The Ottawa free trader., 1888-05-19

MS exquisite uaNoI. hu ePiSuo o"y
THE best method of cooking Is TO place a
spider with about two inches of lard In II
over hot lire. When the lard reaches the
boiling point, slip the bass, previously
skinned, cleaned and rolled In cracker
crums or meal, into the hot fat. As soon
as one side Is well Drowned, turn over anc
brown upon the other side and carefully
remove. If the fat Is hot enough II will
not soak into the fish a particle. Fish
cooked in this way preserve their delicate
flavor much better than when fried In the
usual manner"
A Maine man, In some remarks on the
black bass, gives an instance Of the fight
ing quality Of the denizens of clear waters
lie says:
Some folks have base prejudice
against black bass because the latter have
contracted a thoughtless habit of murder
ing all the other fish who may differ from
them IN politics, religion or other trifiing
matters Their method of assassination Is
as follows A row Of long, stiff spines eX-
tends along the back of this fish from the
tail to the gills. These spines are about as
far apart as the teeth of wood saw, with
points as sharp as needles, and connected
by web, serving both as weapon and as
II fin for moving through the water. When
L., H. tuF,tl tI,ur
fish these spines act like saw, cutting
through flesh and bone in an almost incred-
ibe manner. No fresh water hsh can
stand the furious rush of an enraged black
bass.
"As you stand beside the pond some fine
morning you may see an enormous pick
erel lying motonlees near the surface, Not
fin stirs. He lies as motionless as If
carved In stone. Way down In the dark,
cool depths a black shadow, dimly seen,
comes slowly floating along, 1t Is large
black bass. 1t catches sight of the motion.
less pickerel above. Instantly those saw
like spines become erect and stand stiff az
rods of iron. So swift, your eye can
scarcely follow It, the black bass shoots up.
ward, striking the pickerel before he has
time to move, full and fair upon It's belly
Through quiveriDg flesh and shrinking
bone those terrible spines cut and saw,
like saw In the hand of strong armed
butcher.
"The pickerel is cut clean In two and
lies In two quivering pieces upon the
water. The black bass sinks out of sight
and the tragedy of the waters is over"
1t is an inexplicable peculiarity of the
black bass, says one writer, that while they
look with the most lofty disdain upon the
most tempting flies the utmost skill of man
can make or cast, they rush with astonish-
ishing eagerness for nasty worm upon
the half baited hook Of small boy When
a man goes fishing for fun he takes a
$500 outfit and fifty cent bottle of rum,
and then for long and weary hours whips
with unavailing labor the silvery surface
Of quiet pools under the shadows of the
rocks or the eddies along side of rapid cur.
rents over rocky river bed The sun
burns him, the sparkle and CLEAN of the
waters blind him, the rum confuses lin,
but not solitary bass rushes for his gor
geous fly. He goes home feeling like
fool, and ever after swears there are no bass
In the pond. But when man Is hungry
and wants black bass TO eat he takes a
tlve.ce hook and line, three big angle
worms and short pole cut by the road
side. He slips one end Of worm on the
point of his hook, shoves 1t up toward the
heel and then puts the other end on the
hook. the hook not passing through the
middle of the worm, but leaving II In a
kind of loop. The other two worms are
then looped on In similar manner, and
the large, writhing mass of worms quietly
dropped into some spot where the bass
most do love to congregate. Hardly have
the worms sunk out of sight in the dark
waters before there comes mighty rush
and vigorous tug upon the line, and after
u short struggle one of the finest fish that
ever tickled a human palate lies painting
and Hopping upon the bank.
The minnow is a killing bait-the best
for general purposes, perhaps. In mid.
summer, when he seeks the deep, quiet
pools, his highness will rise to grass hop.
per or spoon; but as a rule the gorgeous
flies of the tackle shops are useless. 1t is
casting pearls before swine to fool with
them, He has also weakness for a good :,
fat helgamite, surprising even his rapacity
for the minnow.
Our distinguished, enterprlsing and lib.
ralhearted citizens of Ottawa propose to
give or nominally lease to sewer pipe
concern that wants to start In that city
eleven acres of ground belonging TO the
county. Ottawa has some of the most gen.
erous dispositioned people to be found in
any city. They are the most willing peo-
pie 70 give away other peoples property
that are now permitted to linger In this
cold and uncharitable world.-IStreator
Free Press