The daily Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1916-1917, 1917-08-05
LINCOLN COUNTY A REAL
HAVEN FOR FISHERMEN

UlCe size ChdHHei Cdt VIII 5iNc you
about as exciting a run as a trout will,
too, for little while. He doesn't
last as long as the trout, but he pulls
strongly.
jug fishing is just what the name
suggests. 1t works best in a long.
deep hole, where you can set a line
on corked jug at one end and let it
float to the other end of the hole, fol-
lowing in boat and giving chase
whenever fish strikes it. A large
fish will make pretty keen race, too.
OF course. he may manage to become
entangled in brush with the line.
Chances are. then. that he'll get away.
But when he stays lin the clear" and
the jug bobs up to the surface about
every 20 yards, there's plenty of fish
ing fun there.
There are bass and crappie in the
Cuivre-but most of them stay there.
The ones that are caught usually come
from Big Creek. or some of the
smaller creeks. Troy fishermen have
the most luck on Big Creek near
SchrOeder's mill. If you've not prac
ticed much at bass and crappie fish
ing, you may as well settle down to
an extended practice before you can
expect to catch enough to pay you
| for your trouble. Bass fishing in
lakes seems to be fairly easy way
to catch fish, but not in these small
streams. They're wary as can be,
and they fool around a whole lot be-
! fore they'll be caught Your average
catfish swallows bait, hook and all
/ right away he makes up his mind,
/ but not so the bass. He's worth more
because of it, of course, though his
! flesh when cooked is not bit better
than that of the channel cat In fact,
they don't grow any sweeter than the
channel cat. Graphic are as good to
eat as the bass-maybe better. And
there's plenty TO do to catch them.
Hand Fishing No Longer a Sport.
Before hand fishing was prohibited
by law-at least before the law was
enforced, enormous catfish and buff
falo fish were thereby seduced from
their resting places. Hand fishing
isn't classed as a sport-in fact, it's
supposed TO be unsportsmanlike.
| That may be true, but it depnds on
sure thing" by any means And for
some time the beginner will hope
that there'll be no fish there when he
puts his hand into the hole in the
bank. Large catfish, particularly
most of them OF the Groshong or
Mississippi River tribe-haye the
habit OF digging cooling and resting
places in the muddy banks of the
stream where a large log or fallen
tree runs out into the water and
throws a shade over that part of the
stream. Your finished hand fisher
man can hear them digging away,
ramming with their heads a hole in
the mud. Then they dig another hole,
close by, and connect the two, making
an entrance and an exit. When one
of the holes is closed up with a gunny
sack, the thing to do is to reach into
the other and pull out the fish. Only
it's more complicated. You see. the
fish is in there resting and keeping
cool, and hasn't any notion you want
to harm him. So he lets you run your
never moves. AS he breathes. raising
and lowering his gills, you manage
to get hold there, your fingers inside
his gills. Then. gently pulling him
out till you can get hold on the other
side with your other hand, you bring
him to the top. If he weighs so
pounds or more-and many of them
dO-yOu have a small-sized job on
your hands to get him to dry land.
At least, all this is the way the hand
fishermen of former days tell about
the trick. If you practiced it now,
state game warden might happen
around and you'd pay high for your
| fish, as well as lose it.
! There has been an attempt recently
to restock Lincoln County streams,
getting the new fish supply from the
Government. 1t is needed, because
fish are not nearly so plentiful as
they once were, and in few years
the sport will have nearly disap-
peared unless something is done to
keep it alive. A restocking and the
protection of fish for several years
would save it, and regular efforts