The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-01-15
FISHING THROUGH ICE.
CONTINUED from Page ID

II " tA w 4
of the Connecticut river near Brattleboro
that the major portion of the local ice
/ fishing is done. These waters yield
catches of great northern pike. pickerel,
wall-eved pike. black bass and perch that
materially lessen the meat bills of many
families in Brattleboro and vicinity, but
each family has TO depend on the efforts
of its members, for as vet no commercial
fishing to speak of has developed. While
the season for taking black bass closes
Jan. l it remains open on wall-eyed pike
until March /. and for great northern
pike and pickerel until March 10.
These various kinds of fish have been
I taken here through the ice to some extent
for years past, but the construction of the
Vernon dam materially increased the area
of the breeding and feeding grounds, and
the local fish and game club has recently
planted here several millions OF wall-eyed
pike and some black bass and perch, and
today the big increase in the number of
hounds of fish taken and in the number
of persons engaging in this pastime
makes ice fishing one of the most popular
sports. Each fisherman can legally set
10 tipups, each of which is baited with
La live minnow. and when fish are biting
well the signal flags go up quite fire.
quently.
OF pickerel and great northern pike,
which are classed as one kind under our
law. each fisherman may legally eaten
I25 pounds in a day, but if he has "A
pounds and Is ounces he is entitled to
take one more fish, no matter how large,
consequently they always catch the largest
fish last.
OF walI-eyed pike a fisherman may take
all the legal fish that he can catch. OF
black bass. in their season, he may take
legal fish not to exceed "a in number and
of perch all he can catch of any size, so
if he asserts his catch SO as to include
all the different varieties up to the catch
limit of each he may. if he is lucky
enough, secure a nice little mess, enough
for a meal for almost any family that IS
not afflicted with abnormal appetites for
fish. Pickerel and northern pike must be
at least II inches in length to be legal,
and wall-eyes and black bass have to be
at least 10 inches long.
The bait used nowadays. since the Vol
stead act went into force, consists almost
: entirely of silver dace, pond sinners, red
: fins and small suckers. but unless the sup
tply of these various fresh water minnows
runs short mummy chubs' are imported
? from the brackiSh zone where fresh ana
salt waters meet and mingle. Most 1--we
r bait has to be transported in cans OF
} water, but mummy chubs' can be sent
by parcel post wrapped in damp moss:
In Brattleboro two dealers supply live
bait to the fishermen at from three to i've
cents per bait, the price varying with the
!, size of the minnow and with the number
readily available. This season the price
has been three cents a minnow. These
small fish are harvested by netting from
local waters late in the fall. and, like
4 other crops. the number harvested does
not often agree with the number used, for
many times a large per cent of these fish
r. die an unnatural death long before some
/ one wants to impale them on a hook and
! drop them through a hole in the ice.
When the local supply is exhausted min
: nows are imported by express from sec
lions farther south, not icebound at the
time. Sometimes a shipment will come
+, through in good shape. and at other ines
every fish viii be dead. so il Il readily
apparent hat the bait dealer has TO take
, some chances.
This season the ice fishing began in a
small way about Dec. l. and the sport
has waxed fast and furious ever since.
:, %lth the prospects good for its undated
continuance until there has been enough
cold weather to freeze the ice to q thick
mess that Is greater than the SpOrtSmem's
enthusiasm for chopping holes through it,
= or until the snow gets so deep that 1t Is
4 very difficult TO wallow to the fishing
d grounds. 1t has been an extraordinarily
Q favorable season SO far, and as a result
i the dealers have already sold twice as
; many minnOws as they do some seasons,
the sales to date amounting to about
l4,000, and that does not tell the whole
story, for some of the fishermen put in a
lprivate supply of bait.
Every day of good weather sees from
a dozen to 40 fishermen operating on the
t@A - NtNtH MITES VI ice DtJNttH iuNtE
West river and the Vernon dam. and
usually most of them have fair luck. Not
y all of them put out their allowance of 10
tpupS, but on some of the more favorable
/, days the number of mechanical fishermen
waiting for a bite on these ice fields will
reach 600 or better, and 200 to 800 tipups
o IN operation Is a common sight.
The fish best liked by most of the fish
caters is the wall-eyed pike. good white
: meat and not too many bones, and sppci-
mons have hppp taL-an fbat u-o0iIa1 hatfnr
h seven pounds, but most of them in
tins territory at present run from one to
= three or four pounds. The chain pickerel
= IS a smallish fish. but his cousin, the great
northern pike, grows large enough to suit
almost anyone. They have been caught
!, here weighing almost 30 pounds. The
: largest one caught last season weighed
o pounds. and the largest so far this sea
son scored up to 1412 pounds. These fish
lfrom three or four pounds up are fine eat
q ing when stuffed and baked, but a pickerel
{ or northern pike from a foot to II inches
II long Is almost as good eating as a paper
q of pins fried in butter. Specimens of
u northern pike weighing from eight to 10
y pounds are not uncommon. and three to
:. s~lx-pounders are so numerous that their
/ capture causes a ripple of excitement only
among women and small children.
l With this sport raging as it is, how
many pounds of fish have been caught?
1t Is a hard thing to estimate. and not
mere pounds but tons will tell the story.
n On a given day some few people will not
catch any fish. a whole lot of people will
have fair luck. and a few will get alt
they can conveniently lug home. and this
is repeated day after day. If a man
doesn't secure five pounds of fish from 10
tipups he has had rather hard luck, and
c the man who gets two or three fish weigh
ing from three to five pounds apiece is
4 not by any means, but when a
D man secures % pounds or over he has
enough to average up several poor catches
to. say. a five-pound average. With all
this data at hand get out your slate and
, pencil and figure out how many tons of
fish have been caught here this season
through the ice, and by the time you get
correct answer you will probably agree
that ice fishing is really quite some avoca-
ton hereabouts.
The Start at Mammalian