Who made fishing so great for you?

[saltfly]

I was born in Dorchester and at about 6 yrs old[1956] I'd sneak down the street[adams st.} to the Cedar Grove Cemetery and play in the big trees.Then crossed the train tracks[Bakers Chocolate} to the Neponset River and played along the shore with the horseshoe crabs and minnows.Then found the Granite Av. bridge and watched the men fishing from the bridge and I was hooked.I did errands for my mom and aunt&uncle[lived upstairs] to the "courner store" and they'd give me change.I saved up enough to buy a drop line at the bait shop in Codman Sq[by Ashmont T station].The man at the bait shop gave me afew seaworms and off i went back to the river.As i walked,the box opened and me smelling the seaweed and worms as i walked.Getting to the bridge I did'nt understand why everyone was on one side of the bridge so I went to the other side.After a few fruitless trips[I'd hide the dropline next to the house in the hedges]I was on the other side of the bridge doing the same thing.An oldtimer had been watching me the times i went there and finally had me come over to his side and let me put my line down with him.He showed me to let line line to the bottom and bounce it off and on.After about 10mins and BOOM!! fish-on...Up came a cod about 25-28" It was HUGE!!!.Everyone on the bridge was clapping.I rolled up my dropline and headed home down Granite av. and up Gallivan blvd. to home.I was soooooo proud.Well,I got home and my mother was horrified.I wanted the fish for supper.After being yelled at for being at the river and told to go to my room for a possible'licking'.my mom told me never to go near that river again.In the meantime[i found out many years later]my uncle went down to the fishmarket and bought some haddock and that was MY fish for supper.The real fish was given to a neighbor and kept the secret from me.To this day nobody in my family fishes at all and think it's nuts to be out doing what we love.OH!!! I did get a few 'lickins' in the next few years because i just could'nt stay away from that river.