Fearless Fulk’s Fish Story by James Austin Fulk

That first picture is of me now but here I was in my younger days.  My old pal Dave, and I do mean old, tells of the great fishing in Michigan, but I’m here to tell you that Indiana can hold its own with any state.  Dave used to write about a fictional helicopter that  flew called the Muck and the Mire.  Today that is where I find the worms that can catch me a fish like this!

The secret is to dig for those worms deep in the earth.  My wife Sharon has a nose for that sort of thing.  She can sniff out a good worm from fifty paces.  Well, when I got the ones  I wanted,  baited my hook with the very best of those.  To land this beauty it took me nearly six hours to pull her in.  For a spell I got free tow around the lake as this monster was not going to my frying skillet without a good fight.

But all it took was one worm to do the job not to mention six grueling hours hauling her in.  Even then, she was too big for my boat so I sort of dragged her to shore.  I’m glad Sharon was with me cause she did all the rowing to get me back to dry land.  Then it took her another six hours to clean this thing.  After that she cooked it in about ten skillets.  For some strange reason, though, it only took me several minutes to eat it.  I can’t figure out why it took her so long to do her part when it only took be minutes to digest it?

Maybe I had her row to much?  By the way, she snapped off this great shot of my fish.  Ain’t she a dandy?  No, not my Sharon, the fish! 

Tarzan Tom, The Tree Climber

Tom went to our Michigan property with the Marion YMCA and was probably the only boy on any of our trips that loved to climb trees.  And at our large forest he found himself a tree lovers paradise!  His favorite were those on our wooded beachfront. 

He found  one particular tree not twenty yards from the Pointe that became his favorite and he even began a tree house.  He never finished that project because he was always finding trees that were a greater challenge to him. 

He recruited another youngster by the name of Jay to go with him in the general area.  He found some excellent trees to climb just to the east of Noreika Road off the pathway to our wooded beachfront.  By themselves that was about the boundary that I had placed on the boys when they went off by themselves.  That area was in close proximity to where I parked my car just off Noreika Road. 

Tom never once injured himself while climbing trees.  I believe even some squirrels envied him his climbing talents.  And that is how Tom earned the nickname “Tarzan”.  I often wonder if he considered Jay to be “Cheetah”?

Another Haunted Island Loon Speaks

“I often take night flights over Haunted Island to catch a break from tiny Loon Island. This evening I got to observe a group of kids from the Hoffman Estates Boys Club take a ride out to Haunted Island and it was a hoot. From my aerial vantage point I could watch them row all the way from their wooded campsite to that island. As they approached the darkness of the island I saw their boat began shaking as if some wake from another boat had hit them only there was no other boat. The operative word that made that boat shake was FEAR!

Now what could little old me do to add to that fear?  Well, as they landed I flew directly over the trees crying out and those big babies hit the ground as if they had heard some ghostly scream.  They got up and dusted themselves off only to arrive soon thereafter at the old house in the middle of that island. 

They approached the house slowly just as I revved up my wingspan and darted over the top of that house and cried out loudly.  Those kids ran into the woods like they were on fire.  I wonder what they would have done had they seen a real ghost?  I’m glad that I chose this night to get some winged exercise.  I’ve been putting on a few pounds and the laughter I had from this night sure shed a few of them.

On their way back across Big Bass Lake I let out another cry and those kids hit the oars trying for a new speed record.  What fun!  I might do this again the next time they head out there?  Who loves ya baby?