Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-05-24

had the. hook struck the water than
fish caught it. I commenced to play
ii In, for I found had hooked some
large fish. When landed it I had the
largest salmon trout / ever saw and
you never saw a fellow look SO as
tonished as he was. My cousin said,
"1'll bet you won't catch any more.n
After batting my hook once more I
cast the hook in. Soon something had
it. This time hauled in very large.
eel, and of all the slippery things ever
got hold of that beat all. After fishing
for Il while, / found / would get no
more bites.< We took our fish to the
house and had them for dinner. After
we came to Missouri. 1 found there
were no speckled trout i'm the western
waters. ! felt very much disappointed,
for had anticipated having fine times
fishing, as I had heard the western
waters were alive with fish, and so
they were, but I found they did not
bite like those speckled beauties. AT
ter all, / have had some rare sport
catching fish in the west in the years
gone by. I used to hear the people
say in early times, and most of them
do yet, that suckers and redhorse will
shoal from the fifth of May until the
tenth. Now, I have found that is a
mistake. Fish will shoal when the
water is ut the right temperature, and
at no other time, whether it is April,
| May or June. I remember one year,
soon after we came to this valley, about
the time fish aught to shoal, by mans
rule, we had great deal of rain, and
the streams were high, and the water
was cold, until in June. I had given
up all hopes of catching any fish that
year. In June sometime I was
ploughing my corn the second time,
one warm, bright morning; as I came
to the end of the corn row, where the
creek ran rapidly near the fence, I
heard the water splashing and making
great noise. After awhile, thought
I would look over and see what was
making such fuss. My! the creek
was so full of great big yellow suckers,
they could hardly stay in the water!
1 hitched my horse. AS I had no hooks
or wire pulled few long hairs out of
his tail, and twisted me snare. Ihad
a nail in my pocket, and some bullets.
I laid a bullet on a stone, and, with
tue nail and another stone for ham,
mer, / made a hole through the bullet.
I then strung the bullet on the hair
snare. / then cut me good pawpaw
pole, and the way I snatched those
suckers out of the creek was sight.
caught as many as I could carry on my
back. in a short time. I do not think
[ ever caught finer fish, and faster.
than did that day. And those fish
had come to shoal oD their own hook;
they sent no word, nor even set up a
poster, to let us know they were COM
ing. And now this spring the streams
have been very low and the water so
clear you could see every fish; and
such sights of fishermen and fisher
boys! but saw but few fish. One day
my youngest boy said, "Pa, there is
just lots of suckers down in the Syca-
more hole; if you will take the buggy
and drive up through the hole you can
keep them above you, and can stand
on the old stump, and we can catch
them" So 1 took my pole in the bug
gy and drove up through to where be
said, aud stopped. Several other fell
lows had come, and were putting out
their snares and acting as though they
were going to catch something. I said,
"What are you fellows trying 70 catch?'
for could see nothing but few little
fish about as long as my finger. They
said, "Don't you see the fish?"
"Where?" "Why, right down there"
"What! those little bits of things! Is
that what you call lots of fish - oh,
pshaw!" felt so sorry for the poor
boys, to think that they should think
they were fishing! felt as though it
was enough to make willow weep, or
make the eyes of a potato shed tears,
at such ignorance. just to think, they
thought they were fishing!
IT p r