Two days before his 100th birthday, Bill Bascue sat on a Maysville fishing bank with his son Dale.

After about six hours, father and son packed up their gear and headed home.

“We caught one little bitty one, that’s it,” Dale Bascue said.

When you live a century’s worth of days like Bill Bascue, some things are bound to get away. He’s learned that you just don’t worry and keep on fishing.

You learn to hold your temper, too. It’s less painful that way. Getting mad only hurts yourself. Get mad enough to fight and somebody could hurt you.

“It’s kind of hard on your eyes and nose sometimes, you know,” Bill Bascue chuckled.

There’s really no secret to living to be a hundred years old, he said. They all will tell you not to drink and smoke, but Mr. Bascue never took a liking to either one anyway.

Sure he took a few puffs out behind the barn like any youngster. The one time he drank wine he got sick.

“I just like to catch fish. Like to eat them, too. Rather be out there than in a saloon somewhere.”

Bill Bascue has sat on a fishing bank ever since he was 5 years old. His family lived on the banks of a lake in Samsel, Mo., where he went fishing every day.

“He has lived to fish his whole life,” said Debbie Shirley, his granddaughter. “He attributes fishing to why he’s still alive all this time.”

Bill Bascue will tell you he’s had a lot of sickness in his life. At 9 years old, he caught a real bad case of the flu. At age 12, he had a tough bout with scarlet fever.

He once got brucellosis from drinking contaminated milk. And around 50 years old, he got arthritis so bad the doctors told him he’d never work again.

“The company kept me on, said if I can get to my job I can do it,” Mr. Bascue said.

His wire-stranding machine sat at the top of a steep flight of steps on the second floor at Wire Rope Corp.

Mr. Bascue literally crawled up the steps to his machine, remembered Bill Watson, a longtime friend. He also had to get up at 3 a.m. in time to make it to the job at 7.

“He got up at 3 o’clock to get limbered up enough to get to work,” Mr. Watson said.

“He was a good machine operator,” he added.

Mr. Bascue retired from Wire Rope after 22 years.

He’s outlived three wives. He was the oldest of seven brothers and sisters and outlived them all, too.

And he’s lived long enough to see the world turn around a few times. Many things he’s seen come back around, some things he hasn’t.

“A time back when I was growing up, long as you were working, had a job, you pretty well figured it was your job as long as you wanted it,” he said.

At 100 years old, the lines in Bill Bascue’s face are creased into a century old smile. He’s 5 inches shorter than he once was, weighs 115 pounds, has a full head of white hair and doesn’t have an enemy in the world.

“He only has friends he hasn’t met yet,” Mrs. Shirley said. And women still want to take him home.

“They think he’s cute and adorable,” she said.

In my book, that’s pretty darn good for any man, not just one who is a 100 years old.

Alonzo Weston can be reached at alonzow@npgco.com.