An Outdoor View: Strange fishing indeed

For some reason, this column doesn’t seem as crazy now as it did when I wrote it for the Clarion in 2006. — LP

“I was sittin’ on the top step dreamin’ a bit,

When from outa nowhere that leghorn hit…”

—“Fishin’ for Chickens,”

Hobo Jim

In my ongoing exploration of the outermost edges of fishing, it’s fitting that I write about the chicken (Gallus domesticus).

The links between the chicken and angling are many and diverse. Chicken feathers have been used as fly-tying materials for centuries and continue to be used to this day. Chicken livers make good catfish bait. Crab fishermen bait their traps with chicken necks. Luhr Jensen and Sons, the Oregon-based tackle-manufacturing firm, got its start in a chicken coop.

And then there’s chicken fishing, the zenith of the long relationship between fishing and chickens. I first became aware of chicken fishing at a party a few years back, when Hobo Jim sang “Fishin’ for Chickens.” The song is about a young lad whose grandfather teaches him how to fish for chickens by baiting a hook with corn kernels. The lyrics indicate that there is little sport involved, and no intentional catch-and-release. The old man is obviously a meat fisherman.

I thought no more about chicken fishing until years later, when I bumbled into a disturbing Web page (www.conknet.com/~b_bull/special/chickenfishing.html). Titled “Angling for chickens, the new off-season sport,” it contained photos of a man with a fly rod who was obviously stalking chickens.

At first I thought it was a joke, but the author went into too much detail. He was far more instructive than needed for eliciting a laugh. For example, one photo showed a kneeling angler holding a hen by its feet, admiring it as a normal angler would a trophy trout. The caption: “A nice three pound barred rock hen landed on three weight tackle. Spawning (egg-laying) females aggressively strike terrestrial imitations in sizes 14-18.”

Another photo showed the stealthily crouched angler stripping line while a chicken approached his fly. The caption: “Barred Rocks, true to their name, often conceal themselves by laying near ledge outcroppings in dappled light. Normally for close-in work the angler should cast from behind the bird, but the low angled light conditions of December permit the angler to approach his target with the sun to his back.”

Unlike the meat fishermen in Hobo Jim’s song, the author encourages a “no-kill ethic,” and supports catch-and-release to ensure sustainability of the brood and to increase the stock’s wariness.

Some readers may scoffingly cluck, but at the risk of laying an egg, I predict that chicken fishing will become a popular sport. Chickens are good eating. Their feathers are useful. They give a good accounting of themselves on appropriate tackle. They have trophy value.

Chicken fishing would take pressure off crowded streams and provide year-round angling opportunities. Ruffled feathers among the various chicken user-groups would be minimal. Everyone would have a backyard “fishery.” Skunked days would become as scarce as hen’s teeth.

The chickens would benefit. What would be better, to suffer a brief life in a crowded coop until being trucked to a slaughterhouse, or to live as a high-strutting, free-range bird? With luck, you might even end up on an angler’s wall.

I think I’m onto something here. Hobo Jim’s “Fishin’ for Chickens” is available on a CD, and “Chicken Soup for the Fisherman’s Soul” is on the bookstands. Hunters have taken an interest in chickens, as evidenced by the popularity of the computer game, “Chicken Hunter: License to Grill.” There’s money in this thing, and I’m not talking chicken feed.

I could go on, but men in white uniforms are banging on my door.

Les Palmer can be reached at les.palmer@rocketmail.com.

More in Life

This takeout favorite is deceptively easy and comes together faster than it can be delivered. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A sweet and sour dinner for 3

I really wanted some sweet and sour takeout this weekend, but all my favorite restaurants are far outside of delivery range.

The Seward Sleeper Sharks present during the 28th Annual Alaska Tsunami Bowl in the Seward High School Auditorium in Seward, Alaska, on Feb. 28, 2025. (Photo provided by Mica Van Buskirk)
Seward teams earn 2nd, 4th place at Alaska Tsunami Bowl

Seward students who competed this year were recognized Monday with a commending resolution by the Seward City Council.

These poached pears get their red tinge from a cranberry juice bath. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A dessert to stimulate the senses

These crimson-stained cranberry poached pears offer a soft and grainy texture.

File
Minister’s Message: Palm Sunday — ‘Hosanna in the highest!’

The fact that Jesus came back to Jerusalem for Passover was an intentional decision of Jesus.

Cecil Miller took leave from Akron (Ohio) Police Department to join the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II. When he returned to the force after his military service, he was featured in an October 1945 article in the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Man Called ‘Greasy’ — Part 2

Two distinct versions of Cecil “Greasy” Miller received the most publicity during his brief tenure on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

The cast of Seward High School Theatre Collective’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” rehearse on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘A jaunt into a fantastical world’

Seward theater collective returns for second weekend of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

“Octoparty,” by Kenai Alternative High School student Adelynn DeHoyos, and “Green Speckled Ocean,” by Soldotna High School Student Savannah Yeager are seen as part of the 34th Annual Visual Feast Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Juried Student Art Show during an opening reception at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Consume a bunch of art’

The 34th Annual Visual Feast showcases art by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District students.

Debbie Adams joins Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel in cutting a ribbon during the grand opening of Debbie’s Bistro in its new location in the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Debbie’s Bistro opens in Kenai Municipal Airport

The menu features waffles, waffle pizzas and waffle sandwiches.

Photo courtesy of the Pratt Museum
During her brief time on the southern Kenai Peninsula, Dorothy Miller, wife of Cecil “Greasy” Miller, was a part of the Anchor Point Homemakers Club. Here, Dorothy (far left, standing) joins fellow area homemakers for a 1950 group shot. Sitting on the sled, in the red blouse, is Dorothy’s daughter, Evelyn, known as “Evie.”
The Man Called ‘Greasy’ — Part 1

There are several theories concerning the origin of Cecil Miller’s nickname “Greasy.”

Most Read