Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-06
FISH STORIES TOLD As TRUE
omahs Men Contribute to Written History
Of Rcd and Reel.
INTERESTING BUNCH OF NARRATIVES
Judge Munger Tells Of His Fishing
Dog and Tom Brennan of
His Trip 60 n wis.,
eOnsin Lake.

imagined, yet how many people can tell a
good one7 Just go out and spend a half a
day asking your friends who are we'll known
to be ardent fishermen for FISH stories, and
note your success. II is startling to find
how few fishermen can tell a fish story.
"A good nsh story? Let me see. Well,
I've hshed and hshed and spent days and.
weeks about fishing camps and in parties Of
that kind, but / cannot seem to recall any
fish story just now"
That's a good sample Of the. answers you
get, and Il means a world Of insistence and
a persistent tickling OF all the corners Of
an anglers memory before you can entice
so much as q single aneedote, true or false.
And II is not because the people aren't
fishing. Omaha fishermen have never angled
more madly than during the month Of June,
despite the fact that the weather has been
more unfayorable for that sport than In
any previous summer for years past. Twen-
ty-1ve rainy days out OF the thirty did not
suffice to check the exodus to the various
fishing grounds known TO local s~portsmen,
nor did the steady hover of clouds during
the remaining small portion Of the month
dampen the enthusiasm of the wielders OF
line and rod. II would seem that the rainy
spell even heightened the fishing fever, and
when its rarity Is considered this can be
~ ANNA AZ PAObabAg lOOhNN
at the matter philosophicslly and made up
their minds that the rain assured them OF
water to FISH In at least, so they went at
the game with good will rejoicing at the
cool weather, and adding only waterproofs
and possibly rubber helmets to their outfits
with which to guard against the discom-
forts OF a drizzle or a downpour. In any
event, from whatever cause, II is certain
that q horde OF Omahans have done their
little stunt at casting or trolling or still
fishing the last month, and though the luck
has been on the whole rather bad this has
not dampened their ardor sufficiently to pre-
vent their returning In good spirits. But,
once again, ask these people for a good fish
story and they stand mute. helpless.
"a fish story. Ummmmmm. Well, say.
ask me again tomorrow, won't your l ought
certainly to know some, but I'm at a loss
to remember one just now, This was the
way Judge Munger, the veteran Of the
northern lakes, met the proposition. But he
had one the next day, all right, and here
1t is;
Now, I'm about to tell you a fish story
that will be the best you ever heard said
the Judge, Not especially because Of it's
unusual features, although 1t has them. No,
the great merit Of this story lies in the fact
Of its absolute truth. The tale is remark
able. The incident did not even occur on
a fishing trip, strictly speaking, but there
are plenty OF fish in 1t.
THE gist Of the story is that l once
owned a dog that caught fish with ease and
avidity. You needn't take my word for II.
In my desk l have a stat ment to that effect,
detailed in every particular. Of the catching,
and signed by three witnesses and sworn to
before a notary. I'll show 1t to you.
This dog was not raised for a fishing
dog, and ] never knew he was q fisherman
till he had attained a considerable age.
Dash was born and bred a hunter, IN fact,
and as such / had always used him. His
first fishing experience resulted from a
hunting trip. too. 1t was In the fall of 1895
and / was after ducks out in Dodge county
near Robert Patrick's farm, with Fried of
Fremont and some others. / was using
Dash to retrieve that day. for he was al
ways a fine water dog, although he was an
Irish setter. We had worked UP along past
the lake near Patriek's farm to the far end
and had been unable to land any ducks. So
at the end we took a shot or so at some
snipe and went over to pick up a few that
fell. In doing this we came across an $50
lated pond, knee deep and clear, that had
evidently been formed during high water,
when 1t was a part OF the lake, and had
been separated by dry weather later.
This pond was simply alive with bass
and pike. 1t looked lik the pools at the
FISH hatcheries, the fish were so thick in
there. They we're big, too, and without q
word we Jumped in that pond and went
after the fsh. We had the water riled w
shortly, but despite that we scooped out
the big fellows In armfuls, tossing them
onto the bank.
Meanwhile Dash had been looking or
and suddenly he splashed into the pond. HI
stood there, cycling the surface OF the watel
and then a fnny back showed near him
He just grabbed It and went to shore. Aftel
laying It safely on the hank he returned
We were dumfounded. but that beat fish
ing, even by hand, so we left of and jus
watched that dog carry on. He landed nsl
after fish the same way, and when he one,
got Q grip on one he never let loose till 1
was on terra hrma.
at was a remarkable exhibition. Tn,
dog had simply mimicked our actions in tn,
water"