St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-12-07
Tussle with a Tweed Salmon.

On Friday the water was very low
and clear; / had fshed up to two
o'clock without rise, and was almost
in despair. The rain, however, had
begun to fall heavily, and "tbe Pot,n
my best cast, was before me. After
long and anxious consultation with my
fisherman on the respective merits of
"Jock Scott" "Whitetip,n "Durham
Ranger" and "Sweep," I selected
very small dOuble-hook specimen of
the former, and fished the water care
fully. l had a long line out, and at a
favorite ripple huge fish made grand
rise but missed the fly. ga fool" said
the cOuntryman when he spat the hot
pudding out, "would have burned his
mouth pa young fisherman would have
incontinently struck and lost the fish
not being young fisherman, left the
fly changing" on the rapid, and the at
tempt to seize it was renewed, this time
"with more advised aim," and success
fully and instantly the barbed hook was
struck deep into the monsters jaw.
Terrified at the unlooked-for and unac-
countable result of his aggressive pro-
ceeding, the fsh's first impulse was. to
rush down stream, running out some
thirty yards of line, and making the
reel sing like the drone of tbreshing-
machine then turning on his tracks
before could wind up my line sufi-
GENTLY, he commenced series of aero
batic performances that would have
done credit to clown at Sanger's. /
never in my life saw big fish jump as
this did, or play such antics. began
to think that the terrible malady so
cruelty fostered by our local magis-
trates, who, under the influence of an
unreasoning panic, insist upon muzzling
dogs, had extended to the fishes, and
that l had a mad fish on my hook. 1t
is ludicrous to see a stout elderly par
ty tripping through the mazes of pol
ka; it is amusing to witness fat High
lander dancing cling" but when a
thirty. pound salmon takes to jumping
like summer grilse, the ludicrous is
merged in anxiety, and you feel, as
poor Power said of potatoes, "There
are some subjects too serious to be jok
ed upon" Scarcely had got my line
shortened, though still far too much
was ont for safety, when a new danger
presented itself. Like Barry COrnwall's
owl, the fish
Has a mate that is fond and bold,
and the baggit who doubtless had ac-
cOmpanied my intended victim on her
wedding tour from the sea made frantic
efforts to suceOr him. poor thing half
an hour later | slew her. She weighed
twenty-three pounds, and was Il bright,
comely fish, Not only did she swim
by his side, up and down the pool, but
thrice she jumped high out of the wa
ter, falling each time almost-happily,
not auite-on the line. However, she
retired, and / was getting on better
terms with my fish, when still another
and novel danger beset me. | was,
up to this time, | should say, in my
boat, having been hitherto unable to
land, as my custom is, to play my fish,
and was looking for an opportunity of
landing. | had been for some time
sensible of an unusual warmth in the
region Immediately below my coat-tails.
At first l did not regard it, attibuting
it perhaps to an abnormal concentra-
ton of excitement on that particular
spot, but by degrees the heat, like that
of PhutatOrius' chestnut, exceeded all
bounds of pleasurable sensation" and,
like him, uttered a strong exclama-
ton. At this moment my fisherman,
seizing me from behind, exclaimed,
''Eh but you're joost in a low" 1t
then occurred to me that when struck
my fish had slipped my pipe into my
pocket of course there had been no
time to shake it out, a box of matches
had ignited, and my coat tail was burn
ing merrily. Sandy made gallant bnt
vain attempt to squeeze out the flame,
but only succeeded in burning his fin
gers. ''Stand by, till jump out"
cried, and suiting the action to the
word, plunged in" A splash, fizz,
and the danger was passed. The big
fish was still full of running, and a
weary dance he led me, my wading
stockings full of water. To make a
long story short, in the end l fairly
beat him, and after several feints he
turned on his side, and lay helpless on
the rock, in waterthat scarcely covered
his shining body. Of course you will
suppose that he was netted-nO such
thing game is not won till it is lost,
fish is not killed till heis on the bank /;
at this moment the hook broke, and
good luck, rolled lazily back into the
|
| felt no one can surmise what / said no
one need know. "Aye, but yon were a
grand flush, hae ma seen BONNER the
year, was Sandy's remark. "He was
thirty-five pound if he was an unce."
''rve nae doubt he wad hae scaled to
forty,n ruefully exclaimed Andrew. By
degrees, however, their spirits rose, and
they became jocose as they referred to
the incidents respecting which they
were pleased to be complimentary.
"Wa'al, but for a man aire, | never
seen ane sac COOL" ''Deed no; he new
er lost his grip on him, tho his hinder
end was all of low" "Weel, but /
aye thought burning the water was no
Lawful noo." So we comforted. our
selves; but there are lessons to be
learned from these mishaps. First, if
such mischance happen to yourself,
take example by me. Don't wait for
the free escape and patent annihilator
but just jump into the water butt sec
ond, don't use small double hooks at
this time of year. They are all very
well for summer fish, but for the twenty,
thirty or forty Founders of the autumn
they are "nae guide ava."-Fishernlan
in Land and Water.
TUNNELING NORTH RIyER.-The Hud-
son River Tunnel between New York
and Jersey City, which was begun three
years ago and interrupted by litigation
has been cleared of em mbarrassments, and
work is to be resumed about the first o.
next month. The scheme was project
ed in 1873 by number of Californi;
capitalists, as the result of vexation a
delay in Jersey City from an ice EN-
barge; stock company with $4,000,
600 capital was formed. The work i