What Were You Doing the Day John Belushi Died?...

Every year when November 22nd rolls around lots of people commemorate a day so shocking that they forever recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when President John F. Kennedy was assasainated. I was in the first grade. I don't really recall what I was doing but I suspect it was first grade type stuff. Seems as if I remember a TV broadcast of the funeral procession. That's probably a real memory because it's in black in white. We did not have color television. On March the 5, 1982 comedian, actor and singer John Belushi died. I still did not have a color TV but I remember what I was doing.

It really was probably March the 6th when me and my old buddies GW and Tim piled into my 1978 monkey poo brown GMC pickup truck and pulling a semi V aluminum boat headed out on a fishing trip below the Lake Livingston Dam. This was the age before club cabs and four doors and all that stuff that makes a truck into a limousine so we sat shoulder to shoulder like ducks in a row. It was well before daylight and switching on an AM radio broadcast we heard the news about Belushi's death. Details were scant but heroin and cocaine were mentioned. Even three old boys headed for the river knew that was a bad idea and indicated there were larger problems in his life that he never would get a chance to resolve. 

Not deterred by this early morning news we arrived to fish behind the lake dam in the Trinity River. I had fished here before and first business was to get a large rock from the bank riprap and tie it to a long rope for an anchor. Now I was expecting white bass fishing to be good and knew as you can see in this photo of GW that when all the dam gates were open the fishing was frequently poor. Even with the swift current our anchor held firm. I don't think I have fished below the dam like this since this trip but these days I often drive past on my way to my mother in law's. My wife and I bet on how many dam gates will be open. I've won a lot of money off her on these bets because a little internet research, like a lot of people do these days will reveal river flows and strategic information that can be used to best advantage.     

Behind the dam can be a crowded spot and it was on this day. You see GW with a fish and we were having fair luck. A catfish here, a gaspergou, and now and then a white bass we were doing ok but as we watched the boats around us we could see people pulling in catfish, their silvery skin flashing over the sides of the boats one after another. Pretty soon due to the closeness of boats GW hung another fisherman's line, reeled it in and the guy had on a spoon for a lure. Now a spoon is a good bait. It will catch most anything but I would not call it a high percentage possibility for catfish. Then it occurred to us that the other fishermen were snagging.      

Snagging is an illegal technique. It's done by casting out a hook and hooking the fish in the tail, back or belly, wherever and reeling him in. Now apparently these fish were stacked like cord wood on the bottom because as you can see my friend Tim doing we rigged with spoons, a heavy lure with a big treble hook and begun casting. The weight carried the lure right to the bottom and when lifted with a sharp snap of the wrist a catfish was hooked.  

I have not often broken game laws but seeing everyone around us reeling in fish was too much to bear and we started snagging also. We were very successful. We sponsored a big fish fry the next day. I have never snagged catfish again. 

John Belushi was a funny guy. He was also a fine singer and the group he formed with Dan Ackroyd, The Blues Brothers made records and movies. As a die hard blues fan and a music snob I always turned my nose up his music. I once sat with some friends who had an extensive record collection, plenty of time and lots of old cheap beer and we would play a Blues Brothers cover of a classic R&B tune and then play the original. The Blues Brothers version always sounded fast and frantic, possibly because drugs were involved while the original sounded laid back and groovy. There were also probably drugs involved in that music. It was just different ones.

I do give Belushi credit for introducing listeners to the blues at a time when popular interest in that type of music was waning. He help revive the scene, making money for the old guys that had been around awhile and giving a lift to the up and coming talent.    

     Kennedy died 58 years ago. They say that 245 World War Two Vets die each day due to the inevitable process of aging. That war ended 76 years ago. I suspect in about 18 years we will start to get some figures on how fast people that recall the events of Nov. 22nd are heading on to Eternal Rest.  

 Maybe they will keep count of the number of people who remember what they were doing the day Belushi died. He did not leave the same mark on the world that a global war or a President does. My friend Tim that I fished with that day behind the dam passed in 2005 and he left hardly a mark in the world at all. I guess I recall this date, write about what I was doing and mention the names of people gone on so it can be set apart as a colorful, real memory.