The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-10-07
ESTAsRoOX5 TROUT.
He Caught 1t in a Rocky Mountain Stream
and Got Several Pointers.

man. Badly tod me 1 was the best anna
eur he had ever seen. lie made the same
emark 70 V0ss and DRris, but in my case
! T think he meant II, because it tallies go
we'll with my own opinion. 81 was not
yer thus" ! sla~sed along the shore
fangling nv Luc and waited results. |
kept this up i0r n hoGr CT more without
seeing the SIGN Of a hsh and began to think
The whole thing "A colossal bore. The-ound
powders under feet rendered walking as
awkward as a first attempt at roller skat-
inC; the process, in fact, was very similar
was constantly obliged TO take high
and erratic steps to keep from falling
Suddenly, when | was least prepared, a
speckled streak snot up from some mys-
terious depth and darted at my line. |
was very much surprised indeed. | had
never seen anything so quick. A streak
Of lightning was q messenger boy COM
pared TO it. The whole performance was
totally unexpected. ierked back the pole
with the energy born Of an electric shock;
the action was just IS involuntary; it was
muscular contraction-I might say gal
vanic. | could no more have kept that
pole down than | could have kept my feet
in scalding water OF course / lost my
balance and would have slid into the river
had not my fish line become entangled in
a clump of willows which prevented the
catastrophe But the episode rekindled
my enthusiasm. ! would disengage my
line and try it again.
! spent the next half hour trampling
bushes, untying Gordian knots and swear
ing. At length the hook swung free and
! tossed it into the stream. Scarcely had it
touched the surface when there came that
speckled shiver through the water and the
same spGsmodic action on my part. It
was a species of surprise party | never
could get used TO. As luck would have it
/ hooked the fish, but had jer1ed his back
teeth out together with the hook But his
momentum landed him on the shore, when
he proceeded TO flap himself back into the
river. To prevent this pounced On him
with all four feet. Then ensued a death
struggle never before witnessed. We rolled
over and over each other. Fifty times got
a hiplock on him, only TO have him wriggle
from my grasp.
Finally from sheer exhaustion we both
lay still. / clutched him by the tail q
have since learned that this is not the
proper end by which 10 hold fish. What
10 do with the little rascal now that pos
sessed him, was a new problem / did not
like to put him in my pocket, nor yet in
my boot leg. / finally concluded TO cut
off a piece of my fish line for a string and
tie him to the end Of it. This | accom-
plished and proceeded on my way-that is
to say, Invent balancing over the powders,
making wild and impromptu gestures that
would have set Delsarte crazy. | failed
that fish against the side Of the mountains;
/ banged him on the rocks; ! dragged him
through thickets until he lost all resem-
blance to the original trout In one hours
time he looked like a shetland smelt like
the devil
Things were again growing monotonous,
when new person appeared upon the
scene. He was a ranchman's boy come
down out of the mountains to fish. He
had holes in the toes of his boots-this cir /
cumstance l subsequently recalled. He
carried small gunuysack under his left |
arm; bis fishing rod was q willow pole, to /
which WAS attached "a cotton string. He .
had several grassnoppers in a match box. |
one Of which he fastened to his hook it
was evident he had no fly-in fact there
Were no flies on him. / watched his move (
me ats with deep interest Without hesi- /
tat:ng n moment he waded into the river /
and commenced to tn row his line first TO |
one side and then the other. IL seemed TO !
me he caught a trout every Sme his hook |
touched water. 1t was wonderful. The |
little fish he would pull to him without /.
much ceremony. The two Founders he |
would sometimes fool with for several /
minutes, and finally haul them in as
docile as lam 5s. All the fish he caught (
were put into the gunnysacll
/ tr9y4l gf li m grraar, yt-i+b ay,,-v- ba
around the bend and then | .
proceeded TO initiate his example If it I.
was only necessary TO wade into the river
and slash right and left !, too, would I
catch trout. SO "accoutrad a. I was
plunged in" The first step | made went /.
in over my boot tops. Alasl there were no /
holes in the toes: they were water tight /
Except over the topsl and each boot held .
four gallons. ! was simply water logged, /
! couldn't move-or rather couldn't help /
moving. That wild dashing river had been .
aching for something upon which TO ex- /
pend its wasted energies. In less time /
than it takes to tell it was converted into |
an undershot wheel and went rolling over
and over.
How under heaven managed TO foun- .
der out | cannot tell, but ! did get out. .
] was two miles from camp and cOuld never .
hope to get there under such an hydraulic (
pressure. would fain take OF my boots, .
but they declined 10 bulge. had not .
stood on my head for years and could not .
accomplish such gymnastics, handicapped .
as / was. Yet the idea was a Cood one, SO .
compromised by lying with my heels up .
hill, while the water oozed out OF me I
seemingly at every pore. Ny rod and hat 4
Tsere recaptured several miles below; as
for my dried herring trout he had disap- .
peared forever.-Hcnry d. Estabrook IN
Omaha W orld Herald