Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-01
Charles Lever and Fishing.

Fishing when at Inistioge, Lever
practiced because everybody tished,
and the river More running through
was an excellent trout and salmon
stream, but he never liked it, attained
no skill, and not even bunglers luck.
He was, in truth, too social an animal
for any solitary amuscments. To Lee
ver's lack of interest in fishing, there
were two exceptions. One of these
was locally called cor bait fishing.
The tidal flow of the river More sell
dom reaches above Inistioge bridge,
and below it for several miles the wa
ters are merely thrown back by the
rising tide, forming saltwater pond,
clear, and currentless, The rapids
where the large trout love to lie be-
hind rocks, and concealed in weeds,
become consequently deadwater, and
the astonished fish move wildly about,
deprived of their usual hiding places.
The water plants which lay flat under
the current rise perpendicularly from
their stems, causing an entire change
in the appearance Of the bottom OF the
river. Absolute silence and stiffness
is necessary as the bait is dropped
among population so much upon the
alert. From the clearness of the wa
ter in this natural aquarium every
movement of the fnny tribe is visible.
The bait is examined by the fish from
all sides; some will visit it a second
OF third time; some, apparently i'll
contempt, will lash it with their tails,
but their general movement resembles
moths flying round lamp, until one
more reckless or more daring than the
rest will seize the bait. In all this
Lever took an immense interest, and
perhaps all the knowledge he acquired
of the habits Of trout was learned
then and there. He came to know that
fish, though unfurnishcd with exter-
nal ears, have remarkably sharp per-
ception of sound. A shout, even at q
distance, will startle them; shot q
hundred yards away will cause them
to vanish. There, too, was visible the
apparatus by which the air was ex-
tracted from the water, enabling those
breathing animals to live and move
and have their being.
There is another species of fishing
of yearly occurrence at lnistiogc, Ill
which Lever was an eager participant.
There is the chad or shad fishing, COM
ing off late in April, or in the early
DAYS of May. 1t is sea fish, averag-
ing about a pound in weight, and on
the highest tides of the spring in fav-
orable seasons they arrive in such
multitudes as to literally cover the
bottom of the river, and they make q
most valuable addition to the food of
the villagers, at that time communl-
ty of potato eaters. They are taken
by every possible device, from the
seine net to the rough and simple one
of knocking over with stick OF stone.
When shoai presses on shoal, the carly
arrivals are forced into the shadows,
when scene bearing somewhat the
aspect of village festival occurs.
The juveniles Of the community ex-
ecute flank movement into the water.
| When, by these tactics, the Shoal OF
fish have been deprived OF all chances
of escape, an order to advance shore
wards in close array is given, and the
motley group move accordingly, beat
ing the water with poles and branch
cs, and shouting and Yelling furiously.
The frightened fish, with such enc
lnies behind, dash forward, some leap
ing into the air, some Oh shore, all i'll
to the hands of the seniors Of the viii
lace, who receive the treasure with
cries of THANK God" In these ma
neuvres Lever was an active leader,
ami the fun was heightened by the
cheers that followed an important
capture, and the laughter AMI scrcech-
ing OF the splashers and the splashed
rang loud and long.