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J. P. Fraley was a very well-known fiddler from NE Kentucky. He died at 87, just this year, 2/17/11 in Denton, KY. I have one of his & his wife Annadeene's CD's, called Maysville, produced in 1995, by Rounder Records.. This little vignette is from the liner booklet that came with CD. Hope y'all enjoy! Joan
When J.P. got married, his father warned him, "Now, you be careful of your fiddling and your fishing, because I'm afraid that, between the two of them, you might plumb forget your family." J.P. kept his promise, despite the fact that he has witnessed some extremely surprising occurrences while indulging in his hobbies:
The government build a big reservoir in Rowan County some time ago and when they dammed up Licking River, a really large lake was made. And they left a lot of tree stumps in there--we call them 'stick ups'. Now, Licking River had a notoriety for big muskies and these fish just got dammed up in that lake. Everybody knows that muskies like to hide in a place where there's a lot of cover. I had gone to my special spot, plugging with a double jointed plug--my plug was so big, it felt like I was throwing a pop bottle out in the lake. After a time I hadn't gotten a strike at all, so I got tired and sat down to smoke, to let the water settle. I said, I know they're in there--I'll just wait. Pretty soon I heard a rustling in the leaves back on the shore. A squirrel came running down like it was being chased by something and leaped out onto one of these stick ups. He picked up a black walnut that happened to be laying on the stump, which I guess is the reason he went out there. But after the squirrel had gotten it in his mouth, he looked the situation over and saw that the stump wasn't very big. So he backed off to one side of it and took what running go he could, but he didn't have enough runway and didn't make it. But just as soon as he hit the water, it virtually exploded--a muskie got him! Well, I threw my cigarette down and started plugging again right away--boy, I was really determined to catch that fish. So I worked real hard at it, but it began to get late in the eveing and I still hadn't gotten anything. So I decided to sit back and let the water settle once again. Anybody that knows fishing knows that time just at the edge of evening when the wind lays and the water becomes still as glass. I was enjoying another cigarette when I saw an enormous muskie raise up out of the water right by the stick up where the squirrel had been. He slowly put another walnut on that stump.
Now that was a true story--I'd never fib about anything as important as fishing. Now in the old days, they might have called such things lying, but today it's only a credibility gap.
When J.P. got married, his father warned him, "Now, you be careful of your fiddling and your fishing, because I'm afraid that, between the two of them, you might plumb forget your family." J.P. kept his promise, despite the fact that he has witnessed some extremely surprising occurrences while indulging in his hobbies:
The government build a big reservoir in Rowan County some time ago and when they dammed up Licking River, a really large lake was made. And they left a lot of tree stumps in there--we call them 'stick ups'. Now, Licking River had a notoriety for big muskies and these fish just got dammed up in that lake. Everybody knows that muskies like to hide in a place where there's a lot of cover. I had gone to my special spot, plugging with a double jointed plug--my plug was so big, it felt like I was throwing a pop bottle out in the lake. After a time I hadn't gotten a strike at all, so I got tired and sat down to smoke, to let the water settle. I said, I know they're in there--I'll just wait. Pretty soon I heard a rustling in the leaves back on the shore. A squirrel came running down like it was being chased by something and leaped out onto one of these stick ups. He picked up a black walnut that happened to be laying on the stump, which I guess is the reason he went out there. But after the squirrel had gotten it in his mouth, he looked the situation over and saw that the stump wasn't very big. So he backed off to one side of it and took what running go he could, but he didn't have enough runway and didn't make it. But just as soon as he hit the water, it virtually exploded--a muskie got him! Well, I threw my cigarette down and started plugging again right away--boy, I was really determined to catch that fish. So I worked real hard at it, but it began to get late in the eveing and I still hadn't gotten anything. So I decided to sit back and let the water settle once again. Anybody that knows fishing knows that time just at the edge of evening when the wind lays and the water becomes still as glass. I was enjoying another cigarette when I saw an enormous muskie raise up out of the water right by the stick up where the squirrel had been. He slowly put another walnut on that stump.
Now that was a true story--I'd never fib about anything as important as fishing. Now in the old days, they might have called such things lying, but today it's only a credibility gap.