Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-16
FISHING FOR SNAKES.
Exciting incidents Connected With the
Sport-Jim-Jams Without Whisky.

writer placed Il Isl. Patrick"
fly, a "black June" and lively min
now where be was directed and grad
ually brought them in, not even rock
bass arising at lle %tenspting lure.
Another cast; Il splash as ii the father
OF ali bass had struck, and the slender
rod bent like 4 whip.
Look out for him." cried the ex-
pert, as a long. slender object seemed
to shootinto the air and entwinc around
the line. then suddenly disappeared to
rush Off with the line.
"Eels, we suggested, working care
fully at the reel and wishing for a
donkcy-engine attachment.
mo GELS about that rcplied nv
friend, as his line rushed out in a SINH
lar manner, ''but snakes, and great
snakes, too. Don't land him in the
boat" he shouted, as the capture can1e
wriggling overland in his direction.
head up.
Now, then|" The boatman seized
II landingg-net and soon landed q lively
black water-snake three feet lone,
whose forked tongue darted out vic
iously, and whose eyes snapped with
rage.
'You see," said the original snake
fisherman, II have a friend who is
making a collection of snakes, and he
wanted me to collect all l could. |
didn't know how to do it without hurt
ing them. until n day l was here and
pulling along, trolling for anything l
could get, when suddenly 1 felt a Jerk;
and l reeled in a snake larger than any
l have seen here, and since then | have
caught several. l tell you, they're
game" he added, land there's a regu-
lar convention of them in here" as the
rod bent again under the pressure.
'lt's q new thing to take q fly on a
snake" said the excited fisherman,
working away; land talk about game!
They've more tricks than a whole fam
lily Of bass. But, to tell the truth, the
first one | took about broke up IL
party. As L said, we were pulling
along, and my housekeeper sat in the
stern holding the rod, when all at once
she had Il bite that almost took the rod
out of her hands. saw the long tail
fly out OF the water and cried out that
1t was an eel. SO she reeled In, and in
a minute the biggest old water-snake
that you ever saw came rolling along
side. That settled it. Down went the
rod and she took Il flying leap Tor the
bow OF the boat, but the line got
caught around her dress, and she some
how jerked the reptile right into the
boat, and | tell you she yelled when
she saw it twisting and writing after
her. L gave the boat Il shove, and by
luck we hit the shore, and the way we
all fell out was Il caution. I. landed in
the water and got II of the flies in nv
leg; but my Isnwoman took Il tlying
leap, and for a second there were
snake, skirts and flies in the air. She
struck land, however, and made for
the woods, screaming fire and murder
in three languages, and that was the
last | saw OF her.
"No, she isn't running vet. She
broke away from the line in coinr
through the woods, and walked home,
and all the ONE folks have combined
in calling me Il brute ever since Tor
soaring her hall TO death. L got a good
ducking. and, between you and NE, /
Was about as frightened as she was.
That's the Way l discovered this snake
fishing, and Wien you get the hang OF
1t 1t rather breaks up the monotonY OF
ordinary fishing. There is ALWAYS
something exciting about it, and when
You come down to variety it takes the
cake. Now, when You land q bass he
jumps into the air, wriggles, fights, and
dies; but a good big Snake don't die
until his head is chopped off, and then
heL hold up his tail and wave it at
you. The other day l brought a man
up here who had been ali over the
world, had Shot elephants in Africa,
chased the musk OK in the far North,
hunted on every continent under the
sun, yet--What was it he said, Will
lamp" asked the Judge, appealing to
the boatman.
ode said" replied the man, with a
grin that he'd never had so much ex-
element in a chunk in his life, aud he
told me afterwards that he had the
iim-jams without tastin' liquor. HOVE
Why, him and the Judge both struck
water-snakes to once. He had one OF
these reels that m%ultiplies four times,
and somehow both snakes cot ierked
into the boat at the same time, and
atore he knowed it one of 'em made a
rush up his pants leg. WALL" con
tinued the oarsman, leaning back, with
a loud haw-haw at the recollection,
"l've seen ground and lofty tumblin',
as they call it, at the circus. but moth
in to beat his leap. He gey a yell and
grabbed the critter through his pants,
made q slip and over he went, nigh
tipping over the boat, and shoutin' for
to pull him in. out OF one side OF his
mouth and swearin' at the Judge out
OF the other. 1t was up and down and
roly-poly, / kin tell you. AT last | see
the critter's tail a-stickin' out alongside
his stockin' and workin' up and down
Jest like a cat does when she's mad. J.
made a grab for it and tried TO Jerk it
out, all the time the Colonel eyes
stickin' out soft you could nave hung
your rod on 'em; but the first yankI
gave the fly stuck on the inside Of his
pants, and the thing wouldn't come
either way. Iaen he went to qitain'
Off ms clothes; vest, s~uspenders, and
pants was a-tiyin' through the air for
awhile. Alter he got his pants oG,Im
blest if the hook wasn't stuck in his
drawers, and the snake wound around
ais leg, and the way he got Of them
things was q caution. But they was