The Washington herald., 1917-07-22

Oh, that river again. 1t has been
- contrary a. q wet hen all the week.
This state Of affairs sant fishermen Of
to nearby salt water fishing grounds,
but the jinx was along Just the
same. About the only place nearby
where fishermen were anyway repaid
for their time and trouble was at
Chesapeake Beach and vicinity.
But this does not mean anything
about crabs. Some fishermen don't con-
slider q crab fsh. They are mostly
accidents or insects, when they come
to associating with real fishermen.
Even they have been scarce. All week
at the beach the crabs were just
where no one wanted them to be.
They have unusually sharp eyes this
year. 'Tis something Of that sort,
Either they see folks coming or they
are on q vacation.
Things are pretty punk when deal
ers at the beach have to send to
Washington for their supply. And that
is Just what has happened numerous
times this season. Small fish have
been plentiful, though, IL one has a
little patience and doesn't mind the
sun. Last Sunday was the worst fish-
ing Sunday in the history Of the
beach. Joe Winters, who has been
to Chesapeake Beach every season
since the railroad started, said 50,
and It must be 90.
But to get back to fresh. water.
This is an unusually rainy July. Most
Of the summer rains that put the
kibosh on the river occur in June.
All week. every day, 1t has rained and
kept the river in q condition that
would make any fisherman lose his re-
lision, II he has any to begin with.
Yet there are some men who will
| nsh anyhow and the weather does
not make . particle OF difference
with them A few Of these old
salts have flshed all week and as Is
| characteristic OF them they caught
something. Catfish were in the lead
and some mighty big ones at that.
Herbert Owens, Of Falls Church, has
flshed several times during the week.
Once he fshed just on the Aqueduct
Bridge and caught eleven cats, none
under two pounds. Other times he
f1shed in the little river and he caught
quite a bunch Of perch, mostly small
ones, but most OF them Just large
enough to fry.
The Chain Bridge fishing grounds,
| II they can be called such, yielded
catfish weighing four pounds and up
ward. This was on Thursday, the
worst day in the week for ordinary
fish. Clifford Kerr spent all OF Thurs
day there and returned home with
fourteen fine specimens. Very little
! other fish are ever caught there, but
at certain intervals big catfish with
nothing else to do come there and
are foolish enough to take the bait
and get caught
Some fTne rocks were caught at
Great Falls above the dam Jesse
Toomey visited there Wednesday
with Harry Smith and John Bremmer
and all three, while they got very
wet, on the outside, came home with
fifty-six fish. They went again last
night.
Many fishermen stood ready all
week. waiting patiently, with plenty
Of bait to try their luck. Many of
these men have wasted unintentional-
ly some very precious vacation hours
waiting for the river to behave itself.
Some who went out In boats padded
up and down the river, fishing here
and there. apparently not caring much
whether they caught anything or not,
and they had corresponding luck.
Something is going to burst right soon
II the enormous amount OF energy
ready to be let loose by experts and
amateur hshemen doesn't have a
chance to escape somewhere. Strange