The Ballad of Figenschau Bay | The Madison Andersons

I don’t know exactly when or how I came up with this song, but it was during the early years in the Flath cottages. Everything mentioned in this song is, more or less, true. Sylvia was out of aluminum boats but offered Kathy’s dad, Al, an old wooden one. The guys had a new way of fishing where they used a hypodermic needle to inject air into one end of a night crawler so it would partly float. We always had to get our bitters card every year and, of course, the place to go fishing was Figenschau Bay!

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1. I’m goin’ fishin’ down to Figenschau Bay.
It’s just a sinker’s throw down the way.
I rented me a wooden boat for twenty a week
And Sylvia says that it will float
If I sit on the leak.

2. I know a secret that will make those fish bite.
I’ve got a needle and I’m ready to fight.
I take a juicy crawler and I fill him with air
And soon I’ll have my stringer full
If there’s any there.

3. I sometimes catch a big trout just for a thrill.
Of perch and northern pike I soon get my fill.
But half the fish I catch are bass according to plan.
That’s why my good friends all call me
A half-bass fisherman.

4. After a fishing day I go to the bar.
Without my Bitters Card I can’t get too far.
That’s sure not the drink that I would normally seek,
And when I belch I know that I
Will taste it for a week.

5. But soon this week will end in too short a time,
And I’ll be heading south of “The Tension Line.”
Lord knows next year I plan to come back this way
And loose another bunch of lures
In Figenschau Bay.

(Repeat Verse 1)