St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-08-16
Catching Bullheads.

The overworked business man Of the
metropolis, to whom the glare OF rec
brick walls, the undulations of the
heated air above the hot gray pave
ments, the roar of of the street traffic,
and the rattle and bang of elevated
cars are sources of constant irritation,
would find peace in the cool and quiet
shades on the banks of the Cattarau-
| gus. There is little current in the
water. and the only sounds that disturb
the sir are an occasional ..chug," which
follows the plunge of an overgrown
frog, and the cheerful note of the red.
winged blackbird as he sways up and
down on the limb of a willow. But no
tired man of business could appreciate
pleasures of such a solitude more than
the nativc-born lrvingite. Notthat the
Irvingite becomes overworked and
signs for rest. Neither does he become
overrested, for the extreme capacity for
rest of an Irving man has never been
tested. He appreciates the solitudes
along the dead crseks because he finds
there good places for still fishing. At
all hours of the day and at most hours
Of the night during warm weather there
are not few men and boys in various
patient attitudes of rcpose along the
banks of the Cattaraugus and the dead
| creeks.
At bend in one of these creeks, not
very far from the big sand dunes. was
| 4 barc-footed, tow-headed boy at dusk
last night. He was dressed in broken
straw hat, a bingham waist, and pair
| of brown jeans trousers that were kept
in MI ,hav hn h.
single white cotton suspcnder. His
feet were hanging down over the water
as he sat on the sOdded banks. He was
stringing common earth worms length
wise on piece of white cotton Irvine
by the aid of darning needle. When
he had surrounded = half yard of the
Irvine with the worms he tied the two
ends of the Irvine together, and then
doubled over the stringed worms till
they hung in a bunch like a tassel.
Around this he tied the end of q fish
line attached to a slender twelvc-foot
soft-maple pole.
what are you going to do with
that2'
"Ketch some bullheads?''
where's your hook?"
Don't need none"
Don't need any hook"'
"Naw"
The boy swung the bunch of worms
out and lowered it into the water with
out ripple near the root of an old
sycamore stump. In about = minute
he began to raise it very deliberately
ont of the water. When the end of the
line reached the surface catfish was
hanging fast to the tassel of bait. The
fish chung to the bait while the bow
slowly swung it over the land and gave
the pole smart shake; then it fell on
the grass and Topped vigorously.
Them bullheads is such dodblasted
hogs they don't know when they We got
enough" the boy remarked.
at the mouth of the creek when he was
told of the exploit He said: 1.-The boy
was bobbing for catfish. His father
came from Jersey where eels are as
plentiful as mosquitoes. They bob for
cells there. only they use yarn to string
the worms on instead of Irvine. The
eels catch their teeth in the yarn. The
ballheads hang on just rs the boy said,
because they don't know enough to let
60. They keep trying to swallow the
bait. l can tell of another queer way
to catch bullheads. There was a chap
here from Down East last spring that
could give us all points on catching
fish. He was walking along on the
banks of the dead creek out by that
sycamore stump one evening. 1t was
warmish like. and nothing stirring"
Good time to catch a string of
bullheads," said |. Guess I'll get
pole and try 'em. Want a pole p
60 Yes, you might bring me one,
said he.
With that he sat down on the grass
md took what thought was paper
of tobacco from his coat pocket, while
l started for the shantv. | was back
in ten minutes, and found three fine
fish lying on the grass with their
them? With thread and needle.
You don't believe that, do you? It's
true, though. In that bundle was
spool of stout linen thread and a thick
needle about two inches and quarter
long. He drew the end of the thread
through the eye of the needle until he
had end enough to whip half the length
of the needle, leaving the upper half
clear, and the point sticking up toward
the spool when the thread hung down.
Then he split a bullet half in two with
his jacknife, pressed it on to the thread
foot from the needle, turned over a
log and got \ couple of worms, strung
one lengthways on the needle so that an
inch or so dangled loose, and dropped
it in. 1t required about two minutes
to get the job done and fish biting"
81 should think the fish would drop
off,"
$50 should l, but the fish swallows
the needle right down, and when the
strain comes on the line the point of the
needle is fetched up against the mouth |
and the other end Slowed around so the |
needle was crossways."
what were the Sits in the mouth |
for?'
"He cut the needle out after killing
the fish by a smart blow on the head"
As the law does not permit the use of
nets, the fishermen that still remain |
here use night lines. A strong cord
about the size of a clothes line, and |
long enough to reach across the creek,
is used. Every three or four feet a
stout- double cord. two feet lOnp. with |