Incredible (True) Fishing Stories - You May Not be Hooked

Can you recall ever seeing a funny film moment involving fishing? I can't. There have been some unpleasant slapstick scenes involving very dead fish stinking out the back of a truck (a 3 Stooges short comes to mind), as well as the "juggling an obviously wooden fish while pretending it's snapping at your fingers" gag or the "marionette fish with the hinged jaw spurting water while lying on a dinner plate."

Stand-up routines? No...sticking a worm on a hook and waiting till a fish punctures its lip on it...is not much of a joke. I can't think of any comedian who got much mileage out of fishing stories. At best, there was Tim Conway's "Dorf Goes Fishing" video. It wasn't one of his best, but apparently while the subject is a washout to the mainstream public, fishermen are desperate enough to buy something like that via mail-order.

And so, my guess is that "Incredible and True! Fishing Stories" is a niche market item at best...intended for die-hard fin-atics. Anyone with a dry sense of humor, or a profound disinterest in technical talk...will very likely be baffled by items that might be true, but don't seem incredible, or even interesting. Some tales go on for several pages for no real pay-off at all.

For a small square book that's supposed to be browsable, it's a bit of a snore to deal with the padding and the technical jargon.

But judge for yourself. Here's a page (119 out of the 212) that's apparently supposed to make your jaw drop...as if there was a hook in it. If this works for you, buy the book. Otherwise, if you get it as a gift, you'll want to throw it back.

A MARLIN'S LIFE JACKET

Owner of southern California's Balboa Bay Club, Bill Ray, and three of his friends were fishing off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico when all five fishing reels clacked like a flock of feeding birds. Suddenly the water erupted with five hooked marlin. All four anglers grabbed a fishing rod and silenced the reel's clicker. The air, whoever, still echoed with chatter. A fifth unattended marlin continued to take line. Ray stepped to the unmanned fishing rod and freed the drag. Then he tied a life jacket to the gear and flung it overboard. An hour later, all four manned marlin were landed and released. Ray, who had kept an eye on the bright orange life jacket, captained the boat as a friend retrieved the floating gear and landed the fifth marlin, releasing it for another day."

That's it.

True, yes. Incredible?

It would seem that these days, most people would be more prone to seeing incredible, true postings on YouTube where you can actually see the flailing fish and witness a dramatic moment. Or...just make up a story and tell it to a friend. "...and you should've seen the one that got away..."