Nov. 8 , 1913 . 
FOREST AND STREAM 
593 
MURRAY COD AND YELLOW BELLY 
PERCH. 
Continued from page 591. 
Hardy Bros, build, with stout spinning line, 
strong check winch and a supply of spinning 
baits. Selecting a spot where a large submerged 
log reached from the bank nearly to mid stream, 
B. cast his spinner—a six-inch “Otter” with a 
bunch of colored feathers covering a stout tri¬ 
angle, and allowed it to sink about four or five 
feet close to the side of the log, some thirty 
feet from the bank, then tightened the line and 
set the spinner in motion. From beneath the 
log a great brown form charged on the bait, the 
reel fairly screamed as the fish rushed across 
the hole, and despite the heavy strain applied to 
the brake, took out a lot of line before he could 
be turned. Once the first rush is over the 
Murray cod gives very little sport. It is a mat¬ 
ter of leading him back with strong and steady 
pressure till within reach of the gaff. The first 
cod weighed forty-three pounds. A few casts 
were made up stream from the same spot, and 
the spinner again dropped near the log, this time 
some thirty feet or so further than before. Al¬ 
most instantly another heavy cod (thirty-one 
pounds) was hooked and quickly landed. Pro¬ 
ceeding further up the river (it had not been 
running for a couple of months), a likely look¬ 
ing spot for yellow-belly presented itself. A 
small spinner of the Devon type on a stout gut 
cast was deftly dropped near the bank, and 
immediately seized by a big perch which, how¬ 
ever, tore its lip and broke away. Casting again 
in the same spot a two-pound yellow-belly 
hooked on and darted toward the middle of the 
pool, when quick as thought he was annexed 
by a heavy cod, which carried off the perch, spin¬ 
ner and cast, aided by a log under which he 
darted with his prey. B. carefully noted the 
spot, and visiting it a couple of days later caught 
the largest cod of the trip, which weighed forty- 
seven pounds. 
It is never safe in these waters to use light 
tackle, as a fine line will not hold a big cod 
should he charge for a network of snags, and 
the cod is very partial to hooked yellowbelly, 
whose struggles excite his codship’s cupidity. 
Another camp was pitched for a couple of 
days near Charleville, where a number of fine 
cod were captured, but their size did not ap¬ 
proach within coo-ee of the monsters from the 
Cunnamulla hole. On the way back into New 
South Wales, near the border town of Barringun, 
a day was spent in cod fishing, the result being 
eighteen, from seven to sixteen pounds in weight. 
In the Barwon River, above Brewarrina, at 
which place the blacks in former times had a 
lot of fish traps built in the rocky crossing places, 
the best cod B. had ever seen (and he and I 
have caught some very large ones) was secured 
by a hawker on a set line. A crow, with his 
legs, neck and wings cut off and the body rough¬ 
ly plucked, was impaled on a very large hook, 
attached to a yard of stout wire, fastened to a 
thick cord about thirty feet long, and lowered 
into a deep pool right alongside the road. While 
sitting at tea that evening the sapling to which 
the line was attached became violently agitated, 
and the enormous cod was hauled ashore. B.’s 
scales, which will weigh up to fifty-six pounds, 
would not nearly record the weight of the fish, 
which was probably between seventy and eighty 
pounds in weight. 
Murray cod run up to 150 pounds in weight, 
probably larger, many specimens between 125 and 
150 pounds having been recorded in New South 
Wales. 
Sitting over a cigar with my dear old com¬ 
rade, listening to his account of that trip, re¬ 
called all the pleasant memories of the good 
old droving days, overlanding cattle to the Sydney 
market from away back of beyond in mobs of 
1,000 or more, the journey occupying four or five 
months in hail, rain or shine. Then the rush to 
some new gold field, the magnetic spell, the 
irresistible influence that holds the digger, be he 
lucky or otherwise; the wild excitement when 
bottoming the shaft on wash twelve ounces to 
the dish, the weeks and weeks spent in sinking 
“duffers”—ah! “those were the days when my 
beard was black; I like to remember them now 
and then.” 
San Francisco Fly-Casting Club. 
Contest No. 10, held at Stow Lake, Satur¬ 
day, Oct. 25; wind variable, weather fair: 
Event No. 2, accuracy, per cent.: 
T. F. Burgin . 99.32 *P. W. Shattuck 
P. W. Shattuck. 98.40 S. Forbes . 
E. A. Mocker. 98.28 *S. Forbes . 
C. H. Gardner. 98.48 
Event No. 3, delicacy, 
per cent.: 
Accuracy. 
Delicacy. 
1 F. Burgin . 
... 97.12 
98.20 
Paul W. Shattuck. 
.. 97.4 
95.40 
E. A. Mocker. 
... 97.24 
99 
C. IT. Gardner. 
.. 98.28 
98 
Stanley Forbes . 
.. 96.52 
97.30 
♦Stanley Foorbes . 
.. 98.16 
99 
Event No. 4, %-ounce lure casting, per cent.: 
J. F. Burgin. 97.9 S. Forbes . 
P. W. Shattuck.97 *S. Forbes .. 
E. A. Mocker. 98.7 *P. W. Shattuck... 
C. H. Gardner. 98.3 
Event No. 6, dry fly accuracy, per cent.: 
T. F. Burgin. 98.10 S. Forbes . 
P. W. Shattuck. 98.12 *S. Forbes . 
E. A. Mocker.99.3 *E. A. Mocker. 
C. H. Gardner . 98.11 
98 
98.48 
98.28 
Net. 
97.46 
96.32 
98.12 
98.14 
97.11 
98.38 
98.2 
96.9 
96.8 
98.10 
99.1 
99 
Judges, C. H. Gardner, E. A. Mocker, Paul 
W. Shattuck; Referee, J. F. Burgin; Clerk, E. O. 
Ritter. 
Contest No. 10, held at Stow Lake, Sunday, 
Oct. 26; wind variable, weather fair: 
Event No.. 1, 
C. H. Newell .. 
Sam Wells .... 
J. F. Burgin- 
Stanley Forbes 
distance, 
. 80 
. 98 
. 92 
. 78 
feet: 
*Stan'ey Forbes 
*C. H. Newell.. 
*J. F. Burgin... 
80 
81 
96 
Event No. 2, accuracy, per cent. 
C. H. Newell. 99.20 
Sam Wells . 99.82 
J. F. Burgin. 99.8 
Stanley Forbes . 98.48 
Dr. W. E. Brooks.... 98.56 
C. H. Gardner. 99.4 
J. Cooper. 96.56 
Event No. 
E. A. Mocker ... 
P. W. Shattuck.. 
A. Sperry . 
*S. Forbes . 
*A. Sperry . 
*P. M. Shattuck. 
96.36 
98.56 
96.56 
98.48 
97.24 
98.36 
F. 
per cent.: 
Accuracy. 
Delicacy. 
Net. 
... 97. 9 0 
98.20 
97.50 
... 98.32 
99.30 
97.56 
... 97.16 
96.20 
96.4S 
... 98.36 
98.30 
98.33 
... 97.8 
97.10 
97.9 
... 97.20 
96 
96.40 
... 98.56 
97.10 
98.3 
... 97.20 
97.20 
97.34 
... 97 
95.40 
96.20 
... 96.36 
97.10 
96.53 
... 96.28 
77 
96.44 
... 96.74 
95.30 
95.57 
C. H. Newell. 
Sam Wells _. 
J. F. Burgin. 
Stanley Forbes -.*- 
Dr. W. E. Brooks. 
C. H. Gardner. 
F. J. Cooper. 
E. A. Mocker. 
Paul M. Shattuck. 
A. Sperry . 
♦Stanley Forbes . 
*A Sperry . 
Event No. 4, %-ounce lure casting, per cent.: 
Sam Wells ."... 95.4 E. A. Mocker . 
t p Burgin.94.9 P. M. Shattuck . 
S. Forbes . 96.8 A. Sperry . 
Dr. W. E. Brooks.... 94.8 *S. Forbes . 
C. H. Gardner . 98 *A. Sperry . 
F. J. Cooper . 95.8 *P. M. Shattuck. 
Event No. 5, %-ounce lure casting, average, feet 
Sam Wells ...119 Dr. W. E. Brooks... 
J F Burgin.197 C. H. Gardner . 
Stanley Forbes . 104 F. J. Cooper. 
Event No. 6, dry fly accuracy, per cent. 
95.9 
97.6 
98.2 
97.8 
97.6 
97.4 
.. 102 
.. 153 
.. 86 
C. H. Newell.. 98.11 
Sam Wells .98.1 
Stanley Forbes .98.5 
Dr. W. E. Brooks... 98.7 
C. H. Gardner. 98.8 
F. J. Cooper. 94.1 
E. A. Mocker. 99.1 
Paul M. Shattuck_98.2 
A. Sperrv .'. 97.5 
♦Stanley Forbes . 98.8 
*E. A. Mocker. 98.6 
Event No. 7, light tackle, long distance, feet: 
C. H. Newell .'. 
....... 74 
F. J. Cooper. 
... 76 
Sam Wells . 
. 90 
♦Stanley Forbes ... 
... 77 
Stanley Forbes . 
. 77 
'Re-entries. 
Judges, Sam Wells, E. H. Gardner, Paul M. 
Shattuck; Referee, C. H. Kewell; Clerk, E. O. 
Ritter. 
Fish Stories. 
COLLECTED BY ALEX m’d. STODDART. 
All sorts of stories are told of weakfish, 
doubtless because of the popularity of the fish, 
and because it is such a “good fellow.” 
Here are some of them: 
John Krott, a Brooklyn fisherman, makes 
this interesting statement on the bait subject. 
Says Mr. Krott: “The weakfish is very dainty 
as to its food, requiring the expensive shedder 
crab. I have tried a bait which possibly no 
fisherman has ever used, namely, macaroni. 
Steam macaroni a few minutes, but not too long 
to make it soft, or it will not remain on the 
hook. 
“Slip one long piece over the entire hook, 
then tie three or four small strips at top of 
hook, letting them hang downward about three 
inches in length, and you will have a bait that 
will tempt the most obstinate weakfish palate. 
“Now, laugh, you lobsters! Call it a fish 
story, or a pipe dream, or the effect of too much 
‘wet bait.’ 
“I have tried it with remarkable success on 
several occasions. Having used shrimp, blood 
worms and shedders in conjunction with maca¬ 
roni, I found they liked the latter best. 
“I caught fourteen with this bait as against 
six with all the other baits combined in one 
day’s fishing.” 
Meyer Cohen went fishing for the second 
time last season. The first time he sat in the 
boat all day long and caught a fluke. When he 
reached the boat house it had dried up. Be¬ 
tween the first fishing trip and the second fish¬ 
ing trip there was an interval of ten years. 
Some enthusiastic friends induced him to go 
fishing to Staten Island waters. On the train 
they met people with the drab green baskets 
and fell to talking weakfish naturally. They 
told about their wonderful catches, but Cohen 
believes all fishermen are liars unless they can 
show him. 
On the motor boat to Princess Bay, Cohen’s 
$3 hat blew off, and was only rescued after the 
motor had been started up three times, for as 
soon as the boat stopped near enough to the 
hat, the tide carried the hat further away. When 
finally rescued the hat was of no further use. 
On the grounds those in the boat were getting 
weakfish, but Cohen waited patiently for a bite. 
Finally his voice was heard, loud enough to 
scare the weakfish for miles around: “Hey, 
Schmalz (which wasn’t his friend’s name or any¬ 
thing like it), I’ve got a bite!” 
As a matter of fact he didn’t have a bite; 
he had a weakfish. 
After the first weakfish Cohen was as enthu¬ 
siastic as the men with the drab green fishing 
baskets he met on the train. During the after¬ 
noon Cohen landed twenty-eight weakfish averag¬ 
ing three-quarters of a pound each. Coming 
back, he remarked: “Well, Schmalz, what’s my 
share?” 
