The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-06-06
Three Times and Out.

mo, 1 don't fish any more" said the
Hon. Jim Sweeney, the journalist states
man of Luzerne county, Pa. II have no
heart for fishing, owing to the way 1 was
treated up in my county by some of my
constituents when was in the legislature
There were lot of nice streams around
Hazleton, but they had all been flshed out,
and nobody would take an interest in hay
ing them restocked. So went quietly to
work and stocked Laurel run at my own
expense with trout. kept the matter all
to myself, for l didn't want any one to
take advantage of what had done before
l had IA chance TO enjoy some sport on the
rejuvenated stream myself. Three years
after put the fry in the creek l investi-
gated and found that it was alive with big
trout, and l rugged myself out with $75
worth of new tackle and one nice day in
May took % jaunt to the creek. The first
thing l saw was sign on tree warning
every one to keep off those grounds under
penalty of the law. The stream was posted
it's whole length A big, double listed ma
tive, who was on guard over the stream,
informed me that the creek and the land
along it had been leased by private parties,
and l learned that, although the trout in
the stream were mine, If 1 ventured to
catch any of them they would cost me at
least So apiece. So had to let others have
fun with my trout, and they've been hav-
ing 1t ever since, and I've never had a
chance to kill even one.
1.-The Nescopeck river was good stream
to stock with black bass, and as had been
knocked out of my trout l concluded that
1 would put the Nescopeck in shape to get
me some black bass fishing at some future
day. 1 stocked it just as l had stocked
Laurel run and kept that quiet too There
had never been any bass in the river, and
found that mine were doing finely there.
When the stream was ready to be flshed,
Istarted out to have days sport with the
first black bass fishing ever known on the
Nescopeck. On the way l heard the news
that a big break had occurred in the upper
Lehigh coal mines, and that flood of sui
phur water from the mines was pouring
into the Nescopeck river When l got to
the river, the shores were lined by the hun
dred and thousand with my black bass
great, big lusty fellows they were, too
and every living thing in the river was
killed. Not a thing escaped the deadly
poison, and there has never been any fish
ing there since.
L
stocked Laurel run with trout had pro-
cured some German carp to accommodate
q constituent of mine, who said he knew
pond where carp would thrive and some
day give great sport to fishermen who like
that sort of fishing. 1t is "a big drop from
trout and black bass to carp, but / felt
that would like to have some little re-
turn for my efforts to enhance the pisca-
torial interests of my district, so l de-
termined to try the carp They at least
were surely beyond the influence of capital
and sulphur water. My constituent told
me that the carp had done so well that the
pond was full of them, and that one yard
long was no rarity, and the beauty of it
was, he said, that no one knew it but he
The pond was nine miles away. l had
driven almost to it when we met man
knew. He had IA wagon load of something
covered with straw. l asked him what
he was carting home.
Suckers, he replied, the darn dest
biggest suckers l ever saw, and where they
could have dropped from we can't make
out, for the last time we drawed the pond
off, four years ago. there wasn't a sucker
in it a foot long.
Then l learned that the people there
abouts were in the habit of drawing off a
pond in that vicinity every three or four
years to scoop out the suckers that lived
in it. And that pond was the one had
stocked with carp, and this time they had
landed them. gave up on the spot and
have never had the heart to go fishing
ince"-Ne,o York San.