The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-04-23
VARIETIES OF SHAD.
An Old Fisherman on Fishing.


be here awaitin for shad flies. The
seasons n commencin' and we're git
tin 'em from Caroiny now, $ll5O
piece and 50 on up and down, accordin'
TO size. Shad don't cit up here afore
the last of April, You'll know it by
the shad flies. Just as soon as you see
them buzzin around you'll smell the
fried roe. Yes, used to be regular
professional shadder. Why, bless you,
I've been a-shaddin' up the Amazon
River, but the regular shad business is
on our coast, and if you'll git on the
old Dominion steamers bound for Flor
ida in the Fall you'll find the Storage
full of shadders goin' down for the
Season-rough lookn' men to see, but
the solid grit of Jersey, Philadelphy
and Connecticut, and, though they 60
half rates, they often have thousand
dollars worth of SENS and shad nets
aboard. They divides up generally,
some goin' to the St. Marys and the
rest to the st. Johns. This is about as
far South as they git, as just below
there is no regular way of shippin
North. Shad iishin' in the st. Johns
commences about December /, and |
can tell you it's lively there for few
months
"Shad are a curious fish and hard to
git at, but I've seen 'em rise TO fly
Just like trout. The Government has
spent a good many thousand dollars in
trying to introduce 'em into COnnecti-
cut waters, where they are, OF course,
found to some extent, but mills and
factories of various kinds drive EN-
out There's one kind of q shad called
the Gizzard, that the first | ever caught
nearly scairt the life out of me. | got
a little seine round about 200, and the
minute l got EN- above water there
commenced the durndcst whirrin' and
whizzin' YOU ever heard. First |
thought somethin' was anyin' over
head, but it was them fish, every one
of EN- talkin' away for dear life.
felt more like chuckin' of EN- back
You can tell EN- by the spine on their
backs. But the finest shad in the
world" continued the old man, getting
up and opening box, lis the Jew
fish. There is one of the scales" he
added, handing out a magnificent scale
as large as the open palm and gleam-
ing like new silver dollar. There
amt one man out of ten but what
reckons that the silver is poured on to
it; but it amt, and is as natural as
life. But the fish-why just imagine
fish six TO eight feet long, shaped like
shad and blazin' all over with them
silver scales. When they jump out Of
the water they're like streak of moon
light coming through keyhole.
They're so powerful that there's only
one man in the United States that has
ever shown the spirit to catch one with
a rod and line. His name is Jones and
he lives in Philadelphia In the st.
Johns, when Jew fish takes hold
why, you want to haul in the anchor
and let 90, and he'll haul you for al
he's worth. I've seen one tip over ;
small boat. And jump! Why, they
| Jump into the air twenty feet. No,
they amt up to a shad in way of taste,
| the flesh bein' little coarser, but you
wouldn't call Jew flesh bad, can tell
you.
South American shad were a shad
The natives call 'em Picunras and they
shoot them with bow and arrows. The
first time | ever saw 'em ! was up the
Amazon on tradin' schooner, and
when we worked up into narrow
branch of a river we came to sort of
a village of fishermen. Seem one of
the boats goin' out / asked if / couldn' t
60 along. They didn't have sign of
a hook-nothin' but bow and arrows.
They pulled or padded for about an
hour, bringin' the boat into large
shallow lake, and it wasn't long afore
they sighted fish by the ripple on the
water. In another minute one of the
men had put an arrow into it, and a
fish that I'll take my atfidavy was
twelve foot long lept into the air snd
came down with such a crash you d
thought the wavel would have tipped
the canoe over, but off it went, we af-
ter it, and the chap in the bow a send.
in in arrows whenever he got a chance,
uulll lOuI vi uNc WAS StlChlu Oul VI
he water. After while we got along
side and they put a spear into it and
held on by the rope, and the way that
fish towed us was caution. / thought
the cuss never would give up, but at
last they got him into shoal water.
And how do you suppose they got him
into the boat Why, all hands tum-
bled out, got overheard, and the canoe
was sunk and the fish hoated in and
then she was bailed out. That beat
all the labor saving machines l ever
see. Them yeller chaps was actually
too lazy to lift the fish. TWAS rouser,
though, and weighed nigh on to 500
pounds, with scales like steel armor,
They never git up this way--it's too
far-but United States shad is good
enough for me-" he added, in con-
clusion. Philadelphia Times.