Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1901-11-07
DANGEROUS FISHES.
THEY ARE NOT ALL CONFINED TO
THE SEAS THAT ARE SALTY.

The Alligator Gar Is One Fresh Wa
ter Species That Is Feared In the
South-A Mysterious Monster That
Inhabits a Michigan Lake.
So far as any danger from the game
is concerned, fresh water fishing has
always been looked upon as about as
safe as any sport in the world, and the
fresh water fish has gone on record as
harmless and nonresistant. But there
are instances now and then when the
fish turns the tables. The inhabitants
Of Osceola county, Mich, who live in
the neighborhood of Lake George, an
inland water about three miles long,
are almost superstitiously afraid of a
certain fish that inhabits that lake. No
one knows what sort of fish it is, and
opinion locally is divided as to whether
it is giant muskellunge or a STIR
geon.
Spearing parties had now and then
reported seeing a very large fish with
out being able to strike it, but no one
gave credence to the tales until one
night several years ago, when party
of sportsmen from Chicago went on the
slake spearing in charge Of an old resi-
dent named Armstrong.
Armstrong was the only one that re-
turned to tell the story. He said the
party was spearing in shallow water
when they saw an enormous fish that
resembled an overgrown pickerel. Two
of the Chicago men were standing in
the bow, and at first supposed the fish
to be a log. Then one saw his mistake
and struck with all his might. Tne fish
gave a dart that made the boat jump
as though a LEAN engine were pulling
it. If the man had let go of the spear,
apAsgould have been well, but he hung
on. e..-.fthe fish gave mighty flop to
right angles with the boat. The man
still held to the spear. with the result
that the boat capsized, and the men
found themselves standing in mud and
water up to their waists.
The light went out en- the boat up
set, and, the night b dark and
cloudy, not ON. of the pa, had any
idea Of the d!req ion to be pdrsued in
tSaShihS SAOiS. pet sSIdloW Wdtei OC-
cupies large "a Asthe lake, and
they could wdlder asy direction
without being able to tell whether or
not they We're nearing shore. Arm
strong said afterward that nothing
could equal the awfulness Of the expe-
rience that followed. They made their
way in one direction after another and
wv ND nd ho1
way to their knees in mud at every
step.
To make matters worse q cold,
steady, drilling rain began to fall.
They were soon numb to the marrow.
Then one of the sportsmen dropped
without word, and no one went to his
help. Little by little the three that re-
NAMED were separated. Armstrong
says he himself became unconscious
after a time and remembers moth
ing that happened until he was reused
by feeling solid ground beneath his
feet and finding that the water was
more shallow than it had been. He
kept on and fell upon the shore. Then
on hands and knees he crawled to
camp and gave the alarm. Search was
at once made for his companions, and
their bodies were recovered. Since that
time the big fish with scar on his
back has twice or thrice been seen by
spearing parties, but they have passed
it by.
There is one species of fish in the
south that is feared only little less
than its salt water contemporary the
shark. This is the alligator gar. 1t
grows to enormous size and has bill
hard and bony and much broader than
the bill of the common gar of northern
waters. One who goes out upon the
lakes of Louisiana and Arkansas will
see them jumping and splashing like
enormous trout. Their usual food con-
sists Of fish, and they not only make
endless trouble for those who go fish
ing with minnows, but have been
known to round up and tear to pieces
bass which the sportsman has hooked.
Bathing in the lakes is considered dan
gerous.
A negro was sitting in the stern Of
boat ON a lake near Helena, Ark, let
ting his feet hang over the stern, when
gar grabbed him by one leg. The
man hung to the boat until rescued,
but his leg was horribly gashed. The
fish have been known to attack in like
manner negroes who went swimming
in the Mississippi below New Orleans.
One spring the writer was visiting a
rice plantation on the flower coast" of
the Mississippi when an old negress
came wailing to the house and said her
fiye-year-old boy was dead. He had
been playing at the edge Of bayou
and was lying on the bank extending
his arms into the water when a gar
came with rush and. grabbing the
youngster by the arm, pulled him into
the water. A young negro with a shot
gun was standing near watching for
ricebirds. He ran to the bank. The
fish found it had undertaken bigger
task than it could we'll manage. and a
wild struggle was in progress between
the gar and the 6vinu child The parrn