The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-22
STRATEGY WINS TWO
ADIRONDACK TROUT
Sam RushtOn Lures Two Old
Settlers That Had Cost
Him Much Tackle.
SIZE MARKS ON BARN
BY J. p. wHITFOHD.

The Gouverneur and oswegatchie ac-
oommodatlon, stopped with a bang.
Whit, the wrong font printer, looked out
OF the dingy window and realised that
his journey was at an end. CHANGING up
at the single over the station door. he
assured himself that his fond anticipa-
lions were about to be realized. ED
WARDS" he read, half glad. half
sad
The printer. suit case and rod in hand.
secuted around the corner of the little
station TO where he knew Sam Rushton's
up-country stage was ready for its long
"trip into the Adirondack foothills
Sam greeted his passenger heartily,
knowing right well that on the trip that
night to South Edwards large ynrns Of
The Big City would be forthcoming.
Presently the United States mail. with
its solitary passenger. its assorted load
of freight for convalescent harvesting
machinery and It's jovial driver. ar
rived at the brink Of McCargan Hill.
This diminutive mountain is the first
of a series of narrow "dugways' and
steep inclines that eventually bring the
right of way down on the level Of the
Oswegatchie River.
Fair to Midalin' Good Fisher.
''reil me fish story. Sam" pleaded
the printer finally. "One Of those kind
like so we'll"
AS the final rasping sound Of the
brakes died away into the nights soft
blackress the stage driver took fresh
hold on his lines. rolled his unlighted
cigar to the other corner Of his tooth
less mouth and delivered himself as
follows:
We'll. as you have heard me say be-
fore, i was. fair to middlin' good
fisher myself once. There is a brook
over back of your Uncle Franks-a
good bit Of It layin' In the town of
Tine-thst our folks allus called the
Big Creek. Sometimes when they felt
real fussy they called 1t the Paddy
. Brown Brook.
Never heard who named It, but was
always pretty sure Wright Ravens pat
In the first trout. He and Brother
Hime ketched 'em in Stammer Creek
and took emf over through the woods
an put 'em in just below Warren Har-
mons beaver meadow and above them
high falls that they'd never been able to
climb.
"You city fellers amt a whole lot O.
noise when 1t comes to fishin them kind
Of brooks-are you?"
to see that Pete CHESS double bitted
axe or q bundle Of moving machine
sections was not scraping acquaintance
with some only sons first bicycle.
about a hundred rod to the left of
the old tote road into the Lobdell lumber
camps, cross a regular mlre hole. Is a
little clearin' the beavers made some
time or other" continued Sam.
They built a dam, too. down in one
corner: the alders and pizen ivy are as
thick as hedge fence in another corner
where the creek kinda sneaiss in Just as
II it didn't want to be seen. You can't
see 1t. neither. less, you get the signal
froN a frog divln' in. The blue joint
and red top grow so high and thick 1t
looks like stand Of wheat on
pararie."
Summers when We was kind OF shy
on rain our folks would take a few days
Off and NOW the beaver meadow be-
tween haying and harvesting" Whit
broke in reminiscently
IT remember that place-and the old
pine stump where the yellow hammers
used to live in its rotten top, and where
the brook ran up against its butt and
stopped"
Blue Ribbon Trout.
The driver nodded and went on: How
did use to try to get two old settlers
that never would bite! Once tried
them with a rife. They were trout that
would draw a blue ribbon at a county
fair all right. Lots of times I've won
dered II all fishermen wasted as much
tackle on them trout as I did
"One day along kinda late in sum-
mer I was sttin' out in the barn door
wondering what bait to use next on
them old timers. Worms. grasshop-
pers, white Erubs and flies was no
count. I tried to figure out some sort
OF live bait. Green frogs I knew was
no good. cause the brook was full OF
'em. Finally hit on the idea of mice.
Yes sir-mice!
Crops were early that year and the
farmers had their grain all stocked up
ready to draw in. ] picked out new
line and two strands OF fine copper
wire. Fastening about eighteen inches
OF the wire on the line and putting on
new steel bass hook l started for the
hole by the stump.
Tipping over three or four stocks
OF oats in field I found a mouse nest !:
the two old ones got away. but I caught
four young ones about three-qua rters
grown and pretty lively. Then / cut a
stout bareback pole and was pretty
well strung up by the time got to the
brook. but had quite a time batting
up with them mice.
II sneaked around through the blue
Joint to up above the stump and tossed
in the bait. 1t plopped in for all the
world like a mouse had been tryin to
cross on a pole and his foot slipped.
] didn't put on any sinker. and the bait
noated down almost to the edge of the
white froth. That was the last saw of
that bait.
However, ] wasn't r bit put out
cause heretofore they wouldn't never
so much as bite. / drew out the bare
hook carefully and sneaked back in the
grass to put on a new bait. This time
i made a sort of half hitch around Mr.
Mouse with the wire and started all
over again. g.
"Well, surely was some peeved. But
I'm a patient cuss. I've set a day at
time on a runway. waitin' for shot at
q deer-and never smoked. When the
second mouse hit the water he didn't
rake as long a sail.
There was splash and a yank-
and the bait shot out o. sight before II
reached the froth. Them big ONES don't
waste much time when dinner Is served.
and they've got II all over wall-eyed pike
when II comes to table manners. gave
the bait time to get around the corner
and then j rose on my hind feet and
started for the small end of that IRON
wood pole.
Say. Whit, II was some battle. got
o good ducking and stirred up things
generally. but I got that trout. Course
the performance was over for that day.
90 I waited till the next week, when
went over and got the other one with
. white grub bait. Guess the big Teller
rot lOnaaon,a and linda xuapta1 IN ha