Victoria Gazette-Hook Line & Sinker

And so when Allan returned home from his latest Canadian fishing trip (some of which invitations he had forgone while he was what you would normally call "a working man"), he presented something unusual to the homemaker of this family. That's me. Rather, it is I, Lord. I am the homemaker, the housewife, the Jill of all trades, trials, and tribulations.

Although Allan is no longer referred to as "a working man," he remains the Jack of all trades, trials, and tribulations around here. Some of you might recall that he retired in April of 2012.

And so upon his recent return home to Victoria, he put some packages of fish in the freezer -- the limit, which is not a big number. I have subsequently thawed and fried some of that fish for dinner. And I have subsequently been surprised to see the red meat of the bass. I had no idea that "normal" fish flesh came in any other color than white.

Sunfish are white. Crappies are white. Walleyes are white. Northerns are white. Bullheads are kind of beige. Salmon is pink and tuna is rather purple. But bass, a "normal" Minnesota catching fish as far as I know, is red -- red like in beef steak, at least the first package was red -- and I didn't know that about bass. Actually, I didn't know bass at all except for the rockmouth that you threw back in because it was so ugly.

I'm reminded of the TV commercials of several years ago when we heard that pork is the second white meat. It was a new phrase at the time and a new way to look at things. Chicken was the first white meat, of course. Well, I suggest that bass is the second red meat.

Allan reported that some of his co-horts on the Canadian waters didn't care to bring the bass home to their Susie Homemakers, but he knew I wouldn't have any preconceived notions so he brought them home to me. I fried up the bass like I do other fresh catches, and it was outstanding. If that second red meat ever shows up again on my front stoop, I'll take it and I would even serve it to company.

Speaking of company, there was a lot of new company sending in their entries this past month for this long-standing drawing. Amazing how many of you found the fishhook in a photograph, a photograph from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on page 43 in the September issue of the Gazette.

I pulled Darrell Rodenz of Chanhassen from the minnow bucket to win the $10 drawing. Congratulations, Darrell! There's another fishhook hidden in this issue of the Gazette. If you find it, let me know one way or the other just where it is. Email Sue@VictoriaGazette.com or use P.O. Box 387, Victoria, MN 55386.