The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-30
washington Starr


who returned last week to the city. In
stead ] took up my quarters in a quiet
village and drove to this or that pond
or stream In its vicinity for the day s
fishing. returning to my hotel at night
This is comfortable way TO do ones
fishing. which / commend to those who
practice the gentle art for the pleasure
it gives rather than to crafty an am
bition TO break records in the taking OF
big strings of fish. Taken all in all, l
had good luck beyond the average,
with the minimum of tramping and fly
bites and general discomfort. But /
have TO confess that l owed much of
the success had to the advice and
guardianship of a barefooted, shock
headed 12-year-old boy whose ae-
quaintance l made in the second week
OF my stay at Hilltown.
In my fishing excursions ! had met
the boy off and on from the day of my
arrival and had noted that when en-
countered near the end of the day he
usually was carrying a fine string OF
fish. My acquaintance with him be-
gan as ] was whipping pond one day
from boat which ] had brought from
the village in a wagon, and the boy at
the same time was fishing from bridge
on the shore. We were using quite diff
ferent rods and tackle. Mine was a
six-ounce rod with silk line and flies
of the most approved tying. while he
was dangling from the end of twenty
five-foot peeled spruce pole a line and
hook that would have served the turn
of a Banks fisherman; but our luck
was the same, for neither one of us
was catching any fish. We had passed
some remarks disparagfng the state of
affairs in general when at last he
hailed me with a proposition:
Say, mister. take me into yer boat
and I'll show yer where yer can ketch
some fish
Il accepted his offer for company's
sake with little confidence in his offer
10 pilot me to fish. and in some dread Of
his astonishing fish pole, which, with
the tip sawed off. would have served
as a mast for the boat. To my relief
as i headed for the shore he detached
his line from the pole and wound it
about a fork-ended piece of single
which he drew from his pocket. The
pole he secreted in the bushes behind
the ledge.
What kind of bait yer usin'? he
asked, as the boat touched the shore.
i fish with flies / answered with
dignity.
'H'mi Yer'n never ketch trout in
this pond with them things, he said,
with authority Gimme Yer net and
balm dish tell ] git some minneyS.
II passed him the tin pail and land
ing net and he went TO a little cove
around the point of the ledge, threw
muck-wcrm into the water TO entice the
fish, aud in ten minutes came back to
me with about thirty minnows swim
ming in the pail. Then he took the
oars and told me to steer with the
paddle for an old. blackened tres stub
on the opposite shore. 1t was as UNI
promising place for trout as one
would care to see that we fetched up at
after scraping through shoals and lily
pads. a strip of black water by low
shore with snags and deadwood cover
ing the bottom as far as eye could see;
but as the boy was doing the work l
let him go where he pleased. He dtd
not at once find the precise place he
wanted. but waved about and squinted,
trying to get all his landmarks to jibe
together while / stood by to drop an
Choir when he should find the spot to
suit him. After backing and filing
enough TO have locked ship, he gave
the word to let go. and, playing out the
clothesline with Il stone tied to the end
of it for anchor. I found bottom in
eighteen feet of water.
Better tie on a sina1er and bait with
a minny, mister the boy said. as he
slowed the oars and dived his hand
into the pail for a minnow.
For answer | cast my flies upon the
water. while the boy dropped his hand
line over the boats side. 1 heard the
Topping of his first trout as l made
my third cast, and he was kept busy
batting his hook and jigging it from
the bottom to the boat after that, with
a humping trout to show for every
turn. He had landed five when 1
reeled in my first fish, and after that
I could not get a rise. The boy kept
right on catching fish. and as he swung
the tenth, a twO-pGunder, into the boat
! gave expression to my feelings in a
remark that was more scriptural than
pious.
Never mind. mister. We're snucks
on the fish yer know the boy said.
consolingly. I'd just as leve kekch EN-
all
This token of eondeseension was too
much. To borrow an expression of the
late James Yellowplush, Flesh and
blood couldn't abear it. and 1 reeled in
my line and snapped a bait hook on in
place of the flies.
"'Give me minnow,' / said to the
boy. so sayagely that he exclaimed,
'Gollyi' as ne scrambled for the bait
pail and passed me over a live sinner.
He lent me sinker and then. when
all was arranged, [ found myself. who
pass for a crack fisherman at my New
York club. hopefully bobbing my fly
rod with my fine silk line, dragged
d ,wn TO within a foot of the bottom, by
the combined weight of a hook that
would have landed bluefsh strip of
sheet lead nipped on above it with my
teeth and live minnow. But I had
my compensation when, in q half a
minute or more, 1 was tusseling with
a trout who gave me oil the excitement
] wanted in getting him into the boat
From that time on I kept even with
the boy in our fishing. He had box
OF angleNorms iii his pocket and when
the minnows were all used UP we
caught dozen front with these. We
had thirty-four trout ranging in size
from a half a pound TO two pounds
and a half, when we pulled back across
the pond, TO show for our days fish
ing.
Learned In Angling Methods.
After this experience I took the boy
with me on most of my fishing trips.
Sometimes [ went it alone, bur il al
ways happened that the days l did this
were not lucky ones. Abner-the boys
name was Abner Tucker-dug the
worms, caught the minnows and gen
orally attended TO providing the outfit
for our trips, my part being limited TO
the financial details. l presented a
civilized rod and tackle TO him. a gift
which he duly appreciated, but
throughout the season he advocated to
me the old time fisherman's precept OF
more bait and less flies and l found
my profit in following his advice. Some
fimeS we varied our trout fishing nv
trips to perch and pickerel ponds. and
everywhere the boy knew exactly where
the best fish lay and the bait that would
tempt them most al the particular time
of the day and year. He introduced