The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-26
UEDOING OF THE ToMCOD.
An Aminble TrnIt That Frequently Lands tn
Fish. Especially ALONG the Thames.

An Am.nbie TrnIt That Frequently Lands the
Fish, Especially ALONG the Thames.
" 'Tho toothsome little tomcod is the most
confiding and credulous Of fishes,' said a Con-
%necticut man, 'ani a good many scores Of my
compatriots. especially along tho Thames
River, habitunlly take advantage OF its trust
fulness and jig 1t from its chilly but congenial
home by the bushel. Never jigged for tomcodsi
Then it is plain that you are 80 unfortunate as
never to have lived In Connecticut, anyway
never in any of those parts of that incompatible
State where tomCods are iiggcd. Not to Jig
for tomcods over there, especially along the
Thames River, is to be eccentric. -
"Like-all fish, tho tomcod has habits. Unlike
many fish, none of the tomcod's habits is bad.
Yet the most innocent and touching of them
leads the tomcod to its undoing over in Con-
n%ccticut. 1t might better be q vicious, THEY
ing, rollicking dOgfsh, the tomcod might, ten
times over, than its own highly reputable and
innocent self. 1t would live many times as
long and have a heap more fun. 1t is n good
thing that virtue is its own reward. That is
about all the recompensc it ever gets, even in
Connecticut.
The fatal habit of tho tomCod Ia to be ca
ressing. If you never noticed this popularity in
the tomcod. make a point OF doing it the very
first chance You get. A good place to detect
it is on the end of some pier that extends
into the water 1t frequents. You will see tom
piles of the pier and rub themselves inslnuat-
ingly against them, passing all around them.
always touching them, turning first this side
and then that side to the pile. then rubbing
their noses against it, and %fondling it in many
ways, as q pet cat rubs against your leg.
But piers arc not the only object Of the
tomcod's fondncss. 1t carcsses all sorts Of jet
sam, and even ventures to tho surface and pays
fondling addresses to cold and unconscious fot-
SAM. 1t puts its trust in everything. Its ere
dulity Is boundless; its confidence, sublime.
A nd flA linear MI "a / fnN oil ~ l. prnrtI
People in, Connecticut. are very observant
folk, especially along the Thames River. One
the bank of the Thames River, He had in his
hand a small oak bouGh, on which were thick
stream, 1t fell near the shore, and the leaf clus.
ters sank "A foot or so beneath the surface.
Presently tomcods came swimming up 10 the
leaves, which tho water was, agitnting.
Scores Of them surrounded the OAK leaves;
swan in a fOndling way IN among them and
about them, manifesting much the same de-
light that IA cat does ~ i rolls and wrigglcs in n
pnnch of catnip. This strange affinity be
fellow citizen an idea. lie went home and tied
some sharp hook to the end OF "a stick. Then
oak leaves beneath the winter within reach, he
lifted the Infatuated tomcods out with the
was strewn thick with the fish and he was sur.
feited with the sport.
SO long az he kept the bunch Of oak leaves
mindful of the play Of the destructive. gatf
among them. Now and then my fellow citizen
would, remove tho oak bough from the wa'or
and then the tOmc0ds would instantly disHp,
pear. The oak leaves being nut buck again
into the water, bnck came the tOmcOds, and wer,
apparently aware Of no other presence. OF
course, this interesting discovery in piscatoriaI
psychology, so TO speak, soon absorbed atten'
lion in those parts. and cXpelirncnters lined the
banks Of the Thames River daily, These tx
perinents became known as juggling, aud tom
cod iigging became IA popular recreation In Con
nectiCu', and is Vet.
al expert with n bunch Of oak leaves and {
Jig can MI a wagon. with toncOd5 in an hour i
he wants to, and If every tomCOd that swine
the jiggcr ut that bunch could stay and Jig lOnl
enough. he could MAKE the race Of tOmcods OK
tinct. for every tumcod would come right up Il
that bunch of leaves, rs soon rs II could and M
evcrlu stinrly iippel.'