Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-09

T; Ringgold Hart is a fisherman. Some
people hide the results of their piscatoral
efforts and then tell of the big ones or
/ horses" as Patrick Riordan calls them.
that they catch But Hart has wit
nesses." Charlie Porter says. land the
perch he caught Wednesday, probably the
/ largest fish of its kind taken from the
upper river this season. actually weighed
one and quarter pounds after 1t had
been out Of the water several hours.
Anybody can catch the "grass-comb
ers," Hart asserts. All that is necessary
to catch the small fish Is to bait your
! hooks and fish from the shore but when
the big fish are wanted it is usually nee
essary to go to deep water.
Charlie Porter is an old hand at fishing.
/ according to his friends. and usually he
| has splendid luck. Ringgold Hart has
| been a sportsman in that particular line
| only for year or two, and he also is re-
sarded being lucky with rod and line
It's big fish OF nothing" Hart said
when he entered a boat at Fletcher's
| Wednesday afternoon and took charge of
! the oars. Anchoring the boat in the
swift water. Hart soon had his line over
| tive crab bait
| I've got the bottom of the river" said
| Hart. Juggling away at his line.
1t developed that the lead was fast in
the rocks and it became necessary for
| him to break the line from the lead
Thank fortune" sighed the angler
when he saw the big fish come to the
surface, "the hook was above the sinker. =
| The two sportsmen We're able to exhibit
a string of large fish when they left
| the number.
| Edward O. Craig. who is one of the
most enthusiastic sportsmen on the river
and Who probably is better equipped for
fishing than any of the others. has caught
three rocktish this season. Other anglers
have tried their hest to land such fish.
but reports have it that Craig is the only
one who has been successful.
The first OF the three fish was caught
| April TO- off the Schoolhouse, place
familiar to fishermen. 1t weighed four
and one-half pounds and was caught with
bloodworm bait.
When Craig landed the big fish he
hoped he would be able to repeat the
catch. but no more rockfish came his
way that day. and it was not until last
Sunday that he caught another.
Il And at the same place. he remarked,
but it was not big one
He has caught several strings Of large
white perch this season.
| The big ones have not been so plenti-
full. however, he remarked Usually
when they come they are numerous but
this season they have not been caught
| in large numbers
Mr.. Craig says he thinks rockfsh will
be more plentiful about the middle of
May.
Fishermen who were on the Eastern
branch few days ago, when blasting
was in operation at the Benning power
T.
Company, did not need hooks and lines
and expensive soft crab bait in order to
get strings of fish.
Dynamite used in the river It is stated,
invariably kills or stuns thousands of
fish, and the explosive used in the work
of deepening the channel near the power
house at Benning was not an exception
to the rule.
AS soon as it became known that the
explosive was to be used, 1t is stated
many who do their fishing in that section
hurried to the vicinity of the bridge and
waited for the fun to start.
And 1t certainly was fun. commented
Joe Baur THE mud and water were
thrown high into the air, and as soon as
the noise Of the explosion was heard
men and boys in boats hastened to
gather in the fish,
Many carp and catfish and few
perch were collected after each explo-
sion. The use Of explosives for the pur-
pose of killing fish. it is stated, is IN
lawful.
! A drowning accident last Sunday near
Bush Stand cove marred the pleasure OF
scores of anglers who were on the river
fishing for perch. The bright and pleas
ant weather early Sunday morning at
} tracted a larger number of fishermen
than usual, and as early as s o'clock
practically every boat about the river
front had been hired and there was not
| a TO he
Last Sundays experience" said one of
the fortunate anglers. gave many of the
sportsmen an idea Of the necessity for
making provision for boats and bait ahead
of time
Many succeeded in landing long strings
of fish Sunday, while others experienced
no luck and had to go home without fish
enough to make a showing. A number of
good catches of perch were made
Very few Mississippi catfish were caught
last Sunday. it is stated. and most of the
variety that were caught were taken from
the canal or feeder. 1t is the experience
of experts that very few large catfish are
caught while the heavy run of perch is
here.
Charlie Simons and Tommy Wright
were among the most successful perch
fishermen on the river last Sunday. They
| were at the game early enough to catch
a good tide, they said, and they remained
on the job as long as the biting kept up.
Tommy Wright always was lucky"
commented Mack Sparrough. ''If he's on
the river and is not catching fish the
other fellow may well wrap up his
belongings and beat it homeward.
The two successful anglers landed about
$50 perch. Wright had such good luck
Sunday that Wednesday afternoon he re-
turned to the river alone and caught a
string of $50 fish. Many OF them were
large enough to command fair price If
offered for sale.
Mack Sparrough admits that the past
the fishing line.
ermen all about me caught plenty of
perch. and had just as good bait as the
others, but the fish would not come my
way. 1 managed to get about three dozen
by fishing all day Sunday.
| Dr. Randall Parsons and Warren Reed,
fishing only short distance from Spar
rough. caught string of more than one
hundred perch.
DIR. Parsons always was a lucky fish
erman." Sparrough says.
/ Joe Banr is entertaining his fishing
friends with story of the catch of the
biggest turtle that was ever caught in
nearby waters.
II didn't see the TURTLE he admits,
"but I have the word Of others for it.
and was told that VIII Meyers had a
hand getting it ashore
| The turtle was found by a small boy