The American Boy's Handy Book/Chapter 3

In the Gulf States, upon some of the plantations that border the sluggish streams or bayous peculiar to that part of the country, the field hands have a simple and ingenious contrivance by which they are enabled to fish without interfering with the discharge of their duties.

The apparatus used consists of an ordinary cane-pole to which a long line with any number of hooks is attached; an old bell is hung at the end of the cane where the line is fastened.

The sable sportsmen set a number of poles, rigged in this manner, thrusting the butt ends of the rods into the soft bank so that they stand almost upright along the edge of the water upon which the plantation borders.

After the hooks are baited the lines are cast out as far as they will reach into the stream and left to take care of themselves. As soon as a fish is hooked it struggles to free itself, but the first plunge the unwary creature makes rings the bell at the end of the rod and summons the laborer from the field, who leaves his ploughing or planting just long enough to land the fish and re-bait the hook. It is seldom that the setting sun sees the dusky workmen return to their cabins empty-handed.

By far the oddest and most original mode of fishing practised by the colored people of the Southern States is called by them

Early one morning, while sauntering along the levee of a small town upon the Mississippi, the author met an old colored friend, Uncle Eanes.

"Whars I gwine?" queried the old man. "I was jus gwine to git de traps together to jug for cats,—Hi, Hi, neber hea tell of dat? De Lor! no sah, not presactly pussy cats—cullored folks eats 'bout de same as white folks (when dey can git it). Yes, sah! we's seed purty tight times since de war, Suah! but we hasent come to eating pussy cats just yet, Boss! Hi, Hi! Take a big jug suah enough to hold a tolerable sized mud cat! but we don't cotch dem in de jugs. You jest come along and I'll show you how'tis." Uncle Eanes's invitation was accepted, and the author was initiated into the mysteries of "jugging for cats," which he found to combine exercise, excitement and fun in a much greater degree than the usual method of angling with rod and reel.

The tackle necessary in this sport is very simple; it consists of five or six empty jugs tightly corked with corn cobs, as many stout lines, each about five feet long with a sinker and large hook at the end. One of these lines is tied to the handle of ​each jug. Fresh liver, angle worms, and balls made of corn meal and cotton, are used for bait; but a bit of cheese, tied up in a piece of mosquito netting to prevent its washing away, appears to be considered the most tempting morsel.

When all the hooks are baited, and the fisherman has inspected his lines and found everything ready, he puts the jugs into a boat and rows out upon the river, dropping the earthenware floats about ten feet apart in a line across the middle of the stream. The jugs will, of course, be carried down with the current, and will have to be followed and watched. When one of them begins to behave in a strange manner, turning upside down, bobbing about, darting up stream and down, the fisherman knows that a large fish is hooked, and an exciting chase ensues. It sometimes requires hard rowing to catch the jug, for often when the fisherman feels sure of his prize and stretches forth his hand to grasp the runaway, it darts off anew, frequently disappearing from view beneath the water, and coming to the surface again, yards and yards away from where it had left the disappointed sportsman.

One would think that the pursuit of just one jug, which a fish is piloting around, might prove exciting enough. But imagine the sport of seeing four or five of them start off on their antics at about the same moment. It is at such a time that the skill of a fisherman is tested, for a novice, in his hurry, is apt to lose his head, thereby losing his fish also. Instead of hauling in his line carefully and steadily, he generally pulls it up in such a hasty manner that the fish is able, by a vigorous flop, to tear himself away from the hook. To be a successful "jugger," one must be as careful and deliberate in taking out his fish as though he had only that one jug to attend to, no matter how many others may be claiming his attention by their frantic signals. The illustration shows how the line is rigged.

is another method of catching fish, in principle similar to jugging, by means of a jumping-jack, or small, jointed man, Image missingFig. 31. whose limbs are moved by jerking a string attached to them. This little figure is fastened to a stick, which is secured in an upright position on a float made of a piece of board. Through a hole in the float is passed the string attached to the figure, and tied securely to this are the hook and line. After the hook is baited, the float is placed on the surface of the water, and the little man, standing upright, is left to wait in patience.

Presently a fish, attracted by the bait, comes nearer the surface, seizes the hook quickly, and darts downward, pulling the string, and making the little figure throw up its arms and legs as though dancing for joy at having performed its task so well. The capering of ​Jack is the signal to his master that a fish has been caught and is struggling to free itself from the hook. This manner of fishing is necessarily confined to quiet bodies of water, such as small lakes or ponds; for in rough water poor little Jack would be upset. Fig. 31 shows how to rig the "dancing fisherman."

Trolling, by means of rudely made toy boats, is a sport the novelty of which will certainly recommend itself.

The boat can be made out of a piece of plank any where from a foot to two and one-half feet long, according to the size

of the fish to be caught. Sharpen the plank at one end and rig it with one or two masts and sails of paper or cloth. The rudder must be very long in proportion to the size of the boat, to prevent its making lee way and to keep it on a straight course. To nails in the stern of the boat tie fish lines rigged with spoon or live bait (Fig. 32). This diminutive fishingsmack will not alarm the finny inhabitants of the water as a larger boat might, but when sailing before the wind will troll ​the bait in a manner that appears to be irresistible to bass or pickerel, and sometimes even the mud-loving cat-fish will rise and swallow the hook. A whole fleet of these little vessels may be attended by one boy if he has a boat in which to row immediately to the assistance of any of his toy boats, whose suspicious movements betray the presence of a fish in tow.

consists of a board two feet long, three inches wide, and one-half-inch thick, made to float on edge in the water by weighting the lower part of the plank with lead, iron, or even stones, tied on with strings. By means of a breast-band rigged like that on a kite, a strong tow-line is fastened to the "otter." At intervals along the tow-line, shorter lines are attached baited with artificial flies, spoon hooks, dead or live bait, as the case may be, the bait of course depending altogether upon the fish you are after. As you walk or row, the "otter" sheers off and the baits comb the water in a tantalizing way that is fatal to trout, bass, or pickerel. So "killing" is this instrument that it should only be used to replenish the larder when provisions are running short in camp.

Mussels, or fresh-water clams, are prized by many boys on account of the pearly opalescent substance of which the shell is composed, it being an excellent material of which to make finger-rings and charms. Not unfrequently pearls of great beauty are found concealed within the shells of these bivalves.

The empty shells found upon the beach are never very highly prized, and are called by collectors dead shells. Shells of any kind which contain the living animal when collected, are ever after called live shells, for they still retain all their freshness and lustre after the inmate has been removed. To ​collect live mussel shells, you must wade, dive, or, if the water is clear enough for you to distinguish objects upon the bottom, fish for them, not with a hook and line, but with a long twig, from which all branches and leaves have been removed excepting a single bud on the end (Fig. 33). As soon as you detect a bivalve, you will discover its shells to be partially open.

Carefully insert the bud, that you have left upon the end of your stick, between the gaping lips of the shell, the instant

that the animal within feels the touch it will close its doors firmly, of course holding the switch between the shells. The bud at the end prevents the stick from slipping out, and the animal is caught by taking advantage of the very means it uses for protection.

A simple contrivance for catching small frogs, eels, and lizards, for the aquarium consists of an elder stick, with one end cut like a quill pen with the points spread apart, as shown in sketch (Fig. 34).

To use this you must approach a pond or brook very cautiously so as not to frighten your game. Through the clear water the little creatures can be seen resting quietly on the bottom. If you are careful not to make any disturbance or sudden movement you may get your elder lance poised over your lizard, newt, or frog, within an inch or so of its body, without disturbing him; then with a quick movement push the stick and animal both into the mud. On drawing out the stick you will find your captive squirming between the split ends of the ​elder—from which he can be removed without serious injury. With practice you can perfect yourself in this aquarian sport so as seldom to lose or injure your specimens.

The snare made of fine wire in the form of a slip noose is so well known to the boys in general, that it is no novelty and unnecessary to describe.