Talking Fishing Blues
Guthrie Woody Lyrics

I went down to the fishing hole
I went to a location where I could fish

And I set down with my fishing pole
I sat down with my fishing pole

Somethin' grabb'd my hook and it got my bait
Something bit my hook and took my bait

And jerked me out in the middle of the lake
The fish pulled me out into the middle of the lake

Some jump
It was an impressive jump by the fish

I got sunk, baptized on credit
I fell into the water and became fully submerged, as though I was being baptized, but I didn't expect it

Fishin' down on th' muddy bank
I was fishing down by a muddy bank

Felt a pull an' give a big yank
I felt a strong pull on my line and gave it a big yank

I holed out three old rubber boots
I caught three old rubber boots while fishing

A Ford radiator an' a Chevrolet coop
I also caught a Ford radiator and a Chevrolet coop

I handed it in
I turned the rubbish I caught in

For National Defence
It was used as scrap metal for the war effort

Settin' in a boat with a bucket of beer
I was sitting in a boat, drinking beer

Hadn't caught nuthin' but didn't much care
I hadn't caught any fish, but I didn't care too much

I guess I was pretty well satisfied
I was content with the situation

Had my little lady right by my side
I had my significant other with me

Takin' it easy, yeah still waitin'
We were relaxing and waiting for a bite

Worm been gone off-a that hook for a couple of hours
The bait had been gone from the hook for a while

You go fishin', tell y' what to do
Here's some advice for people who want to go fishing

Go set down by the grassy dew
Sit down in a grassy area

Take a piece of string, tie it on yo' pole
Attach a string to your fishing pole

And throw it way out in th' middle of th' hole
Cast it out into the middle of the fishing hole

Find you a good shady tree and then just set down
Look for a nice shady tree and relax

Go to sleep, forget all about it
Take a nap and don't worry about catching a fish

Jumped in the river and went down deep
I jumped into the river and went deep

There was a hundred pound cat-fish lying there asleep
I found a catfish that was 100 pounds and sleeping

I jumped on his back and rode him all aroun'
I got on top of him and rode him around

Saddled him up and I came into town
I pretended the catfish was a horse and rode it into town

People came runnin', lookin', dogs a-barkin'
People were curious and started to gather around, and even the dogs were barking

Kids a-squallin'
The children were screaming and crying

Stagnate water's a stinkin' thing
Stagnant water is smelly

Slick on top and all turned green
It looks oily on the surface and is green underneath

When the water goes bad, the fish all run
When the water quality is poor, the fish swim away

Sit all day and not catch a-one
You can sit there all day without catching anything

Mud wallopers, jewgars
I'm not sure what these are, maybe types of fish or creatures in the water?

A few little suckers
All that I caught were small fish

I waded out to a sandy bar
I walked out to a sandy area in the water

And I caught myself a big alligator gar
I caught a large alligator gar

Brung him home across my back
I carried the fish home on my back

Tail was dragging a mile and a half
The tail of the fish was long and dragging on the ground

Flippin' and floppin'
The fish was still alive and moving a lot

Sold him for a quarter
I sold the fish for a small amount of money

Shot craps, got in jail
I played dice and ended up in jail

Early one mornin', I took me a notion
One morning, I decided

To go out a-fishin' in the middle of the ocean
To go fishing in the ocean

Throwed out my line, I caught me a shark
I caught a shark when I cast my line

I didn't get him home 'til way past dark
It took me a long time to get the shark home

He's man-eater, tough customer
The shark is known for eating humans and is difficult to deal with

Just wasn't quite tough enough
The shark eventually succumbed in some way

Last last night I had me a dream
I had a dream last night

I was out fishin' in a whiskey stream
In my dream, I was fishing in a stream of whiskey

Baited my hook with apple-jack
I used apple-jack as bait

Threw out a drink, drug a gallon back
I accidentally caught a gallon of alcohol while trying to fish

Done pretty good till the creek run dry
I was doing well until the creek ran dry or the alcohol ran out

I give the fish back to the finance company
I had to return the alcohol to the finance company, as if it was a loan