The Redwood gazette., 1898-10-06

ther and the absence Of frost. There
has been light frosts, Of course, on the
high land in the country, but in the
cities flowers are still in bloom and
garden truck is still blossoming. To-
mato plants are as green as in June
and are generating yellow blossoms
in midsummer profusion, while many
gardeners are reveling in the second
crops Of peas, beans, etc.
-
Another class Of people who are de-
irving intense pleasure from the bslmy
weather is the pleasuers of piscatorial
pastimes. It is said that during no
other fall in years have fishes of ell
kinds bitten so freely as they have
during the past month. There are
more lakes within an hours drive of
the twin cities than could be counted
on the fingers Of both hands, and ev-
cry one contains good, gamy fish. Of
course those nearest by are more or
less depleted on account of their easy
accessibility, Still pickerel and black
bass are being caught this fall in sur
prising numbers. But the lakes to
which the anglers go when they want a
big catch are farther northward.
Wright county has many large lakes
which abound in fish-pickerel, black
bass and wall-eyed pike-while still
further northward are others which
have a seemingly inexhaustible supply.
The new branch of the Great North
ern road which runs from Fosston to
Duluth, makes accessible several large
lakes in which line was never
dropped by the hand of white man.
It is said that the bass and pike in
some OF these lakes actually fight to
get chance to bite, and that red
rag is as good for bait as anything
more dainty or palatable.
Speaking of fishing, during this age
of progress and expatiation angling as
pastime has kept pace with every
thing else and now has reached sci
ence. OF course the old hermit who
has not shaved since the next-before-
the-last war, who uses q willow sap
ling for pole and who kills his worm
by expectorating black tobacco juice
upon it before throwing it into the
water, still tramps along the shore or
paddles about in q dug-out, and
catches fish. But there is no science
about his methods and little satisfac-
ton from the standpoint of a sports
man. The latter catches the fish for
fun of the thing and in way that he
will get the most fun out of it. But
the hermit, or the old man that fishes
for the market, is out after fish, and
any method that will bring the fish is
satisfactory to him. If he can catch
with hook, murder with spear, cap
ture with seine or blow to kingdom
come with dynamite, its all the same
to him. He is a fisherman in name
but in reality be is a semi-human
pickerel which catches fish by main
strength and swallows them whole.
**
The appliances of an up-to-date
fisherman are: steel or bamboo rod
(steel preferred) from six to seven feet
long, about the size of a regular car
riage whip; a fine silk line, seventy
five feet in length; nickel reel; two
dozen hooks, of various sizes and pat
terms; regulation tin box to hold
hooks, reel, nippers, hook-extractor,
sinkers, ETC., and a regular landing
net. Of these, the rod costs SIS, the
reel from IS to Is, IA fair one $1O) and
the balance of the outfit about SIS. In
other words it completely ruins the ad-
hesive qualities OF a twenty dollar
note to own a moderately good fishing
outfit. The artistic fisherman prefers
to fish for bass cares little about fish.
ing for anything except trout. He
goes to lake where there are rushes
because the bass are only fonnd in
such lakes. He has a man to row the
boat slowly along the rushes, keeping
about thirty feet distant. The bass
are. at this time of year, feeding
among the roots OF the rushes and
weeds, and the boat is just far enough
away so that they will not be fright