The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-09-27

mensions.s Al local st. Lawrence RiFer
angler relates how he was ftishSpg
for muskallonge by ''skittering a
ininnow in Goose Bay. This is
faYOrite method Of angling for this
fish, and is the familiar, oldlfashioned
style of bickeral fishing on the small
ponds Of this and other States, except
that the minnow used is much larger,
and the tackle proportional to the pow
erful game it is expected to kill, and the
still more important exception that the
rod is long, ssslender and. elastic, to
make the sport more enjoyable and
scientific. AS the minnow was being
skittered along on the edge of a weedy
spot it was seized by a small muskal-
| longe, which was hooked The fisher
man had drawn the fish within five
feet Of the boat when suddenly it was
seizeiby one many times larger, which
rushedato the top of the water and bore
/ the smaller one away under the very
hnoses OF the. occupants of the boat.
\ The large muskallonge rushed back
into deep water, and soon gorged its
victim. After long fight itWas landed
in the boat The smaller fish.was in iti
throat, and the minnow was in the
th 'oat of the smaller fish, which
weighed over FIVE pounds. The big
muskallonge was thirty FOUNDER.
Trolling and skitteering are the best
methods for catching n1uskallonge.
Still fishing is not attended with good
results, as the large fish are but seldom
caught in that way, 1t is illegal to
spear or net the muskallonge, but it is
its own protection generally against
| both the spear and the net, its cunning
\ and agility being almost invariable a
match for the skin of those who bring
the Illegal methods against it. The
man who succeeds in spearing a musk
4 allonge has earned the prize, no matter
if it be gained by q barbarous practice.
1t is related by well known angler
for muskallonge that in pool where a
number. of these fish of the largest size
were known to lurk some fishermen de-
termined to draw sein, as an effort to
catch any of, the fish by legitimate
I; means had failed. The seine was drawn
( through this pool time and time again,
but not muskallonge was taken. The
. angler who relates the incident took his
( position in boat, and, holding by one
of the buoys of the seine, was drawn
after it over the Surface for the purpose
of investigating how the fish managed
to elude the net. Lying with his face
close to the water, he says, he could sec
the fish on the bottom plainly, and as
the net approached them they plowed
their wedge-shaped heads in the sand
and made a passage underline sein along
the bottom of the pool.
In trolling for muskallonge, three
hooks tied on a strong copper-wire
smell, eight or nine inches apart, at the
end of sixty or seventy feet of line, are
used. The temerity of the fish renders
it unnecessary for the, troll to be as far
!. away from the boat as when trolling
for bass. A bright spoon troll is used
by many fisherman, while others claim
that the lninnow is most killing. The
boat must be rowed sharply, and the
speed doubled when fish is hooked.
Much depends on the skill and dexterity
of the man at the oars in successfully
landing a muskallonge if the fish is q
big one. The writer had guide who
seemed to attach more importance tC
in killing mtskallenge than he did t.
furthering the present efforts of his EN-.
ployer in the same. line, and the latter
nhu Jikt plCatSllIS VI lOSlli0 bllo OAllN isl
he hooked in the days fishing he was
, enabled to enjoy--a muskallonge tina
, would have tipped the beam at twenty
; five pounds at least. He jumped sew
eral times from the water at least ter
feet clear and shook his head in vari
GUS efforts to release himself from tn,
hook, while his eyes glared like tigers
/ He was reeled nearly within reach o
, the gait hook, when the man at the oar
had his attention attracted to somethin;
, else. The boat swayed round. Tn
line slackened, and the Infatuated fisl
turned like a flash and darted dow
| stream. There was an instant's slow
j ing up in his speed as the. line wa
again drawn taut, and then he went on
leaving the angler a semi-circular piec
| of his jaw. as memento of the days
J Clayton IN, ~ Cor. N. Y. Times.