It seems like I first heard this story while the boys were still in NY... but I'm not sure. It's been a while ago though, and I know that Ron and others ripped on Fez about it every now and then for months afterwards.
I'd never heard of a "Cane Pole" either until I moved to the South. I started seeing some of these loooooong (like 15+ feet) bamboo poles sticking out of the back windows of cars and trucks, and finally saw people using them on the banks of the Mobile Bay and on the lakes and rivers.
It's actually a pretty simple and inexpensive way of fishing. Just tie a piece of line onto the end of a long bamboo pole, get yourself a hook, some bait, and sometimes a cork, and you're set. No casting or reeling. No expensive lures or reels.
I know I'm going to get Ani DiFranco'ed here, but most of the people I first saw driving around with these long ass poles sticking out of their cars in the parking lots, and fishing along the causeway were black.
This is a picture from the side of the Mobile causeway (not one that I took), and these guys (and gals) are out there most every day:
http://www.porch.org/html/causeway/images/fish_4.jpg
It's actually pretty effective if you can walk along the bank to get to Bream (BlueGill) and any fish near shore. It's also a good way for kids to learn and have fun. And yes, I must confess, I own a couple now too, but I've got a few that are bamboo, but are 2 piece, and one composite telescoping kind that fit easily in the trunk. I've found it pretty damn relaxing sitting in a boat fishing for Bream with a cane pole and a cooler full of beer.
<img width="350" src="http://www.uams.edu/m2004/fishin5.jpg">
(No, that's not me)
The line is usually almost as long as the pole, so to bring it in, you just stand the pole upright, and the hook end swings right back to you. Easy, eh?
But like I said, it's mostly for the kids.
http://www.lakeaurora.org/images/2002summer/718fishing-3.jpg
Anyway... according to the story, the pic above seems more like what Fez ran into. (Although I'm dying to see the one that Ken from Portland sent in).
When I first heard the story, somehow the show got on the topic of bullies, or beating kids up, or fights you got into as a kid, and Fez was telling about the ONE "fight" he was in as a kid
Like I said, it was a while ago that I first heard this, and Mikeyboy's got the gist of the story above. I'm not sure how the subject first got brought back up again recently.l
He was on his way home from the convenience store (where he'd gone to get a nice Slurpee!) on his bike, and this "Gang" (it turns out there were TWO kids in this "Gang") of shirtless boys with cane poles ("fresh off a fishin' trip"), came up from behind him wanting his bike, and one of them punched him in the ear, and the other threw his bike into the ditch.
As Ronnie said, Fezzie then did the defensive move of, instead of fighting back, using some of that "Whatley wit", when he yelled out, "That didn't hurt!" and ran home after telling them, "I didn't want that bike anyway!". Then he waited at home for a while before going back to the ditch and getting his bike back.
k, I'm done. Insomnia sucks.
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