Evening star., 1909-06-05

| Little Marian Cornwell, two years old,
put many Of the older anglers in the
shade last week by catching a white
perch. weighing eighteen ounces. in the
| lake at Soldiers Home. That is a place
where only inmates of the institution are
| supposed to try their luck, but the child
| looked at one of the veterans as only a
little one can look, and her pleading
caused the latter to say: "Come. little
sweetheart and catch fish, little think
ing she would break the : ord.
Marian took possession of the line. such
one as is usually seen In the hands of
urchins along the river front. 1t was
homemade affair." but the subsequent ex-
perience of the child proved it was not
lacking in the matter Of enticfng big
fish. She had hold of the line not more
than a minute before the cork went out
| of sight and, becoming excited. she called
| for her mother. who was not IN the
grounds.
"Rut nobody came to respond to her ap-
peals" remarked one 40 of r,n the vsferans; ha an !
an exciting but satisfying time"
| It was the first time little Marian had
ever caught fish and she pointed at 1t IN
| glee. Some of those about her picked her
m gave her rather tight embraces and
| then started her homeward. A few min
utes later she climbed the stairs to the
room where her mother was attending to
her household duties and exhibited her
prize.
Renorts from the vicinity of Harpers
Ferry are more encouraging than they
were a week ago. Two days ago reports
had 1t that the Shenandoah was clear ana
the Potomac was only cloudy, but rains
since then may make difference In con-
ditions. although some anglers have made
arrangements to try their luck In that sec
| tion today.
| or two when rock are to be caught nearer
| homer" asked John Hurley yesterday.
| and John Is regarded as being one or tne
| most enthusiastic anglers In this CITY.
! ''There are. plenty of rock to be caught IN
the Potomac near the Chain bridge and
all that is needed is an angler to go there
and make an effort to catch them 49,,
"Of course added the angler. "
man does not know how to eaten nsn
he will have to get little experience
| John Hurley is one of the few anglers
| In this city who is always able to say:
| '.I can prove It," He has large aqua
rum at his place OF business, business, ana 10 Is sbau av
what he has caught. In his aquarium
he has two bass They are the bass OF
the small-mouthed variety and are Iarse
| enough to be interesting. one or 'hein
| weighs considerably more than SIX
pounds while the other recently tippeo
"The fish were caught and put in there
about a year ago." said the proud pos.
SCISSOR of them. "and they nave ea!ileu
something over a pound during that
time"
| So enthusiastic an angler is Hurley
| that he has not missed many days on
| the river since the white percn appeared
| here in the spring. 1t matters not to him
about the condition of the water. He be-
Iieves he can catch fish In any kind OF
water, and has landed many fine rock
this week, most Of them having been
caught near Chain bridge William Stur-
bitt also an expert angler. usually ac-
| companies him, and 1t seldom happens
that they return home without fish
| enough for their friends and themselves.
| s"The water is rather swift there at this
time Of the year" Hurley remarked yes
terday, land plenty Of lead has to be
used on account of the rocky condition of
the bottom of the river 1t Is necessary
to use a little ingenuity In the matter OF
attaching lead to lines. Three or four
ounce lead sinkers have to be used, ana
| when they are attached to the line with
| strong cotton instead OF being SO Sc
curely fastened to the line 1t is not nee
| eSsary to lose the WhOle oulAt WAen q
snag is struck"
Wednesday Hurley and Sturbitt spent
part of the day on the rocks near CHAIN
bridge and returned home with fourteen
pounds Of rock. getting only ABOUT ten
| pounds the following day.
But" remarked one Of the pair. we
| also picked up enough Mississippi catfish
to give rs a good chowder."
| John Hurley says he witnessed one or
| the happiest scenes OF his life from the
rocks near Chain bridge Thursday. On
| the Virginia side Of the river, he stated,
| were two families-fathers. mothers and
| children-two whole families-who We're
| out for a days fishing. They had their
| little tent spread to protect them from
the rain, and while the older members OF
the families were enjoying a rest the
younger ones were catching perch and
were successful enough to furnish nsh
for fry.
''The sight Of the children catching
fish from the tent and their cries of JOY
over their success" said Mr.. Hurley,
| "were enough to make almost any man
| envy them. and certainly showed 1t was
one o. the best ways to enjoy an outing. ;
Anglers are deploring the fact that the
| season for catching big rockfish near the
head OF tidewater will not last long. es-
pecfally those anglers who have labored
under the belief that such fish cannot be
caught in muddy water. Rock. It is stated,
follow herring, and the herring will prob
ably disappear from this section during
the next two or three weeks.
Anticipating the real opening Of the
| bass season. many anglers were busy
during the past week getting their out
fits ready for trips to the upper Potomac.
having thought the muddy condition Of
the water heretofore rendered such ef-
forts useless. 1t is the experience of
anglers that but few bass are caught
when the water Is muddy or very cloudy
y and they do; mott ca<e1- TO- waste: theiE;