The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-06-15
SOME TRUE FISH STORIES
FIFTY ONE SIIEEpHEAD WITH
IN FIFTY-ONE MINUTES.
BEST FISHING ON THE ATLANTIC COAST
No Lazy Man can Succeed in Catching Drum
It Takes Skill Sense, Endurance and
Pluck to Catch thse I'M
mance Fich


last might Of the big catch of drum by
Mr. w. l.. Kennedy, of Failing Creek,
and Mr.. r. II. Martin, of Durham. 1t
was mammoth catch--twenty-si fish
weighing something like eight hun
dred pounds. 1t is believed that it
breaks all records in drum fishing at
this place. The sport is very fine,
very eXhilarating. and is said to be in
conparably finer than any other fishing.
Tn that point. however, there are sure
to be differences of opinion. The fish
We're ali brought back to the hotel and
put on exhibition 50 that the crowd
OF teachers that arrived on the train
could see that there were other big
fish here besides those Who came to
attend the Teachers Assembly. Some
OF these dram, or channel bass as they
are generally called, weighed over fifty
pounds.
\ fifty pound fish is reareiy seen i'll
this country. They are hard to land
and 1t takes a true fisherman to catch
them and nerve and strength as well.
They are caught with reel in the surf
i is like fishing while You are taking
Il surf bath. The fisherman. supplied
with reel, puts on n bathing suit Or
old clothes and wades out waist deep
III the surf and throws out his line
which is never less than two hundred
feet long. And he stands waist or
knee deep in water waiting for Il bite.
When he gets it, the fish pulls as hard
rs the worst unlertow and unless man
understands his business he will lose
fish. reel and maybe go under himself.
Yesterday Mr.. Martin. while catching
the big drum, had an experience that is
not uncommon. \ very large drum hid
his hook, these big fish are caught
with very small lines) and went ont to
sea with it. Mr.. Martin saw THAT to
save his reel he would have to let the
fish 90, and he determined to snap it
lie did so, burt the strain was SO great
that when it snapped. it landed him
backward on the bottom Of the Atlantic
Ocean. This did me no further harm. -
said Mr.. Martin. except TO give Mr.
Kennedy Il good chance to laugh at me-
which he proceeded to do" Within ten
minutes after, Mr.. Martin had landed n
J0-pound drum. and he and Mr.. Kennedy
Il
as the boat could well carry.
If Isaac Walton could come back to
life and drop into Mrehead for a few
days. he would join Mr. Kennedy and
Nj. Walton and they would make the
greatest triumvirate of fishermen the
world has known.
Il have fShed,' said Mr.. Martin last
night. from the Chesapeake Bay 10 Flor
ida and had fine sport in twenty places.
but | DO not hesitate TO say that the
hsltng is better at Morehead anu the
sport finer than at any place / have
iished. Some people who call themselves
fishermen come here now ami then. stay
few days, and then go home and deny
the fishing at Morehcad. The truth *
that they do not know how to fish.
They come here at night, sleep till nine
oclock III the morning. then go ont and
fish until four or five o'clock and come
to the hotel. No real Fisherman chooses
such hours. When | am here we Il
mean Mr.. Kennedy and myself. for we
fish together all of the time) get up
about three O'Clock when the fish will
bite and go ont and fish until nine or
ten O'Clock. We then stay in the hotel
unlll hate in the afternoon when we
90 out again. Those are the usual hours
with us, but we vary them always going
at hours when we have the best chance
to catch fish, and not at hours that
best Sllit our convenience. If Won
would be a good fisherman. You cannot
consult your ease" Mr.. Martin has
Eecn coming here every summer for
lore than fifteen years and what he
does not know about fishing. Mr.. Ken
nedy does. What Mr.. Kennedy does not
know, Mr.. Martin does Together they
make such Il team that when the fish
hear they are fishing together they feel
like the wild animals and birds did
when they found out that David Crock
EFT was ont with his gun.
Mr.. Kennedy has been fishing here
even longer than Mr. Martin. | will NOT
tell how many summers Mr.. Kennedy
has fished i'm these waters. for he is
younger than his knowledge of fishing
might lead You to believe. Il have been
coming here all my life" said Mr.. Ken
nedy. One of my earliest recollections
Is that as Il boy of ten | was sitting
on a wharf fishing when | went to
lengthen my line and fell overheard. !
swimming has been with me all these
years. and | do not know how | wog!d
feel if | couldn't spend portions OF
every summer as a disciple of Isaac
Walton
Mr.. Kennedy is one Of the farmers
in the State who makes money farm
ing. He has ONE of the finest planta-
tons in the best farming town
ship in the State. | refer
OF course to Falling Creek, Lenoir
county. He manages it successfully and
probably. His wife spends the summer
here and Mr.. Kennedy fishes here three
days in the week, and looks after his |
the other three days. He |
can leave here after an early breakfast. |
spend the day on his farm and get |
back here to supper. | asked him to-
night what sort Of fishing he preferred. |