Talking Fisherman - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

I went down to the fishin' hole

Carried along my fishin' pole

Somethin' grabbed my hook and it grabbed my bait

And it took me out in the middle of the lake

Some jump

I got sunk

Baptized on credit

Fishin' down on the muddy bank

I felt a pull and I gave a big yank

I pulled out three old rubber boots

A Ford radiator and a Chevrolet Coupe

I handed 'em in for National Defense

You go fishin', tell ya what to do

Go set down by the grassy dew

Take a piece of string, tie it on your pole

And throw it way out in the middle of the hole

Then just find you a good shade tree

Set down

And go to sleep, forget all about it

Sittin' in a boat with a bucket of beer

Hadn’t caught nuthin' but didn’t much care

I guess I was pretty well satisfied

Had my little lady right by my side

Takin' it easy

Worm been gone off-a that hook for a couple of hours

Stagnant water’s a stinkin' thing

Slick on top and all turned green

When the water goes bad, the fish all run

You can sit all day and not catch a-one

'Cept mud wallopers, gar fish

A few little suckers

Jumped in the river and I went down deep

There was a hundred pound catfish lying there asleep

I jumped on his back and rode him into town

Saddled him up and I turned him around

People came runnin'

Dogs a-barkin'

Kids a-lookin'

I waded out to a sandy bar

And I caught myself a big alligator gar

And I drug him home across my back

Tail was dragging a mile and a half

Flippin' and floppin'

Sold him for a quarter

Got drunk, shot craps, got in jail

Early one mornin', I took me a notion

To go out a-fishin' in the middle of the ocean

And I caught myself a great big shark

I didn’t get him home 'til way past dark

He was a man-eater

Tough customer

Just wasn’t quite tough enough

Last last night I had me a dream

I was out fishin' in a whiskey stream

I baited my hook with apple-jack

Threw out a drink, bring a gallon back

Done pretty good

Till the stream run dry

So I give the fish back to the finance company