The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1903-07-17
sPEARING REDH0RSE.
a Gxeistsg Rtses sport That Csos
sSsss IN Part ~ Tusbss"s
Overheard fressessiy-

Many bright northern rivers contain
Thousands Of the queer fish known far
aud near A. the redhorse. II IL easy TO
see where the red part OF the name
comes from, as the fsh has carmlne
fins and iinges Of scarlet along the
sides. but WHY horse. nobody knows
says the New York sun.
The redhorse il of no good 10 the
angler. II Is willing enough TO cav
but nature In placed its mouth under
its head. IL is small mouth for SO
large a fish. aud it gets its food by sue
ton. just as the buffalo and other fresh
water members Of the sucker family
GET theirs. The redhorse could De
taken by fishing. but IL not worth the
trouble. To men with the spear,
though. the redhorse furnishes consio-
cradle sport.
II is a fish that will weigh from two
10 eight pounds and goes in schools.
liking deep water. IL i not shy OF
boat. attending to little that Is going
on above it while il j. browsing on the
bottom. and il Offers a good mark. IL
is hunted in day light and b, torchiight.
The torch hunting j. the easier.
The spear used j. two-pronged anc
each prong has a barb. To 4 = fas-
tened a long pole. sometimes designed
for ,hruSting sometimes for casting
like a javelin.
The thrusting method Is inartiffic.
but the surer- The man simply Jabs
at his fish and II he hits il hosts II
out. In throwing or casting he must
have a quick eye. be good Judge oil
distance and depth Of water and have
strong arm. lie needs. in fact. a.
much strength as harpoon thrower
and more accuracy.
There il nothing 30 deceptive as
clear water II there j. redhorse
two wards in adNanc. of the boat and
apparently yard deep. il j certain
that the fish is al least five feet under
and the man must aim 10 strike the
water two feet nearer to the boat. In
! other words. lie must aim two feet
under the fish. and II his aim he cor
rect. he will land his quarry.
The depth al which q fsh can be
speared depends upon The weight OF
the spear largely. but xix feet is the
limit The casting spear j. MADE ger
orally so that the steel head will come
of when IL is fastened 10 the fish or
has gone clear through. a. often hap
pens There il stout string tied TO II
and the other part 81 the string is held
in the spearer's left hand. The dis
engaged pole floats on the water.
There would not be much fun IN
spearing redhorse il a man could make
hits three times in five. but he cannot
center his target oftener than once in
five. and the inexperienced hand may
cast and cast all day and never touch
scale except by accident. II is tho
uncertainty of il that lends IL charm
that and the chance OF falling over
board. which is good.
The taking Of redhorse 10 merely ,
matter of Workmanship. and the oh
feet OF IL IL 10 see whether or not /,
man can keep his footing. throw
spear hard and straight and still keel
his footing. The redhorse is not yer,
good TO eat. being bony and Of coars'
flesh that tastes. as Thoreau said q
the club. like brown paper boiled"
There are thousands of them. though
and man may get good exercise cast
ing and retrieving his spear for tel
hours at stretch. He will likely &c
many more baths than he expected
as well a. fewer fiji.