The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-08-09


of which swim some of the finest varie-
ties of fish that were served on any table.
During the short time in the summer
when the water in Neuse river IS clear
there are large qantities of fish caught
and some of the finest to be seen any
where.
Throughout this section there are a num-
Der of mill ponds in which there are large
numbers of club, jack fish and perch,
the three leading varieties known to this
section. 1t is agreed by everybody that
they are the best that the country af-
fords. No fish brings as much money as
the river robin, which is undoubtedly the
finest specimen that ever moved a fin in
the water.
The largest variety of fish that inhabit
the waters hereabouts is the German
carp. They are very destructive to the
life and multiplicity of all other varie-
ties. They devour the eggs. DR. H. P.
Chngman is the champion carp fisherman
of this section, having caught two in
Neuse river some time ago weighing 10
and q pounds. Among The rarest speci-
mems of fish to be found in this section
are the raccoon perch and the red fin
pike The raccoon perch are very rare
indeed They are somewhat dark with
golden stripes and have reddish fins. The
red fin pike are of slender shape and very
active in the water. Mayor Larry Bass,
who has probably caught more fish than
any one else in this section, says that a
pike can jump three feet out of the water
and go through a quarter of an inch auger
hole.
Numbers of people in this city are ia
nliliar with the habits of one old fisher
man who has long since laid aside his
fishing tackle and gone to his reward
He was Familiarity known as ''Uncle Dick
Harrison. He occasionally INDUCED in his
favorite sport on Sunday and one or two
occasions had some thrilling experiences.
One Sunday while he was comfortably
seated on the river bank and the perch
were biting very nicely-they say the fish
bite better on Sunday than any other day
"a peculiar sound reached his ears which
resembled the believing Of bull. At
first the believing was very low and
seemed to come from behind him. While
he was peering through the bushes the
noise increased in volume until it seemed
to come from the bowels OF the earth I'M
der his feet, as he told it himself. In
his frenzy he jumped into the river and
exclaimed: "Ill be id if the Gevil amt
got me this time" He swan across the
river and came on to town with his
clothes dripping water and out \of brath.
People told him that the noise he heard
was possibly a bull snake, but the old
man died a few years ago carrying with
him to his last day the impression that
The devil was after him for fishing on
do, ha fria lItaly in
on the Sabbath.
In his day and time Mr.. Richard Brown,
the father of George, Charley. John and
Emmett Brown, who are all printers and
working at their trade in this city, was
the acknowledged leader OF the sport in
this section. ON one occasion Mr.. Med.
Pate, prominent citizen of Greene coun-
ty. came to visit Mr. Brown and as they
would not have an opportunity to go
fishing during the week they pulled out
for the river on Sunday. They sat down
OH the bank and baited their hooks and
set their poles with the ends sticking in
the bank as is the usual custom when
fishing in the river. They had a half
dozen poles set when suddenly every pole
pulled loose from the bank with terrific
force and shot out into the middle of the
river. This was too much for Mr.. Pate,
who turned to Mr. Brown and said:
"Dick, you can stay here if you want to,
but I'll be id if ! amt going to leave"
They both ran all the way to town.
Here are some opinions of our citizens:
MR. ARNOLD BORDEN, of this city:
81 consider the black bass yellow breast
perch, blue brem perch, river robin,
chinquapin perch, and sWarmouth perch
the best fish to be found anywhere. All
the varieties named are to be found IN
fresh water streams of Eastern North
Carolina
MR.. j. w. ISLER, of the firm of J. w.
Isler & Co., says when l want to catch
fish l go where the fish are and 1 know
of no better place than Morehead City.
You can talk about your Florida fishing,
but do not believe there is a place on the
face of the earth than can beat Morehead
City, either in the quantity or the quality
of fish. The finest varieties to be found
there are the Spanish Mackerel and Blue
Fish! the Sheepshead and Grey Trout, all
of which can be caught with hook and
line The Mackerel and Blue Fish are
caught while trolling which IS fine sport,
and the Sheepshead and Trout are caught
still fishing. as they call it. On one of
my trips last summer l caught 400 Trout
in four and a half hours. If had wanted
to | could have sold the lot for SIS, from
which you can see that fishing is both
a profit and a pleasure. The last time l
went to Morehead 1 caught four boxes
of fish in four days, which would have paid
my expenses and left neat little balance
if 1 had wished to dispose of them. I
boxed them up in ice and sent them home
and to my friends"
CAPT. ]. w. LAMB, OF this city Is OF
the opinion that the river Robin is the
finest fish that swims. He says: Next
comes the Blue Brem AMI the Chinquapin
Perch and the White Club, which is called
Trout in some sections of the State. There
are any quantities of these varieties in
Rock Fish creek and Northeast river.
go down there about twice year and
bring back all / want for myself and my
friends Messrs. w. F. English and ].
A. Westbrook. of Mt. Olive, and went
to Northeast river about two years ago
and caught over three hundred perch one
afternoon. 1t is the greatest sport on
earth to catch those large perch and they
are the earnest fish that SWIM
g, mt