The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-08
FUN WITH CATFISH.
The Sport of Juggling and of Gourd-
Ing Southern Waters.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
The fun is Juggling for catfish, which
is a sport common on the Lower Mis-
sissippi, or in gourding for catfish,
which is practiced on the Tombigbee
in Alabama and some of the Georgia
rivers, consists in falling out of the
pirogue as often as possible, righting
it, clambering in and pursuing the fee
ing jug or gourd before bailing. Any
body except a negro an Indian or a
French "Cadian" will upset pircgue
ten times in an afternoon, and 1t goes
without saying that the catfish juggeT
or gourder must know how to swim.
In Juggling for catfish a strong hand
line is cut into six-foot lengths. To
one end a big hook Is fastened and the
hook is baited with a hunk of liver,
chicken entrails or cheese mixed with
cotton. The older and more strenuous
the cheese the better for the purpose.
The other end of the line is tied to
the handle of an empty stone jug of
one gallon capacity, into the neck of
which stopper has been driven tight.
The air-flled jug acts as great cork,
or float, marking the position of the
line as a buoy and making it impossi-
BILE for any fish, however powerful, it
may be, to hang itself and keep t
under for any length of time. The up
ward pull of the jug brings the fish
to the surface inevitably.
Two men who want fun with the
catfish will rig up dozen or two lines
and jugs, then padding out upon the
placid bosom of the Mississippi cast
them out one by one and watch them
float
When one of them bobs under, or
starts up or down stream with a rush
showing that a fish has been hooked,
the pirogue driven by two strong pad
dies darts after it, The object is to
seize the jug and haul out the fish.
AS, however, the jug travels with
great speed and takes the most eccen-
trio shoots and curves now up, now
down, now straight across stream, now
engaging, now whirling in circles,
and as the pirogue endeavors to follow
1T as closely as a cow-pony trails cow
cut out from a herd, up-sets are the
most common features of the sport
1t requires no art at all to fall out
of a pirogue, but a great deal of art
to right the narrow craft and get back
and by the time this is accomplished
the jug may be a half mile distant and
going fast. 1t Is not unusual that two
or three of the jugs show the presence
OF fish at once and when this happens
the work IS fast and furious for half
an hour.
Some of the Mississippi catfish are
seven feet long and weigh 200 pounds
and when one of these becomes at
tached to. the jug the task of captur-
ing It, killing it and towing 1t to bank
is not a light one. For this purpose
most juggers take out a small calibred
revolver.
Some men become so addicted to this
sport that they will have no other and
wear wet clothing the summer through,
Juggling for catfish in the broiling sun
and Juggling for them with equal pas
sion on moonlit nights.
On the Tombigbee the negroes and
whites use large calabashes for floats
These gourds are of all shapes and
sizes, some being round and as large
as pumpkin, others the thickness Of
d, mans arm and yard long.
The loose end of the line is tied to
the, neck of the calabas through a
hole bored in its hard shell, and then
it makes as good a float and buoy as
the jug, as well as costing nothing.
The fish in the Tombigbee are of
smaller heft, the stream in most parts
is narrower and the cats are captured
more quickly. On that river, as on the
Mississippi. 1t sometimes happens that
a cat takes it into it's head to go
straight and to keep on going and the
last seen Of the calabash or jug it Is
rounding bend at ten miles an hour,
bound seemingly for the Gulf.