St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-07-02
The Trout.
A Struggle and a Victory

A correspondent of the Lewiston
journal, writing from Rangeley lake,
describes an experience familiar to
most of the visitors to that region, as
follows:
You sit in the stern of yOur boat
with 100 feet of line out, your rod
tilted at an angie Of Is degrees, and
your guide pulling slowly at the oars,
80 you barely move along. This is
trolling. The sun beats hard down
and seems to concentrate his rays on
your nose and the back of the wrist
that holds the rod. You have taken a
double hitch in the tr0ut's nose aud
put your hook through him near the
tail, SO his body beads "A little as he is
dragged through the water, he re-
wolves swiftly on the swivel, with
which the hook is attached to Your
line in order that it may not kick. A
three pound trout, lurking near the
bottom, sees this flashing object spin
ming round and round near the surface,
an hundred feet behind your boat. He
shoots upward like a fash. You have
strike" He snaps greedily at the
bait, and probably swallows it. JOY
of Joys You feel a thrOb through
your rod.
Then the fun begins. You begin to
wind up your line, and to- your I'M
speakab pleasure you are resisted.
While YOU are turning the crank, there
is pulling the other way. Perhaps
YOU have reeled him almost up TO the
boat. The trout makes II plunge. You
loosen your hold OH the reel and down
the fish runs toward the bottom. To
IL a Ii hA tn III SE
breaking of the hook or line and the
loss OF YOUR prey. And so you let him
run, confident that you have him well
hooked and that he is ultimately yours.
What "A delightful sound is that "click,
click, click" of the reel as the trout
speeds away with yards upon yards of
linel He stops and then the line be-
comes slack. You reel it up quickly.
Look out for him If yOn give him
loose line he will manage to clear
himself by gymnastics well known to
his tribe. You reel him almost in
again. He is not tired, yet, and he
takes another swOOp, making the reel
buzz around merrily. You may play
with him in this way ID minutes or if
he is very large and ugly he may lay
and sulk near the bottom Tor half an
hour. The more fight there Is III him,
the more you enjoy your contest and
victory, as finally yOu pull him, tired
out, painting and overcome, to the
side of the boat, with trembling hand
place the dip net under him, and
bring him safely ont of the water.
There is no great art In catching
lake trout when he once gets Il glimpse
of your hook. They are very vOra-
cious and generally bound to have the
bait If you do not hook. the fellow
firmly at first, and he slips off while
you are Keeling him in, he almost al
ways seizes the bait again before yOu
can pull in your line. The most crit
zeal time is when you have drawn him
almost to the landing net and have
perhaps three yards of line ont. Then
is when he employs all his resources In
the struggle to elude you, and plays
every one of his trumps. You must
keep tight line but not pull too hard
on him. A little experience teaches
you how to land trout, but GOODNESS
and patience are Indispensable.
Sometimes nervous pair of hands
lose trout after he is in the landing
net. | saw clergyman, who was fish
ing on the lake, have a narrow escape.
He had unlocked "a front, and the fish
was slipping through his hands at an
alarming rate. The parson desper
ately caught the trout's tail between
his teeth, with IA sudden ducking of his
head, and | was glad to see the fish
hanging from his mOuth-saved.