Are the bonito in Catalina blue? No, that’s not it.
Written for and dedicated to Hashem aka Mahigeer when he was seeking out his first bonito at Catalina in 2006. Although the rest of the UPSAC/PFIC gang was pulling in the bonies, Hashem just couldn‘t seem to hook one.
Hashem aka Mahigeer
Oh, the Dompha, he draws circles
Up and down the mole.
I’d ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don’t talk.
And the anglers treat me kindly
And furnish me with line,
But deep inside my heart
I know I can’t escape.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Dompfaben and a bonito
Well, Ken, he’s in the alley
With his pointed shoes and his bells,
Speaking to some French girl,
Who says she knows me well.
And I would send a message
To find out if she’s talked,
But the tackle store’s been stolen
And the tackle box is locked.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
KJ and a bonito
Gordo tried to tell me
To stay away from that Catalina mole
He said that all those older fishermen
Just drink up your blood like wine.
An’ I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that,
But then again, there’s only one I’ve met
An’ he just smoked my eyelids
An’ punched my cigarette.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Rita, Gordo and Kyle with bonito
Grandpa died last week
And now he’s buried in the kelp,
But everybody still talks about
How badly they were shocked.
But me, I expected it to happen,
I knew he’d lost control
When he built a fire on the mole
And shot it full of holes.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Kelp at the Mole
Now the GDude came down here
Showing ev’ryone his rod,
Handing out free tickets
To the gathering on the mole.
An’ me, I nearly got busted
An’ wouldn’t it be my luck
To get caught without a license
And be discovered beneath a trunk.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
GDude and a bonito
Now Baitfish looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed
With twenty pounds of feathers
Stapled to his chest.
But he cursed me when I proved it to him,
Then I whispered, “Not even you can hide.
You see, you’re just like me,
I hope you’re satisfied.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Baitfish and a bonito
Now Mahigeer gave me two cures,
Then he said, “Jump right in.”
The one was Persian medicine,
The other was just plain Raki gin.
An’ like a fool I mixed them
An’ it strangled up my mind,
An’ now people just get uglier
An’ I have no sense of time.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Mahigeer and his Persian “Raki”
When Rita says come see her
In her honky-tonk lagoon,
Where I can watch her waltz for free
‘Neath her Avalonian moon.
An’ I say, “Aw come on now,
You must know about my debutante.”
An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
Rita, a bonito, a yellow submarine, and Hillary a fish-grabbin’ pelican!
Now the bricks lay on Metropole
Where the neon madmen climb.
They all fall there so perfectly,
It all seems so well timed.
An’ here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get new balls and feathers
After losing them more than twice.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.
The Metropole at night
(With apologies to Bob Dylan and “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again)
The group at the 2006 PFIC-UPSAC Catalina Get Together
Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito
With a little help and advice from his friends, Hashem learned the “Tao of Bonito“
Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito
The Cast of “The Bonito Blues Again”
Ben Acker aka “DompfaBen” (Dominating Positive Fishing Attidude Ben)
Ben’s a real fisherman as seen in this wedding picture with his bride Brandy (and assorted fishing lures)
Ken Jones aka “The Pier Fisherman” with a halfmoon and a bonito
Ross Kestin aka “Gordo Grande”
James Liu aka “GDude”
James (GDude) and Adam (Baitfish)
The Liu Family
Adam Cassidy aka “Baitfish”
Hashem Nahid aka “Mahigeer” kissing a whitefish and with a bonito
Rita Magdamo aka “Rita” with a sheephead, triggerfish, and a kelp bass
Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito—Catalina—Bonito
As for the original song — given that many younger anglers may never of heard of Dylan, or the original song, here’s a few versions of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again”
1. Dylan on an early acoustic version of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again” (with slightly different wording). Not as good as the final version in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WS-TTNaLyg
2. A good Grateful Dead version of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwsjQbf0czc
3. A third version of the song by Old Crow Medicine Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kpq5UMlpQE
