Mike Jackson’s outdoors column: TV fishing world
I had to prick my index finger, and swear I would never reveal his true age for fear of being sent off into exile.
Of course, if one arm-wrestled with this chap, the unlucky person would not only lose but probably never tell the victor’s actual age as well.
This renaissance man touts his youthful appearance and ability to outwit just anyone else half his age.
A.J. Paul is a very crafty language expert, or otherwise known as a CLE in the scientific community, and almost every week after he and I broadcast the Sunday morning “chapter” of Mike Jackson Outdoors Radio, he’ll later call me on the telephone complaining of various statements made by some of the television fishing hosts.
“These are odd chaps,” A.J. recently declared, “in that their manner of speaking definitely helps draw a line of demarcation between northern and southern fishermen.”
I asked him to explain.
“Well,” he continued, “first off, the southern boys are definitely members of STOA, which is the Slow Talkers of America. And quite often I have trouble understanding some of the phrases and terminology they use when on the water,” he explained.
So I sat down at the kitchen table and prepared myself for another grammar lesson.
A.J. enjoys bass fishing with me. He likes all fishing, including northern Canadian angling and the accompanying shore lunches of baked lake trout and walleye. But when he’s home ensconced in front of his television set watching the good old boys flipping worms and grubs to areas 6 inches from the bank, he’ll sometimes take notes and just shake his head as the TV spectacle unfolds.
“You know there are roughly two million words in our dictionary, and that includes some technical words mixed in,” he declared. “And I realize that I may sound like a total snob when I bring up this subject, but this whole thing about languaging and how certain words are used by many anglers, including northern folks, just makes me want to tear out whatever remaining hair I have left.”
I asked A.J. if I could call him back, because I had another caller. He refused to allow me to put him on hold. And that’s when he started detailing the words, and the misuse.
“Some of the fishermen have a tendency to use the word ‘hawg’ immediately after they get a heavy strike,” he explained. “I believe they assign the word hog to the fish but spell it ‘hawg” because it’s more testosterone-driven than the more common spelling. And hog is supposed to translate into big fish.”
He went on. “Then we have the second cousin to hawg, which is ‘pig,’ another slang term for big fish. And then, of course, the weekend lineup of television shows would be incomplete without hearing the word ‘biggun.’ That one drives me crazy.”
“I know the way these words are used by these macho men,” he noted, “and they sometimes get carried away with themselves with their exclamations and exaggerations.”
I told A.J. I once laughed when I heard one of these fishermen refer to a big bass as a ‘slob,’ which caused me to disintegrate in a pool of laughter.
Ÿ Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.