From the recording Bootheel Dreams
When Grandpa would take us fishing in the irrigation ditches in So'east Missouri Grandma used say, "Boys, if you see those "Mudhens" rolling you'all come right home". She meant Catfish as they would roll to the top of the water if there was a big storm coming. The catfish were trying to equalize the pressure difference in the storm front.
Lyrics
Boot-Heel Dreams © Chuck Roehm
Southeast Missouri in the summer time,
Down in the boot-heel by the borderline.
Early in the morning before the heat got up,
Grandpa’d pile us in the pick-up truck.
Hound dogs, fishin’ poles, buckets of bait,
We’d listen to the rumble of the flathead V-8.
Out in the ditch water rings would dance,
Catfish were rolling we were taking a chance.
Grandma said when those Mudhens roll,
Big storms coming, shake you down to your soul.
Cotton Bolls shining in the morning dew,
Turn their leaves up they’re feeling it too.
We held our breath at the break of dawn,
Sun’s coming up gonna carry us on.
Grandpa’d look at us with laughing eyes said,
“Boys, don’t you think this is paradise”.
Hound dogs, fishin’ poles, buckets of bait,
We’d listen to the rumble of the flathead V-8.
Out in the ditch water rings would dance,
Catfish were rolling we were taking a chance.
Hound dogs, fishin’ poles, buckets of bait,
We’d listen to the rumble of the flathead V-8.
Out in the ditch water rings would dance,
Catfish were rolling we were taking a chance.
Catfish were rolling we were taking a chance