544 
FOREST AND STREAM 
October, 1920 
that after due and sad consideration by 
a host of reliable — if there are such in 
existence — old-timers which will bounce 
the scales at seventy-five pounds. Fish 
of twenty and twenty-five pounds are 
taken each season in the streams and in 
good numbers, while fifteen pounders are 
commonly caught. 
T HE methods of taking the Ohio 
Drainage muskellunge are about the 
same as those in vogue in the north 
woods. The casting rod and the plug 
have the best of the argument, though the 
majority of the anglers I find on the 
streams are equipped with the short rod 
and a box of lurid colored divers, wig- 
glers, etc. Some are partial to a boat, 
trolling with one or more rods from the 
stern, all equipped with spoon bait, spin- 
ner or plug. The trolling is undoubtedly 
the less laborious method of taking the 
game old warrior. Have a light, square- 
ended boat, equipped with one set of oars 
handled by one who knows the under- 
water conditions of the stream where the 
fishing is to be done. 
When trolling for the muskellunge with 
the artificial spoon or plug alone not 
more than two rods should be used at one 
time. I have found that for two men, 
with each one “spelling” the other at the 
labor end of the game, two rods is about 
all that the man in the stem can well 
handle and do it right. Along the edges 
of weedly strips and at the outside rim 
of a bed of lily pads, close to submerged 
or partly submerged log drifts, along the 
shores where a heavy current cuts sud- 
denly into a gravel or bouldery bank, and 
through eddies are the best places to 
swing a troll for the purpose of attract- 
ing old man muskie to come forth and 
do battle. 
It requires considerable practice for 
one to become proficient at the trick of 
placing a trolling boat where the fish are 
located, and to do it in a manner that 
will bring the best results. I have found 
that the muskellunge is not a fish that 
is extremely shy and wary of some ex- 
traordinary disturbance of the water. I 
have known large fish to swim about in 
the close vicinity of a canoe from which 
people were diving, and many a time have 
I had them come to the surface along side 
of my boat when I had been carelessly 
splashing against a current. I am some- 
times led to believe that they really are 
attracted by any unusual disturbance of 
this kind, and come to allay their curios- 
C. J. Meredith and his 28 % lb. muskie. 
ity. But in trolling it is preferable to 
handle the boat in as neat and silent a 
manner as possible. A deep, smooth 
stroke of the oars is best, lifting the 
blades carefully and then easily lowering 
them again to the current. 
In trolling down the current of a 
stream it should be borne in mind that 
the speed of the boat will necessarily be 
greater than when trolling against the 
current. Aim to keep the lure above the 
bottom at all times unless the Bottom is 
known to be smooth, and of fine gravel. 
In that case and should it happen to be 
in a deep eddy where the fish are probably 
feeding or lurking from the sun, let the 
lure work directly on the bottom. But 
in all places where brush, weeds and 
underwater boulders and snags are ex- 
pected it is better to keep the lure only a 
short distance under the surface. The 
depth of the troll is regulated by the 
speed of the boat; a fast-moving boat 
means a shallow troll and a slow boat the 
reverse. In mid-summer the water is, as 
a rule, clear of floating trash and trolling 
is much easier than in the late fall 
months when the surface and the current 
are filled with floating leaves and grasses 
which will tangle in the hooks and cause 
all sorts of trouble. Keep the trolls 
swinging around those places where the 
fish are most expected. It is not neces- 
sary to keep the attention in trolling upon 
anything other than the trolls. Manage 
to sweep a lure as close in to a weedy 
shore as possible, for there is where the 
old man muskie is lurking with his ugly 
head protruding, on the wait for some 
victim to swim along, close in to an old 
tree or stump that happens to lean over 
the current, at the edge of a clump of lily 
pads, all such places are where he makes 
his home and from which he will dart 
forth and tackle the spinner, spoon hook 
or brightly colored plug. 
(continued on page 564 ) 
* 
TALES THE RIVER TOLD TO MATT 
THE TENTH INSTALMENT OF A SERIES OF STORIES DEPICTING THE SIM- 
PLE JOY OF FISHING AS EXEMPLIFIED THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUTH 
By LEONARD HULIT, Associate Editor of Forest and Stream 
C ATCHING crabs was a new experi- 
ence for Matt and he revelled in 
the sport. He was here, there and 
everywhere. They were the hard crabs, 
the swift swimmers, and it required quick 
work to gather them in the net. “These 
will do for boiling and the soft ones we 
will fry,” said Mr. Adams; “what we 
want are the shedders for bait.” “What’s 
them?” asked the lad quickly. “They 
are the same as the soft ones, but they 
have not yet cast their shells. It is the 
only way in which a crab can grow,” 
continued Mr. Adams, “when they are 
freed from the hard shells, and it is one 
of the many queer affairs of nature that 
when they are in that condition they 
make the very best of bait for any fish 
whether salt or fresh water.” 
In a pocket of water formed by some 
sunken drift wood which had been 
washed down stream by some freshet of 
previous years were to be seen several 
crabs clinging to the seaweed and sides 
of the wood and they were very slow in 
their movements when disturbed. “These 
are ‘shedders,’ as we call them, and they 
have hidden here as best they could until 
they have released themselves from their 
old shells. Every fish that swims hunts 
for them when they are soft, so that the 
crabs get away up in the headwaters and 
hide among wreckage and grass to es- 
cape their enemies. You will see these 
are easily taken,” said Mr. Adams, and 
he dipped the net down and under one 
■which he raised to the surface without 
any effort to escape and he tested it by 
pressing his finger against the underside 
of the crab at its extreme end, when the 
shell gave way as easily as an egg shell, 
and breaking the end of the nipper claws 
off it was rendered harmless. Matt, al- 
though living within twenty miles of the 
seashore, had seen but few crabs and 
knew nothing of their nature beyond that 
they were dangerous to the fingers and 
that they were good to eat. Mr. Wood- 
hull was but little better informed and 
was equally interested. While the catch- 
ing went on they were cared for as Mr. 
Adams suggested, and they were pleased 
when he told them there was much to be 
told in relation to crabs and their ways 
of life. What surprised the boy the most 
was the speed with which the hard crabs 
went through the water and he studied 
them thoughtfully. While Mr. Adams 
seemed pretty well versed in relation to 
fresh water fish of most kinds, he seemed 
to have full knowledge of the natural 
history of everything in and about salt 
water and he greatly interested the boy- 
