Another group of people come to mind. In Texas, we call them River Rats
or used to at least, because these families live in homemade houseboats docked
along the banks of the Trinity, Sabine and other East Texas Rivers. They
make their living by commercial fishing, i.e running trot lines, drop lines
and the like. They're after catfish, which they will take to town and sell
to restaurants, using the monies received to buy necessary things for their
families.( an honest living ) They also have a diet mainly of fish and vegetables.
When I was a youngster, I went to school with several of their kids. Their
clothes were not new by any means, but they were always neat and each kid
had that "fresh scrubbed" look. Some looked down on them because of the
way they lived, but I never did because I too come from humble beginnings,
i.e. the "piney woods". We were known as "hillbillies". My Dad was a blacksmith
and he and his brothers also ran an auto repair business in the country.
Nope, we weren't Moonshiners, although I was approached several times to
run "shine" in my Ultra fast 57 Ford that had a bored out 312 block and dual
4 barrel Holly, (think they were 650's),double pumpers! Remember the movie
"Thunder Road" with Robert Mitchum? My car was identical to the 57 Ford
he drove.
Good Day!
JIMMY
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Jimmy D. Moore wrote:
How
do you think the real Cajuns back in the swamps of South Lousiana live? Some
have jobs in the city, but a bunch still "live off the land" as they have
for generations.
JIMMY
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Mark Wendt wrote:
Unless you have a little pride and refuse to live off the welfare dole.
Mark
At 11:30 PM 1/5/2003 -0500, you wrote:
IBrad
Your reference to subsistance bait fishing sounds like the 1930s. in
todays day and age, with all of the social welfare nets, food stamps, Wic
and other food banks, No one in todays society need hunt or fish for food.
Gary S
--
Jimmy D. Moore - Author,Outdoor Writer,TOWA, TF&G,VP-GRTU
Owner/Webmaster - Worldwide Flyfishing Info.
http://www.BIGTROUTMAN.homestead.com/MainPage.html
www.sportingtales.com This is the website of Sporting Tales
magazine - No "how-to OR "where-to"! Just the "Why-to",
with outstanding campfire type stories about hunting and fishing.
