The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-17
BIO FISH AND BI0 4 YARNS.
A Jersey Dogs Struggle with n Big Pick
erei-A String or Fish on Oae HOOK.

IHAIlviLLE, y. j.. Jan. l3.-Some big fsh
stories arc coming from Burlington county
this winter. Fishing through the fee is a
popular sport with BURLINGTON farmers. and
they SAY :ihat they never knew 4 time when
pickerel and perch were SO plentiful as they
are this season.
The average Burlington county fisherman
contents himself with crude tackle when he
goes out for A days sport. He knows all about
the fancy traps 70 be found in the market,
but instead or spending his money for them.
he goes into the woods and cuts hfty or
sixty "crotches" with sprawling legs To DO
set over the hole In the ice. and with q long
branch hanging over the centre OF tho open-
ing, to which is tied the line. When a Ash
takes the bait this branch goes down, and
the opposite end. to which Is tied n piece of
red flannel. goes up. This device does Just as
good work as a trap that cos,s 10 cents.
Asa Francis Is one OF the most successful
and best known fishermen In the county. He
has had unusually good luck this season. and
has made one catch that is worth telling
about. He made II on last Tuesday at Samp-
sons Pond. lie had thirty lines out. and IN
a little moro than an hour he caught forty
I'VE pounds Of perch and pickerel.
Il never knew OF 20 many fish hereabout be-
foro MS there arc this winter" said Francis
In telling tho story, and they'll eat anything
you've n mind TO halt your hook with. My
trim TO SIMPSONS Pond tho other day was the
first / had made this year. hut I had under
stood from Oliver Way that the fish were
biting pretty lively there. | wasn't prepared
for what happened. however.
" strung out twenty-five lines In Lone Pine
bend. where the water is deep, and before /
had got them all set ! had pulled In throe
pickcrel and n good sized perch.
Then there wasalull.. didn't got another bite
Tor more than zen minutes. when suddenly up
! could tell that there was something heavy
and lively at the end Of the line from the way
could, and when j begun to haul In the line
nary fish. What seemed queer 10 mo was
that every time gave the llne n pull IL would
yank back and then come harder than before.
There were about thirty feet OF limo ont. and
by the time | had got the llsh's nose through
the hole my arms We're aching. And now III
tell you something tina YOU may not believe,
but III swesr it's gospel truth, and can prove
IL by Jim watson, who saw the fish. When |
2 %pickerel. and about half OF It's body lad
Ing until | had "a string OF fish that measured
moro than nine feet long. II looked Ike u
II found when cut the lirst pickersl open
that. the hook had been taken by a small perch,
and | concluded that the ~plvkercl; seeing tho
when i began to haul him the other fish at
tempted To swallow one another. 30 ali. fired
The biggest fish reported so far was caught
by Simon Goshoug OF Shamong on Ely's Lake.
II Weighed eleven pounds. IL was a pickercl.
Fishing on Ely's Lake was never before so
good as IL Is this season" said Goshong. I've
hshed In All the waters round here, hut I
steelyards mt more than seven pounds before
hauled IN tho one ut the lake the other day.
th wH ssh hS Mers I ~ deep low water lSass for ! knew that
cold, ana | know, too, that tho biggest fish
We're TO be found IN deem water, and big, ish
my dog Jason along with me. Jason can fish
az vol as ! can. ! cut a hole opposite Musk
feet, deep, and tving a line around Jason's hack
set him 10 hshing while ! went down the shore |
to put In some more lines.
Jason knows his business. lie keeps NOV
Ing around, and that keeps tho bait lively
and attractive. When he gets u bite no runs
away from the hole til the fish is hauled out,
II was busy settling; tho llncr when heard
JNson howl ! looked M and say hat some.
scratching ike n good follow and trying 10
haul IN tho limo, but whatever |! was on the
OF him; and in sriro ofall he could do he was
gradually being dragged toward the hole. He
the dog would lie pulled into the hole before /
could yet 10 lin. and he would have been II IL
hadn't been for his cutencs". lie saw himself
a sdddcn jumped for II. landing with his fore
paws on one side, " it md his hindlcgs on the
SNAP, and The dogs back went down with tho
weight that was tlgglnG Al IL.
, " ran 10 Jason as soon as could. and got
hold or tho limo which WAS cutting into the
dogs hide and making him howl. | thnUght
had hooked IA shark 10y the way the fish pulled. |
and being. AFRAID that the line would break |
fooled With the hsh TN u" got tired oct. then |
pulled him in. | lifted him through the hole
by tho 81 Is. and, NJ said before, lie weighed
eleven pounds.
but the funniest part of the whole thing
was the way Jason acted. He whined so |
took the linz On him and ha afrupE a haa 1tna |
for home. That's the last time I've been able
to get him near a pond. He was always crazy
10 fsh before, but when no sees ME getting out
the tackle NON he sneaks away aud hidss.' 4