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"I'm
not sure I was born to be a fisherman, but I was born to a fishing
family. I was lucky to have two grandfathers who I cared for a great
deal, one encouraged me to fish and the other to hunt. (Hunting
is another story.) Until I was ten or eleven years old I didn't
realize there were fish on earth other than bluegill, catfish, and
carp; likewise, the only methods of fishing were baiting hooks with
worms, stinkbait, and grasshoppers. After WWII, when my Dad came
home from the service, I was lucky enough to go with him at five
years of age. I watched and learned, he was my first hero after
all."
"At the end of hot Texas summers, before the cooler October
winds came and after the crops on my grandfather's farm were harvested,
the men of the family came together to celebrate another year of
rural survival. They planned the annual fishing trip and packed
gear in the pick-up truck caravan that would take them to the banks
of the Colorado or Brazos Rivers. When I was very small I remember
I wanted to go so badly I cried when they left and greeted them
at the front gate when they returned. I dreamed of the day when
I would be old enough to carry their kerosene lantern and wade the
night currents of the River with them baiting the lines 'til sunrise.
Eventually that opportunity came, I fished with the men at age 9."
"The camp-outs on these trips lasted several days; we slept
on the soft, sandy ground, ate cold biscuits from home and cooked
on the campfire. They never thought of not catching fish. The fish
were there and they knew where, when, and how to catch them. Coming
home with a "mess (that's "Texas talk" for a large
quantity!) of catfish, drum and soft shell turtle culminated in
a huge outdoor fish fry under the giant oak trees in my grandparents'
yard. The whole family came, along with the neighbors, to share
the bounty of fried catfish and turtle fillets, hush puppies, watermelon,
and fruit pies."
"Since those days of childhood and harvest moon simplicity,
fishing for me has changed in many ways; however, the bonding and
sharing with family and friends will always be a part of it."
"Even in the world of hi-tech, fish finders, graphite rods,
and sonic lures; a day or night of fishing will always be a holy
activity."
"I've baptized my hooks and lures off the coast of California
and Puget Sound, the Great Slave Lake of Northwest Territories,
inland lakes of Manitoba, the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast waters
of Florida only to realize that there are hundreds of species of
fish I've either failed to catch or have never fished."
"I've probably used most every kind of fishing method available
to me, from bow and arrow in the rivers of Texas for gar fish to
hand-tied crab flies for casting to red fish in Florida. I've experienced
days of second degree sunburn, rain produced hypothermia, nearly
lost myself as well as my canoe in a tornado storm in the middle
of a lake and drifted helplessly in the current of a river after
loosing my footing in my waders; however, I can truthfully say that
I've never had a bad day of fishing. I can't count the times I've
gone fishless, but it just didn't matter. These are the times of
catch and release of course and I rarely bring home the fish that
I catch anymore. When all is said and done, I would go to my final
resting place a more fulfilled, self-realized, contented man, knowing
that I had brought to net at least one of every catchable fish species
in and around the North American continent. Not for the fish but
for the experience and adventure of the pursuit. It's with this
mind-set the ("Fishing Suite" Sculpture Series) of anglers
has been created and dedicated to those like myself. Those who believe
that the rivers, streams, and lakes carry the blood of the earth
and our catching of fish the simplest way to feel its heartbeat."
- Hollis Williford
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