The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-03-29

Init /" shouted Luke. 1t is the usual
remark in such an emergency. l gave
him the butt, and, recognizing the fact
and my spirit, the trout at once went to
the bottom and sulked. 1t is the most
dangerous mood of the trout, for you
cannot tell what he will do next. We
reeled up little, and waited five min
utes for him to reflect. A tightening of
the line enraged him, and he soon devel-
oped his tactics. Coming to the surface,
he made straight for the boat, faster than
could reel in, and evidently with hos
tile intentions. "Look out for him ~
cried Luke, as he came flying in the air.
1 evaded him by dropping fat in the
bottom of the boat, and when picked
my traps up he was spinning across the
lake "a II ne had a new idea /; but the line
was still fast He did not run far.
gave him the butt again, P thing he
seemed to hate, even as a gift; in mo-
ment the evil-minded fish, flashing the
water in his rage, WIS coming back again,
making straight for the boat as before.
Luke, who was used to these encounters,
having read Of them in the writings of
travellers he had accompanied, raised his
paddle inself-defense. The trout left the
water about ten feet from the boat, and
came directly at me, with fiery eyes, his
speckled sides flashing like a meteor. I
lodged, as he whisked by with vicious
slap of his bifurcated tail, and nearly
upset the boat. The line was, Of course,
slack, and the danger was that he would
entangle It about me and carry a leg
away. This evidently was his game.
But entangled his, and only lost breast
button or two by the swiftly moving
string. The trout plunged into the wa.
ter With a kissing sound, and went away
again with all the line on the reel.
More butt. More Indignation on the
part of the captive. The contest had
now been going on for half an hour, and
l was getting exhausted. We had been
back and forth ACROSS the lake and round
the lake; what l feared was that the
trout would start up the inlet and wreck
Us in the bushes. But he had c new
fancy, and began the execution of a
maDeuvre which he had never read of.
Instead of coming straight towards me
he cut large circle, swimming rapidly
and gradually contracting his orbit. l
reeled in, and kept my eye on him.
Round and round he went, narrowing
his circle. began to suspect the game,
which was 70 twist my head of. When
be had reduced the radius of his circle
to about twenty-five feet, he struck q
tremendous pace through the water. II
would be false modesty in a sportsman
to say that l was not equal to the occa-
sion. Instead of turning round with
him as he expected, l stepped to the
bow, braced myself, and let the boat
swing. Round went the fish, and round
we went like top. saw line of Mt.
Marcys all round the horizon. The rosy
tint in the west made broad band of
pink along the sky above the tree tops.
The evening star was perfect circle of
light, hoop of gold in the heavens. We
whirled and reeled, and reeled and
whirled. l was willing to give the ma
licious beast butt and line and all, if he
would only go the ether way for
change.
When 1 came to myself, Luke was
gafing the trout at the boat side. After
we had got him in an dressed him, he
weighed three quarters ola pound. Fish
always lose by being got in and dressed"
1t is best TO weigh them while they are
in the water. The only really large one
l ever caught get away with my leader
when I first hit him. He weighed ten
pounds