Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-09-19
Especial Correspondence
THEY WERE HAVING A FISH rA1K

the hsherman's twinkle" lin which there
is a trout named Abe. When ] say is a
trout , l should say was a trout, for that
trout's skin is now stuffed and in my
dining room. He weighed eight pounds
one and one-third ounces, and I took him
on a six ounce rod.
For many years, gentlemen" he went
on, ABE had defied the prowess of the
mighty men with the fishing line, and
there were some that cast over him who
never knew defeat before. He used to lie
alongside a ledge of rock which divided
the stream, and below there was a pool,
such a pool, gentlemen, as we may see in
Paradise-nearly round, with a few flecks
of foam floating over it, and below the
dark depth. The men who tried for Abe
cast into the pool and then drew the flies
up alongside the fish. He would always
break and look at the flies, but never
strike, and as his brown back appeared for
a moment the fishers heart beat wildly.
So far Abe was a success, and he WIS the
most profanity provoking best I ever
knew. Now, I felt sure that the capture
of that trout was not IN impossibility for
q man with good credit at his bank and a
fair reputation in a horse trade, so I spent
one day watching the other men fail. Then
I had an idea. There was a little break in
the ledge, through which a small current
ran, and after twenty casts 7 got my fly
/ only had one on-into this current and
let it sweep down on the ledge side of the
fish. He struck at once, but the leader
caught on a point of rock and l lost him.
l said nothing, but sawed wood for two
days. Then 1 tried again, and this time |
had him. 1t was a gallant fight, and after
an hours work he was on the grass. l
found out the reason Of the failures"
what was it?" asked the gentleman
from Kentucky.
ABE had only one eye, and 1 had taken
him on his blind side"
"A wall eyed trout amt bad" began the
gentleman from Michigan, lighting a fresh
cigar, "but I knew a black bass once that
could count"
Count" exclaimed the representative
from Kentucky.
Count" repeated the gentleman from
Michigan gravely. '"You know we have
the big and little mouthed bass, and this
was a big mouth. He wasn't very large,
only weighed six pounds"-
do I understand you to say that a six
pound bass is small9" asked the stout man
uneasily.
1--WE use 'em for bait, sir" replied the
Michigan delegation firmly. II do not
know whether You gentlemen have ever
noticed the powers of the number three.
The three big waves, the three days of
rain, the three great accidents. In my
country we have grasshoppers, and if you
watch them jump into the water every
third grasshopper is larger than the other.
two. Now this bass used to be found in a
pond I know of near the fall of a stream.
You could recognize him by a white mark
on the nose. If you stood on the bank
and threw in grasshoppers he rose to the
third every time. I noticed this, and I
wanted to catch that bass; not for his size,
but for his arithmetical attachments, being
myself partial to mathematics. pitched
two grasshoppers and saw them taken by
other fish, and then I threw Il third, being
careful to so far follow nature and her
laws as to have this one of good size. He
took it and with it my hook"
odd this college graduate give you
much play2" asked the stout man cynic-
ally.
mo-" responded the gentleman from
Michigan. "My line was strong, and I just
naturally lifted him out of the wet"
II don't know much about f1shin'," said
the long haired man from Arizona. "I've