Uncle Filets Catch of the Day

Favorite People

My Uncle Ray Seyer and Aunt Rose Mary Seyer (my mother’s sister) are two of my favorite people in the whole world.

Ray and Rose Mary Seyer

Anytime I am in Cape Girardeau, MO, my home town, a stop to visit with them is at the top of my ‘to do’ list. January 13, 2013 is Uncle Ray’s 91st birthday, and it got me to thinking of all the things I remember about him…. among them, he loves to go fishing.

Fisherman Extraordinaire

In August, I stopped in to visit and found Uncle Ray and his son, Mike, just coming home with two coolers full of bass and crappie.

Ray and Mike Seyer

They had gone out early in the morning and come home to the other part of ‘eat what you catch’… cleaning and fileting the catch of the day.

How to Filet a Fish

I am not a fisherperson, but way long ago before I was a teen, my brother, John (who would rather fish than eat), taught me to clean and filet fish… even catfish, but that is a story for another time. I have done my share and can still do it if I was pressed into service, but I’d rather have you see what a master of the art can do with a fish.

In the following sequence, Uncle Ray takes a fish from flopping to a filet ready for the skillet.

Satisfaction

There is something very satisfying about this process. I watched and listened to the conversation and really enjoyed the afternoon. I watched them clean and filet the fish, and just that part, made me feel good. I imagine fishing, itself, is good for the soul and the mind. It’s not often that playing with your food can do that.

Scenes from the Afternoon

Here are more pictures from the afternoon. Click on any picture to make it larger, then click on the right or left side of the image to move through the gallery.