The Five Fish Fishing Reel...

I've been real handy around the house since I retired. Most folks think I'd be fishing all the time but I have found good satisfaction in decluttering, cleaning up, yard work and making things out of discarded items such as this rod and reel rack made from an old pallet. I think I must have between 20 and 25 combos set up for various fishing situations, some like a couple of surf rods that might only be used a couple of times a year and none are particularly expensive. Quite a few of these are 70s and 80s vintage, some I have had that long and others of a type I keep on the lookout for at thrift stores. A good bit of it is made in the USA back when you know, factories were here. 

The main thrust of making this rack was to declutter the boat a bit because it had become a situation where I was carrying 8 or 10 rods to the lake and the boat itself had become a floating rod rack. Now I can decide what the fishing situation is going to be and only carry the ones that apply leaving the others snug in the rack. All this going over of equipment brought to mind a story a friend told me about the five fish fishing reel. 

My friend was a bit older than me and grew up around Houston and spent a good bit of time at the beach. You could drive about anywhere on Texas back in these good old growing up days. I hear you can't drive on any Galveston beach anymore but back then driving, drinking and fishing up and down the beach was good summer fun. I did not grow up around Houston or the coast but as soon as I heard about this combination I made it a point to become involved myself. 

Back to my friend's story though. He described himself as in a situation, I can't recall but maybe his vehicle was stuck in the sand or he was out of beer or bait. Certainly was not that he was out of sun screen as such did not exist back then. Some guys came along and as an enticement to rescue him from the situation he offered to trade a rod and reel he had. To establish a proper value for what ever this trade may have been he told them that he thought the reel had "about five fish left in in." 

Now I have spent a fair amount of time at the beach stuck, out of beer, out of bait, sunburned and seen the effects of salt, sand and large fish on my tackle. As my friend told this story I knew exactly what he meant by a reel that had "about 5 fish in it." 

There might be a reel or two in that rack that has about five fish left in it. Five fish is supper around here. It's a good trade.