Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-11-19

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in the old wild forest, as calm as an i
FAINT Its waters are not only clear. b
sweet A small stream flows from i
but none empty into it, which is eyidepc
that it is supplied by springs. The W,
tiers OF this lake, at Che time that | WIS
at 1t, were some twenty-five feet aboy
the waters of both Tennessee and Due
rivers. This lake is vastly old, so
should judge from the growth upon il
shores. 1t is also sbundantly supple
with tish, and mainly game fish. ga,
some drum, and buffalo, and few bloc
suckers; saw mister catfish, or gar, O
grlndle. The prevailing fish
pike, or pickerel the trout and white an
speckled perch, and they seem to be with
out number. The people in the neigh
borhood all told US that the fish in Clea
lake would not bite. This was slow t.
believe. | went first and tried it from tn
shore snd soon found that The fish woulc
bite, but could not be taken from the
main land In consequence of the mos
that lines the shore and extends out som,
thirty feet. could get strikes and hang
the fish but they would become entangleC
in the moss, &C that l would not only
lose the fish but part of my line also. Sc
we went to work and had boat trans
ferred from Tennessee river into the lake,
which proved success, and / have nc
doubt but the success of our party il
catching fish in this lake will be the &C.
casion Vt many persons spending much
time and labor for naught, for with q
boat the fish can only be taken by the
the very perfection of the Anglers skill.
The line must be delicate and invisible
and you must fish near the bottom and
that at a considerable distance, preserving
perfect stiffness; but with suitable out
fit and proper care and attention, the sue
cess will be surprising. g. and w.
fished one day few hours and the
result was forty game fish. Lake Design
is smaller lake and not so deep, and
though a little dingy, it can be fished
from the shore successfully. We visited
it one day, and caught quantity of fine
fish of good quality. When fishing this
lake we came together at noon for lunch
F. set out hook near the lap of an old
tree that had fallen into the lake, and
while he was absent, 8 monster fish took
possession. When F. returned, he tried
to bring it to; hut no, he could not con
troll 1t. 1t went where it pleased, only
that it was not able to part his line. At
length it took refuge in pile of brush,
and became sullen, and would not go out
again TO open sea. w, being on the
same side of the lake with F., came to
his aid. f. said, ''Here take this pole
and hold it hard and will go in after it;
aud in he went, and down he went, and
grappled the monster, but not being able
to tell where precisely the fish lay, he un-
fortunately got his hand into the mouth
of the fish, and finding that Il was armed
with terrible teeth, and disposed to use
them, he changed the point of attack, but
eventually brought the monster to land.
G., who was on the opposite side of the
lake, said he thought t. had caught the
daddy of the trouts. The fish would
weigh some fifteen pounds, and gave evil
dence of great strength. The trouble
with T. and w. was to determine
what kind of a fish it was. They
first came to the conclusion that it
was a white cat fish, but the scales and
teeth offset that idea. They next Judged
it to be a lake jack fish, but neither head
nor tail would suit. They then settled
down on the idea that it was a monster,
8 cross of the cat fsh or the jack or pike
or gar. At length NJ. came along who
was out hunting aud pronounced it a scaly
cat, or grinald, aud not good for food.
Soon after W. caught one of the same
family. When we knocked off we found
we had as many fish as we could well
carry, and left the monsters to fight it out
with the raceoons. On reaching the camp
Robin lamented the loss of these fish; said
they were the best of fish, and next morn
ing employed camp psuper for an hour
hat night 10 go and bring them in, and
was delighted TO find them both still alive
and as he said in good health. They are
q Fl n well supplied with fins and |
should judge fine swimmers, and being
armed with teeth must be terror to all
mall fry. L. said he would pay the ex-
Dense of a wood cutof w. holding the rod
md F. in the lake fighting with the ter
ible monster, but We have not been able |
0 supply the cut.
The Sabbath day was approaching, and
III Saturday evening the fishing tackle was !
II brought to camp, and the guns laid |
side, and the best preparations that our
would permit were made
or the Sabbath. G., W., NJ and II.
vent INTO the neighbOrhood to church.
". opened the Sunday-school at nine
o'clock A. NJ, and at eleven o'clock G.
to very large, well-behsved
md devotional congregation. The church
S large one for the country, aud well
quilt, in good taste and finish. The sing
M was inspiring, and the entire service,
trust, profitable. Immediately after the
ermOn and morning service were over,
he baskets of provision were displayed
n great profusion, and all were invited TO
unch. At two o'clock G. addressed the
'undsy-school, which is very large and
veil conducted. 1t was day of spiritual
comfort to many.
Any person going from Big Bottom TO
his church not knowing the facts as they
re, will be taken by surprise. As soon
s you have emerged from the deepest,
Iarkest wilderness, you are in the presence |
# a multitude of well-dressed, good
OOking, Christian people, with an impOs-
Dg hou of worship, with all the ap-
,ointm lnts, might say, of al old and
Wealthy counr ~ or German dyt
But the reader will want to know
low the party succeeded. l think
can say it was q perfect
uccess with the exception of the bird
hooIing. The open or cultivated lands
hat were in reach were so loaded with !
as TO put bird shooting out
# the question; we could hear the whistle !
f the birds, but that was all The Big
Bottom is supplied with all kinds of game /
Common to this country except the opos, |
are not to be found. Deer |
turkeys, ducks, squirrels and raccoons are .
u abundance, and fi-h IN all the waters, |
while the banks of Clear Lake are bored |
md perforated by the beaver.
Some of our fish died on the string; |
ome were devoured by water animals, |
II raccoons; several bark catfish chawed I.
nto their cables. Wei fish for ten days, /
md in this had some assistance from the +
lelghbOrs. Some spoiled because of the 7.
warmth of the weather, and yet we |
brought home with us from fifty to one |
hundred pounds of choice fish. As to the
hunting, / think at least one hundred
squirrels were killed, few birds and /.
Due raccoon. The largest catfish caught /
would weigh about thirty pounds; the |
argest jaclkfish was $50 inches in length, !
md would weigh about twenty two |
1ounds; the largest trout eight pounds. |
Ne caught cat, jack, pike, trout, drum,
.ock bass, white perch, speCkled perch,
yrindle eels and gars.
We broke camp after breakfast and |.
ok tea the same day with our friends at
l1me. All well; no accident; no one
got sick; no one got out of temper.
These who were c1mpl dining when we
eft home came back well, all thankful TO
kind Providence for health, spirit, recrea-
ion and renewed rength fer future
abOT ONE OF THE PARTY.