The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-11-01
FROM
FROM
s'VacatiOn i'm the Woods
TROUT FISHING.

yellow In the center OF tne WnlrlpO0l, ana
then the swish of the line through the water
as ten yards of it whrled from the reel head
ing down stream. then slackened and began
moving slowly across. Eddie's first impulse
was to pull with all his might, but he re-
strained it just in season. Cup your tip,
Eddie higher, higher yet now reel up lit
tie till you just feel him. Be careful and
not stop your reel. You have got one there
that will make short work of that light tackle
if you do not humor him-keep cool!'
1T is easy enough to say keep cool, said
just see where the cool comes in. Don't go
Frank! By George he is off,"
> "Wind up! wind up! he is fast enough. Be
careful with your reel when he starts again
and wind your tip
''Pye got him; here he comes, But he isn't
as heavy as thought he was. Jim Hill
just look at that" and it was well that the
reel was free. The trout had followed the
winding with but little resistance till he had
nearly reached the surface of the water and
got suspicion of trouble ahead, when, with
his bright sides again, he reversed the order
of things and went off down stream like a
DART
''Snub him Eddie; press your hand against
the reel just enough to check him. That's it !;
hold on so a minute and let him try the
spring of your rod" and he did try it, taking
little line at each jump and evidently get
ting the worst of it. ''Now reel in quickly
just keeping strain on him, and give him
the tip fine is inclined to take his head. If
he breaks water again let him run.''
at this reeing up, the trout offered more
resistance, but the exercise against the spring
of the tough lance wood was fast taking it
out of him. On coming to the surface he
made one more dash, but Eddie checked him
in time, and again drew him in, to within ten
feet of the tip
"Catch hold of tie line father and take him
in! Catch hold of the line! I can't lift him
out; he'll be off yet"
mo, no, Eddie; he is your trout if you
can get him. Throw up your rod and get
hold OF the line. Keep back, Frank; two
against one is not fair play"
The trout was on his side, foundering a
little, but so far gone as to leave but little
risk of another dash. Holding the rod near
ly perpendicular in his left hand, Eddie
caught the line with his right, and, stepping
back, drew him gently along to the shelving
bank and then landed him with Jerk which
would have landed decent sized halbut, and
which took the fly short off from the smell.
Dropping his rod he came down with a
sprawling pounce on and all over the fish.
THAT was most extraordinary perform
ance, Edde," said his father, laughing, as
Eddie rose with one hand full of gravel and
the trout by the glls in the other, and Frank
said something about duck and June bug.
II couldn't help it, father; didn't feel as
if could possibly have that fellow get away.
Isn't he beauty? Look at that, Frank,
just look at that" and he laid him fiat on
the ground, far enough from the stream you
may be sure, and then and there meas Ired
his length ON the butt of his rod and made a
mark with bis knife where the tip of his nose
came, good strong nineteen inches, as be
found afterwards, and then sat down, with
the trout in his lap, to see Frank try his hand.
II do not know how you will succeed here"
said Mr.. Aston, "but we have not made much
fuss, and it is worth try ing, it is such a nice
place to stand"
eff hook one, don't say word, father;
let me work my own way"
eWell, go on, and I will try and keep quiet"
Frank laid his fly away very neatly Just at
the edge of line of foam fakes over towards
the westerly shore, and drew it, tip, tipping
along to the centre of the pool and then up
the stream. He got no strike nor we'll de-
fined rise, but just as he withdrew the fly for
another cast, there was little dimple on the
water, just below where the fly left it, and an
air bubble came up and foated away. "There
is something there, club or something
SAID Frank, II saw him bell up
Whatever down country trout that had
been tempted ever since he was mipnow.
and had held out against the seduction of
worm or fly or anything else with string to
1t, might have done, it was too much to ex-
pect OF rural Chaticook fish to resist such
fiy, coming in such a way, as that second
cast presented it, futtering along slowly, then
turning IN the air few inches above the wa
ter as it it had thought better of it and would
not light just yet. The trout, for it was a
Verltable trout which had made the dimple.
seemed to have been bordering on what
fool he had been to let such chance 90, for
when he saw it coming again, forgetting the
splashlng which had just occurred, and his
lodging out of the way of it, and the mishap
OF some kind which he must have known had
Defalen one OF his fellows, he made dash at
IL winch shot him entirely out of the water,
and, without any question, accomplished his
purpose, whether or not the result answered
his expectations. The attack was so sudden
and vigorous that Frank was quite taken bv
surprise and gave an involuntary upward Jerk
OF the rod, which, whatever it might have
done towards affixing the hook, certainly ad-
ded nothing to the docility of the trout.
which shot down stream like flash. Frank.
nndlng that his line at that rate would soon
Deaexhausted, ran down along the bank
checking him all he dared, followed by his
father and Eddie. Below the pool, another
bar crossed the stream, making very shoal
water. Over this went the trout, showing
his wake for an instant, and then Stacking his
speed as he struck the deeper water and
eddies below. Just before reaching the bar,
Frank, who was looking at anything but the
ground beneath his feet, stumbled over
stone and away he went at full length in the
water. 1t was not deep and he managed to
keep his rod in hand, but in his haste and
excitement he made bad business of get
ting up.
r., Il am not TO advise, Frank" said his father,
put would respectfully suggest that you
get up;'' and Eddie paid him back his Joke bv
casting in his teeth the duck without the con-
solation OF the compeDsating bug, and, on
Inc whole, Frank found the position ve,y
dimcult one to sustain creditab,y; but he
was soon up and Keeling in good deal of
SLACK line, dripping and talking to the trout
as suppose most people do when they have
good one well hooked.
II suppose you think you have done great
things, getting down here instead of staying
where you were. l want you to understand
j.! don't care where you go, and I'll bet YOU
don't get thirty yards of this line out again.
Now jump and see if Lakewood is as tough
as trout's nose.''
:, Frank managed him very well, considering
mat 1t was his first large trout, and after the
que amount of Keeling and playing landed
'>.J AeoucOihSiJs IL was HUI QulU6 as
long as Eddie's, but was thicker and fully as
heavy, If not heavier. The BOYS thought
they would weigh five pounds each, but Mr..
aston set them at three and half or posi-
bly, four pounds.
=, NOW boys dress them, and do not cut off
Inc heads nor tails, and then hurry back. 1
am hungry and you must be, and tired, too,
ana you must dry your clothes, Frank"
we will go in swimming after we get
back" said Frank, taking off his clothes and
wringing them, ''and I'll hang them in the
sun while l am inn
COOKING THE TROUT.
The boys now came in With the trout yerv
nicely dressed, and proud enough OF them as
they had every reason to be.
"By time in the primer" said Ben, weigh
ing them in his hands, 'them's the real old
kind o. speckled trouts. You might fish the
Choticook week and not get two more like
them.'
eve got them both out of one hole. What
will they weight"
Il guess they'd weigh pretty nigh four
pound apiece before they was dressed. You
done well, any way"
oh they weighed more than that. You
don,t know how much larger they were."
yes do. l know pretty much what you
IOulU IN 'em. EnlLyc nat ID il,