Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-12-29
miscellaneous.
snelt-FishiDg in Maine.
The Army OF SPoRTsMEN ENcAMPED on
THE Ice.

ssIf any one likes fishing through the ice
with the thermometer 10 degrees below
zero and the wind blowing sometimes at
the rate Of % miles an hour, he can find
his ideal sport Just now on any OF the
rivers and inlets along the coast of Maine"
said Mort" Scott, well known in angling
circles in this City, who returned on Satur-
day from a weeks fishing for smelt on
the Maine coast .'Snelt- fishing is now
at its best up there, but the weather is
about at its worst At least ia the estima-
ton of the visiting sportsman it is; but
those native and to the manner born think
il couldn't be better. They don't seem to
mind a little matter such as the mercury
registering Is degrees below, and to see
their tents lifted from the ice by the wind
and carried upward like a balloon is re-
garded by them as only an episode that
adds zest and humor to their enjoyment.
When left there last Thursday it was so
cold that the holes in the ice froze over
nearly az fast as they were cut, even with
fires in the tents. and to keep them open
required little more labor than even my
enthusiasm in the sport could well over
balance. But there were scores OF fisher
men on the ice when LETT. for the smelt
seems to bite better the colder it is, and
after this month the fishing gets poorer.
the fish move gradually to other quarters.
"Smelt fishing through the ice," con-
tinued the speaker, ''does not differ much
from the same mode of angling for pick
erel, but the element OF uncertainty is I'M
known in the former sport. Yoa may fish
all dav sometimes for pickerel and then
be obliged to buy enough to save yourself
from going home 'skunked' but when
YOU cut your holes in the ice and
put in your lines for smelt you are
lust as certain of being kept busy
pulling out fish as You are that you bait
your hook. A smelt isn't as big as pick
erel, but he's a game fighter. and there is
an excitement about'tending'the lines that
pickerel- fishing does not create. The peo-
pie up in Maine look upon smelt-fshing
as the sport of the year, and they come
from miles about the country to enjoy it.
Even the Indians from the far-back coun-
try tramp in to the coast during the sea-
son to exercise their skill in Turing smelt.
The tackle for smeltfishing is very simple.
The line is an ordinary stout linen cord,
about four feet long To one end of this
is attached piece of lead about three in
ches long and the size and shape of a
three -cornered file. This is called a file
sinker. To swivel in the other end OF
the sinker is tied a pink -colored smell,
made of common fish-line. to which is at
tached hook such as is used in fishing
for catfish. The smell is two feet long.
The water acting on the triangular sink
er, hung on its swivels, keeps it constant
ly twirling about, and the bait, which is
an ugly looking insect called the clam
worm, is always in motion. Each fisher
man will have out an average of four
lines, in as many different holes, if he
seeks the enjoyment of the sport under
the protection and shelter of tent, or
house as the natives call them. If he.
like many of the local anglers. is Drawing
the elements with the sole intention OF
extracting profit from the catch and dances
and trots about on the ice regardless of
extraneous aids to combat the wind and
frost, he is likely to have ten or dozen
lines to care for, spread over an area a
hundred feet around; and if the fish are
biting good he will have but little time to
think of the cold. as he will he kept busy
hauling up his lines and keeping the holes
open.
1T has only been within few years
that such thing as smelt-fishing under
shelter was known. The fishermen had
either TO stand out unprotected against the
gales and storms that seem to be kept ION
tap'along the coast for use at any moment
or pull up their lines and go home. To be
sure. they could pile up walls
of ice and patch them with pine
boughs. but as it frequently is necessary
for the fishermen to change his loca-
ton and the ice barricade could not well
be taken along, the building of them was
generally time and labor thrown away.
BY the way, that is a peculiarly of smelt
fishing. The fish may be biting so that
you will be kept constantly hopping from
one hole to another to stand your catch
Suddenly your 'tpups' will cease to tip.
The smelts have taken it into their heads
that the locality is not safe for them and
have moved. Well. in a case of this
kind, rs said. the angler would find his
ice and pine boughs useless, and he would
have to desert them to hunt up the spot to
which the fish had changed their base
But one season a man named Job Secor
went up from Boston to try smelt fishing
He tried it for day and froze one foot
and both ears. and then went away But
he didn't go home. He went to Belfast
and had heavy wooden frame. 10 feet
square, made by carpenter He pro.
cured some sail canvas and covered the
frame with it. leaving an opening for a
door. The frame was on runners When
the house was finished he had it drawn
upon the ice and placed over the holes he
intended to fish through. Then it oc-
Cured to him that he might add still
further to his comfort, and he bought
| small box stove. ran pipe from out o
| one side of the house, started a roaring
| pine wood fire in it, and, seated on bench
fished as comfortably as if he were in hi.
room at the hotel watching stove pip,
hole in the floor. The house was secured
to the ice by graphing irons. If smell
ceased biting in one spot, he simpl,
loosened his grapples, showed his hous'
along on the runners. and 'squatted' il
more favorable quarters. No one wht
fishes for smelt simply tor the sport Their,
is in it has gone on the ice since then with
out one of the houses. Many who max,
business of melt-fishing have adopte,
the plan. and now, in the height of tn,
season, stranger going for the first tim,
| 70 any Of tho r,rarS ip1ats .1zox 81.