St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-06

fish, he sees directly beneath him under
the bank the brilliant side of a large
trout. Slowly and carefully he lowers
his arm until his hand is under the water
by the side of the fish. Then he stealth.
lily closes his fingers SO that the tips just
touch the belly of the fish. The fish
quivers at the touch and darts swiftly
across the pool. The angler remains i'm
movable, with his fingers in the water
bent as if the fish were still there. Quick
err than it takes to tell it. the fish returns
20 the same spot over the fingers, and
| remains for few seconds to be stroked
and then dashes under the stump. The
narrator of this story is positive he was
tickling the famous trout of the pool,
and that it then weighed about a pound
and half. His brother fishermen who
have had their hooks snagged by the
famous fish of the Eddy all aver that
their fish weighed anywhere from two to
| five pounds.
1t is hoped that my readers will not
view the tickling episode as an mag
| mary fish story, for the experience is not
an unusual one; and the writer knows of
gentleman who caught creel full of a
species of trout called Dolly Warden by
| first tickling them with his fingers and
| then closing his hand on them. How
| ever, the orphan was not destined to be
| tickled to death
| Most of the village anglers and not a
| few summer visitors from the city let
their favorite bait drift with the current
| down through the hole by the stump or
cast their flies over it.
The village blacksmith, who always
uses for bait one of those queer little fish
called chuckleheads when after big trout,
has tried for the orphan many times and
| failed.
| Another angler, lantern in hand, steals
softly around the garden at night, seek
| ing dew-worms or ght-walkers-a
great fsh-worm which comes out after
| the dew has fallen and stretches himself
| over the ground. always keeping his tail
in his hole and disappearing quickly at
| the least jar. Although he skilfully
| places the largest one on the hook by the
collar and bangles it full length in the
| pool, the orphan is not deceived by it in
| the least.
Then the boy with a tempting. live
| grasshopper or cricket on his hook
starts it sailing upon chip. and when
the chip reaches the right place, makes
| it tumble off as naturally as if it had
| just hoped into the water; but he, too,
is failure.
| The orphan seems to understand that
hook is hidden in each bait. He plays
with the chucklehead, bites off the head
| of the cricket and the dangling end of
the dew-worm. Many times the bare
hook is drawn up when the angler never
knew he had a bite. At other times he
feels a tremendous jerk and the next
moment he is trying to untangle the line
| home.
| The one who drops a young, wrig-
| Cling field mouse over tie pool by moon
light cannot tell what happened; there
is one big tug and then he finds his line
hooked in neighboring tree, so excited
| " does he pull in hopes of landing the
big fish. After this he gives it up in dis
gust, as do many others, who go far up
the stream where fish are more plentiful,
if not so large and famous.
| The village doctor, who always carries
fishing rod under the seat of his buggy
and book of flies in his pocket, is not so
the country over, not only for his skill in
the sick room, but also as fisherman.
| It is common talk among the loungers
| at the store that the doctor can cast
| fly sixty or more feet and put it into
silk hat every time. He does not have
much time to go fishing, but in his long
| rides about the country, if about sunset
or just before sunrise he chances to be
near a trout stream, he usually bitches
/ LIS nOLS Sc AL1lOCAS AO0 anu 1udhCS
| a few casts over some favorite pool, with
| every part of which he has become IA
miliar. Thus it happens that, upon
coming back from the bedside of a very
| sick patient, early dawn finds him on the
meadow road, and glimmer of water
| in distant pool tells him that the light
is just right to try the famous trout.
| With rod in hand he stea1thi1y creeps
TO the brook. some distance above the
pool, puts his leader in soak, and then
| selects white fly suited to the dim light
ROD together he carefully adjusts his
| leader to the line, the fly to the leader,
| and makes a few short casts. Then,
| measuring the distance carefully with
| his eye, with a longer cast his fly drops
| lightly over the center of the pool. At
| the instant the fly touches the water the
| trout jumps for it. He does not turn
| somersault. as small trout do, but big
head with open mouth appears just
above the surface, the mouth closes, the
| doctor gives short, quick jerk and is on
| his feet in an instant.
| Then follows battle royal. The ia
nous trout is fairly hooked, and in spite
| of ali his efforts is unable to reach his
| favorite refuge under the roots. On the
other hand, the doctor finds it hard to
reel in any of the line, and his slender rod
is bent nearly double. His nerves thrill
| with delight as the enormous trout
jumps entirely out of the water and
shakes himself violently in his attempts
| to free himself from the hook.
Then the trout makes a rush for rapid
water, where the current helps him in his
resistance, and the reel fairly sings as the
doctor let's out few feet of line. Upand
down rushes the fish, and coollY the doc
tor walks up and down the bank, now
reeling in a bit of line, now letting it out
again, but always straining his rod to
| what would seem the breaking point,
rather than let the fish reach the snags
under the stump. This is repeated many
times. Through it all there is not
moment that the tension is relaxed, and,