As for "Fishin' Blues" a la Taj, Spoonful and such, I once heard the song explained by one of the old bluesmen at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Wash.DC as not really being about fishing as such, as it's adaptors and popularizers would have it. He said it was about the fact that this one particular guy was staying away from home too much and his wife didn't believe it.

Said you goin' fishin' all the time,
I'm a goin' fishin', too.
Bet your life your lovin' wife
Can catch more fish than you!
Any fish bites when you gots good bait.
Here's a little somrthing I would like to relate
Any fish bites if you gots good bait
I'm a goin' fishin, yes, I'm goin' fishin'
I'm a goin' fishin too!


....takes on an entirely new light as what the likes of Henry Thomas were originally singing about had more in common with, say "I'll Go Steppin' Too" than what Taj would safely put on a children's album.




So, may your rod and your staff (if you choose to bring any of them along) comfort you. Now back to them Angler-Saxon folksongs!


Severn

(Gone Nuclear Fishin' at Calvert Cliffs)