The best fishing partners have a wagging tail -- and a closed mouth

The best fishing partners have a wagging tail and a closed mouth anchors this reflective piece about family, memory, and the rituals of angling. The narrator recalls tagging along with his dad, learning to bait hooks, remove them from fish, and dodge catfish spines, but the core lesson was practical: know when to keep your beak shut. After trips, they often visited the Loyal Order of the Moose, where Dad would order fish and fries to bring home while the narrator drank an Orange Crush. Herb Hooks, proprietor of Herb's Baits, would chime in with his wares, turning stories into promotional chatter. The recounting culminates in a tense exchange about whether the day yielded big fish, hinting at memory’s power to shape truth.