FERRIDAY— Dorothy Williams has the convenient benefit of being able to do what she loves in her own backyard.

In a quant, green-painted house that sits alongside Highway 568 in Ferriday, the 89-year-old woman spends every day fishing in lake St. John behind her home.

Williams has reeled in just about everything there is, wither her latest trophy being a 25-pound buffalo fish.

“It’s peaceful and exciting, and it’s a challenge,” Williams said of fishing. “I’m always anticipating catching that big one. I’m pulled to that water. It’s just part of my life.”

Sitting at her dining room table Thursday morning, Williams meticulously went over past fishing adventures, recalling an anecdote to go along with every picture along the way.

Williams’ love for fishing started when she was just a child living in Franklin County.

“(My parents) taught me the simple things in life,” she said. “I was a happy child.”

Eventually, Williams’ love grew to the point in which she told her second husband that while she couldn’t sew or dance, she could certainly fish.

“I still can’t dance, and I still can’t hem a dress,” Williams said laughing. “Fishing is what I do for my entertainment.”

Due to the large sizes of the fish she was catching, Williams cleverly devised her own rod to withstand the weight of larger fish. Utilizing a fly rod and a fly line, Williams pulls on the line until she has the fish firm in her grasp.

“It’s got my own kind of riggings to it that I did myself,” Williams explained. “Sometimes I’m scared fish are going to break my pole, so I give them a little slack, and as soon as I feel his slack, I pull him in.”

Not only does Williams fish, but she also hunts, killing a four-point buck over the Christmas holiday in South Carolina.

“I was just delighted over that,” she said.

Additionally, Williams takes part in her fair share of gardening, where she harvests plenty of crop, including having grown over 150 pounds of tomatoes last year.

“I say busy,” Williams said. “I’m up every day at 3 a.m., and I go to bed at 6 p.m. But my house stays busy with friends coming in for coffee and friends coming over to fish.

“I’ve had a lot of sadness, just like every human being, but if I can stay busy, then I’m a happy person.”