Gone Fishing (In Isaan) Part 10

Sis and I got to the town down the road and grabbed a bite to eat. I also grabbed a few cans of ice cold beer Chang from the ice bucket in front of one shop I frequent, some fruit for the family, and some oddities of an edible nature I wanted to try out. One a funky rice pancake with bits of corn kernels in it. Tasty stuff it was. I also went to a shop across the street where I had spotted some of the wide brimmed straw hats most Isaan people wear when in the rice fields when working. These were a bargain at 17 baht each! I grabbed seven of them. Some for here, and a few for my sisters and mother to wear when gardening in their yards.

Once we were finished, it didn't take long really, we jumped back in the truck and I drove down the road away from our village. "Where you go?" asked Sis. "I don't know really. I just want to drive around a bit and check out a couple of places I've seen where we might be able to fish." I replied. "Up to you." she says, looking at me a bit oddly. I'm getting used to always getting these funny looks as though I'm some retarded relative who needs to be humored occasionally. I drive down the road and take a quick left onto a "highway" and tool along some ways. All of a sudden I see a sign by a shop area on the other side of the road. It shows a fish and a rod painted on the sign, with some words in Thai. I pull over onto the dirt berm and ask Sis to translate the sign. She tells me it's a fishing hole where people can pay to catch fish. "Well, why didn't you tell me this place was here?" I ask her. She says. "Not know here! Never see!" I make a disbelieving face at her and bang a U-ey and drive into the shop area parking lot. We get out of the truck and I notice there is a shop right there that also sells fishing equipment. "Hey Sis. This place sells fishing stuff too, and it's a hell of a lot closer to home than the place you took me this morning. Why the hell didn't we just come here this morning?" I growl. "Not know! Not know!" she sticks to her story. Sure. Probably went to the other place because she wanted to buy all that other crap for Sis 2. Christ! This place is wicked close to the house.

I drag her inside the shop and have her ask about the fishing hole rental spot. Meanwhile I browse the shop. Fuckin' A. They have floats, and bobbers, and lots of lures, and plastic worms, jars of scented fish eggs for bait, a couple of different diver type lures, split shot weights, and rods, and reels, and line, and hooks, and,……… what's this? A friggin' NET! For like 200 baht! A big one too. With a 3 1/2 to four foot pole handle too! And the net hole size is small enough to catch those pesky little rice farm pond fish too! I take the net, some more lures, a few of the bobbers, some more even smaller sized hooks than what I had, two of the diving type lures, a few more split shot weights of differing weights, and bring them to the counter, where I notice that the shop clerk lass is pretty damned cute.

I pay for all this stuff while Sis explains to me that the rental fishing hole here is closed right now. For some reason I can't quite understand, and her English, and my Thai, prevents her from explaining fully. Fuck it. "Doesn't matter Sis. We have a net now!" I tell her. "Let's go back to the rice farm fishing hole and see if we can catch a bunch of the little buggers in the net!" Once again I get the look. "Well", I ask her, "Do you eat the little fish? Like the ones you see flopping out of that dish, where you eat them alive and whole?" She grins, "Yes same." I grin foolishly back. "Okay! We're in like friggin' Flynn. We're off to net a shitload of the little ones then. Get in the damned truck." I tell her. Thus armed, and deadly to all fish of any size in the area about, we return to the rice fields. Those little fishy fuckers ain't gonna make a monkey outta this here falang fisherman. I'll have buckets full of them in minutes with this net! Shit. I don't have a damned bucket to put the fish caught in.

Ahhhh, yeah. I love this shit. I crack a Chang, chug it down, it is a good anaesthetic for my sun purpled skin. I bust out in song. "I'm a goin' fishin', yes, I'm goan fishin', we're all goin' fishin'…even Sis tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Jeez. A critic. Again with that look.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha…………… off we go.

Stickman says:

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