The first day of trout fishing season in Pennsylvania was Saturday. My relationship with this highlight of the outdoor calendar is mixed.

I have a lot of fond memories of first days of my youth, going fishing with my father and my brother’s family at one of Pennsylvania’s wonderful state parks. I have not-so-fond memories of first days as an adult, including a time I swore off going fishing on this day because of how crowded it would be. I’m kind of a loner fisherman. But after about 15 years of boycotting the event, my friend talked me into coming back by going with him and a few others to a state park lake. So, for the last 5-6 years, I went back.

Trout season opens up at 8:00 a.m. and normally, to get a good spot you have to arrive a few hours beforehand. This is an odd couple of hours, where lots of people are standing or sitting along a body of water with fishing gear and not fishing. Naturally, conversations start up.

The group we were next was nice enough, albeit with an odd aversion to Asians fishing in the lake – the one guy mentioned Asians fishing at the lake several times and seemed to insinuate something nefarious about their presence. I didn’t want to ask why he was obsessed, just replied that we are pretty close to a large research university that I happen to work at, so that might explain the number of Asians.

But during my two hours of waiting for the okay to start fishing, I noticed that the conversations going on around me often were about guns. There were discussions about recent purchases, recent trips to firing ranges, and a fair amount of talk about upcoming opportunities to win guns.

I do not think the average American outside of rural areas understands how many chances you have to win a gun. For small-town volunteer fire companies, sportsmen associations, and other groups, games of chance with guns as the prize are major fundraisers. They take a few forms, including regular raffles and a version of bingo called “pistols and purses” which is exactly what it sounds like, you get the choice of either a pistol or a purse if you win the bingo game.

These tend to be events where there is food and drink, and I myself have participated – not to win a gun but to try for one of the other prizes. I went because I wanted to support my small town’s local volunteer fire department. They often have other things to win but guns are the attraction. But some of the crazy conversations you hear at such events are really something.

One thing the guy said at the lake that did stick in my head – “it’s a great way to build your arsenal, I go to probably seven or eight of them a year.” That’s some word usage – “build your arsenal.” But I’ve heard variations on that theme the two times I attended. There’s also, of course, a lot of extreme talk about liberals coming for guns and other right-wing politics at these events. These people fully believe it. They also strongly believe some sort of dystopian event is on the horizon, and they really talk about how prepared they are for it.

I honestly do not believe people who do not live in rural areas get just how strong a hold guns, and conspiracy theories, have on a significant number of rural Americans. It’s sobering, and it even infringes on a day of fishing.

The last word goes to The Beatles.