Fun Times – Dew Worms

Fishing was a wonderful and popular activity at the “Mat”. As I mentioned, my dad loved to fish for Lake Trout. I’m not sure what kind of bait he used, but I think it was a spinning lure. However, most of the guests used live bait, Dew Worms. So much so that there was a constant need for “fresh bait – Dew Worms.

Bring on two enterprising young entrepreneurs, Donny and me! With this “ongoing” need, Donny and I hatched a plan to fulfil the needs of these starving fishermen (people?). We decided to capture new Dew Worms ourselves and then sell them. A box of Dew Worms would net us about ten cents. We were going to be “rich” bait entrepreneurs. On evenings, when the ground was wet (dewy), we would find a good Dew Worm catching spot. We would then get on our knees, flashlights in hand, and start searching for the allusive worms. Frankly, they didn’t want to be caught, but we persevered the catch enough to fill our “small” buckets, a “good nights” work! With that task completed, we would them take our “bounty” to the Inn’s icehouse. Yes, they had an “icehouse”. Back then, refrigerators were still not that widely used in the north.

The next day we would offer the fresh bait to willing fishermen. With our pocket full of cash, we “drove” to the bank to deposit our profits. Okay, you caught be in a lie! Actually, we went to the Inn’s tuck-shop and filled our pockets with “goodies”!

Oh well, I guess you could call it a labour of love (for candy)!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appleby College

Image
Life Goes On… (continued) NOTE : It’s been a long time since I attended Appleby (1959), my memory might be a little hazy. If you see something lacking, or something incorrect, feel free to let me know where I went wrong. School Sports Frankly, I wasn’t very good at sports! At least, the type that had at Appleby at that time ( I believe that that has now changed ). All students were required to be on a school sports team. The following are some examples of my sporting activities Other Sports - Dancing (continued) On the day of the dance, my father drove me to the neighbour’s home (not very far, but I was very nervous (my first “real” date!). Cheryl was a very pretty girl and was dressed beautifully. I was all “dolled” up in my best Appleby suit.   When I meet her at her door, I handed her a corsage that my mother had picked out for the occasion. My hands were shaking with excitement! On the drive to Appleby, Cheryl sat on one side the backseat and I was on the other side (far away
Read more

Fun Times – Algonquin Provincial Park (Part One)

Image
  Traveling to and experiencing Algonquin Provincial Park was a “ must ” each year. Something that the whole family always looked forward to. Especially for me. Getting there was part of the “ fun ”! The trip took us through Dorse t, with a stop for ice cream at Robinson’s General Store ( closed now) and then onto Oxtongue Narrows . Here we would stop at another general store. This one has a “ talking ” Myna bird who always answered questions with “ Birds can’t talk! ”. From there it was on to the highway that took you to the park’s “ gates ”. Along the way there were several “ trading post ” stores. We would normally stop at one of them to check them out. These stores had lots of fun trinkets to examine. This, for a young boy who was intrigued the trading post “ souvenirs ”! I’m sure that store owners’ eyes would “ light up ”, when they saw little boys and their parents entering their store. We seemed to always leave with something. I have no idea where these precious keepsake
Read more

Appleby College

Image
Memories of Appleby I spent 5 years at Appleby College , from grade 5 to grade 9. They were, for the most part, happy years. As I said at the beginning of my Appleby stories, the first few weeks weren’t that happy, or promising. But, as time went on, I start to enjoy my new “ home ” away from home. I made new friends. There were a lot of us in the same boat, boarders, so we spent a lot of time together. I started out in a dormitory in Colley House and ended my time at Appleby in Powell’s House . In Powell’s House , I ended my last year with one roommate, Pete Donaldson . However, my main memory of individual friends was of Murray (Mo) Cole and Aubrey Baillie . (to be continued)
Read more