Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-05-02
. HARD-WON VICTORY

simply ached TO get away 10 the woods and
the brooks. Tie iirst night Of real fshing
weather, and II was just such a night az
this, ! got out ny Tickle, and before the lazy
fire III my library went through 1t al, Just
as ! do every year. Every old bedraggled fly,
each yasd 81 frayed line, the reels and the
springy rods brought back memories Of splen-
did days on the brooks, and ] planned an
carly visit 70 the singing squawklli. But
business went wrong, and ! mad a grind
Of it. 1t was not until the last Of August
that / could 20 after the trout, and the sea
son is pretty late then, you know. had
never missed spring fishing before IN IL
years.
II vent up TO my country cousins farm,
beyond the Adirondacks. That's where the
Squawkill is. you know. Jim met me at the
station, and as we drove out TO the farm ne
told me Of the fish that had been creeled
during the season. Now there's four half
FOUNDERS and an old fellow that will go near
two pounds lying in the pool beneath Simp.
sons road bridge. 1 have tried, and Joe
Reed and two city fellows haze tried, to
hook them, but we could not YET even a
rise. / reckon I've spent more than three
whole days after that big fellow, and I've
given him up. See what you can do; ITS
4 ABOUT YOuT only tIdutS diDbid VIZ
"Nhen we reached the farm ! tramped
across the meadow in front of the house to
the bridge on Simpkin's road. ] was in a
hurry to catch a glimpse Of those trout. !
crept up to the bridge, and lying fiat IN
the dust peered over the edge and searched
around in the pool for the fish, 1t was tYl-
light, but | could see down in the water for
some distance. / caught sight Of two, and
they were half-pounders. Then found the
big fellow. He was lying close to the stone
pier. Two pounds easily, ] judged, as |
watched him with greedy eyes
"Well, | tried every ny In my book the
text morning. ] took every precaution in cast
ing. not a sound did | make, no shadow Of
mine or the rod fell on the pool. But not a
rise did ! get from any Of the trout that lay
under the bridge. Again that evening I
tried. Grasshoppers and crickets, lively fell
lows, too, didn't prove attractive. fished
through the twilight. played white millers,
a Jenny Lind, and a glittefing minnow skill
fully over the pool. ] even tried a FREELY. |
used every trick | had learned in my IL
years Of fishing. The trout did not rise TO a
single cast. 1t was so the next day and the
next. On the fourth day | did nothing but
lie for several hours at the edge of the
bridge and watch the fish down in the pool
slowly tanning the gravel with their red fins.
That's all they did during about six hours of
silent watching. The next day began to
wonder if they would take a worm. | tried
the lure, both fishing worms and fat white
grubs. No rise. Late that afternoon when
went to the bridge again ! heard the splash
of a rising fish. ! peeked through a crack
quickly and saw the old two-pounder settling
back into his lair with a widening circle Of
ripples above him. What did he rise to? |
wondered. / looked about for evening in
sects. Not a bug was stirring except in
Vulnerable grasshoppers jumping about in
the last mellow rays of the setting sun, |
quickly caught a handful. And as ] caught
them | noticed that several of them were
Of different color and sizes. Perhaps that diff
ference. | thought. might solve the problem
Of the trout's throat. | dropped a big,
fat brown hopper down through a crack in
the bridge floor. It fell just over the trout's
lair and loated on down stream undisturbed-
"The last hopper in my closed fist was
small, brown, notified with black, and had
little wings with red streaks in them. |
dropped him down reluctantly. My eyes
fairly bulged as | saw the great trout leap
after it and spring entirely clear of the wa
.ltis II u lliilt tt hhIiGA NdAh ~ f4N
hiding place | was chasing wildly across
the meadow to get my rod. | found Jim at
the house, and. grabbing rod and creel and
net. yelled Tor him to be in at the death.
He came, and we hurried back 10 the bridge.
Both Of us then began a grasshopper chase
that would have put an entomologist to
shame. After catching about a dozen of
every kind but the one wanted. Jim got hold
of the mate to the one swallowed so eagerly
a few minutes before. | strung the finest
leader | had and my smallest Aberdeen. |
put on the hopper with great care. Then |
gave Jim instructions. and we crept up to
the bridge. | stood back two PAGES from
the edge of the pool. Jim took the baited
hook in his hand and crawled onto the bridge.
! was going to take no chance with a danger
warning cast. Stealthily the squirming bait
was dropped over the upstream edge of the
bridge. | gave line, and the lure foated
down with the gentle swirl of the current.
A tense moment Of expectancy, and then
came a vicious strike. A turn of the wrist,
and | had the hook fast in him. / shouted,
and so did Jim.
"At the first prick Of the steel away he.
went. down TO the pool, down into the
rifles at racing speed, carrying half the line
out before / could put the drag on. stepped
up to the pool to be ready for the fight.
As the big trout felt the strain he turned
and came back more furiously than he had
gone down. Frantically ! reeled in, trying
to take up the slack that his swiftness had
won for him. Clear up the pool he rushed,
among the rocks at its head. There he
stopped and ] had the line taut once more.
He sulked and hung on the line as a dead
weight. All the strain that the tackle would
stand ] put on him. For a moment, for ten.
he stood it., and then down he came. Now
to this side, now to that, he rushed, shaking
himself iereely. The silken line sang with
the strain. the silver leader Missed through
the water: the %four-ounce rod was a circle
always Twice the big trout, striving for
freedom. leaped in splendid circles above the
water. What fish he wasl
HE rushed for the hole beneath the
pier, and it took my supremest skill and the
uttermost strain on the line to stop him. He
fought around the pool madly. The water
was streaked in white with his rushes. Jim
shouted and ] trembled. Then his fierce
ness gave way TO the sulks and he dropped
down to the lowest depths. kent the strain