The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-09
COLONEL FIXED
UP A BASS TRAP
BIG CATCH HURDLED SIDE OF
BOAT.
Veteran Fisherman of the North
Arouses Ire of Companions by AL
lowing Five-Pound Fish to Get
Away from Hin-Is a Poor Bog
trotter.

man at don't know he's done lots o. foo
trlcks n him KNOWN they was fool tricks
y ylt doin' ems too big q fool to know any.
thing Philosophy Of Colonel Wheaton.
We intended to have ''noiseless
Fourth" Mr.. Powers and T, and to get
it went some thirty miles up into The
heart OF the Itasca county forest. And
we had it-With notifications, Colonel
wheaton being along-but as we also had
some OF the finest bass fishing to be
found on earth, we had no kick coming
on our return. Or, rather, We did have
one, but forebore using it, as kicking on
the colonel is simply waste of energy.
But that part of the story will develop
later on. The colonel just out-coloneled
himself, but no matter, he is an excep-
zion to all rules that ever were formu-
lated, can do exactly as the spirit moves
him-and knows it,
Well, We started at 8 o'clock in the
morning, reached our camping ground on
the shore of Big Spider lake by 10; had
OUT tent UP, sufficient grass cut to feed
the horses for two days and our dinner
cooked and eaten by noon, and, as the
say was cloudy, with soft south wind
ploWlng, We launched our boat and got
70 nshlng by in the afternoon. The
nshlng IN that lake is superb, and the
pass or great size, it being too far away
and too hard of access for the market
usher or the city fish hog to get at, and
as q general thing the black fighters
bite" about as fast as casts can be
maze. We had agreed to keep nothing
under three pounds weight, as nearly as
we could guess at it, and but a limited
NUMBER OF the big ores and, as we had
no ice TO preserve them, the colonel had
manufactured what he called a Give box''
OUT OF split saplings for the purpose of
keeping our catch alive until we started
IT
tnat the bass are alive yet-but I'm get
ting ahead Of my story
: For some reason the fish were nor in
1eedlng humor that afternoon, and tho we
cast faithfully till o'clock, and again
after supper till dark, we only landed six
teen f1sh OF the required size tho some
OF them were well over four pounds,
surely. ''>''''
We kept them alive as we tool, them
by putting them into gunny sack towed
at the side Of the boat, and at the con-
ciuslon OF the days sport the colonel put
them into his Give box" and we retired
weary put happy in the conviction that
we had the foundation for a string of
pass worth taking home and showing
Tor IN this country it must be a picked
string indeed that men will turn their
heads to look at.
The second day was an ideal one.
Falny-a sort, warm rain-witf just wind
enough to be plenty, and the fish fall
ing over each other to get the bait before
II could strike the water We had risen
ABOUT the time the lark was stretching
out Tor MS last morning nap, being helped
considerably that way by the colonel who
was my bedfellow, getting mixed up with
a dream of single combat with a bear or
something equally fierce and kicking the
mosquito netting out of plumb, thereby
letting In at least a million Of the blood
thirsty insects. which did the Macbeth
act so promptly that early rising was
more or a necessity than virtue.
Ihat day we portrayed into Long lake
another famous bass water, and found the
nshlng really too good. Almost every cast
was followed by a savage strike, and al
the nsh were mostly too small to come
WltInn our agreement, we were putting
pack at least FIVE for every one we kent
here again we used the gunnysack to
hold the fish, and as fast as we cot a.
nice little bunch in 1t the colonel rowed
over to where a leaky old boat was strand
ed, empt1ed the sack, and set off after
more. or course, that rapid work was
rough on frogs. Of which we had started
with large supply, and before the morn
ing was half over We were so nearly out
OF the greenbacks that we had to sus
pend operations and hunt up some more.
10 that end the colonel took us to the
lower end OF the lake, which, from dis
lance looked like g. swampy place such
as The croakers would delight In But 1t
WASN'T. 1t was simply villainous float
ing Dog, which no self-respecting frog
would nave anything to do with, and so we
saw 1t dance and tremble like a mould