The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-05
THE SOUTH GOES FISHING.
NOW rs TIRE TIME WHEY THE FEVER
OLhIMs IT'S VICTIMS.

To townsmen and counirymen alike down
south. in regions back from tho seacoRst, fresh
water fishing and all that pertains TO the craft
form the soul and marrow of tho summer
reckoning. However much business and social
and family obligations must be taken into &C.
count. each angler keeps his fishing days apart
In his mind as a lodestar to tide him over
dull and monotonous intervals. lie is living
when he fishes, he considers, and no matter how
old or world.hardened he may be. in those
hours between dayhreak and dark OF a long
summers day spent, rod in hand, casting the
line. guessing natures secrets, he is a different
being, younger. somehow. rciu renated immeas-
urably. lie goes home with hints of this pro.
cess showing in his face.
"Had a good days sporti' his wife asks,
politely. though for the life OF her she can't
Imagine what tun he can find in being sun.
baked and briar torn, going dinnerloss and ice.
waterless along the country creeks for n long,
long way, but then
"1iptop," he answers. Rare sport all the
morning, and pretty fair since . o'clock. Ilaid
OF between II and p"
"But you haven't got as biG..a string OF fish
as usual"
NO. but then, it's no fun when the fish bite
too glibly. Anybody can catch fish then. 1t
takes science to get them when things are ad-
verse;
His consort listens and wonders; then she
makes a remark. Just see your nose" she
says. and your hands; obi and look at those
wrists. DO you call it pleasure to be scorched
and blistered up like thatf" But The foolish one
Is wrapping up and placing away his fishing
tackle, and shows no concern. 1t has been a
bargain day In his counting.
Those who have the fishing fever, which be.
setment is distinCtively of male gender in that
locality, bear a sort of family likeness one to the
other. Tho black farmer, fishing in between
times and at pains to get a substitute to guide
his plough shovel meanwhile, has the mania
quite aS pronounced as the leisurely going land
owner, who is uverse by nature to any ordinary
work, but quite willing to arouse himself and
harness up bv . O'Clock of a June morning. in
order to reach his favorite fishing grounds DO.
fore the sun Is up. when the trout bite best.
Old and young, poor and prosperous, find never
failing interest in the pursuit. and, with tho
majority OF the devotces, their angling is not
any mere cursory pRstims, taken up idly, to
while the summer days away, but an Unborn
passion that grows with what It feeds on and
yields a kcencr pleasure to the fisherman of go,
who has anRled In the same waters summer
after summer, and should seemingly know them
by heart and be signing for new depths to ex-
plore. than to the youngster just beginning to
steer his inclinations and realize the charm that
the sport exerts.
As soon as the trees are we'll in leaf and the
summer fully under way. sinRly and in pairs
and in parties of four and five together the
county fishermen. town bred and country bred,
ponds and sheltered lagoons and touring down
obscure places in search of little known and
p phoRad ny uS mn grounds; No matter how
with weeds and debris from the last seasons
ginning and saving. or with tangled and tuber.
GUS vines sweeping its surface and clunps of
roots and caved-in bridges blocking progress.
the light; strong bateau may be half guided.
out Of the water altogether and tugged over by
land In emergency. and exploration pushed sue
c~esSfully. The Joy Of q hiding a fshbed that nobody
has been to in years is ample payment for all
e~xertion: Briar scratches, the possibility of
poison m9r,a from r.d the n,d insi ,1h".s vines the sn,f; Of
velop hours later; only to be allayed with oint.
ments. the probable resentment Of snakes trod
on unawares and having venom In their fangs
all these contingencies count as nauRht
weighed with the possible outcome Of the days
very creek lurk undisturbed whole colonies OF
unsophisticated perch and Dream and broad
to the youngest baby, are unacquainted with the
wiles of anglers and apt to rise promptly to the
Not so the knowing fish in the open pond
above, The, sportsman there must literally get
up early, in the morning to catch them. and exer.
else all his strategy and ingenuity to boot.
Il don't Zee how 1t is that the Southerners
have got the name OF being SO indolent," said a
young woman visitor on q Carolina plantation.
There are the Sprywits, father and son. riding
over here in.the morning, fully twelve miles, be-.
fore it's light enough TO see, merely in order to
fish. and then stalking themselves out in ba.
teauX in that broiling pond the livelong day
S mmfn turn u ; so tho not t6GIII HsVe eb TO keep Sf Ppb on thick nc coats e9atS
cooking. | think that the people here are the
most self-devoted. and energetic that l have ever
come across"
Come down to tho pond about sunset this
afternoon and I'll show you another instance of
accordingly that afternoon, just as the cotton
leaves on the young stalks were beginning to
turn as IL their wont with the with
drawal of the suns rays, the visitor was on
hand to see what was up.
as they reached the platform over the mill race.
those two young fellows fishing down there
tS Inc ' STFSey'"dE az; their heGp o UyeF p 10 19bem: a sn9 6 %Hs
work, and are up and out at II before you've
turned over for your, first morning nap. Two
or three times a week, when, it gets about this
time in the afternoon, they take their horses out
Of the plough and ride over here for an hours
place of the main road. Those are their horses
hitched to the myrtles on the dam yonder. They
plant. and they have a mother and two sisters
to support; but they manage to get time for
week goes by and they 69aven'thad a bit Of sport,
and OF course they, couldn't fish on Sunday;
They They don't believe in that sort OF thing here"
young, enthusiasts, so stalSArt and picturesque,
with their faded Jean trousers stuffed into high.
throat, and broad brimmed. loosely plated
bats strenEthsnsa with a binding Of calico:
tllO lhOuEHl llhL mere was a now phase OF
Southerners and Southern life.
These young men-they have no traditions
to live up to, no ante.hellum pretensiOns to sus-
tain, ! suppose: they don't look that sort: hut
they don't look like the white trash I've heard
about, either she said.
"Thoy arc not OF either Glass; answered her
companion. They are sprung from what were
the Common people under the old regime and
are the common people yet. but who. in my
opinion. will be the backbone OF the South in the
future. They are hard working. ambitious.
and anxious 10 acquire property, and the same
enthusiasm that brings them here to fish after
working, hard all day will be OF avail in other
ways. They've got some upside-down ideas
about the uselessness and worthleasness OF the
negro. and about wanting to get him out OF the
country and all that. Their people never owned
slaves; but they'll set those cranky notions
Strengthened out after n while"
AS fishing IL the main summer sport in this
particular part of King Cotton's realm, 40 the
eating of fish under whOlesomely primitive CON
ditiOns Is n regu arly recurring social function.
Fish fries and fish feasts given nv dav and night
are annual and established institutions, and
the tHh lovers mission Is to elevate the eating Of
fish into an art. regarding 1t the hounden duty
OF u DcOTle whose waters are 30 favored TO nay
homage TO the goods that the gods prefer.
Every man in that region who owns a pond
stocked thus by nature with fine fish considers
himself in duty bound to invite his friends and
HN