28 
FOREST AND STREAM 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE PICK’RL 
NOW THAT GAME FISH HAVE DEPARTED, 
TRY FOR A NATIVE AMERICAN OF SPIRIT 
By George Langworthy Buguey. 
was about three feet above the surface of 
the water, on which we tied heavy lines 
with number 8 hooks at the lower ends, 
and the line of such length that it was 
within from two to three inches of the 
bottom of the river, and just at dusk we 
baited each of our ten hooks with a piece 
of “clam,” cut across the body, with the 
hook passed through the tough muscular 
part. 
As we had our poles set in the banks 
near the head of a long pool of deep 
water we went to the head of the pool, 
pulled our boat on a gravel bar, lit the 
pipes and waited for results. In a very 
few minutes we could hear the splashing 
of fish upon the surface of the water and 
went in the boat to learn the cause and 
found the noise was made by carp that 
had hooked themselves, and were trying 
to break loose. From five of the hooks 
we took five large carp, the largest of 
which weighed twenty-eight pounds and 
the smallest weighed a few ounces over 
sixteen pounds. We wound our lines 
upon the poles and went home to the hotel 
where we were stopping, and thereafter 
whenever our landlord wanted fish for his 
table my friend Sam and I would drop 
down the river in my skiff about four 
o’clock in the evening to a gravel shoal, 
gather a supply of “clams,” which were 
opened and cut for bait, and then just at 
dusk we would bait our hooks and go to 
the head of the pool and rest and smoke 
for an hour or so, then take off our fish, 
wind up our lines and go back to town 
with all the fish the hotel could make 
use of. 
We kept our kind of bait a secret and 
we were the only persons at that town at 
that time that could make a success of 
fishing for carp and we never went back 
with less than five good fish, as the small¬ 
est one we caught that fall was over ten 
pounds in weight, and in addition to our 
carp we often caught on our bank lines 
catfish weighing from five to eighteen 
pounds in weight for our largest one. 
I never returned to the town to fish 
after that season, so do not know if Sam 
ever disclosed the bait we used, and do 
not know if it is now used to catch carp 
at that place in that river; but I gave the 
secret of a carp bait to a friend who lived 
in western Kansas who tried it in the 
water of the Smoky Hill River and re¬ 
ported that it was the only bait he could 
have any success with in fishing for carp. 
W. F. Rightmire. 
Stuart, Florida, October n, 1916. 
W HILE the trout fisherman has hung 
up his pet rods, the black-bass en¬ 
thusiast has put away his tackle 
until next season, the dyed-in-the-wool 
angler still has one other member of the 
fresh water fish family to fish for—the 
pickerel. 
While the trout and the bass fisherman 
The Dyed-in-the-Wool Angler Still Has 
One Fish He Can Go After as Long 
as the Water Remains Open. 
may frown on pickerel fishing and even 
cast reflections on “Sir Pickerel’s” game¬ 
ness—a question that is always open to de¬ 
bate-let me assure the angler who has 
never tried his hand at this game that the 
pickerel, if fished for with tackle that is 
consistently light, will provide royal sport, 
as there is no question in the minds of 
any number of anglers as to the gameness 
of this fish. However, we will pass for 
the time the discussion as to the relative 
gameness of the trout, bass or pickerel. 
Just a word regarding this “slimy eater 
of the frog and chub” before the several 
methods of catching are taken up. The 
natural environments in which the fish 
live have a lot to do with the fish itself. 
If taken from ponds where the water 
is muddy, the fish is not likely to be as 
delicate a morsel as his cousin taken from 
ponds or streams which are clear and free 
from weeds and mud, the fish from the 
muddy pond being found to be soft and 
flabby, carrying with it, at the same time, 
a very noticeable muddy taste, whereas 
the fish caught in the clear pond or run¬ 
ning stream will be found to be firm and 
solid with no signs of the above men¬ 
tioned muddy taste. 
Those of us who at some time or other 
have lived in the country have no doubt 
fished or have seen the farmer boy fish 
for pickerel by what is known as the skit¬ 
tering method. All that is needed for the 
farmer’s boy outfit is a cane pole some 
twelve or fifteen feet long and a line the 
length of the pole, no reel, as the line 
is tied directly to the end of the pole. 
Nice little outfit to carry on a train, is 
it not? 
While such an outfit cannot be called 
a thing of beauty and a joy forever, in 
the hands of a sturdy farmer it becomes 
a very effective tool. Skittering, as a gen¬ 
eral rule is done in this manner: the pole 
is raised in a vertical position, and the line 
allowed to swing out to its entire length, 
rather than being cast. The bait which is 
either pork rind, perch belly, minnow, frog 
or casting spoon, is permitted to sink 
slightly below the surface of the water 
and is then jerked along with short stead> 
pulls, the man on the business end of the 
pole, as a rule, making a complete circle 
of the boat before another cast is made. 
When the fish strikes, he is allowed to 
take the bait for a moment and is then 
hooked and landed in one motion. If the 
fish makes the strike on the casting spoon, 
he as a rule hooks himself. 
Another favorite method of fishing for 
pickerel is by slow trolling. A spoon or 
minnow is now used for a lure, fifty feet 
of line being allowed out behind the boat, 
which is rowed at a snail’s pace. The five 
foot casting makes a very efficient rod for 
this mode of fishing. If the lure is a 
spoon, the pickerel as a rule hooks him¬ 
self in the first rush and then your fun 
begins. If by chance the lure is a 
live minnow, the pickerel should be per¬ 
mitted to have the bait. Let him run, 
you won’t lose him. As the fish starts 
his second run, strike and do it hard; 
don’t let him have any slack line, for if 
you do, it very frequently means a lost 
fish. 
Having once boated the pickerel take 
pains that your fingers do not get. caught 
in his mouth, as you will find his teeth 
are very sharp. 
There is one other way to fish for pick¬ 
erel, and that is by still fishing, this meth¬ 
od being followed mainly by those who do 
not care to work for their fish. It has 
been aptly termed “the lazy man’s way.” 
With the exception of the spoon the same 
baits are used in still fishing as in skit¬ 
tering and slow trolling. 
It is well, however, if one is still fish¬ 
ing in deep water, to weight the bait with 
one or two split shot to keep the bait 
down. A float will also be found to be a 
great help in keeping the bait out of weeds 
and grass. 
A word as to the equipment necessary 
Save the Quail I 
