Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1910-07-29

Of fishing as an inducement for people
to come here. but the experiences OF the
local fishermen in the past few weeks
has proved cunclusively that fishing Is
destined to be one of the big attractions
u the years TO come. The wise fishermen
have said al along that in a few years,
after the fish mad had an opportunity To
adjust themselves to the new conditions,
there would be good sport here but no
one mad any idea that it would become
so good in 50 short time. Good catches
Of black bass and pike are being made
.u the river almost daily and some of
the fish are of remarkable size. There
IS no doubt that in a few years the Con
...,icut river near Brattleboro will afford
as L0od angling as is to be found in ans
eastern waters. The best thing about
prospect is that the lake is so large
and the conditions are so varied that no
amount of fishing will reduce the supply
i the sport continues to be governed by
tie present wise laws and restrictions.
The record breaking specimen thus far
VS. brought into BrattleborO FRIDAY
morning by Arthur johnson of Brattle-
h0l0 and Wesley Miller of Cambridge,
who is visiting at Mrs. Julia r. Miller's
il was a wall-eyed pike measuring 3S
inches from nose TO tail and weighing
jus, II pounds. The accompanying illustra-
tom gives fair indication Of the pro-
portions Of the fish. but its ponderous size
can only be realized fully by those who
$50 It, 1t was on exhibition in the win
dow of H. NJ Woods sporting goods
store. where it was seen and discussed
ur probably more than 1000 persons.
$ me of the comments were rather anus
.- one woman informed her friends
'..t she did not want to go up the river
+. "a boat hereafter; she believed 1t was
dangerous with such creatures swimming
...ut in the water. Whether the magin-
.H danger was that the boat might be
upset or that the propeller might be
we'd off she did not say. Very few
med the fish correctly, many persons
. sting that it must be a salt water
.-. because Of its size Naturally the
store was besieged with questions and
'.. story Of its capture was rctold again
again. In order to put the big hsh
record in a definite way Mr.. Wood
De a photograph Of it. The girl IS
ra Wilder. daughter of Mr.. and Mrs
I.p A. Wilder. She had no connection
ID the capture of the big fish, but she
Was induced to pose for purposes OF
mparisOn.
The capture Of the pike was not as
..usational as some fishermen supposed.
rh4 two boys were rowing along
t.e river in the boat near the cold spring
about four miles north of Bratteboro'
.ner having out long line with a
soon hook behind the boat He got
70 strike and from the mighty tug which
was given TO the line he knew that IL
must be a big fish. He shouted some
thing about getting hold of a big one
and Mr.. Johnson dropped the oars, grab
bed the line and snaked the pike In
land over hand by main strength. the
1sh was a lively proposition for Few
seconds after ii was landed inside the
boat, but it was killed quickly. SUCH a
method of capture may not be as inter-
csting as a long. fight with light tackle
but 1t is the way that the big hsh are be
gg caught The spoon hook is being USED
by most of the fishermen, but within the
past week there has been more general
acceptance of an artificial minnow as
the best lure. Trolling at the proper
line of day, early in the morning or
toward night, is almost sure TO prlns
results and every day more and more
fishermen are trying it. The river fishing
is Just like any other fishing; now and
then a carless and unobservant fisherman
will get a big fish or a big string, but for
the most part ii is the man who knows
The haunts and habits and uses the
most skill in handling his tackle who
win bring In the good catches.
Tho wall-eyed pike is a native of the
Connecticut river as ii is OF most other
large eastern streams. It's principal hab-
itat is the great lakes where 1t grows 10
a large size. In the eastern rivers II
attans a size of five or six pounds, but
it rarely goes above that point Pike
Of that size have been caught OCCASION
ally in the river for years past and
smaller ones have been fairly common
While it is not probable that the enor-
nous fish caught by Mr.. Johnson grew
TO his great size since the dam was com
pleted there is no doubt that with the
abundant food which pike will have under
tho stil water conditions many will grow
20 that size and even larger. In the greai
lakes wall-eyed pike weighing 20 pounds
are caught frequently. The hsh mas
been recognized by the government a.
one Of the most important food and GAM
fishes in the country 1t has been propa
gated artihcially in the government hatch
cries many years, the record In one
recent year being 50, 100000 eggs and rrN
sent out from one hatchery. 1t is very
prolific a two-pound fish laying abou
$4,000 eggs and the number of eggs In
creasing to at least 100000 from the larg'