The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-20
DRUMMER ROPED in
Struggles Four Big Pickerel Down
Into Kentucky, Thinking
They Are Trout.
How Bill Richardson Buncoed the
Tenderfoot From the Blue
Grass Region.

The spring has been very backward this
|year, and altho it is very nearly the mid
die OF May at this present time Of writ
ing" the leaves are not yet "size of a
squirrels ear" which size Colonel Wheat
ton says they must be before trout will
bite
When speak of trout, mean the lake
variety. which are just as shy as their
gaudier little brethren of the brooks, and
deal harder to catch. Which latter may
be a very bold assertion, but let any dc, de- ),
voice Of the fly and waders come up and
try few days with the big fellows in our
lakes, and he will be a real fisherman il
he ever bankers afteraany more of the
sport. &sss2
BY a real fisherman mean a man who
would rather fish in washtub than not
fish at ALL which description of fisherman
is the only one that ever gets real sport
out of lake trout fishing. For in the first
place the elusive things are generally at
the other end of the lake. which is from
five miles to forty long, and you don't 10
cate them till you have been fuitlessly
| trolling for hours-and then they get4out
Of that end in a hurry before you can
take in more than a couple, and it's up to
you to locate them again. .Est 1
Likewise iftthe day is an ideal one for
any other kind Of fishing; cloudy sky,
southwest wind, and maybe a gentle
warm rain sfalling-or any. other kind of
an old day when a water outing is a
pleasure and, not a penance; they won't
bite at all. But let the ice-cold wind howl
| from the north, or. east; let a freezing
rain, or sleet, that: will chill the blood in
your veins, and the marrowin your bones,
| come down like the wolf on the fold; let
your hands freeze so that you can't work
your reel-and every trout in the lake
falls over himself to get at your spoon,
and YOU lose most of them simply be-
cause you are so nearly frozen to death
that you can't bring them to gait, or land
ing-net. s.
For all of which reasons the trout is
held in high favor in this country, tho
as fighter he does not rank above the
plebeian5 pike perch; and he who goes
after troutEeVery year and keeps on go
ing after them while they bite, is, held
In high esteem among Father Izaak's sons.
All you want for his capture is a good
reel that will hold at least 200 feet of
about No line;- a stout rod, the SITTER
the better; a No. 5 Skinner spoon, white
on both sides and feathered in white, and
a few other trivial things. Among which
trivialities I will mention the, stoical en-
durance of an Indian; the patience Of a
cat at a rat hole--which willsdouble dis
count anything Job ever did in that line;
a perfect indifferencesto cold, wet: hun
ger and suchlike =trif1es; and the take
hold and hang on Of a bulldog. @
| Thus equipped you can go after the
lake trout with full assurance that you
will get the utmost out of every particle
of your equipment that it contains and
Fnaybe not get aaglinspses ofaMr.l SpeckIes
after ALL But you will, get q run for your
money, be sure of that. OF which latter
fact 4 good drummer for "a louisville
whisky house, who was here about the
time the ice went out, is well assured. rs
This man of good spirits had eaten a
freshly caught trout, or as much thereof
as his capacity allowed, and was bound to
take one of the regal fish Of his own
! catching home with him if it could be
work anything. Now this good man had
never seen anything in the fish line but
bass and catfsh-om the table, mean
which accounts for the fact that he went
, to vast trouble and much expense to
srnuggle four big pickerel all the way to
the Kentucky metropolis under the i'm
preston that they were trout; but that
1 is rather anticipating.
| We put him under the care Of Bill
Richardson, who comes about next tc
Colonel Wheaton as guide, philosopher and
friend to trout fishermen hereabouts, and
sent him out to Little Trout lake. None
of us could go, as the winters logging
was not entirely finished, and most of us
get our daily bread from some sort OF
connection with that form of athletics.
That was perhaps as well for the drum
mer, as he was very new to the game ne
was butting into, and Bill is by nature
more merciful than most Of us.
WE'LL out he went, and came back the
next day cold, wet, clothed in a complete
/ If NH HIT hq
had four pickerel. the smallest Of which
would weigh ten pounds and went away
! in the full conviction that he had broken
all records for big trout-cat ching- which
proves that we have as much command
Of feature as ever Sir John Chester had
Happy was no name for it. This is about
! how he described his trip:
"Say, boys, let's go in and see Billy,
and drink the health Of the greatest
country on earth outside Of old Kentucky
why, / wouldn't have missed that TRIP
for farm if did get wet clear thru
froze almost to death, and in fact got
4 so numb that even a quart of McBraye1
4 wouldn't warm me up so that could work
4 my reel, and 4 actually had to lay the
4 rod aside and use a clothes line. II
hadn't I'd never have taken these four
trout, for lost half dozen little spotted
pickerel on the rod before I gave it up
Fingers so cold I couldn't reel 'en in be-
fore they would wriggle off the hook.
land say! You can see a circus right
here, and not go ten miles from town
can't you? Bill took me ashore and tt
an old camp to thaw out after I had the
four big fellows, and after he built a fire
and left me warming up while he went
after more wood, a big black bear walked
into the camp just as easy as if he owned
it. Maybe he did, but I didn't stop tt
argue the question with him. lit on,