Lyrics Talking Fisherman - Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Talking Fisherman

I went down to the fishin' hole
Carried along my fishin' pole
Somethin' grabbed my hook and it grabbed my bait
And it took me out in the middle of the lake
Some jump
I got sunk
Baptized on credit
Fishin' down on the muddy bank
I felt a pull and I gave a big yank
I pulled out three old rubber boots
A Ford radiator and a Chevrolet Coupe
I handed 'em in for National Defense
You go fishin', tell ya what to do
Go set down by the grassy dew
Take a piece of string, tie it on your pole
And throw it way out in the middle of the hole
Then just find you a good shade tree
Set down
And go to sleep, forget all about it
Sittin' in a boat with a bucket of beer
Hadn’t caught nuthin' but didn’t much care
I guess I was pretty well satisfied
Had my little lady right by my side
Takin' it easy
Worm been gone off-a that hook for a couple of hours
Stagnant water’s a stinkin' thing
Slick on top and all turned green
When the water goes bad, the fish all run
You can sit all day and not catch a-one
'Cept mud wallopers, gar fish
A few little suckers
Jumped in the river and I went down deep
There was a hundred pound catfish lying there asleep
I jumped on his back and rode him into town
Saddled him up and I turned him around
People came runnin'
Dogs a-barkin'
Kids a-lookin'
I waded out to a sandy bar
And I caught myself a big alligator gar
And I drug him home across my back
Tail was dragging a mile and a half
Flippin' and floppin'
Sold him for a quarter
Got drunk, shot craps, got in jail
Early one mornin', I took me a notion
To go out a-fishin' in the middle of the ocean
And I caught myself a great big shark
I didn’t get him home 'til way past dark
He was a man-eater
Tough customer
Just wasn’t quite tough enough
Last last night I had me a dream
I was out fishin' in a whiskey stream
I baited my hook with apple-jack
Threw out a drink, bring a gallon back
Done pretty good
Till the stream run dry
So I give the fish back to the finance company