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Page 49
A motley little fleet awaited the party at the water's
edge,--square-ended, flat-bottomed punts, sharp-bowed bateaux, long,
graceful, dug-out canoes, and a commodious push-boat, with cabin and
awning, whose motive power was poles. Elk River craft are as abundant as
the log cabins on its banks, and their pilots are as numerous as the
inhabitants. Neither sex nor size is a disqualification, for, excepting
the trifling matter of being web-toed, all are provided from birth with
water-going properties, and, be it seed-time or harvest, the river has
the first claim upon them for all its varied sports and occupations. A
shot at mallard, black-head, butter-duck, loon, wild goose, or
blue-winged teal, as they follow the river's winds northward in the
spring-time, will stop the ploughs furrowing its fertile bottoms as far
as its echoes roll around mountain-juts, and cause the hands that held
the lines to grasp old-fashioned rifles for a chance at the winged
passers. When, later, woodcock seek its margins, gray snipe, kill-deer,
mud-hens, and plovers its narrow fens, the scythe will rest in the
half-mown field while its wielder "takes a crack at 'em." And when
autumn brings thousands of gray squirrels, flocks of wild pigeon and
water-fowl, to feed on its mast, no household obligation or out-door
profit will keep the natives from shooting, morning, noon, and night.
Some day in the near future a railroad will be built "up Elk," and then,
while commerce and civilization will get a lift, the loveliest of rivers
will be scarred; her trout-streams, carp-runs, bass-pools,
salmon-swirls, deer-licks, bear-dens, partridge-nestles, and
pheasant-covers will be overrun by sports-men, her magnificent mountains
will be scratched bald-headed by lumbermen, her laughing tributaries
will be saddened with saw-dust, and her queer, quaint, original
boat-pullers and "seng-diggers" will wear shoes in summer-time and coats
in winter, weather-board their log cabins, put glass in the windows and
partitions across the one room inside. Woods-meetings will creep into
churches, square sousing in the river will degenerate to the gentle
baptismal sprinkle; no picnics or barbecues will delight the inhabitants
with flying horses and fights, open fireplaces and sparking-benches will
give way to stoves and chairs, riding double on horseback, with fair
arms not afraid to hold tight against all dangers real or fancied, will
be a joy of the past, "bean-stringin's," "apple-parin's,"
"punkin-clippin's," "sass-bilin's," "sugar-camps," "cabin-raisin's,"
"log-rollin's," "bluin's," "tar-and-feathering," and "hangin's," will be
out-civilized, and the whole country will be spoiled.
"It looks like a good biting morning for bass," said Colonel Bangem,
while he was distributing the party properly among the boats. "But, in
spite of all signs, bass bite when they please. It is a sunny morning:
so use bright spoon-trolls, medium size. If the fish rise freely,
twenty-five feet of line is enough to have out on the stern lines; and,
as the ladies will use the poles, ten feet of line is enough for them.
Don't forget, Mrs. Bangem, to keep your troll spinning just outside the
swirl of the oar, and as near the surface of the water as possible. You
know you _will_ talk and forget all about it. Now we will start. If we
get separated and it grows cloudy, change your trolls for three-inch
'fairy minnows;' and if the wind ripples the water, let out from sixty
to eighty feet of line. Take the centre of the river, and you will haul
in salmon; for bass will not rise to a troll in the eddies when the
water is rough. Salmon will. Tim, take the lead with the Professor, that
the other men may see your stroke and course. In trolling, the oarsman
has as much to do with the success as the fisherman."
Off they went, three to a boat, the fishers seated in bow and stern, the
ladies in front with their fishing-poles, and the oarsman in his proper
place, rowing a slow, steady stroke, dipping true and silently just
fifty feet from bank, or sedge, or shelf of rock, steering outside of
snags and drift and where overhanging trees buried their shadows in the
water.
The boats had hardly reached their positions--two on each side of the
stream--when a shout from the Professor announced a catch, as hand over
hand he cautiously drew in the swerving line or held it taut, as the
diving fish sought the rocky bottom or the friendly refuge of a log
drift. With unvarying stroke Tim kept his boat in deep water, away from
entangling dangers. There was a flash in the air and a jingle of the
troll, as a fine bass shot out of the water to shake the barbs from his
open mouth; but the hooks held firm, and the taut line foiled the effort
to dislodge them. Down came the fish with a splash, to dart for the
boat at lightning speed and leap again for life; but this time no jingle
of troll announced his game. He leaped ahead to fall upon the line and
thus tear the hooks from their hold. Successful fishing depends upon two
things,--the presence of fish and knowing more than fish do. At the
instant of the fish's leap the Professor slackened his line: down came
the bass on a limber loop, defeated in his strategy and wearied by his
effort, to be hauled quickly to the boat's side and landed, wriggling
and tossing, at Tim Price's feet.
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