T.J. AND THE CAFISH & BROTHER RATCLIFF&OTHERS 10/19/07

One day the local Baptist Pastor stopped at the store and stated with fact that to find T.J. and Willie Mac that Elbert Bridges was home from the army after four years and wanted to have a Catfish fry on the banks of Beouf River. I found T.J. and Mac at their house, told, them the problem, and they got the “logging” sack from their barn and went by the Preacher’s House and told him where to meet us on the river and announce at Prayer Meeting that night (every body went because there was lots of good singing after the meeting). T.J., Mac. The Preacher and Elbert all gathered at the river. T J. said that just around the bend at the grassy bend ford there was a big log and it probably had about a twenty pound catfish in it and we would shake a hollow fork out on the bank and get two or three Blue Cat from them and we would seine a couple of sand bars and have every thing ready for the fry by the time Prayer Meeting was over. The preacher and Elbert stayed to witness the removal of the large catfish by hand from the log in the bend of the river. I could just barely stand on the log the water was so swift and came up to just under my nose.

Now a new chapter starts. T.J. asked Mac for the hook out of the sack. He had gone down and felt of the fish’s head and estimated it to weigh about twenty pounds and was a Blue Cat. If the fish had been a Yellow or Tabby Cat you just slip your hand in the fish’s mouth and pull him out. They cannot bite because they have no real teeth. They feel like it when you first grab one. Mr. Junior Martin had made a hook to retrieve large Blue Cat because they had large sharp teeth. They forgot the Preacher on the bank and began cussing one another and blaming each other for leaving the hook out of the bag. Finally T.J. said He would get him out with His bare hand. One of His arms was deformed because of polio but from His elbow down it was fully developed and very, very strong. We tried to talk him out of it but He insisted that I stick my leg up the log so the fish could not back up and Mac stop up the split in the top of the log with the sack. On the count of three we all three went down and did our duty. When we came (only about 3 feet from the bank) T.J. was screaming the fish was eating him up and He could not turn him loose. The fish would pull Him under water and when we tried to help He would cuss and tell us to get away. He finally took His good strong arm and threw the catfish up on the bank. When He looked up and saw the preacher with His hat off laughing for all it’s worth T.J. starting to apologizing for the cussing etc. The Preacher replied, ”I’ll say a prayer for you to night but it would be better for you to ask forgiveness because Jesus might have tried that same method of fishing.