The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-10
A MONSTER MUsKELLUNGE.
Fierce Encounter in Northern Wis
consip Waters.
(Chicago Inter OCEAN,

brick red and heeked with patches of
peeling skin.
Just getting over the scarlet fever?"
remarked the blond clerk.
IN tell you" said the other, as he
opened his desk. 1--WE had the greatest
holiday that ever happened" He fiicked
two weeks dust from his typewriter
keys. You know, l was born in the
country"
''We knew that from the first" said
the bunch. in a chorus.
We'll. you mustn't get chesty If you
do hit the mark once in while" re-
torted the little bald one. He slipped
on his office coat. stuck a sheet of paper
in the machine. wrote MY Dear Sin"
Whirled around in his chair and said:
My wife and the kids. you know,
are summering in Wisconsin, in the
northern part OF the state. l was born
in little village not far from where
they are: so the other day said to my
oldest boy:
How would you Ike TO go out and
see the place where / was born?
THE natal associations didn't seem
IN present much charm, but the pisca-
toriaI proposition appealed to him, and
away we went. sans rod, sans hook,
sans line, sans everything except the
lunch.
We'll, when we got TO the village.
hunted up Jim Curtis, an old chum, and
told him / wanted a boat and tackle,
that the boy and were out for fish.
Good he says. That's my boat.
the biggest one at the foot OF the elms
by the bridge. Here's the key. You
can have the boat all day, and wei
come; and here's a couple of rods and
q trolling line: and if you want min
nows, as you viii. here's a net and a
can. and you and the boy can catch 'em
in the creek. Same old creek he says,
H.
you was a boy.
Then the boy and I went up the
road to the creek. / left my hat and
coat and shoes and socks on a stump
and rolled up my trousers and waded
in, knee-deep, and pushed the meta
flat affair, like a baking board-ahead
of me: and when / came to a little
rapid at the end of the pool, lifted the
net and carried it to the bank with
more than dozen lively, leaping, wrig-
Cling, shining silver minnows in it
the very best bait for bass and pickerel
that ever went on a hook. The boy
capered with delight.
Say, you're a great dad. he called
out. as he marched along with the can,
while 1 played every likely-looking pool
and pulled out the minnows by the
score
And just then the net struck a snag
on the bottom, which was clay, and my
heels went from under me and / sat
down up TO my collar in over two feet
of muddy water. Then the boy howled
and ran around among the buttercups
and daisies, and finally lay down in
them and rolled with mirth, while
retired to the sunny seclusion afforded
by "A ciunp OF gooseberry bushes and
made some repairs.
when we got back to the stump
where / had left my things, We found
haf hasf he
there. Cows are the most curious
things. 1 got both shoes back from
among the shrubs. but could find only
one sock; and my hat, which was Z
derby, will have to be reblocked.
We'll, we got out in the punt at last
with the minnows and the rods and the
lunch basket; and when We were
among the islands below the village we
got the lunch spread out on the middle
seat, and set the rods. It was a nice
shady spot, under lot of big branch
ing elns, and the bank was rocky ant
steep.
we were in about ten feet of water
sort of calm pool hecked with littI,
disks of foam that hoated in from tn.
swift water at the head of the island
We had the punt anchored, and l haC
just laid back, with my mouth fun o
ham sandwich and one eye on my ret
and blue float. when, zipl away wen
the Dbg UDdI OUT OF SlgnI, ana In
rod nearly out OF his hand.
He was on his feet in jiff, yellinl
to me that the fish was pulling in. Tn
line was running out like mad. an,
when / got hold of the rod / knew
there was a good bass on Pretty 500
the fish let Up, and 1 reeled in, Will
the boy, all excitement, stood read
with the landing net.
We got Sir Bass alongside. and tn
boy slipped the net under him, an
very cleYerly. too But we had onl
Just got him in. when away went m
rod over the side aud out of sight.
tell you, l didn't know whether 1 wa
standing on ray head or my heels jus
then. I grabbed the oars and tugge
away. like Samson on the pillars. an
then remembered that the boat wa
anchored with a thirty pound weigh
that / had forgotten to pull up.
We could see my rod-it was a ligh
bamboo, with a lightweight reel-fioat
ing away down stream. and we got
at last, with bass No. hard and fas
and lots of fight in him before the DO
landed him with the net. He was
pound heavier than the first, and ths
one weighed four pounds
BLACK bass?" said the blond clerk
ITO be sure. We got fifteen in a
before they stopped biting there, wit
an aggregate weight of forty pound
each on the scales OF the general stor
I've caught the large-mOuthed gree
bass in drowned land full of stump
with long line thrown out toward til
stumps, and a piece of bacon rind c
two hooks for bait, and some of thos
fellows went six and seven pound:
but the best of them wasn't in 1t Il
gameness with any three-pound blac
bass that the boy and 1 caught tia
day
Well the black bass stopped bitin
and when you've been catching blac
bass that run over five pounds the
isn't anything else in the river va
want to fish for with a rod. So Il
boy and I went trolling.
Il knew there was big game anon
the islands, for I remembered son
whoppers being taken out when / Wa
kid. some by troll and some by heay
night lines baited with large club; ar
! wanted to give the days sport
good round-of for the boy. So 1 saiS
George, how would you like
catch a thirty or fortypound rnuske
lunge to pack IN ice and send to Unc
Tom in Milwaukee. just to give him
surprise?'
sBoys, we hadn't been at the gan
twenty minutes before the thing hal
pened. George, in the stern, had Il
line, with the end of it Tapped arouT
the gunWale streak. was pulliI
along leisurely 'nough, in about ten
fifteen feet OF water, and about thir
feet from shore. 1t was a steep ban
with elderberry and other bushes owe
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