Fish In The Horse Trough

One of the stories Marca likes to tell about the Nebraska farm is about fishing in Cub Creek.  She remembers that there were any number of fish to be caught from the creek that crossed the farm in Southern Nebraska.  A particular challenge for Grandpa Leslie was the catfish.  When you catch a small catfish, it generally swallows the hook, so you can’t very well set it loose.  But, what do you do with a fish that is too small to eat but it has swallowed the hook?  So, when you catch catfish, you cut the fish line and put the fish in the horse trough.  Over time, the fish hook will dissolve inside the fish.  When the catfish grows a bit, and is large enough to eat, then you take it out of the trough for dinner.  This way you don’t lose any good fish.  You let it grow a bit and in time it is still worth cleaning and cooking.