If you enjoy, as I do, well-tuned stories about fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, family and friends, blended with an assortment of quirky, outdoorsy characters, you’ll enjoy Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen (Lyons Press, 214 pages, hardcover, $29.95), a collection of “tales of hunting, fishing, trapping and life in the woods,” according to the subtitle.
Even if you’re not particularly focused on, or have any specific knowledge about, fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, family, friends or outdoorsy characters, you may very well enjoy this work.
That’s because Kentucky author Will Brantley manages to weave layers of personality into many of these tales, giving the hook-and-bullet-themed yarns a general audience uplift.
To be sure, these stories are written about and for a sporting audience. But part of Brantley’s polish is making them relatable to the non-sportsman reader. For example: You’ve probably never met Joe, the title character in “Joe’s Pheasant,” one of four original stories in the collection. Joe, with his brother, ran a Western Kentucky farm and sawmill and owned a pet pheasant. You may not have known him, but you’ve known someone like him.
The 43-year-old Brantley is the hunting editor for Field & Stream magazine, where several of these stories first appeared. He is a native and lifelong Kentuckian, sans two years he spent in Memphis, Tennessee, while in the employ of Ducks Unlimited.
Outdoor writing can be an odd editorial and journalist pursuit. A basic journalistic rule is: do not make the story about you. But if you’re telling a fishing or hunting (or hiking or camping) tale, you are often at or near the center of the story. Brantley manages this while keeping the spotlight tilted in the right direction. The result is a collection of entertaining, focused reads. An example from “King of the Swamp”: “But we were close, only 5 yards or so from the capybara, and the steel ball bearing hit the beast and sent it tumbling into the water in a thrashing heap. Cally whooped and yelled something in Spanish, and I whooped and yelled something similar in Kentuckian … although neither of us knew exactly what the other was saying, two hunters from opposite sides of the globe knew exactly what it all meant.”
The stories cover a wide geographic swath, from covert fishing at Kentucky’s Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park to hunting chamois in New Zealand to chasing capybara in Argentina.
Brantley said the core of the book grew from a collection of stories for various publications and, almost unexpectedly, followed his life’s curve.
“I actually grew up just outside Dawson [Springs] in a town called St. Charles, Kentucky,” he said. “I’ve been an outdoors writer for more than 20 years, and I was sitting on a large collection of work that I’ve written for various publications. I thought it’d be cool to see it all together in a book, and then, as I started building the collection, I realized many of the stories follow a loose arc from my life, from childhood up until right now. I didn’t really plan on the book having such a memoir feel to it, but as I started thinking up stories to fill in gaps within the timeline, that’s what it became.”
Brantley would encourage all in Kentucky and beyond, regardless of experience or lack thereof, to venture into the woods and onto the water.
“Hunting and fishing are just about the most natural things you can do,” he said. “We are hardwired as a species to enjoy it. If somebody wants to try it, regardless of where they live, there are many opportunities in our great state.
“The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources hosts numerous workshops for teaching people the basics. Find a mentor, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. But also realize that success in hunting and fishing isn’t automatic, and it can take years to develop knowledge and skills. We live in an age of instant gratification, but you can’t expect that in hunting or fishing.”
Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen is a fine piece of work by a skilled Kentucky author.
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Fall squirrel season in Kentucky opens Aug. 15. The season is open statewide through Feb. 28, except for the first two days of modern firearm deer season, which this year will be Nov. 14-15. Details are available at fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Squirrel-Hunting.aspx.
Squirrels aren’t the only critters in season for hunters prowling the warm August woods. Hunting for bullfrogs, groundhogs and coyotes is open, along with a chase-only bear season. And tickling and noodling season for catfish and rough fish runs through Aug. 31. Find details at app.fw.ky.gov/seasonviewer.
If you’re unfamiliar with the tickling and noodling technique for catfish (I’ve not employed the technique on rough fish but have no doubt it can be successfully applied), go to page 79 of the aforementioned book, Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen, where the author presents a vivid account of the exercise.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com.