Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-01-22

| Knickerbockers with their primitive tao
kle, which usually consisted of a reed pole
about ten feet long, homemade line of
| brown linen thread, Limerick hooks-no
| others were used in America at that time
"a small piece of lead as sinker and a box
| of garden worms With such tackle and
the muscular overhead Jerk of the victim
| it was not unusual to MAKE a score Of 70
to so fish in few hours.
There was another large pond, called
| Sunflsh pond, existing some rs years ago
on a site now embraced in the area covered
by Twenty-ffth and Twenty-sixth streets
and Fourth and Fifth avenues. 1t covered
about three acres and had neither outlet
nor inlet being fed from bottom springs
of very cold water. 1t contained the same
species of fish as lived in Collect pond,
with tho addition of great numbers of
swapping turtles, which were greedily
fshed for by the old timers. As their
method of catching snappers was unique
and doubtless would be found today to be
alluring to these delicious fresh water tur-
ties, it is worth while to make a note of
the manner in which they were captured.
The old Knickerbocker would smell, with
linen thread to the end of a piece of cop
per wire, 10 to ~ inches long, a medium
sized hook, being careful to wax the thread
with shoemaker's wax. The other end of
the wire was then bent to form an eye, to
which was tied strong line. The hook
was then baited with a young frog, the
line tied to a stake on the edge of the pond
and the frog cast into the water This
was a very effective layout line, as tho
frog would live for several days Our
cosby and interesting informant, who
lived in those old days, does not, however,
tell us how the festive frog was kept in
the water. If the batracian of those days
was "up to snuff, like the fin de steele
species of the present era, the fisherman
would often find when he went to take up
his catch the knowing amphibian sitting
complacently and perhaps cross legged up
on the stake to which the line was tied.
The cream of the angling outings of the
old residents was had on the brackish
tidal waters of the East river, and the
most frequented fishing grounds extended
over a district now represented as being
opposite Fifth street north to Twenty
fourth street and Bandamula point. The
river end of the last named street was the
most fruitful Here, with headquarters
at the old VanTast tavern, the anglers of
80 years ago would gather, and, unlike
their modern cOngeners, had no cause to
make exaggerated statements as to scores
and weight of fish caught. The latter
were abundant, consisting of weak1sh,
founders, striped bass, kingfish, black1lsh
and sea bass. A struggling striped bass
is all that is left to remind us of the har-
vest days of the old anglers, and sea bass
and weakfish are never taken now in the
East river. Kingfsh now almost eXter-
minated in water area of 80 miles around
this city, actually swarmed in the East
river between the points named above and
along the mud flats which extended out
for some distance all along the New York
side of the river from Fifth street north.
Weakflsh four and five pounds in weight
fed in great shoals on every incoming tide.
Striped bass were caught everywhere in
the water district described founders
were ubiquitous in their presence, and
black drum of great size and weight were
often caught by the hand liners, class of
fishermen very greatly in the majority in
those days. A stretch of fiat rocks extend.
ed over an area which is now opposite
Twentieth and Twenty-frst streets and
First avenue and Avenue B, and here
many anglers gathered at every high wa
ter, in season, for striped bass fishing, and
success attended them at all times.
With this wealth of fishing at their door
steps, who can wonder that the early resi-
dents of this city did not roam far to eX-
plore other pastures? These were almost
within arms reach. Above the Harlem
river every stream, especially the Bronx,
tecmed with trout, the red spotted beauty
of the brooks. Across in New Jersey there
was no tributary to the Hackensack river
which did not have its quota of these
jumping beauties, and every rill or brook
that flowed into the Hudson from either
side of the river held its share, and large
one, of these fish All around BedlOw's
and Governors islands great striped bass
Ef 40 to 80 pounds were daily feeding and
might be caught, hand casting, from the
foot of the Battery rocks. The north and
south shores of Staten Island, Gravesend |
bay, the beach of Coney Island and the
thousand and one choice spots in Jamaica
hay, in each of which the devastating net |
was not, wcro swarming with choice game |
fish. The old Knickerbocker had his full |
of fishing from his back porch and went |
not abroad.-New York Times.