XXX11 



RECREA TIOJST. 



ON THE E-KON-LOCK-HATCH-EE. 



JOHN BEIDLER. 



Gabriella, Fla. 



Editor Recreation: Starting from what 

 is known as the " Big Cypress Swamp," a 

 stream finds a devious course through the 

 Eastern part of Orange county, Florida, 

 to the waters of the St. Johns, which it en- 

 ters near Lake Harney. From its many 

 and sharp curves the Indians gave it the 

 title of E-kon-lock-hatch-ee, signifying 

 crooked river. This name has been re- 

 tained by the white settlers, though it is 

 also known as the " Big creek." During 

 autumn, winter, and spring, the stream has 

 an average width of about 40 feet; but dur- 

 ing the summer or rainy season, it 

 " spreads itself " to a larsre extent, in some 

 places reaching a mile in width and be- 

 coming a rapid river. It is, however, dur- 

 ing its normal state that angling is best. 



The stream, for nearly its entire length, is 

 shaded by numerous tall trees — huge, gray, 

 old oaks, gnarled and twisted and aspiring 

 to heaven; some of them spreading their 

 vast arms over the lower tribes of vegeta- 

 tion, and clothed with heavy draperies of 

 innumerable parasitic plants, which creep 

 from tree to tree or fling their long ten- 

 drils a hundred feet from the ground. 

 Tall cypress, ash, sweet gum, cabbage pal- 

 metto and many other species of wood 

 crowd together in a dense thicket, which 

 completely shuts in the stream. Willows 

 trail their branches in the clear brown wa- 

 ter, their leaves often stirred by, the move- 

 ment of an unseen fin below. 



Game is abundant in the jungle which 

 borders the stream. Deer, wildcats, otters, 

 raccoons, squirrels, and wild turkeys hide 

 there, as do also moccasins and rattle- 

 snakes; while in the more open country 

 quails abound. 



The channel of the stream is difficult to 

 navigate, even with a small boat, on ac- 

 count of the logs and dead tree-tops often 

 found lying across it. These, with roots 

 and cypress knees, sometimes block the 

 passage, which necessitates dragging the 

 boat over or around the obstruction. The 

 water, in many places, is deep, and large 

 alligators are often found basking in a 

 streak of sunshine or silently watching for 

 food. In such places, too, the pike has its 

 haunts, and bass, bream, and large cat-fish 

 are there. 



Pike fishing, in this stream, is excellent; 

 but on account of many logs and roots 

 there is not much room for fancy work. 

 You must yank them out as soon as you 

 can lift them. You must, however, be ex- 

 ceedingly careful not to put your tackle's 

 strength against the strength of the fish 

 until he is quite exhausted in his efforts to 

 break free, or your tackle is sure to be 

 broken. These pike often grow to a weight 



of 4 and 5 pounds, and, as every fisherman 

 knows; a 5 pound pike is not the easiest 

 fish to handle. 



The Florida bass are all of the large 

 mouth variety, and, like the small mouth, 

 are voracious feeders, and very gamey. 

 They are abundant in this stream, and I 

 have heard of 20 pounders being caught, al- 

 though I have never taken any of over 14 

 pounds in weight. A 14 pounder has suffi- 

 cient strength and activity to give your 

 tackle a good test, and yourself some show 

 of displaying your skill as an angler. 



The live bait most in vogue here are 

 small sun-fish, and shiners, about 6 inches 

 in length. The latter is a small fish, some- 

 what similar to a young shad, and makes 

 an attractive bait; but one not always ob- 

 tainable. A shiner 5 or 6 inches long, and 

 lively, will almost invariably tempt a large 

 bass to bite. 



It is an exciting moment when you hook 

 one of those big fellows. The rod bends 

 almost double as the terrified fish dives 

 and plunges madly about, lashing the wa- 

 ter furiously in his wild struggles for free- 

 dom. Often rising to the surface, he 

 bounds many feet in the air; then back 

 again with a powerful plunge and a rapid 

 dart for some log or ro~t. It is then that 

 you must show your skill or you will lose 

 your fish. 



The average size of the bass caught, when 

 you have good bait, t is from 3 to 8 pounds, 

 and often half a dozen may be taken from 

 one pool not over 20 feet across. Cat-fish 

 weighing 5 to 30 pounds will sometimes an- 

 noy you, but as they are usually too slow 

 for the bass and pike, you will only catch 

 them when the bass and other fish are not 

 biting freely. Soft shell turtles also are 

 numerous, and can be caught without much 

 effort. 



One of the great pleasures to be enjoyed, 

 while fishing in the E-kon-lock-hatch-ee, is' 

 the scenery. It is grand, impressive, 

 strange, tropical — now gloomy and awe- 

 inspiring; now fairy-like and charming, 

 and again weird and wild. The great 

 trees are interlocked with a perfect net- 

 work of vines and are loaded with great 

 clusters of mosses. The stream being nar- 

 row, often for quite a distance, the branch- 

 es of the large trees interlock across the 

 channel, forming vast, arched avenues, 

 paved with a floor of intensely dark water, 

 roofed with dense, dark foliage, decorated 

 with great fringes of Spanish moss. These 

 covered passages are solemn and impres- 

 sive at any time; but in the night, when 

 lighted up by the blaze of a brilliant camp 

 fire, the scene is indescribable. The inky 

 water, the lights and shadows of the foli- 

 age, the disturbed birds as they wheel 

 gracefully out of sight, all leave an im- 

 pression never to be forgotten. 



The E-kon-lock-hatch-ee is one of the 

 best fishing streams in the State, and has 



