Fishing Tales and Boat Sails: Family Lore from Southern Waterways

These stories of fishing and boating stand out because most took place in an era when there were few limits on angling: few bag limits, size restrictions, or environmental concerns—and when fish, some experts say, grew bigger than they do today.

Arkansas’ Calion Lake and Louisiana’s Calcasieu River; Half Moon Reef in Texas’ Matagorda Bay and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway; Karankawa Bay and Chinquapin Bayou: Members of the McClung Family knew them all like they knew the backside of their hands. Little inlets and coves, marshes and hidden lagoons, the Gulf of Mexico--all provide the setting for this narrative of family fishing stories generated primarily between 1945 and 1975.

Whether crabbing from the Cameron jetty, casting lures in secret lakes, or deep-sea fishing, McClungs took advantage of every opportunity to hook a big one. And these anglers often kept their cameras close at hand.

These memories, compiled by a family member, offer fascinating reading not just for family but also for fishing enthusiasts and boat buffs, post-World War II researchers, all those seeking accounts of post-war attitudes, habits, and leisure pursuits. Environmentalists and ecologists can gain insight into a way of life that no longer flourishes outside the minds of avid sportsman.

The major players in this narrative were ordinary people but not ordinary anglers. They studied their craft and mastered fine points of casting, reeling in, and detecting fish's hiding places. They knew fish habits, how the weather affects their behavior, the best bait and lures to use. In short, they were successful.

Best of all—they were good storytellers!