The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-09
BIRMINGHAM MAN TELLS
 OF HIS TROUT FISHING
BY FRANK Nj. PlTTMAN.

1 But We went steadily ahead one mile. mile and a half, two miles, and there anchored. The northeastern had driven l sailing craft in shore for protection, and | they had gone inside the bay. We were out of range of steamers so the fog meant | little danger unless one looked for it. | At intervals furry on either side and a six or seven-foot monster would fling half I its length out of the water. One might be | inclined to wonder what would happen if such a saw-head should upheave under the | boat, and as to prospects, of swimming ashore with the tide dead against him, | two niles of water between, and hungry shark beneath. Perhaps not large enough were they to do more than bite off half a l foot, but then what fisherman wants to | be clubbed by a shark?
 What foolish fellow would think of dan ger? Eight fathoms down those beautiful, | tinted trout are waiting as eagerly as the shark-trout of such build and strength as not to turn tail and fleet instantly from | this their enemy.
 A three-quarter pound lead that bobs merrily along the sandy ocean bed, a l line with strands so close akin that you cannot twist them apart a line. indeed, | that would hold a monster weight of angry. tugging. scaly bone and muscle. | It was off rapidly through my fingers. l and l am a little ahead of my partner, who has not got the anchor set to suit l him. He has just thrown his lead out. l and it Is floating with the swift tide, l down toward my own when my fingers | suddenly feel the electric-ike thrill, which 1. runs up the arm, and energ1zes the | whole body as the cord pulls taught. l Rapidly, hand over hand, ! pull in the l line. He sweeps around the water in circles. winds himself in my partner s l line and besides having swallowed the hook wraps himself securely in the cord, proving himself finally a three-foot shark with ugly looking teeth.
 | A final upward fling lands him in the bottom of the boat sharp knife stroke l in the back of his neck squirt of crim- son. which splotehes our clothes. and he is flung overboard to become food for those of the finny tribe upon whom he | has preyed.
 Our disentangled lines go down simulta- l neously, and before the other has reach ed bottom my companion has strike. A moment later five pound sea trout | breaks the surface, with meat as i tender and sweet as any fresh water speckled beauty. In less than ten minutes | he has another trout and three hard heads" Then 1 get swift signal and 1 feel weight and tug that spells shark" again. 1 have only caught two skates to be flung overheard.
 | Now 1 pull as fast as the line will
 
 pound trout swings in at my feet l fol- low 1t with an eight pounder, another of l six, and then the shark besiege my bait. 1 In the bow of the boat the frill of flop ping tails is growing rapidly larger. ] Then l get two nine and one half-pound- | CTS, and the fun continues. It is not ! easy The tide Is in full force, we only l have hard crabs left. and if fish touches the bait 1t is gone. We start l them up time after time and a slack line and a frown tells they have made good their escape When the bait gave out We had 225 pounds of trout, and seventy 1 five pounds hard heads" The little boat was rocking under its six hundred and | over pounds of freight, and it was doubt ful if we could ride the breakers and lose no fish: but that expert coast guards man knew when to go in, and he brought
 Jack looked at his 150 pounds and then
 Thus luck was with us day after day.
 until crabs got So scarce they could not be bought No shrimp were to be had
 At o'clock one evening we gloomily | thought of the dull tomorrow.
 The professor c,-ne along with a basket of crab. The professor lived alone in a small cottage down the beach during the summer months. He was always going
 grabbing and he scarcely ever had any
 He had not been on the ocean. but this
 evening he stopped and asked us to take him.
 soon showed up and we were of. The
 at the crabs-"peelers" every one. Come by o'clock" he said.
 The professor lo oked glad. wondered
 II the waves dancing up and down
 against the boat would make him think
 ne had to swallow whole one. had
 never been sea s'ck the first time. For fear the professor might read late