Litchfield enquirer., 1867-09-05

tom." 1 complied At last, after some forty had been flung down the stream. the rises became less frequent, the water less aagitated, and partly to rest my wrist and partly to give John time to adjust new and larger flies, paused. In five minutes the current had cleared the pool of bubbles and the dark water settled gradually into sullen repose. "Now," said sJohn, .'iength- en your line and cast at that point of lily pads lying under the homlock there and if large one rises strike hard" I did as de- sired The flies, in responsesto the twist of the pliant rod, rose into the air. darted forward and, pausing over the lily pads, lighted, ,deftly on the water.A Scarcely had their trail made itself visiblSon the smooth surface before two-pounder gleamed out of the dark depths. and rolling his golden side mp to the light c,osei3i,ls jaws upon the white moth. l struck Sung by the pain ho flung himself, with mighty effort, high in air, hoping to fall upon the leader and snap the slender gut. Dropping the point of my rod ho came harmlessly down upon the slack. Recovering himself he dove to the bottom sulking. Bearing grad ually upon his mouth the only response I got was Q sullen shaking as dog shakes a woodchuck. Fearing his sharp teeth would cut the already we'll chafed shell I bore stoutly upon him, lifting him bodily LID toward the surface. When near the top, giving one desperate shake, he started. back and forth, round and round that pool he flashed gleam of yellowi light through the dark water, until at last wearied and exhausted by his efforts he rolled over upon his side and lay panting upon the surface. John deftly passed the landing net under him and the next minute he lay amid his smaller brethren in the boat. I paused a moment to admire him. A bluish, black trout, he was, dotted with spots of bright vermillion. His fins, rosy as autumnal skies at sunset, were edged with border of purest white. His tail was broad and thick eyes prominent, mouth wide and armed with briery teeth. A trout in color and build rarely seen, gamy and staunch. Noosing on a fresh fly in tho place of the one his teeth had mangled, I made ready for another cast Expecting much, I was not prepared for what followed
 Now all ye lovers of bright waters and green sward, who lift poor half pounder with your big trolling rod and call it sport, listen and learn what befell one of your craft at sunset, at the pool of the nameless creek. Nameless let it be, until she, who most would have enjoyed it shall, on some future sunset, floating amid the lilies, cast flies upon it's tide.
 A backward motion of the tip, and & half turn of the wrist and the throe flies leapt upward and ahead Spreading themselves ont as they reach the limit of the cast, like flakes of feathery snow, they settled, way ering downward. When suddenly up out of the depth, cleaving the water in concert one to either fly, three trout appeared. At the same instant high Tn mid air, their jaws closed >Cr the .,ar:seS hooks. No shout from John was needed to make mo strike. l struck so quick and strong that the lea- der twanged like Q severed bowstring, and the tip of tho light rod flew down nearly to the reel. All three were hooked. Three trout, weighing ill the aggregate seven pounds, held.by single hair on nine ounce rod, in pool fringed with lily pads, forty by thirty feet across.
 Then followed what to enjoy again ] would ride thrice two hundred miles. The contest, requiring nerve and skill on the | fishers part, was to keep tho plunging fish out of the lily pads, in which should the, once become entangled the gut would part like thread of cornsilk or the spiders gossamer line. Up and down, to and frt they glanced. The 1.-the rod bent like { coachman's whip to tho unusual strain, and the leader sung as 1t cut through tn, water with tho whir-r-r of a pointed bull let.
 At last, when at tho furthest corner O. the pool, they doubled short upon the line and, as one fish, rushed straight for the boat. Fishermen know what that move ment means. 'Give 'em the butt! give
 em the butt!' shouted John "Smasl your rod or stop em." Never before hal 1 feared to thrust tho butt of that rod out toward an advancing fish; but here were three, each large enough to task common rod, untired and frenzied with pain, rush ing directly toward me. If 1 hesitated, il
 was but an instant, for the cry of John tc smash her! smash your rod or stop 'em, decided the matter. Gripping the extreme butt with one hand and clutching the rec with tho other, I held them steadily out toward the oncoming fish. "Good by, old gleaming forms dash under the boat Staunch as you are, you cant stand that. An instant, and the pressure came upon an inch. The pliantrod doubled itself uT oii>tSA oAAO ocIAAii uubAA tIAC poihC Ol tuO tiE was stretched foot below the hand which grasped the butt, and tho quivering lance wood lay across the distended knuckles Nor fish nor rod could stand that pressure long. Icould feel the flores creep along the delicate shaft, and the mottled line wo ven of choicest silk, attenuated under the strain, looked like single hair. looked at John. His eyes were fastened upon the rod Iglanced down the stream, and ever at the instant the three magnificent fish forced gradually up by the pliancy of what they could not break, broke the smootl surface and lay with open mouths and gasp ing gills upon the tide. In trying to land tho largest one escaped. The oth CT two averaged sixteen inches in length
 Within the space of forty minutes, near ly an hundred trout had been taken fifty of which, varying rom one quarter
 of 8 pound to two pounds and half il weight, lay along the bottom of the boat the rest had been cast back into the water as unlocked by John. It was Saturla, evening. The sun had gone down behind the western mountains, and amid the gath ering shadows we sought camp. w.
 found it in the shape of a small bark lodge which John himself had erected fourteel years previous, when in company witl an old trapper, he encamped one fal upon the shores of this haautifu1 laka