Why is there a Soap called
Gone Fishing?
- Topic: Gone Fishing Soap
- Essential Oils added: Anise Seed Oil and others
- Base Oils- Botanical Oils of Olive, Rainforest Alliance Palm, Coconut, and Ricebran
- Other ingredients: Ground Coffee, Ground Anise Seeds, Pigment
-All saponified into a terrific soap bar that is great for all skin types and all uses. But we have given it a specific purpose-a gift for the fisherman.
As a child my brothers and I would often stay at our Grandparents for the weekend. If it rained Grandpa would give us all flashlights and buckets. Then the hunt began. We would go out into the postage stamp yard and glinting in the light was the fast and slimy treasure- fishing worms. Grandpa took us fishing often. We lived near the Prairie Creek Reservoir, but we also went to rivers, creeks, and other fish rich places.
Every now and again one or both of my brothers would take me fishing and those are some of my favorite memories with them. Leaving the lake with fish meant the precious time didn’t end until we got home and cooked, then ate the fish. Little Benny (as opposed to Big Benny, my dad) could always snag a catfish out of any body of water, even catching one in the creek on the farm where I live now, and we were so sure there weren’t catfish in that creek that I wondered if it weren’t a release and catch scheme!
Kevin and Benny, my brothers, sadly both deceased now, and our neighbor who owned the pond, Cecil.
Is fishing secret to a long marriage? I can’t say, but within the first few dates with my husband Larry, we went fishing at “the reservoir,” back in 1984 and we still are together.
I love Aquatic life so I enjoy it in many ways. Our tagline is 'Naturally Skin & Fin Friendly,' meaning everything we make is biodegradable, because it all goes back to the water.
In 2002, just a year before making my first batch of soap, we bought the Miss Take-a marine fishing vessel. She was a 60’ longline Tuna boat, 100 tons. It was discouraging that the fish that I caught in Indiana were smaller than the bait used on the Miss Take.
Sonia (that's me!) holding a grouper (after Larry was lost at sea we switched it to a grouper boat).
What was with the name Miss Take? We figured that out a couple years later as hubby was caught in a hurricane, no electronics thanks to lightening and 5 days lost in the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully they made their way back and that was his last trip out. So happens not long after the new engine had a glitch and caught fire. The full crew spent 4 long hours in the water tied to each other awaiting Coast Guard rescue when another vessel picked them up from the mayday signal. The mistake (Miss Take) now lay at the bottom of the sea.
The Miss Take
This blog sailed adrift from our Gone Fishing Soap so I’ll sink back into that.
About that special ingredient that is known among fisherman everywhere-
Anise Essential Oil. The benefits of licorice smelling Anise are amazingly diverse. Aromatherapy benefits are known as anti-epileptic, anti-hysteric, anti-rheumatic, antiseptic,
antispasmodic, aperient,
carminative, cordial,
decongestant, digestive,
expectorant,
insecticide, sedative, stimulant.
I’ve used Anise seeds myself for a digestion aid and during a cold to help soothe the throat.
Fisherman like Anise Essential Oil for the ability to attract fish. Apparently fish smell. Well yes, of course they do smell, but they also have olfaction, the ability to smell, and since they do not use their “nose” for breathing, their sense of smell is amazingly strong.
Pimpinella Anisum, the latin name for anise, among fisherpeople has been called everything from magic to an odor cover. Some tournaments even ban its use and one is not allowed to even have it in the boat, as it can give the fisherman an added edge for that trophy or purse. Only stands to reason that washing the human smell off and washing on a fish attractant can’t hurt.
Remember the worms? Well I couldn’t leave that out, and no we don’t add worms to the recipe, but we do use an essential oil blend popular with many soap makers that smells like freshly turned dirt.
(A “blend of essential oils” is different from an “essential oil blend”-watch your labels as the latter is usually fragrance oils with essential oils added. We never use those parfum or fragrance oils.)
Now if you’re a city slicker, you may not like the smell of freshly turned dirt, but to farmers or worm hunters, it’s nothing short of heaven on earth or in earth I should say. Since we add the earthy essential oils, the anise falls to the background but for a really strong Anise scent, our
Black Licorice Soap is the bomb.
Gone Fishing Soap-make no mistake, it's a great gift for your dad or grandpa on Father’s day (or to those fishing loving women such as myself) to introduce them to the wonderful world of natural soap and all it can do for your skin, nose, and fishing.
About the writer: I’m Sonia Folkner and I’ve loved making soap since my first batch in 2003. My husband, Larry, made our first sell in 2004 and we’ve been professional soapmakers since, with a physical store in Madison, Indiana since 2009. Our son Clay currently works the store while running his own business Counter Violence and son Luke has made countless batches of soap in the past. Many friends have and do work with us.
Very well written. I also went worm hunting, with my dad Sonia’s grandfather when I was a little girl. He took us to the spillway on the outside of Yorktown In.