BUGLE MOUTH BASS

Dad did not often eat fish or angle for them. He did, however, enjoy fishing under the right circumstances.

Most people were interested in catfish, bass, crappy, or bream. Dad was always kinda different in all things including fishing. His interest was in what he called "bugle mouth bass" (carp).

Dad and a friend would go to Striker Creek and spend a day and a night on occasion. They would build a fire, cook a few groceries, and drink copious amounts of Budweiser.

Preparing bait for carp involved taking bran cereal like Wheaties, wetting it with orange or red soda water, and making a small gummy "ball". Once pressed onto a treble hook and allowed to dry just a bit, the "bait" would stay on the hook forever. Dad would then just cast into the creek and relax while waiting for a strike.

The carp Dad caught ranged in size from 5 pounds up to 25 pounds. They would fight like angry bulls and Dad loved to feel the line and rod throbbing during "fights" that would last for up to 20 minutes.

When Dad would end his carp safari, he would throw some in the trunk (he called it the"turtle hull") of his car, go to Carlisle, and offer the "treasure" to the Medford family (his African-American friends). Mama Medford would gut and gill the fish and then put them in a pressure cooker. After the flesh was cooked from the bones, she would make the fish into patties and let it swim it in a bath of hot lard in her iron skillet. As Dad didn't like eating fish anyway, I'm very confident he never sampled his "catch".