Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-10-04
nOw EeIs are Caught in the DeIaware.

leave the boat and enter the water. The
man with the spear and the torch bearer
take their positions one on each side of
the bow, while their attendants push
the boat slowly along up stream. The
eels always hunt their prey close along
the bottom of the stream, which is as
plainly visible beneath the glare of the
torch as the shores are at nOonday.
When an eel is discovered, which is at
every few yards if the night is favorable,
lack of dexterity on the part of the
sportsman alone will lose him, for he
lies as still as a stick in the water, the
working Of his gills and his fins being
the only sign that he is alive. The spear
is three tined and barbed, and fitted by
means of a socket to a long hickory
handle. When the eel is discovered the
boat is stopped by a signal from the
sportsman. He lowers the spear eau
tiously into the water until it is within
three or four inches of the eel, which he
aims to strike a short distance back of
the head. Then he launches it with a
quick movement, and rarely misses his
mark The impaled eel is brought
writhing to the surface and thrown into
the boat. No matter how old a hand
one may be at eel spearing, he will al
ways experience painful suspense from
the time an eel is sighted until the spear
is thrown and he feels the well-deined
crunch that tells him the shaft went
true and the game is his. Crisp star
light nights add Zest to the sport, and
so enhancing is it that one will not feel
the chill of the water nor the nipping
of frosty September night until the
nights hunting is over. A skillful party
will capture in two or three hours fish
ing from fifty to one hundred pounds of
cells.
The set line has been favorite mode
of eel fishing along the Delaware River
from time out of mind The set line, as
used years ago, was a small rope or
heavy Irvine, long enough to reach from
one shore to the other. At intervals of
few feet pieces of fish line, from three
to five feet in length, called ''snoods,"
are attached to the main line. The
hooks used are large and strong and
baited with young camper" cells, live
| minnOws or larger fish cut into bait.
The lamper is the favorite lure because
of its tenacity and toughness. The
young hampers are dug out of the sand
along the river shore, and are found as
deep as three feet below the surface. To
properly fish with q set line the fisher
man should remain with it all night, in
order that he may 90 over it every hour
or so, to remove the fish that may have
| hooked themselves, and to rebait hooks
and keep the lines in order. Sometimes
set-line fishermen build little hunks on
| the shore, covered with boards and well
| Uttered with straw, in which to snatch
| sleep during the waits. Usually, how
! ever, a large fire is built and kept up,
| around which the fishermen lie on the
| bare ground, ''With no covering but the
sky" There is q singular weirdness in
| night spent in this way. Notwithstand-
ING the roar of some swift rift in the
river, and the constant vOicing of the
mysterious ''peeper," there is a hush
and mournful silence in the surround
ings that fills the novice, at least, with
awe, and the relief with which he halls
| the coming of dawn is as the passing
| from him of a great burden.
| Awell-managed and cared-for set line
will reward the fisherman with large
catch, not only of eels, but frequently
of bass, perch or clubs. Once in a
| great while lordly trout is caioled into
! trying some of the tempting mOrsels
! offered by the set line, but not so fire.
! quently but that when it does happen it
! is town talk for days. A rainy night is
|
| thunder and lightning the line might as
we'll be taken in. Eels will not hunt in
thunderstorm, but keep to their
hiding places.
| The days when ''bobbin' for eels''
was the prime amusement of those who
loved sport for the sake of sport are now
only memory along the Delaware. It
is largely INDUCED in still, but, with
! the exception of the irrepressible small
boy, principally by those who fish more
for profit than recreation. There is no
| doubt that on proper night an expert
| fisherman with his bob may catch more
cells than by any other style of fishing.
| A bob to be properly made should be
made out of the toughest and largest
| earth worms that can be found. The
worms, colloquially known as might
walkers" are the best. These are
large, dark-cOlored worms, which can
be found only at night in gardens where
the ground is rich. In the day time
| their holes may be seen perforating the
| ground like a sieve. At nightfall the
occupants make their appearance. They
come out of the ground stealthily, and
are so timid, and can seek their holes
so quickly on being disturbed, that it
requires an expert to catch them. 1t is
not an uncommon Inlng 10 IlnU JneS0
worms six and even eight inches long.
A quarter of a pound of these strung on
! strong patent thread will make ''lure'
that will not only tempt the most finical
epicure of an eel, but one that will with
stand the onslaughts of the ravenous
| prowler from nightfall until daylight.
The ''wad'' of worms is fastened to the
end of a stiff pole, and is lowered to the
bottom of the water. The instant an
eel seizes the bait an indescribable thrill
is communicated to the fisherman. He
draws the pole up slowly and steadily.
The eel retains his hold, and so tena-
ciously that it requires only a steady
hand and cool head on the part of the
fisherman to lift him safely out of the
water and into the boat. The writer
has known a hundred pounds of eels to
be taken on one bob by an expert fisher