56 



RECREA TION. 



HE WHO LAUGHS LAST, LAUGHS 

 BEST. 



E. G. H. 



An amusing incident took place one day- 

 last May, at the opening of the trout season. 



Charley and I, provided with our tackle 

 and lunch, started one morning for a trout 

 stream a few miles from the city. It was the 

 second day of the season, and an ideal one 

 for fishing, so we soon had our baskets 

 well filled with good ones and went to a 

 house on the farm, through which the 

 stream flowed. 



During the dinner hour the Italian farmer 

 entertained us with stories of the large trout 

 that were to be found near a small neck of 

 woods about a mile distant, where his cattle 

 were accustomed to graze; so after dinner 

 we wended our way to this much lauded 

 strip of land. 



The stream made a large bend here and I 

 took the upper part while Charley was be- 

 low, about ioo yards away in a direct line 

 but fully a quarter of a mile by water. We 

 tried our luck. Intent on catching a big 

 one I failed to notice, for a time, the low 

 bellowing in the woods. Nearer came the 

 sounds and louder. Charley had already 

 heard them and said to himself, " Ah, ha! 

 the bull. Krog will think it's a bear." 



I finally looked up and saw a number of 

 cows, as I supposed, coming toward me. 

 Again, after another cast, I looked up and 

 beheld a large black animal in the lead, 

 throwing his head in a significant manner 

 and emitting a low, grumbling noise. 



Not being particularly anxious to make 

 the animal's acquaintance, I reeled up and 

 started toward Charley. When I looked 

 back the bull seemed nearer. I increased 

 my pace ; so did the bull. What was 

 Charley doing all this time? 



" Look him in the eye." " Tickle him 

 under the chin." " Look out or he will 

 make a touchdown! " were some of the ex- 

 clamations hurled at me. 



But I did not follow Charley's advice. 

 The bull was now close behind me. A few 

 yards ahead I espied a log extending out in 

 the stream. With one mighty effort I 

 reached it and another took me across. 

 Then I looked around and saw the animal, 

 with uplifted head and tail, evidently much 

 disconcerted at the loss of such an oppor- 

 tunity. 



Meanwhile Charley was roaring and split- 

 ting his sides with laughter. The bull, at- 

 tracted by his gesticulations and now thor- 

 oughly infuriated, started for Charley. The 

 meadow was wide. There was no log to 

 cross. The nearest place of safety was a 

 hill, 200 yards away. With basket in one 

 hand and rod in the other, Charley began 

 the race. The bull gained. Charley 

 dropped his basket but still the bull gained. 



Then the rod was cast aside but this only 

 seemed to lessen the distance between the 2. 

 He could not reach the hill; but a high 

 stump was before him and with one final 

 effort he reached it and clambered on top. 



It was now my turn to laugh. " Talk to 

 him in Italian." " Are you getting any 

 bites?" "Mesmerize him!" were wafted 

 over the stream to Charley. He implored 

 me to go after the owner of the bull, which" 

 I did after I got through laughing. The 

 Dago's first exclamation was: 



" Oh, he no bite." 



I yelled to Charley to come down; that 

 the bull would not bite; but for some rea- 

 son Charley would not come. 



The bull was finally led away and we re- 

 sumed our fishing in peace, deciding not to 

 say anything about it when we reached 

 town; but it was too good to keep. 



CATFISH IN LOUISIANA. 



Washington, D. C. 



Editor Recreation: I have just re- 

 turned from a trip through the South, dur- 

 ing which I devoted some time to a study 

 of the catfish industry of Louisiana. This 

 business centers chiefly at Morgan City, 

 8o miles West of New Orleans, on the 

 Atchafalaya river, though a good many fish 

 are shipped from Melville and Plaquemine. 



The catfish industry is an important one, 

 the shipments from Morgan City alone 

 amounting to about 2,000,000 pounds an- 

 nually. Nearly the entire catch consists of 

 2 species of large catfish, the first being 

 known as the blue cat, or poisson bleu 

 (Ictalurus furcatus), the other the yellow 

 cat, or goujon (Leptops olivaris). One or 2 

 other species are occasionally taken. 



These catfish reach an immense size, ex- 

 amples of each species weighing 80. to no 

 pounds being frequently taken. The larg- 

 est I saw, however, was a goujon which 

 weighed 48 pounds. 



This is the only place I know of where 

 an important fishery is carried on in the 

 woods! During ordinary stages of water 

 the fishing is done principally with trot- 

 lines, or set-lines, which are placed in the 

 river or its connecting lakes and bayous; 

 but when the Mississippi " gets up " some- 

 what, the greater part of the Atchafalaya 

 region becomes flooded. Then the catfish 

 take to the woods and the fishermen follow 

 them. The fishing is done in this way: 

 One end of the line is tied to a limb of a 

 tree, and the hook, on the other end, is al- 

 lowed to hang about 18 inches under water. 

 The hook is baited with a piece of a hickory 

 shad, or with a crawfish. Each fisherman 

 ties his lines to the trees along the edge of 

 one of the " float roads," if possible, so 

 they may be easily found. If he places 

 them promiscuously around, through the 



