Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-03
THE P0TOMAC,s FAME.
It's Scenery More Reliable Than Its
Bass-Fish Stories, and How They
Originate - The Splendid Fishing
Always Higher Up.

Its Scenery More Reliable Than Hts
Bass-Fish Stories, and How They
Originate The Splendid Fishing
Always Higher Up.
The Potomac enjoys wide celebrity abroad
| as stream presenting the grandest scenery
| and a6ordng the best bass fishing in the coun-
| try. The man who Is content with scenery alone
| Is never disappointed, but the angler who ex-
poets to catch bass every time he casts q line
generally falls very far short of his calculation.
In the Potomac. as everywhere else, that "splen-
did" fishing. where you ''catch 'em just a. fast
as you can bait your hook" is always few
miles farther on. The idea obtains that a fisher
man is bound to keep up his reputation for sue
| cess, whether he catches 'em or whether he
don't This may be very unjust to the class
who sport with the rod and line. There are I'M
dOnbtedly men who will tell the truth about
their catches. 1t is Just as certain that there
are men who won't; and the latter make them
selves heard above their brethren who love the
truth and stick to it.
BIG FISH STORY
| is sure to travel a long ways. Only several days
ago party returned from fishing trip up the
Potomac. They took with them the usual
accompaniment OF keg, demijohn, several
TASKS and another keg. In this case the con-
tents Of the kegs, demljOhn and TASKS held out
until the expedition returned. One of the party
reported the entire catch to be one hundred and
fOrtyfve, and the largest fish to weigh four and
half pounds. Another reported two hum
dred and eighty fish caught. and the largest to
weigh six pounds; another reported three hundred
and eighty fish caught, and said the largest
weighed seven pounds; and the fourth man of
the party Jumped things by reporting the catch
to be over five hundred, and the big fish to
weigh over eight pounds. The latter's story
Travelled farthest and fastest, and now he Is in
daily receipt of numerous letters and postal
cards asking for detailed information as to where
he fished. what sort of bait he used. and other
particulars. The fact that the four men all told
different stories does not seem to have detracted
in the least from the glory of the expedition.
Some OF the most experienced anglers declare
diton has good deal to do with the subsequent
reports of the catch.
ALWAYS HIGHER UP.
But, it is an undsputed fact, that 1t is next
to Impossible to reach those points, so often
heard of. where fish can be caught as fast as
they can be taken off the hook. If the angler
provides himself with all the essentials of fish,
ing excursion and goes to the Little Falls, he is
almost sure to meet brother sportsman, who
says to him. "Oh, you can't catch anything
mere. Ii you want rare sport, you ought to go
up to the feeder DAM" Bent upon having rare
sport, the angler takes the first opportunity to
visit the feeder dam. The man who sneers at
his greenness for expecting to catch anything
that low down, is again encountered, and he is
informed that he should make trip to Nc
Quades if he really desires to catch fish. De-
termined to pursue the sport until he does find
the right place in the river for bass fishing. the
angler Journeys to McQuades and while
contemplating small string as the re-
suit OF days effort, he hears
He ought to have known that the Great Falls is
the point where the bass congregate to feed.
So he HES him to the Great Falls where the
theory obtains that Seneca Is the ace where
all the bass are caught. And so the angler
moves on up next time to Seneca to learn that
he again missed it. He ought by all means to
have gone to Point of Rocks, and at the latter
place he is referred to some place higher up;
and after he has fshed the whole Potomac from
tide water up. lie is dead sure to meet some man
who will tell him he is a d fool for not hav-
ing gone to the Shenandoah river in the first
place if he wanted to catch bass.
WHAT THE BASS ARE
The truth is, and every practical angler
knows it, that the bass are scattered all along
the stream. There are conditions influencing
them which mo feller' has ever been able to
find out, no matter how closely he may study
the fish. Sometimes the bass will bite. Then
they can be caught. At other times they will
not bite; and it doesn't make any difference how
expert the angler may be: he can't catch them
when they won't bite The point on the river
that affords rare sport one day. may not reward
the most industrious fisherman with q single
'strike" the next. If man seeking sport at
angling listens to the advise eff those who know
all about it, he will be kept on the move as long
as he lives and get no fish for his labor, either.
One expert fisherman asserts that the trouble
with bass fishing these days is that there is not
enough for them to feed upon. "PrOpogate the
food fish for the bass, writes an angling CORE
spOndent of TIE STAR. land the river will soon be
full Of Them" He advises that the stream be
planted with minnOws, smelt, reaches and other
small varieties of the fnny tribe, that the bass
may have something to subsist upon.
ANOTHER ANGLER,
who has studied the conditions attentively, will
declare that ''the trouble arises from the fact
that there is already too much food for the bass
In the Potomac; that the bass can, without much
trouble, gorge himself to repetion, and, of
course, when full, he will not take the hook; and
1t requires but a casual observation of the water
to see that this theory Is correct. The river is
actually full of small fish, and the bass can feed
when and where he chooses without much trOu-
BILE. The young spawn of shad is now making
its way to salt water. At the first appearance
OF frost 1t will disappear; then bass fishing, say
those who assume to know will be better for
the reason that bass food will be scarcer The
fact is that bass fishing in the Potomac is as good
as in any OF the best streams Of the country but
fortunately for the preservation of the species
every angler cannot meet with all the success
he desires at all times.
--S&S-
Protection of HOusekecpers.
RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE ANNUAL REPORT OF TIP
sEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Mr.. James Small, sealer OF weights and meas
ures, has made an annual report to the Commits
sioners OF the d0ings OF his 0ce for the year end
Ing September 30th. 1888 He suggests. for the
consideration of the Commissioners, that the Or