Days in the OpenCrandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
General
Days in the Open
Crandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
Fishing
“Where does he live?” S-s-h! my dear brethren. He is pre-empted by the
writer, and to protect you from any temptation to trespass, we’ll just
call him the Judge. Only the writer’s unimpeachable veracity as a teller
of fish stories will save him from mild suspicion when he makes the
following statement: The Judge, who knew every pool for ten miles around
where the big trout rendezvous, insisted that the Preacher should have
first chance at these fascinating spots. Don’t believe it? Well, no one
can blame you for your skepticism, for in the annals of fishermen
from the days of Izaak Walton until now, no other such example of
self-abnegation is to be found.
It was on a Monday morning that the Judge and the Preacher made their
first descent upon the unsuspecting trout. The point of attack was on
a tidal stream known as Tryon Creek. Some of the writer’s friends have
grinned derisively when he has told them of the “sea-trout” of Prince
Edward Island, and one listener opined that “weak-fish” were probably
meant. Of course there are always a few people around who enjoy the rare
delights of omniscience, and it is useless to offer information to such.
But for the benefit of the uninformed and open-minded let it be said
that in every tidal stream on the south shore of Prince Edward Island,
the well-known, square-tailed, speckled trout are found. They run up
with the tide and, while many go back as the tide ebbs, a few remain in
the pools. It was in pursuit of these sea-trout that we sallied forth on
this Monday morning. The tide was full when we reached the stream, the
sun shone from an unclouded sky, the wind had gone to sleep, and the
rank marsh grass hid innumerable pit-falls. Picking our way along we
cast industriously, in the middle of the stream, near the right bank,
near the left bank, up stream, down stream--and not the suspicion of
a response. Just to break the monotony the Preacher stepped into a
bog-hole and disappeared, temporarily, from view. In response to the
Judge’s anxious query, “Where are you?” a smothered voice from the
vicinity of the grassroots answered, “I’m right here.” That ended the
marsh fishing for that day, and the disgusted pair wended their way to a
pool at the head of tide-water, where their labour was not in vain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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