KIRSTEN SWANSON: It's time again for Utah StoryCorps. Everyday people sharing their stories at the StoryCorps recording booth in Logan.
MARY HEERS: For Allan Anderson, participating in StoryCorps was a chance to hear stories from his grandpa John Waters.
ALLAN ANDERSON: You gonna do your Canada fishing trip this year?
JOHN WATERS: Yep. Every year.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Yeah. How many guys are gonna go up this year?
JOHN WATERS: Four of us? We're gonna drive this year.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Driving. Arizona to Canada?
JOHN WATERS: Yeah. A little over 2,000 miles. And it'll be a long drive, but I enjoy the scenery.
ALLAN ANDERSON: When was the first year you did the fishing trip?
JOHN WATERS: I believe it was 1968 was the first year I went up there and I've been going up there ever since. Beautiful country. Love it. Catch a lot of fish. It's a good week.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Do you still go out with some of the same guys who went up at the very beginning?
JOHN WATERS: No, it's all new guys. My friends are vanishing. I gotta find younger guys.
ALLAN ANDERSON: You're still hanging in there, though.
JOHN WATERS: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm still hanging in there. I still outfish 'em all. The guys I go with, they help me out a lot. I can't do what I used to do. I used to do all the cooking. Last year I designated one of the younger guys here. He's in his 50s but he does the cooking now. And I don't do too much of the carrying of the stuff. They do most of that for me, which is good. I do need a little assistance getting into boat. But once I'm in there, I'm fine. I like the water. Give me a fishing pole and I'm happy. I don't even care if I'm catching fish. As long as I got a fishing pole in my hand, sitting in a boat, I'm happy.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Did you grow up fishing? Where did you learn to fish at?
JOHN WATERS: First time I fished was in Chicago. There's just about — every few blocks — there's a park and a lot of the parks have lagoons. And I started fishing when I was probably 7 or 8 years old in the lagoon for bullheads in the inner city. We'd walk with our fishing pole down to the park so we'd walk down there, sit there and fish for bullheads. I've been fishing ever since. You didn't know that, did you?
ALLAN ANDERSON: No, I didn't. You taught me how to fish though.
JOHN WATERS: I did! I did.
ALLAN ANDERSON: What made you switch from Chicago to Arizona?
JOHN WATERS: Well, your grandmother's mother lived — you remember Pearl — lived out there. And it was one of the reasons. Another reason was one of my friends was opening up a restaurant out there. There we go. We went out there and loved it and stayed.
ALLAN ANDERSON: What type of place did your friend open when you moved to Arizona?
JOHN WATERS: It was a comedy club.
ALLAN ANDERSON: A comedy club!
JOHN WATERS: Comedy club.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Did you do any stand-up there?
JOHN WATERS: No. The only stand-up I did was behind a bar. You know when he said he was going to open a comedy club, I was — "You're going to starve!" But it was amazing and very popular. Did very well with it. He passed away too. He's gone too. All my friends ...
ALLAN ANDERSON: All your friends ...
JOHN WATERS: ... are going! Every about twice a year I have a fish fry at the house. We'll have anywhere from 60 to 100 people over. Yeah, they love it. Everybody's bugging me al l the time, "When you gonna have another fish fry?"
ALLAN ANDERSON: Gotta catch 'em first.
JOHN WATERS: I gotta catch 'em first. This last fish fry we had, your grandmother said "Listen, I'm too old to do all of this. You know, a hundred people is too much." So ...
ALLAN ANDERSON: You two are just so popular that ...
JOHN WATERS: Yeah.
ALLAN ANDERSON: I don't have a hundred people coming to my parties.
JOHN WATERS: This will take care of me. You know, I'm 80 years old kid.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Getting up there.
JOHN WATERS: I am. I am. Well, it was a great conversation.
ALLAN ANDERSON: Yeah. Always good to talk to you, grandpa.
JOHN WATERS: Good to talk to you too, buddy.
MARY HEERS: And this is Utah StoryCorps.
KIRSTEN SWANSON: Thanks for coming along.
MARY HEERS: See you next Friday. Same time —
KIRSTEN SWANSON: — same place.
Support for Logan StoryCorps comes from Cache County and from USU Credit Union, a division of Goldenwest.
