Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-03-28
KING OF SUN FISHERMEN
LIVES At BLACKNOOD.

John Keith, veteran of the Civil Wal
who lives on the road to Woodbury. ! mile
from BIackwood is the king of sun fisher
men. This man caught no less than 5000
sun fish last year and 5000 more catfish,
bass, eels and reaches. AS an angler for
small fish Keith has no equal.
This disciple Of s'Isaak Walton" is not
market fisherman, nor does he fish with a
net. Every sparkler be takes from the wat
ers of Blackwood lake and the mill race be-
low it comes at the end of his linen line,
and it is the excitement Of the sport that
giyes il attraction for him. I like best to
fish with pole, ''he says 4 like to feel the
little fellows flap at the end of hook. L
makes my old right arm fairly quiYer with
excitement. All, it is sport! Some people
like golf for recreation, but even though |
am Scotch, give me fishing for my sport"
It's with this spirit that John Keith fish
es. In May, last year, when the fish were
biting poorly he caught 975 sunfish, and ne
didn't fish every day. He put ashingle on
his chicken house and every day he would
mark up his catch. 81 was going to keep
nv record for the summer he said, "but
nv son Frank whitewashed the hen house
and the shingle with it,so didn't keep ex-
act count any more. /"
When asked to tell Of his fishing exploits
Mr.. Keith said on Monday, NOW. you think
every fisherman that tells a good yarn is
liar, don's you? Well, according to the
dealings I've had with some OF 'enI you got
right to. Bat all / shall tell you is the
truth. I don't have to lie about my fishin'.
yesterday / caught twelve catfish
come into the kitchen, guess they haven't
been cooked yet. In pan of water nicely
cleaned, we're a dozen good sized catfish.
that would make most tempting meal :.
II thought that by Sunday the catties
would be ont of the mud SO | went out to
q new fisaln hole yesterday morning deter
mined not to quit until had dozen. !
hadn't fiahed in that place before, but !
knew from its looks that 1t was good hole
for the catties 20 be in. went out at six
O'clock in the morning and at ten had my
string. could have caught more, but l
had my mess, so I quit.
IT fish all the year round. I've been hV-
ING here at Blaekwood for four years this
Easter and during that time have missed
but very few days. In the summer and
spring and fall / go cut regularly at SIX
o'clock and quit when the ten O'Clock train
bows at the curve nigh to the station On,
Of course, when I've got fellow along with
me / fish until get tired, but that amt
often. can get enough in that time to
satisfy me. all right.
ssI had fine fishing up until the second OF
February this winter. The winter you re-
member was great till then and there wasn't
enough ice TO bother >me. / keep fishing
until the ice gets so thick that Ican't break
il with nv heel. and the hole back Of the
flood gate freezes over. When the ice gets
so thick have to chop it then quit, for to
use an ak frightens the fish, and if yon cut
the hole you don't have any more sport
then rest bit and wait for thaw to set in-
II find the best fishing at the head of the
nond. and in the run behind the dam.
caught 135 sunnies one dag in the pond, but
the most ever caught was day when
there was young food on. A colored man
and / caught $50 then and they were SC
heavy that the man could mt carry them
We put them on two strings, threw them
over fence rail and carried them homs
that way, the p3le on each Of our shoulders
have garden that takes my time wher
I'm not fishing. When get that hoed
about right go down the race after catfish
or river suckers.
II always fish with small hook ,snooded
and use angle worms for bait. I like ths
kind you git ont Of rich loam the best
though cus worms are fine in the spring
The sunnies grab lem almost before they
get to the water
In reply to q question as to whether b.
ever caught bass, Mr.. Keith said, 'Yes,
get one occasionally, but not often. Las
summer in tbe afternoon / dropped my lint
oyer from Wileox's Bungalow and some
thing hit her like sixty. ] knew it wa
something big and that if didn't play il j
would break my hook. played It nice TO
about fifteen minutes and then the fish go
tired out and i pulled in my pole, got
hold Of the line and drew him carefully in
4 couple Of City sports we're fshin' in
boat and they came over to see what had
what are you going to do with that fish
grand pop2 said one. Would you be will
ing to sell it9
II said I'd sell anything ! had and aske'
him what it was worth. The fish was
daisy and weighed almost pounds.
Il have half dollar IN my pocket, say