Omaha daily bee., 1910-05-01
IN DAYS OF The BULLHEADS
One Spot that Science Has Not Yet
Improved.
STILL THE DELIGHT OF SMALL BOY
Day Dream of GrOwnup Who
Recalls the sport of HIS
Younger Years I'm All Its
Branches.

Some sing the glories Of the split bamboo
And sigh for Raudy flies to do the trick.
Well. let EN- have their speckeled beauties
But leave to me the plebean bullhead in
the crick
-Rubaiyat Of the Small Boy
Science has been improving most every
thing from our boyhood days but the fish
ing" remarked Harry Reed, throwing
down a blue print full OF cute little num-
bers and city lot lines IT'S all right,
suppose, TO load up with this new tangled
tackle flies and wooden minnows and
reels and slnkless floats and snagless lines
and weedless hooks, and go up into the
big lakes and cold streams OF the north
after the festive and frolcsome trout
but say, on the square, that kind Of sport
isn't II with the fishin' we kids used to
do out on the Papio and round the Mis-
souri, river sloughs,"
The real estate man shifted the spring
breeze that came In across the DISK full Of
fluttering papers.
Bet the bulheads are biting fine to-
day.
"'Bullhead fishing, you know, used to
begin Just as soon as the ice got off the
creeks Fancy tackle wasn't necessary,
either The bull-pout is not what one would
call a real particular sort Of fish. He will
bite at anything that gets in his way
bull-headed beast, he is. have tried TO
figure out today what was the most fun
getting the tackle ready, whittlin out bob
bers and making sinkers and rigging up the
lines, or the catching OF the fish.
That was in the days Of the simple life,
before some fool scientist-philosophe put
a label on it,"
Just a Day Dream.
II was but bit Of day dream from the
busy real estate dealer. A little journey
that he took into memory, the like OF
which most any OF the seSiate grown-ups
who in serious guise are hiding boyish
hearts under a cloak of gravity, might
take It was way back yonder maybe a
good many years ago, but the chances are
that you remembered 1t the day you saw
that first dandelion in the lawn. Bullhead
fishing is really part OF boyhood's own.
All winter the long cane poles had hung
on nails on the wall Of the barn. Likely
enough the tips were bent or broken from
previous service, but this was easily
remedied by cutting off a section close to
joint. coarse bit Of line wound several
times about the tip Of the pole and with
a spare length carried well down toward
the butt in case an old sockdolager should
break the tip, good sized hook and a cork
float completed the outfit.
Most boys had several poles which,
when in action were set in the bank, their
owner sitting back at ease watching for
the telltale movement OF the floats that
telegraphed the news OF a nibble Re-
member how you would slide stealthily
down the bank and bend over the pole
waiting for the float to bob clear under
before giving the mighty jerk that some
times tore the hook out OF the fish's mouth
or drove It so far into the horny jaw that
a surgical operation with jack knife was
necessary to remove 1t.
Matter of the Back Fin.
Bullheads as you remember, carry a
spikelike fin on their backs. It Is dis
gused to look like innocent feeler,
but inflicts painful wound when grasped
unskllfully. The boy usually had sore
hands as a consequence of graphing with
that back fin-too sore to be used in spad-,
ing the garden, but still useful for digging
worms. Father some times commented
on this phenomenon remarlIing that II
you would only dig worms progressively
instead of combining yourself to likely
spots the garden would get spaded after
all
OF course you could fish daytimes and
did put in most of the time after school
watching that Fascinating cork float. Your
trousers got fearfully muddy during those
quick slides down the bank to attend to
net pole, but you brought home a great
appetite and mothers chiding was molli-
led after watching you eat. The best
fishing, however was at night and it was
with a keen sense OF adventure that you
Onswered Bilrs whistle and set off, pole
vi shoulder. right after supper
II you were a very lucky small boy you
had a punt in which to make the trip up
he creek to the fishing hole The punt
vas fitted with oars, and with Bill rowing
and you steering and now and then giving
4 shove with the steering paddle you could
make pretty good time.
But If you were a real boy you seldom
adopted this practical metod Of propulsion.
No indeed. What you and Bill did was
each to take paddle and, pretending that
you were Misunderstanding and Uncas. keep
20 the dark shadows and let on that d
swift and hostile canoe was in close pur-
suit.
ny the Fishing Fin.
The pretence was kept up until you
sighted the fires on the bank by the fish
'ng hole and answered the shouts OF Jim
and Hank and the rest. Then you be-
came your own selves again, and droppine
the laconic fashion OF speech that had char
acterized Leatherstocking and Uncas
Joined in the noisy wTangle over favorit,
places on the bank protesting agains
crowding neghbors. OF course you helC
that It was a mean trick for another o.
the fellows to come over and throw IL
right across your line after you had hat
two or three big bites but when the fish
seemed 10 have deserted your line for
rivafs you were just as certain to NOV
over and try to steal somebody else's luck
The noise that you and the others mad
would have frightened any fish excep
the phlegmatic bullhead. Nothing SCENE,
TO bother him when he wanted to bit
and the only precaution observed wa
not 70 let any OF the bait-stealing sunfish
which you hooked when they were larg
enough. get back into the water again
You despsed the sunfish. but you had
theory that II you put a fish back h
would tell the other fish, and so YOU haI
no pity for the little fellows that ought L
have known anyway that you were fshin
exclusively for bullheads
II you were lucky and hadn't wasted to-
much time changing places or squablint
over tangled lines when some other fellow
threw across your float you had maybe