FTSH AND FISHING. 



LEFT IxN THE PERKIOMEN. 



I had been working hard and was be- 

 ginning to feel that a day's vacation was 

 due me, so when a friend at Oaks, Pa., called 

 me over the telephone and said that the 

 water in Perkiomen creek was just right 

 for bass fishing I was willing to . believe 

 him, though it was near the end of October. 



The gray clawn of the following day found 

 me in the lane leading to Keyser's mill, be- 

 low which the Perkiomen tumbles noisily 

 down its rocky cliannel. It was barely day- 

 light when I- stopped to rest under the 

 grand old maple by the creek side. As I 

 put my tackle together I recalled many de- 

 lightful summer noons when I had eaten 

 lunch under the big m tree, just as Uncle 

 Thad Norris used to do at Jim Henry's, on 

 the Broadhead. The wooded hills were 

 gorgeous in their Indian summer finery. At 

 their summits, the frost-painted, ice-var- 

 nished leaves fairly blazed with color in the 

 first rays of the sun. The mere memory of 

 such a morning is enough to blighten the 

 gloomiest of winter days. 



The Peikiomen is full of pools, afford- 

 ing excellent fishing during summer. In 

 October and November bass desert the 

 pools and seek wide, deep water. After 

 catching bait with a minnow trap, I 

 went down stream, passing many pools 

 where, earlier in the season, I had taken big, 

 fish. I waded down the creek until noon, 

 casting only in deep water, without getting 

 a strike. At last I came to what is known 

 to anglers thereabouts as the "Red bank. 

 There the stream is deep and widens into 

 almost a pond. I fished the bank unsuccess- 

 fully until late in the afternoon. The de- 

 lightful weather amply offset my empty 

 creel ; but I was becoming convinced that 

 the season was too far advanced for bass 

 fishing. 



I was about to give up when my reel 

 screamed, and my rod bent to the tug of a 

 bass that I at once realized was the largest 

 I had ever fastened. The great fish went 

 off with a dash that made my blood tingle. 

 It took every ounce of stuff in my tackle to 

 stop him. Checked in one direction, he tried 

 another, and it was not until a 20 minute 

 fight had exhausted his strength that I 

 could get him near me. Twice I almost 

 had him. The third time my fingers were 

 fairly in his gills when, with a mightv 

 splash, he freed himself from the hook and 

 was gone. 



I stood gazing blankly at my straightened 

 hook, unable to realize what had happened. 

 To think I had had that monster — a 6 

 pounder, if an ounce — actually in my hand, 

 and yet he had escaped ! I waded ashore 



and wiped the perspiration from my stream- 

 ing face, in a transport of disgust. 



But as I walked across the darkening 

 fields, toward the little station at Oaks, I 

 was ready to forgive the bass for his too 

 gallant fight. I knew I had had at least a 

 rare day's recreation and an experience 

 that I shall treasure while memory lasts. 

 Louis L. Boyer, Morristown, Pa. 



A MISSOURI HERD. 



W. T. Runyon, deputy game warden for 

 this county, told me that 5 men, at Nor- 

 borne, caught 3933 crappies from 4 p. m. 

 to 7.30 p. m. The following are the names 

 of the men : N. R. Avers, Tom Thomas, 

 John R. Webb. Chris Rossell and T. 1. 

 Moran. He also said the following men 

 used a seine in the same water : W. B. 

 Limpleman, Thomas Minnis and Joe Pyles. 

 If this is true you will have a few more 

 swine for your pen. Also, I think this 

 county needs a new deputy game warden. 



Will you please write those fellows and 

 find out the facts in the case. If true, 1 

 hope you will teach them a lesson thev 

 will not soon forget. 



S. T., Carrollton, Mo. 



I wrote the men, and received the fol- 

 lowing reply: 



The boys often catch 300 or 400 fish in 

 a forenocn. I have caught 25 crappies in = 

 minutes, and did not think it any big thing. 

 The bass are not doing much this year and 

 we don't catch many of them. 



A few years ago 3 of us left Norborne 

 at 3 p. m. and got back at 5 p. m., having 

 caught 68 bass. The smallest one weighed 

 12 ounces, the largest one 2 T / 2 nounds. I 

 also caught, at another time, in 5 hours' 

 fishing, a string of black perch 16 feet long, 

 the lot weighing over 85 pounds. I used 

 one pole only, but had 4 hooks on the line 

 and averaged 2 fish at a catch, baited with 

 worms. All of this can be proved by the 

 best business men of the town. 



I saw one crappie to-day that weighed 

 J l / 2 pounds. Two men brought in 120 large 

 frogs. 



If you want any true stories, let me know. 

 N. R. Ayres, Norborne, Mo. 



You wear the longest crop of bristles I 

 have come across in many a day, and if 

 your statements are anywhere near correct, 

 you must be in a congenial atmosphere, 

 for there seem to be plenty of swine 

 in and about your town. Your number in 

 the fish hog book is 1,052, and those of 

 your friends are 1,053, 1,054, 1,055, 1.056, 

 respectively. — Editor. 



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