August 2022 - 4

A COUPLE PENNIES
WYOMING
WILDLIFE
VOLUME 86, NUMBER 8 * AUGUST 2022
State of Wyoming
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission
Governor
President
Vice President
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner
Kenneth Roberts, Kemmerer
Ralph Brokaw, Arlington
Pete Dube, Buffalo
Gay Lynn Byrd, Douglas
Richard Ladwig, Manville
Mark Jolovich, Torrington
Ashlee Lundvall, Powell
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Director
Deputy Director
Deputy Director
Chief of Fiscal
Chief of Wildlife
Chief of Fisheries
Chief of Services
Brian Nesvik
John Kennedy
Angela Bruce
Greg Phipps
Richard King
Alan Osterland
Eric Wiltanger
Magazine Staff
Editor
Associate Editor
Creative Director
Editor Tracie Binkerd spent many summer days during her youth fishing for walleye at Boysen Reservoir. (Photo by
Patrick Owen/WGFD)
The fish song
By Tracie Binkerd, editor
I've come to accept there are some
things I'm good at and some things I'm
not. I lived in denial of my singing voice
for some time, but I've come to recognize
if I try to sing I'll likely chase away
anything within earshot, which explains
my lack of angling luck. I sing to fish. It's
a tradition from my childhood, one that
has stood for at least 25 years.
It started when my dad took me and
my two sisters on the boat to fish for
walleye at Boysen Reservoir. We spent
our whole summer on that old Ranger
boat. I didn't know how much I would
come to appreciate those long hours, and
we'd sometimes find ourselves quite bored.
To pass the time my sisters and I would
attempt to lure the fish with calls of, " Here
fishy, fishy, fishy. " But over time, the true
creativity of children came to light.
We came up with a fishing song:
" Come little fishy. Come to momma.
4 | August 2022
Come get fried in a frying pan. " Even
typing these words, I sing them in my
head. Why we thought fish may be drawn
to such lyrics - and our wailing - is
beyond me. In a totally different siren
song, it was a clear warning to the fish to
keep their distance or be dinner.
I don't do a lot of boat fishing now.
I mostly find myself at small, mountain
streams with high hopes of hooking a
brookie hungry enough to go for my
poorly-placed fly. Although I don't sing
aloud to fish anymore, I sing the song in
my head every time I hook one. It's like a
mantra that keeps me focused on the task
of landing it. The lyrics are more nonsensical
now because I have no intent to fry
the fish - I catch and release whenever
possible.
Occasionally when no one's around
I'll belt out the tune, and I'm sure all the
animals in hearing distance are covering
their ears when it happens. Heck, we can't
be good at everything.
Administrative Assistant
Tracie Binkerd
Robert Gagliardi
Patrick Owen
Yolanda Pacheco
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August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022