Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 4, October 1852Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 4, October 1852
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The yellow perch is a bold, nay! a savage biter, and a greedy feeder; it
is even recorded of him that he has been known to strike at his own eye,
casually torn out by the point of the hook, which is to me by no means
incredible.
Securely weaponed by the sharp palisade of arrowy spines bristling along
his back, and by the stout jagged thorns protruding in advance of his
ventral anal fins, when of any considerable size, he fears neither the
tremendous rush and shark-like jaws of the savage mascalonge, nor the
terrible agility and dauntless daring of the namaycush and siskawity,
those vast lake trouts, but feeds himself, a lesser tyrant of the
waters, on whatever crosses his path of havoc.
A light, stiff, ten-foot rod, with a small reel, and twenty-five or
thirty yards of line, with a small cork float, and a proper sinker for
bottom fishing, is the best implement; and the best baits for this
method are the common ground-worm or the little scarlet brandling. The
latter particularly in rapid channels and scours. Cheese pastes are also
used, and at times successfully, but I do not advocate their use, but
the most certainly deadly of all baits is the paste made from the
preserved roe of any fish which frequents the waters you are to fish.
Trout-roe, in lakes or rivers haunted by that gamest and best of all the
inhabitants of the water, kills unerringly.
In brackish water shrimp beats the world for perch, remembering that you
fish near to or upon the bottom.
Perch, especially when of large size, may be trolled for as pike, with
the hind legs of a frog, or with any small fish on a gorge hook. But in
my opinion the prettiest of all modes of catching them is to rove for
them with the live minnow.
For this purpose you take a fine, clear, gut leader, with a No. 9
Limerick hook whipped on at the tail, and an inch and a half above it,
and back to back to the tail hook, a second one size smaller than the
first.
The upper should be hooked securely into the lower jaw of a moderate
sized minnow, and the lower into his dorsal fin, care being taken not to
pierce his back, when he will swim about naturally and gayly for many
hours, if not taken by a fish, and if carefully released without
laceration, will survive the operation. A small cork, or, what is
better, quill-float, is necessary to this method, and a few shot,
sufficient to sink the bait to within three inches of the bottom. When a
bite is felt, a little time should be given before striking; when
struck, the perch is surely taken, for though he pulls hard for a short
time he has neither the fierce courage nor the wily craft of the trout,
but succumbs after a few brief struggles. A reel is necessary, and the
float often dispensed with by veterans in the art.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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