Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1875-03-13
REMIN SCIENCES.
wRiTTEs FoB THE aAKTIEsRuRe IsDEYExpgsr
BY A BERKELEY BOY.
Bass vs.. Old Fashioned Fish
ing.

From hunting to fishing my rem
iniscent thoughts have not unnat-
urally run When on my occasion
al visits to Berkeley, have heard
much talk about black bassr in
the Potomac and Back Greek, talks
in high eulogy of the sport offered
by them, and stories about the
number of pounds caught by one
and another fisherman, which SCUM
ded incredulous to me. Perhaps
they SO sounded because of my be-
ing behind the progress of events,
piscatorily considered. And that
! should be found in the vocative,
as to this new conner, is not remar-
BILE. | had scarcely heard of that
species of fish in my boyhood, and
they were "among the fish that
were notP in the Potomac, even in
my manhood. / believe it has not
been twenty years since that rather
mythical gentleman brought the
first specimens across the Allegha-
MES and placed them in the Poto-
mae. | say rather mythical be-
cause / have seen contradictory
versions of the matter,
| don't like the new corners, and
/ have an indictment in mind
against them. / tried several times
to catch a mess OF them-once with
the late James III. Robinson, who
found great solace, in his later
years, in fishing, as he did, / we'll
remember, in hunting IA his early
manhood. We tried our luck at
Little Georgetown, with the aid of
a boat | caught nothing-my COM
panion ditto. although he felt sure
we would catch plenty ofthem, be-
fore we went. | got sick and went
back to Hedgesville, disguised with
the very name of " bass"
Last summer ! put myself under
the being the lucky guest, for a
day or two, of the fun-loving old
friend, G w r., of North Noun
tain, and his excel ent LADY, guild
ance of another fishist, assisted by
that expert fisherman, Il. II. E.. for
certainty Of luck.
jenkins Falls was selected that
time, as the place for unfailing
luck" The favorite bait was said
to be live minnows. Wash. went
after them, only to return minus
the minnows. / was told the old
familiar ground-worms were of mo
account with their fastidious bas-
ships, and that our next recourse
was to live toads. So when we got
to the mouth of the creek and had
secured boat lat it we went, chas-
ing the almost invisible little toads
among the wet grass in one of the
bottoms" The enterprise appear
ed rather ludicrous to me. But
concluded / would have to get used
to it, and / submitted.
Well supp led with toads, we
rowed to the Falls.ca anchor, and
went to work in the broiling sun.
| caught only one little bass and
sunfish or two, while George and
Tom were all day catching a toler-
able mess of bass only.
/ knew what / did catch, and
that was the ague. AS for catch
ing bass-there / sat, with all the
patience of Job, or old Isaac Wal
ton, using the same bait, the same
sort of a hook and line, etc, not
even getting bite an hour, while
my companions were getting bites
and fish just aside of me. Wasn't
that enough to disgust me with
bass fishing?
l know what the answer will be:
that l didn't understand the hab-
its of the fish" Very likely, and
| cont think / shall take pains to
do so. When | used to go a-fish-
ing in the olden times, it Was more
like a plaything than hard work
Then we could get mess almost
any where along the river or the
creeks not of very large fish, to
be sure, but mess that ate very
sweet, when properly rolled in
wheat -four and fried brown by a
cook who understands her bust
ness.
That was not all. We didn't have
to suppress all sociality and be
mum in boat, in the broiling sun,
as ifso many deafmutes. We could
laugh and talk even We could
take the whole family with US, wee
ones and all, and let them catch
grasshoppers, dig for worms with
a stick for bait, while we old folks
tlshed. OF course, they were told
not to talk loud. But that being
next to impossible, we let them
have a good time. The larger fish
kept shy, but we had a lively time
with the smaller ones, and seldom
failed to catch a mess. and that is
what cannot be said by the bass
fisherman.
But now days when l throw
my hook into the deep holes and
eddies, such as those in which / |
used TO find sunfish and clubs. or