Hoopajooba - [Fearsome Critter]

Hoopajooba (& variants.) - [Fearsome Critter] - aka: "Hoopas" HoobyJooby, HoopaJupa, ( Whiffen-poof, Whiffle-Poofle, Gilli-Galoo Fish) 

• About this critter: A delicious, spinning, scrumptious fish that lives near the bottom of cold lakes, When it hears the sound of a mudworm, it will swim as fast as it can to the beach. then it will put its tail in its mouth and agressively roll towards the worm, (which is to say toward you.) When it gets close enough stick your hand through the hoop and drop the fish in your fishing basket. - They are found in New England channels & at the bottom of cold circular lakes, it has often been touted as a fish-variant of the 'hoopsnake' or the 'whiffinpoof' - unlike the first, this one tastes delicious!! goes well baked, with a block of cheese & and glass of red whine & pickle juice on the side. 

• History: No doubt this is one of those Fearsome Fish which where yarns spoken & shared between fishermen on the New English channels & lakes & later joked about in bathroom books & papers for sometime during the turn of 19th century, its part of a long standing tradition of spinning yarns and tall tales. - I could call it a day here and spend my afternoon fishing but as i like to say, every critter has a paper trail and do i love to ramble in my writing; So, onward we go:

The earliest written and illustrated appearance of the "Hoopajooba" which i could find, appears in 1938's "The Country Guns and rods book."  where it appears in the first chapter where-in an old timer is telling a newbie fisherman about the rare and delicious 'hoopa-joobas' – it gives the full instructions on how to catch it (as mentioned above) as well as lists several real fish with odd names or nicknames. - The chapter goes on about the kinks of learning to enjoy hunting and outdoors, and then of course ends with a warning about hunting the fish that just 'Ain't' - the book has a later chapter titled "NOW YOU TELL ONE or A FEW HINTS ON HOW TO GIVE A FISHING OR HUNTING YARN THE RIGHT TRIMMINGS FOR THE EDIFICATION (IF NOT APPROVAL) OF YOUR NEIGHBORS" – explaining the way such jokes work from the "bait" to "climax" – its a good fun read!

[Another 1938 newspaper mention of hoopajoobas promoting the book.]

The story was retold and included in 1940's papers here and there with many shortening the fish's description & paraphrasing the story down to one paragraph. - The critters name here was often the victim of typos a few time the result of which has it named instead as the "Hoopajuba" – No doubt this is the result of a broken telephone and orally spoken variants. – it was eventually retold and included among other critters in a 'Treasury of New England Folklore' [1947] - The following has been shared and reprinted since, time and time again:

"Hoopajubas? Oh, they live like the golden trout in the deepest and coldest part of a lake. How to catch them? Well, you get hold of a water-auger. You row out to the deepest springhole and bore a hold in the water with it. Then you row ashore, hide in the bushes and make a noise like a mudworm. The Hoopajubas comes out of the hole grabs his tail in his mouth and starts rolling towards you like a hoop. You stick out an arm run it through his hoop and you have hijm! Thats the way to catch a hoopajuba.'

• Technical variants: 'Boring a Hole in the centre of circular lakes' is a location often used in critter-related short tales and media, making this a parallel to yet another aquatic critter such as the "wiffenpoof" and certain retellings of the "swamp auger's" lore – This parallel is curiously found within the lore of quite a few lake dwelling critters – My personal favourite being the aquatic variety of Kicklesnifter which is also said to be found in circular lakes. Of course, the "Whiffle-poofle" is seemingly the 'originator' of this trope, it was Pecos Bill (that rootin' tootin' cowboy.) is supposedly the one who allegedly discovered the method (as mentioned in Mody C Boatrights, Tall Tales from Texas [1934]) there are however, earlier variations of this too of course dating back to the 1920's at least. - I'd suppose that its meant to give the mental image of creating a whirlpool, or flushing a toilet? or perhaps the reverse of that. - Im unsure why people found said concept gripping enough to re-use time and time again... But: I'd suppose that's just par for the course.

To add a hauktuah-bit-more confusion into to the mix, in 1939's fearsome critters, Tyron also described the 'whiffin-poof' / 'Gilly galoo fish' similarly, his bio goes as follows:

The "Whiffinpoof" (Sometimes called the Gilli-Galoo Fish)

"A tasty fish, found only in perfectly round lakes. Hence quite rare. To catch him, row to the exact center of the lake, using the hogyoke to determine position, and bore a square hole in the water. Bait the edge of this hole with a bit of cheese, preferably Brie, Stilton, Liederkranz, or best of all; Limburger. The Whiffenpoof will quickly scent the bait and come for it. When he emerges, spit tobacco-juice in his eye. This will make him so swell with rage that he won’t be able to withdraw into the hole, and you can easily net him."

...Interestingly this fishes supposed 'love for cheese' is a trait shared within the lore of the whirligig fish & a few others. - I cant help but wonder how a fish would acquire a taste for cheese? - Perhaps rather than being regional variants, these critters all share a common ancestor?  - its difficult to say, But I do suppose that much like the Hoopajuba, all these things come full circle! - Incidentally, someone made a geocache location in newyork named after this one, i wonder if anyones found it yet.

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