FISH AND FISHING. 



129 



at this place, weighing $]4 pounds. This 

 fish won for the Doctor, a handsome rod 

 given as a prize by a merchant in the above 

 named city, for the largest bass of the sea- 

 son. D. V. Miller, one of our local sports- 

 men, and a relentless foe to all manner of 

 illegal fishing, has taken with a rod, at dif- 

 ferent times, 4 black bass weighing about 

 4% pounds each. 



During the winter months our anglers 

 make trips to Cross lake, where they can 

 indulge the pastime of fishing through the 

 ice. 



In February, a party of 7 started for this 

 favorite spot. Arriving at the lake, all 

 hands proceeded to cut holes through the 

 ice and to rig tackle. Ed. Radford chose 

 John Acker by name as his partner. Ed. 

 took charge of the tackle, an ordinary sized 

 trolling line with a small Limerick hook. 

 After a tedious wait, during which our 

 friend's ardor was beginning to cool, there 

 came a forcible tug at the line. After a mad 

 dash for liberty and a hard struggle, during 

 which the fish was played to perfection, 

 Ed. succeeded in landing his victim, flop- 

 ping and struggling on the ice. John, up 

 to this time had been quiet but now, unable 

 to repress his pent up emotion, gave voice 

 to a yell which was heard by the other boys 

 a mile away. Not willing the prize should 

 escape, John threw himself bodily on the 

 unwilling captive, where he remained un- 

 til satisfied that his prey could not walk 

 back to the hole, some 30 feet away. The 

 fish proved a pickerel weighing 22 pounds, 

 length 43 inches. It was mounted by our 

 local taxidermist, and is now on exhibition 

 at Mr. Radford's place of business, on 

 Main Street. 



During the summer months the river is 

 dotted with craft of every description, the 

 occupants plying the rod with true fisher- 

 man's zeal. Large numbers of game fish 

 are taken every season. Since the " game 

 hog " has taken to the woods, both lake 

 and river will soon become famous fishing 

 grounds. 



FLORIDA FISHING NOTES. 



Three-fourths of that well-known verse: 



" When the wind's in the East the fish bite the 



least; 

 When the wind's in the West the fish bite the 



best; 

 When the wind's in the North they fail to come 



forth ; 

 When the wind's in the South they take the bait 



in their mouth " 



is untrue so far as the East coast of Florida 

 is concerned. There fish are scarce during 

 the prevalence of a West wind, and in great 

 plenty when it blows from the North or 

 East. A local authority on the subject, 

 Captain Elijah MacDaniels, the noted fish- 

 erman of Port Orange, says that when he is 

 fishing he would prefer a gale from the 

 North or East to even a gentle breeze 



from the West. Bright sunlight appears to 

 have no influence whatever on the fishing. 

 The fish bite as freely on clear days as on 

 cloudy ones. The best time for taking 

 them is at the beginning of the flood tide 

 and in the slack water just before the flood. 

 Fiddler crabs make a good bait for sheeps- 

 head and sailor's choice, and freshly caught 

 mullet are best liked by bass and trout. 

 Some individual catches were as follows: 

 On January 11, Father and I caught 30 

 pounds of sheepshead, in 2 hours of after- 

 noon fishing. On January 14 we caught v 

 11 sheepshead. 



Captain Kelly and Mr. Drummond, of 

 Eau Claire, Wis., caught 45 pounds of 

 sheepshead on January 11. Captain Kelly 

 caught 20 pounds on January 12, 56 pounds 

 of bass on January 18, and 18 sheepshead, 

 none weighing more than 8 pounds, on 

 January 28. James Parrot of Marion coun- 

 ty, Fla., caught 50 pounds of bass on Jan- 

 uary 14, and 7 bass, weighing from 6 to 10 

 pounds each, on January 22. Captain Mac- 

 Daniels caught 41 sheepshead on January 

 17. G. A. Gillett and 6 friends, on the 

 launch Ida, took 250 pounds of fish at Mos- 

 quito inlet in one day. On another day, 

 with 2^ friends on the launch, he took 400 

 pounds of sheepshead at New Smyrna 

 bridge. The largest fish, a 7-pounder, be- 

 ing caught by Mr. S. H. Gore. Captain 

 Charles Thompson and friends, on the 

 yacht Neola, caught 300 pounds of kingfish 

 at Miami. 



W. F. J. M., Port Orange, Fla. 



BIG FISH STORY FROM TEXAS. 



J. M. R. 



It was June, 1894. I was pastor of the 

 Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Ark., when 

 this big fish story was wrought out. Here 

 is the way it all happened. Dr. J. M. Wells, 

 Dr. Bell, J. L. Turner, C. W. Newby, Wm. 

 Montgomery, of Fort Worth, Tex., and 

 E. W. La Beaum, of St. Louis, accepted 

 my invitation to do some fishing with me. 



These gentlemen did not believe my 

 story about the fine fishing in St. Francis 

 lake, 20 miles distant from Jonesboro. 

 They came, they saw, they were convinced. 



After 3 days of fishing Dr. Wells and Mr. 

 La Beaum said to me: " In our wildest 

 imaginations we never dreamed there was 

 any thing in the world like this." 



Here is what called out so strong an ex- 

 pression: We had taken all the fish we 

 needed for use in camp. On the last day I 

 directed Dr. Wells's boatman to take him 

 for a trial battle for 3 hours, that the party 

 might have a barrel of fish to take home. 

 The boatman left camp at 8.30 a.m. and re- 

 turned at 12 m. In that time, Dr. Wells 

 had, with rod and reel and one " phantom 

 minnow," taken about 108 pounds of black 

 bass. Other members of the party did as 

 well. A nice box of fish was sent to Mr. 



