A Defense of Fishermen 



tion. None but fishermen can prop- 

 erly deal with these delicate matters. 

 What sense is there in the charge 

 of laziness sometimes made against 

 true fishermen? Laziness has no place 

 in the constitution of a man who starts 

 at sunrise and tramps all day with 

 only a sandwich to eat, floundering 

 through bushes and briers and stum- 

 bling over rocks or wading streams in 

 pursuit of the elusive trout. Neither 

 can a fisherman who, with rod in hand, 

 sits in a boat or on a bank all day be 

 called lazy — provided he attends to 

 his fishing and is physically and men- 

 tally alert in his occupation. This 

 charge may perhaps be truthfully 

 made against squaw-fishermen who be- 

 come easily discouraged, who "tire 

 and faint" early, and lie down under 

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