94 Fishcraft 



catching, the range of bait almost as 

 great as the appetite of the fish, and 

 the time may be from dawn to dewy 

 eve, or during the still hours of the 

 night, for none of the finny tribe can 

 excel the bullhead or catfish as night 

 ramblers and bottom feeders. A set 

 pole will, in fact, do the work if the 

 fisher lacks either energy or time to 

 attend to the primitive sport, but the 

 active fisher-boy seldom wishes to be 

 absent when the wriggling prey takes 

 the hook and begins the stout strug- 

 gle for freedom. In small ponds the 

 bullhead rarely exceeds three or four 

 pounds in weight, but the catfish of 

 the Great Lakes sometimes reaches 

 one hundred pounds, and the chan- 

 nel-cat of the Mississippi attains to 

 one hundred and fifty pounds; no 

 child's play to land, whether hooked 

 from boat, wharf, or in mid-stream 

 by "jugging"- - that is, fishing with 

 large jugs, to which strong line and 

 hook is attached, the bait to be near 

 bottom, and allowing the jug to float 

 slowly down stream, followed by the 

 'fisherman. 



