U-Fish 



pressure enough upon the spool to retard the speed of 

 the fleeing U-fish. I reeled sadly in, rigged up another 

 piece of copper leader, attached one of the feathered 

 spoons and small trout, and tried again. Inside of 

 ten minutes I was hooked to another. This time I was 

 ready for him. I had my engine primed and the switch 

 on. As I held the rod and singing reel in one hand, I 

 gave the fly-wheel a flip with the other, and we started 

 down the channel. It was a nice companionable little 

 party, but it didn't last. As long as we kept on the straight 

 away I could steer the boat with one hand and keep hold 

 of the rod with the other. When the fish doubled back 

 I could not turn the wheel and the reel at the same time. 

 The fish snagged the slack line on the bottom and broke 

 away. By the time I had the motor-boat stopped, I 

 found myself hooked to a log, and the fight was over. 



With half my line and one feather duster spoon-hook 

 left, I decided to try once more. As my braided copper 

 leader was all gone, I used an aluminium key-chain. 

 It made a very good-looking rig. With another trout 

 attached for bait, I soon hooked a third big fellow. He 

 sounded when he struck. I got the boat going and kept 

 it running in a circle, expecting that my quarry would 

 soon bolt down the channel. Instead he came up and 

 broke water within ten feet of the boat. The rod was 

 pulled violently towards the stern and nearly jerked 

 out of my hand. Then the engine slowed down and 

 stopped. The fish had fouled the line in the propeller, 

 and about a hundred yards of it were neatly and tightly 

 wound around the shaft, and so jammed between the 

 wheel and the stuffing-box that the friction had actually 

 stopped the engine. Luckily I carried a very sharp 

 weed-hook with a three-foot handle. With the aid 

 of an electric flash-light, I finally succeeded in loosening 

 the tangle and freeing the wheel. While pointing the 



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