The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1917-08-25
SPEAKING OF FISH

when we were just ten feet from
the waters edge with two perfect
ly safe row boats bobbing at the
landing, was being able to go fish.
ing whenever we wanted to.
Wouldn't that be your idea of a
perfectly blissful vacation? 1t was
mine, too, especially since | never
had been in such place before,
ana just felt in my bones how
proud would be to come in with
a long string of nice plump bass
.and pickerel and maybe even some
lake trout, (you know l might have
caught some) and then have all the
girls standing around with glitter
ing eyes and watering mouths while
several skillets full of that sizzling
brown fish sputtered away over the
cracking wood fire. What more
could one want?
We were there at Basin Bay on
Lake George, which | guess is not
ed for being one of the most ideal
fishing places In the whole cOun-
try. SO one of those nice grey days,
when there was just enough breeze
to make the water toss gently, two
other girls and went out in one of
those nice unsuitable flat-bottom
boats, armed with several gentle
bamboo poles and a lovely cigar
box full of fat juicy fishing worms;
and we felt so perfectly full of the
fishing spirit that as we pushed off
we told the cooks to get out the
largest frying pans, because we
were going to bring in several
whales.
OF course the first thing to do
was bait the hook, so we began;
but ! don't believe we had real
fishing worms. They didn't seem
to be sports about it at all. When
we picked them up they wiggled
and squirmed all around the inside ,
OF our hands, and when we tried to
put them on the hooks, they would
draw themselves out real long, and
then hump themselves up all fat
and puffy in the middle They act
ed real cross, and besides they felt |,
so cool and slippery; decided the
next time | went out I'd use arti |
ficial flies.
But finally the hooks were bait
ed and cast overheard, so the next
thing to do was wait And we
waited. 1t was lots of fun sitting
there in the gently bobbing boat, /
intently holding your pole at just
the right angle, for the first half
hour, but after that it began to
seem as tho something might hap
pen.
One of the girls had curled up at
the end Of the boat Tor guess they
call 1t the stern) and had gone to
sleep sitting on the end Of her pole,
The other girl was knitting, SO
also began to pass away the time
by hanging over the side Of the
boat and looking down in the water.
You know Lake George isd very
clear,-sO clear, In fact, that they
say you can see the bottom twenty
five feet deep. So l was looking
down, watching the weeds and
rocks as we lazily bObbed along
over them, when suddenly a big
twopound bass came swimming
along close by, and after shifting
around it for a minute or two gave
a disappointed little wag Of his tail
and went on.
This was too much for me, SO ]
pulled in my line, and there was
the hook, as slick and clean as If
it were right out Of the store. So
/ went through the delightful pleas
ure of enlisting another fishing
worm to do his bit,and then watch
ed to see what would happen.
Almost at once two or three
nasty little sun fish came swim
ming up to get another meal, but
didn't want them, SO wiggled the
line while the other two girls grew
as excited as l. The sun fish stood
off a little bit, and then,--behold,
here came MY monster again.
We all sat perfectly still while !
rigidly held the pole and waited.
Sure enough, straight up to the
tempting meal swan he, gleefully
waving his fins, and at once began
chewing off all my lovely bait with
out even nibbling on the hook. And
there we had to sit, just helplessly
n