while the ladies cooked all the fixings. I understand what you mean by a celebration. I was a big day! Fixings were slaw, potato salad, hush puppies and onion rings. Desert was Peach cobbler and hand cranked (Kid powered) vanilla ice cream. Then we had to wait 30 minutes to go swimming. Mawmaw’s rules and you didn’t cross Mawmaw! Good memories.
I have mentioned fishing with my father in law. Every year on Labor Day we would have a big fish fry/cookout with ALL of my wife’s family members and a few friends throwed in. Some years there would be around 40-50 of us. No alcohol drinks involved, no one drank anyway. A homemade deep sided square stainless steel frying pan and my two burner Coleman stove. French fries and chicken would be cooked on the inside stove. Memories and times such as this is one of the reasons I preach about time to spend with family, it is more important and worth more than any amount of money, career, or any other material thing I might ever have
Over 40 years ago I tasted trout at a restaurant on the Cherokee Reservation & didn’t like it at all. My husband said it was because they didn’t cook it right. Never tasted it again. My husband & I use to pack a picnic lunch & take the kids fishing. With them we mainly kept busy getting hooks out of trees & baiting their hooks & taking their fish off. I enjoyed fishing but not so much eating the fish. I did like the hushpuppies & fixings. My husband liked bream best. Later I had allergy testing & it showed I was allergic to fish & shellfish. But those fishing trips with my husband & kids were some of my best memories. That & riding our horses. I’m pretty much a vegetarian. I love vegetables & cornbread with tomatoes, cucumbers & a sweet onion with tea. If I occasionally eat meat, it will be chicken or turkey. Have never tasted deer meat or any wild game. I know Matt would say, “That woman is just not right.”
I used to fish avidly. Every spare hour was spent on or near water. Then life intervened and spare hours disappeared. Afterwards the only fishing I did was with my father-in-law trolling the waters off Morehead City for Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and king mackerel. We did occasionally fish the surf in the Fall, too. The last trip was more than 30 years ago.
When we fried fish we made slaw, hush puppies, and grits most times. Sometimes we’d fry potatoes but 2 pans of hot grease was a lot of trouble; so we made grits.
What are these white beans? Are they navy beans?
Blessings to all . . .
Loved to go fishing. Whether it was a country pond, fishing off a pier at the beach or on the sound. One of the best memories I have is when Daddy and I were at the beach and were catching two fish at the time. He had put double hooks on, and the fish were biting like crazy. Pier fishing was a little bit aggravating at times if you didn’t get up really early and get a spot. Folks would get too close, and lines would get all tangled up, but it was still so much fun. I didn’t marry a fisherman but that’s ok. We still love to eat them if we don’t catch them. Matter of fact, Friday night we had fried flounder, slaw, potatoes, hushpuppies and sweet tea. Is there anything better than a plate of fish?
My childhood was lacking in fish, because Mom was afraid we would get a fish bone hung in our throat. There were no fishsticks I don’t think in those days, but wouldn’t have mattered as we ate mostly home canned, fresh garden produce, or meat raised on the farm. I witnessed a few bad goiters growing up, and found out later it was the lack of consumption of the much needed iodine from fish. Today fish is one of my favorite foods.
Hi Tipper, I went trout fishing with my Dad nearly every spring. One time when when Mum was in the hospital we went fishing almost every day and we ate trout every night for a few days. The last time we went fishing I out-fished Dad and caught a Rainbow trout which are fairly rare in our fishing creek. I LOVE fish and being close to salt water meant Dad and I went salmon and cod fishing too. Good times!
A few other fish tales, one about 4 neighbors, one named Munk, “telephoning for fish” this is highly illegal, one man cranks a magneto, often from the old time hand cranked telephone, that has a bare wire attached to it and the wire is put into the water. This shocks the fish. Munk told everyone he was friends with the game warden, not to worry. A different game warden showed up this day, from that day on Munk was teased about dialing the wrong number. Fishermen are known for shooting the bull, my best friend is known for catching one, while fishing at pond in a pasture he caught a big bull that had slipped up behind him. He hooked him in the nose when he went to cast. The bull went one way dragging his reel while he went in the opposite direction. The line broke on his reel and he got it back, he said he didn’t know what happen to the bull, it was still running when he last saw it. Best fishing lure every made was an Atlas stick lure that would catch fish when nothing else would, it was a stick of Atlas dynamite.
Use your imagination on this one, the same 4 men were telephoning one time when one of them got the wire between his legs, Munk would crank faster as the man straddling the wire yelled louder. Munk claimed he didn’t know, he thought the man was excited about the number of fish floating up around him.
The first time I ate fish was in college. My roommate’s boyfriend brought over some fresh caught fish. I ate the bones because I didn’t know any better. The others had bones on their plates after the meal and my plate was completely clean. Yes, I cleaned my plate, bones and all. I am no longer a novice “fish-eater” and love fish, without the bones.
Love fish!
I can’t tell you when I started fishing, just always remember doing so. used to aggravate my Daddy because I could throw a hook in with nothing on it and catch a fish
your video yesterday have me a hunger for fish, so me and the hubby went and caught a couple catfish, we’re lucky to live near a couple small lakes, had some fried catfish, beans, hush puppies and fried taters!
Those three cert caught a nice mess of trout. One of my absolute favorite meals is a goid fish fry. Fried fish, French fries, hush puppies and slaw can’t be beat!
My husband and son are great fishermen. They fish in the Cumberland River, Kentucky Lake and other fresh water places. When they catch a lot, my son will cook it in the deep fryer out on the back porch and we invite others to join us. I make slaw, fried potatoes, hush puppies, and white beans to go with it. It’s amazing how much fish & sides are eaten! Our favorites are bluegill, shellcrackers, and crappie. I like catfish but we haven’t had much of that lately. My mother loved to go fishing but she refused to get on any kind of boat. I love to remember her and her friends fishing. They were unintentionally hilarious
especially when they caught something! I’m not much of a fisherman–don’t like early rising or using the bathroom on the bank.
I liked to tag along with my Dad when he and my brothers went fishing, too. They mostly did ocean fishing because we lived in San Diego. They did do lake fishing, too, sometimes. I never have actually fished because the rule was – you catch it, you clean it. I can deal with pretty much all kinds of things to do with nursing the human body and healing it/putting it back together (except anything to with feet or the mouth – I could never be a dental hygienist!!), but the thought of cleaning and preparing any kind of animal or fish gives me a case of the yuckies!! I am definitely a meat and fish eater – so it’s not because I am against killing them, I just can’t take them apart myself I guess! I love the meal your Mom made to go with fish! That’s what I like to have, too, with that meal! Yum!!!
Yesterday’s post made me think about grinding wheat berries with my grain mill all day. I would love to make freshly ground cornmeal to bake with! I love con on the con, and any dish that has corn in it! Yesterday was so busy I didn’t get a chance to write a comment on what you gave me to think about all day. But I loved the topic you gave us to dwell on! Have a great day, Tipper! This whole week is going to be jam packed for me. Busy, busy, busy. Hoping that the rabbit trails that always side track me, in addition to what I have to do daily, are minimal and not too long to navigate!!!
Donna. : )
Your fish feast sounded delicious. I haven’t eaten much fresh water fish. I really don’t remember anyone in my family fishing (all girls & city girls!). My mother would cook salmon patties & we would have fries, slaw & cornbread. A couple of years ago we were in vacation at Emerald Isle and my son cooked some really delicious ocean fish. Of course, we bought it from the fish market . I am also hooked on Outshine Bars. Take care and God bless ❤️
I would rather spend a week fishing at one of Kentucky’s lakes than to go on some out of state vacation. Our Cumberland Lake was just voted the best lake in the country and it’s easy to understand why. My friend, Debbie, and I booked a fishing trip to Reelfoot Lake a few years ago. When we arrived, the person in charge said, “Oh, I didn’t know we had two girls booking the package and don’t know if we can honor your reservation.” I think he regretted saying that! They reluctantly let us take the boat but kept the binoculars on us for three days.
my dad was a commercial fisherman and after that owned a fish market in FL. I never fished myself but grew up eating it several times a week. salt water of course. I have been trying various fresh water fish since living here, they are different but tasty. sounds like I missed a lot not pole fishing while growing up. fun!
That’s a nice catch. I like my trout, cooked over a camp fire, with fried potatoes and buttered bread. I haven’t done that in quite a few years. 🙁
Looks a nice catch, been over 30 years since I last threw in a line in. One time, when heading back to Sydney, after leave, we stopped just south of the Gold Coast. There were families with lines in, some expensive reels. I got the “bug”, got a cheap hand line, and some bait. The trawlers were leaving for their nightly sojourn, so I hurled the lie as far as I could into the churning water. Seconds later, a dip, I snapped it back and, much to the disgust of other anglers, pulled in a nice 3 Lb Bream. As travelling and nothing I could do with it, offered to the family next to me, who gladly excepted it. Years later, had the thought, perhaps that was meant to be.
I don’t eat fish, but then, am a life-long vegetarian. But when I married my late husband, I at least learned to cook meat & fish. He grew up in Miami FL so as a youngster, he often went fishing and diving for his seafood. That was back when the water was much cleaner. J asked why he didn’t go fresh water fishing & his opinion was, the fish had no flavor. Yet, going after trout and bass was on his bucket list. For that though, it meant leaving the state. He never did but loved to watch videos about those who did. His mom was southern bred and taught me quite a bit when it came to cooking.
My daughter does shrimp boil and fries fish and makes pretty fair hush puppies. 🙂 And you’re right about it being an air of celebration.
I love fish too! Sadly, there are no fishermen in my family, except my brother in-law, but he only fished for sport so he threw them back. He might have kept some but if he did I never knew about it. I either go to a fish camp (restaurant), or buy some to fix myself, so mine are never fresh fish like yours are. I can imagine your are way tastier being fresh caught. Congratulations on all their good catch of fish! Enjoy!
I’ve heard many a man speak praises of trout, although walleye, bass and others I can’t recall also seem to be delicious. I like fried fish with slaw, pups, and fries myself! There was a place in Nashville that served all the white beans you could eat with their fish. I guess since I’m not too near lakes or oceans, I don’t eat much fish. Calabashas in Myrtle Beach better look out when I’m in town! Lol I’d say Deer Hunter and Austin are fishing pretty good bounty. I saw a blog from like ‘09 and it was a photo of you, Tipper, at a desk working in a marina I think in the ‘80’s. You looked so young and pretty in that picture btw. Everybody have an awesome day and “ get delish fish! Make it your dish!” Love in our Lord to all!
We used to fish in the bay on Long Boat Key in Florida. Here we go having a good time catching fish but throwing them back in..so here comes another fisherman asking “why are you throwing the fish back in?” The fishermen said if you don’t want those “flounder” I’ll take them. Little did we know we were catching some of the best eating fish ever! Needless to say we had a good supper!
Here on Norris Lake we have some of the best fishing and trout steams around!
Everyone have a bless day!
God bless everyone and have a great day.
my daddy use to take us, my whole family, fishing at Rock creek lake, near the ranger camp in Dahlonega Ga, daddy’s been gone about 30 yrs and mama about 5 yrs, God bless you friends of Appalachia!
When we moved to North Carolina, I got to missing catfish. Now that we moved back to Texas, I miss the mountain trout.
So glad to see today’s post. I have missed it coming out at 6 but 7 is great. I do love fish as well and if you ever get the chance, go deep-sea fishing…nothing better than red bass or really any salt-water fish. I loved watching you two yesterday enjoying your afternoon treats, you have now gotten me hooked on them as well. Also relay to Chatter, I love her boots. God Bless
I love fish, too; perch is my favorite followed by salmon and walleye. To me, fishing and staring at water clears the head. Great post.
Wow! That’s a good catch right there. Y’all had a good supper for sure.
You have given my fishing nerve a tickle. I am going fishing tomorrow!
And didn’t a young man ask some fishermen to help him spread Good News about 2000 years ago?
Yes HE did✝️
You know it!!!
sorry for my previous email..
The Blind Pig came through at 6:03am Central!
Carolyn
my dad took us fishing. we had cane poles. Dad had three rules. bait your own hook, remove your fish carefully so you can let it go without damaging the fish (we girls mostly caught sun fish), and keep quiet! That’s a little hard to do owning that there were 5 girls in our family. My mom was a city girl so she never fished. Instead she would take a trash bag and go up and down the bank cleaning up beer cans and bottles left by prior fishermen. My two brothers loved to fish as well and were very good at it. GreT memories
Those are some nice looking trout. Fishing for trout in the area around the Walhalla Fish Hatchery in SC was one of the favorite things I did in the past. It was about a 150 mile round trip from my home. For the ones in the know, the fish I caught were hatchery raised fish and not wild native fish, but I still enjoyed eating them and I thought were good if they had been in the water for awhile and gotten the taste of hatchery food out of them. Sometimes there would be some other family members with me, one being my wife’s grandaddy. I remember laughing with him when we would tease him about catching and keeping a small fish and he would say “it’s big as a butter bean and you eat butter beans don’t you”? On Friday nights me and my father in law would go to Greenwood Lake, SC , sit and fish off a boat dock for catfish. He died 10 years ago today, from what I have learned of Pap, they were a lot alike. He was one of my best friends. While memories like these of the past are good, they cut me like a knife because I know they will be no more memories made with these people.
I’ve noticed reading and listening to Tipper brings out old memories from my mind too. Most are good things but even the sad ones are worth a remembrance.
I remember going out digging for worms when I was a little girl with my daddy. Then, as I got a little older (7 or 8), I started doing it alone. I used to catch catfish and also started frog gigging. once while I was frog gigging a big ol’ water mocassin came up on me. I was on a pallet that had jugs under it to keep me afloat. I sure was scared. I also couldn’t swim very good, so I needed to stay on that makeshift raft. I survived, but my screams for my daddy and grandpa made for an exciting time. They came a runnin with guns in hand.
Don’t know why that brought up this memory, but thanks for the reminder and letting me share it with ya.
I’ve noticed reading and listening to Tipper brings out old memories from my mind too. Most are good things but even the sad ones are worth a remembrance.
I loved hearing about what y’all were going to eat for supper on Celebrating Appalachia the other day. Matt’s facial expression showed so much excitement when talking about his tomato sandwich for dinner and fish supper. My family and I would get just as excited when my Dad and brother caught fish to bring home. We felt excited about deer meat in the same way. Somehow it is different and becomes this celebratory meal for sure. Now I’m thinking on my own wonderful family memories too. Have a blessed day.