Today is one of the “hallmark holidays” – one designed to induce sentimentalism and consumerism in the population.

My present this year included a fishing license with a second pole permit, some fresh powerbait, a few hours at the shore of a nearby community pond, a twitch of my fishing pole, and about an hour later, a catfish in ma belly.

I was the only one out of three of us that caught anything, and it was just the one fish. I felt bad for my wife and our youngest child that they were skunked, but it did make Father’s Day seem a little more literal.

As I had never done it before, I had to Google how to clean a catfish. It’s very different than trout, which I am quite good at. My efforts with the new kind of fish have shown me that I’m going to need more practice.

I thought the fish was pretty good, but small. My wife said it tasted like dirt. Not really nasty, but definitely dirt. We are pretty sure she’s a supertaster, something we learned about on Scientific American. A fascinating episode, one I would recommend, but I don’t know if it is possible to obtain.

It was an enjoyable Father’s Day. We just might have founded a new tradition.