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♦ SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2008
4A
OPINION
Fish catches 165-pound man
What’s the old saw? If a dog
bites a man, it’s not a story;
but, if a man bites a dog,
then it’s a big story. Well, this is a true
story, told in exact and accurate detail,
about a fish catching a man. And, it
didn’t happen in the ocean or a great
body of water like the Amazon River.
It happened right here in Houston
County. I know the story is true and
vouch for its veracity. Yes, I wrote the
account, and would not change a word
based on truthfulness. I know the man
to whom this happened, and I know
that his detailed account is exactly how
it was.
It was a Friday afternoon, late. Hot,
but cloudy. The man, the fisherman,
was after bass. Hopefully, big bass, but
as all fishermen know, you never know.
You can be doing well as in getting
bites or strikes and catching fish and
the wind can change, “get-up” out of
the east or the barometric pressure can
rise or fall or do whatever it does, and
it’s over. No more bites. No more fish.
Nobody understands it.
Maybe the fish understand it, but
humans do not. It’s just that way.
That’s why you call it “fishing” and
not “catching”. If it was just “catch
ing,” you could go down to Kroger and
save yourself lots of time and probably
lots of money.
But, back to this tale of fish catching
man. The fisherman wants to become
a catcherman and dreams of a big bass
- perhaps six to eight pounds or more.
And, he’s prepared. He has a good
rod and reel, a wicked little lure with
two deadly treble hooks (one in the
front, underneath, and one at the rear,
underneath), needle-nosed pliers, and
everything else that a reasonably sup
plied amateur catcherman needs.
"Looks like Sonny is finally moving on the transportation issue."
What my W tells me about hip, trendy
I received an e-mail this , week
from Brian Chan, Founder of
GutYoung.com.
GutYoung.com is, according to his
release, “a social portal site that targets
modern, hip, trendy web users aged
15-30.”
Modern, hip, trendy web users who
“are not parents,” that is.
“During the beta,” Chan says, “we
studied topics and discussion-con
tent submitted by persons of different
demographics, and members voted on
the hip-ness of the submissions.”
“Our discovdty shows that the mind
sets between a majority of .parents and
the majority of non-parents are essen
tially different.”
“After seeing the study results,
GutYoung.com polled users, asking
whether they consider their parents to
be as hip and trendy as they. Not sur
prisingly, over 76 percent of our respon
dents don’t think their parents are hip
at all. And 84 percent are convinced
that their parents don’t see things the
same way they do.”
Chan used the example of a 26-year
old non-father-type versus a 26-year-old
father-type. A 26-year-old non-father
type, he says, believes extreme sports
are hip. But a father of the same age,
he says, has concerns about the safety
of such sports, because he has a kid.
“And the father suggests that the
sport is not hip because it could be
dangerous to himself or his kid. Trendy
non-parental youthp, of course, find
this concern with safety to be utterly
Larry
Walkar
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
In other words, and to cut down on
verbiage, “he’s ready”.
The water is calm. Little wind. What
breeze there is comes from the west.
That’s good: “out of the west, the fish
bit the best”. First cast is next to some
weeds out from the bank about 25 feet.
There’s a strike on the first cast. The
fish, apparently a bass, is on. Not too
big - maybe two pounds - and it’s off.
Too bad, but encouraging.
And, then it happens. The water
starts rolling with fish. Almost boil
ing. The catcherman has never seen
anything like it. Must be huge bass, he
thinks. He casts. Accurate to the water
wave. Nothing. Another roll. Another
accurate cast. Nothing.
Again and again and finally a hit,
but neither the fish or the fisherman
sets the hook. And, then, again, but
he can’t make the catch. They seem to
be hitting but not taking. And, again,
and the fish is on. It’s a nice one, very
nice. What, five or six pounds? The
fish runs hard and deep. No jumping
out of the water, no rolling the water.
Hard and deep, but ever closer to
the bank. Then, it’s out of the water
and on the land. Yep, it’s four or five
pounds, alright, but it’s not a bass, it’s
a catfish!
The catcherman is an amateur, but
he’s caught ‘cats before, and he knows
to be careful in getting them off the
Don
Moncrief
Managing Editor
donm@evansnewspapers.com
uncool.”
Rats. He’s got me dead to rights. I’m
50 as some of you know from previous
columns and I would “definitely” think
more about what could happen long
before dwelling on the “hip-ness” of it.
But, on the other hand, I encour
age all those 26-year-olds who are not
fathers to continue on. Don’t listen
to the warnings of those dull, bor
ing parents. (Between you and me, I
simply love watching when they make
the highlights of those TV shows. You
know, the ones that show a replay of
when they were trying to skateboard
down a metal rail only to slip and
bust their you-kndw-whats. Now that’s
entertainment! RS. Seems to me, how
ever, that by now a “cup” would be a
trendy item to have.)
“Carry on my wayward son. There’ll
be peace when you are done,” as Kansas
would sing. But then they’re from back
in the day. None of Brian’s peeps will
remember those hip cats.
Oh, and speaking of “hip”, I sus
pected as much so I did a search on
the web. Did you know that particular
word originated back in the 1900 s?
w MM
A
m ,
hook. They can fin (“sting”) you, and it
hurts like rip.
This one is really hooked - all three
of the treble hooks in the left corner of
the fish’s mouth. “Be still big cat, and
I’ll get you off and back into the pond.”
But, be still it won’t. So he lays it on
the ground with his foot gently on the
fish and tries to get the hooks out with
his pliers.,
Maybe if he holds the cat’s head with
his left hand, he can get the hooks out
with the right hand holding the pliers.
Then, it happens. The big cat flinch
es and flops, and one of the treble
hooks on the front of the lure is firmly
embedded in the middle finger of the
catcherman’s left hand. The catcher
has become the caught! What a mess.
Try as he may, the catcherman can’t
get the hook with the barb out of his
finger. The cat flounces and the blood
flows. Pain courses through the finger.
The cat is caught, but the fish has
caught the man.
What to do? Don’t panic. Think. Be
calm.
First, cut the line (or bite it in two)
and get the rod and reel out of the
way. Then, you’ve got to get the hooks
out of the big cat’s mouth, otherwise,
he is really going to tear and rip the
finger. Three hooks running in three
directions are hard to remove - almost
impossible, even with the needle-nosed
pliers.
And, these are really hooked. But,
they’ve got to come out, and quickly.
Well, they are in the corner of the
mouth - maybe if you pull hard enough
they will come out. So, pulling is what
you do, and all of a sudden, the hooks
are free and the big cat is back in the
water.
See WALKER, page 9A
Technically, I believe it makes it ours,
not theirs. Would it be “hip” for them to
use a word frequently used to describe
the Dick Van Dyke Show of 1961-66
fame?
But anyways, I’m happy the 15-30-
year-old non-parents now have a place
to go for the latest and greatest in
“modem, hip and trendy.”
“Brian. Do you mind if I just sneak
a peek ? I promise not to spill any of my
Geritol on the keyboard. ”
Ah, now there’s some news they can
use: “Xbox Focus: Ten Achievement
Commandments”, “5 Lego Games That
Will Never Happen”, “The Best N 64
Games That Still Matter Today”, “Cell
phone Addiction - are you addicted to
get connected?”
“Wow! Now I see why your website is
so special. ”
And to think I thought this might
just be a few college kids hanging out
in their dorm room, drinking beer and
trying to figure out how to make some
money. (Note: I did e-mail Brian back
asking for a more detailed summary
of his study. In all fairness, if it turns
out to be legit, I’ll state as much ...
No response four days later, I would
add. PS. Don’t tell him but I did do
more than take a “peek”, too. One
link I couldn’t resist: “25 Unbelievable
Pictures You May Have Never Seen
Before Part I.” I couldn’t believe it all
right. They are of scenic pictures and
such. “Clean” is an understatement.
There’s even one of a momma bird
See MONCRIEF, page $A
"One voice can make a difference"
Battling the blaze
The fire that broke out late Saturday after
noon in Perry was bad, but as everyone seems
to know by now it could have been far worse.
Stated simply, Perry is fortunate not to have lost
an entire block of its historic shops on Carroll
Street, and much gratitude is due to our firefight
ers and all who supported them in their five-hour
battle against a treacherous blaze.
The response to the fire, which began in
an electric storm with torrential rain, has also
answered many questions.
Were Perry’s firefighters up to the chal
lenge in terms of professionalism and training?
Absolutely! They already knew what problems a
downtown fire might present. They had already
discussed it. They already had a plan of action,
which undoubtedly saved valuable time in the
fight to keep the fire contained.
Does Perry have enough firefighters? Probably
not. There were six tired men to respond to the
initial call. They were at the end of their shift, hav
ing already responded to three other incidents.
Given the lightning strikes, which were happen
ing all over Perry, another fire could have been a
real possibility. More firefighters arrived to help,
but we are indeed blessed that the small group
that reached the fire first were well trained, knew
their priorities and did a terrific job.
Can Houston Countians work together?
Absolutely! Warner Robins firefighters were on
their way within minutes after they heard about
the fire on the scanner. Houston County firefight
ers came as well. Through cooperation and the
capability of working well together in an emer
gency. there was no “Highway 96” division - It
was “all for one, and one for all.”
Has Perry’s Public Service Department got its
act together? The answer is another resounding
yes! Firefighters could concentrate on the blaze
because police officers were taking care of the
traffic for blocks around, making sure fire vehi
cles and equipment had access and controlling
the crowd. The City’s Public Works Department
was on the job, too.
Is small town spirit still alive and well? Well,
when you have people like Jerry Whitney
See BATTLING,page yA
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘Perry’ residents need to be heard
On June 17, I attended the public hearing held by the
Perry City Council regarding impact fees. The room
was packed with persons with real estate interests. Ninety
plus percent of the speakers were developers, builders
and realtors. Some of them actually live in Perry. Only two
persons expressed a view in favor of impact fees, me and
one other.
Here is some of what I heard the anti-impact-fee speakers
say. One person, representing realtors, said that one main
concern she had was for the people in Perry who have pas
ture land which will be devalued if impact fees pass and that
the owners would not be able recover those losses when
they sold to a developer. I have a question, just how much
pasture land is there is Perry, and where is it kept.
Another anti-impact-fee speaker suggested that his motive
was to continue to provide the American Dream of home
ownership and that impact fees could represent an insur
mountable barrier. I had a hard time figuring all that out.
See LETTER, page 9A
y&anztan Journal
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