The American Boy's Handy Book/Chapter 32

The pleasures of fishing are naturally and almost invariably connected in our minds with warm weather, particularly with Spring or the first coming of Summer, the bright freshness of Image missingFig. 197.Flip-Up Set. bursting bud and new-opening wild blossom, and with those latter days in the Autumn over which the Summer King sheds his brightest glories. But in our northern and easterly States, when old Winter has spread his mantle of frost and snow over the face of Nature, and hermetically sealed all the lakes and ponds under covers of ice, as an agreeable addition to the fun of skating, hardy, red-cheeked boys cut round holes in the thick ice, and through them rig their lines for pickerel-fishing. A very simple but ingenious contrivance enables a single fisherman to attend to quite a number of lines if the holes be all made within sight of the fisherman, ​the fish itself will give the signal for the particular line that requires attention.

The construction of this automatic fishing-tackle is so simple that it may be made in a few moments by any one. The preceding illustration shows how it is arranged (Fig. 197). Image missingFig. 198.The Signal Flying. At the end of a light rod a foot or two in length is fastened a small signal flag; a piece of any bright-colored cloth answers the purpose. This rod is bound with strong string at right angles to a second stick, which is placed across the hole, lying some inches upon the ice at either side; the flag also rests on the ice, leaving a short piece of the flag-rod projecting over the cross stick; to this short end the line and hook are fastened. The hook is baited with a live minnow or other suitable bait and lowered through the hole. The tackle is then in readiness for the capture of a pickerel. When the fish is hooked his struggles keep the flag flying (Fig. 198).

From about December 20th until the middle or latter part of February the smelt fishing season is in its height along the coast of Maine. The fish are caught through holes in the ice. In the vicinity of Belfast clam worms are used for bait; the worms are found in the clam flats.

Notwithstanding the reputation for original inventions possessed by the inhabitants of the Eastern States, the "Down East" smelt fishermen of Maine have for years, while fishing through the ice, exposed themselves to the piercing winter winds, ​apparently without once thinking of providing any other shelter than their heavy overcoats and perhaps a rude barricade of ice blocks and evergreen boughs. There is no telling how long this state of things might have continued, but during the winter of 1877–78^[1] a single fisherman, more enterprising than his comrades, appeared upon the fishing grounds with a small canvas tent, inside of which he at once proceeded to make himself comfortable, and at the same time excite the envy of the unprotected, shivering fishermen scattered over the ice. The latter were not long in taking the hint, and the next season found the ice dotted all over with the little canvas houses of the fishermen. During the best of the season the smelt fishing grounds now have the appearance of Indian villages; the blue smoke curls up from the peaked roofed lodges and floats away on the frosty air, while the figures of men and boys passing to and fro on different errands might at a distance be easily mistaken for the aboriginal red Americans at their winter camp.

The framework of a smelt fisher's house consists of a light wooden frame about six feet square, with a sharp roof. After the frame is firmly fastened together it is put upon runners, furnished with a bench for the fisherman to sit upon, a stove to keep him warm, and a covering of light canvas to keep out the cold. The canvas is a better protection against sleet and frost if it has been covered with a coat of paint. Sometimes the houses are made large enough to accommodate more than one fisherman. Snugly ensconced beside a warm stove, with pipe in mouth, the old veterans spin their yarns, and, oblivious to the raging northwest winds, watch their lines, which are attached to a rack overhead and hang down, passing through a hole in the ice. The bait dangles about eight or ten feet under the water. When a fish bites, the motion of the line apprizes the fisherman of the fact, and he pulls it out, unhooks the fish and again drops ​his line. In this manner one man will succeed in catching from ten to fifteen pounds in a day.

A gentleman who seems to be posted upon the subject of smelt fishing sends me the following device, which ought to have been included in the chapter on odd modes of fishing. Image missingFig. 199.The Umbrella Smelt Tackle. My correspondent says: "During the fall months the smelt run in large schools up the creeks and streams emptying into the ocean, and are caught with seines or nets by professional fishermen for market. To be sure, no true sportsman could make use of such means for capturing game; still, as it is necessary to take these small fish in large numbers to make a respectable mess, some ingenious sportsman has evolved a fishing-tackle with which one can legitimately do wholesale fishing. To a line on an ordinary pole is attached an apparatus resembling an umbrella-frame without the handle; from the point of each bow hangs a line and hook (Fig. 199); in this way six or eight smelt may be taken in the time it would require to catch one with a single line."

For boys who live inland where smelt fishing is out of the question, there are other fish whose gamy nature will impart more fun and excitement to their capture. Long rods would be out of place within the narrow limits of a little cloth-covered fishing box; but hand lines or short rod and reel may be used. When a short rod is used it is only for the purpose of facilitating the use of the reel, and the rod should not be over two and one-half feet long. Fish may also be snared or speared through holes in the ice by boys concealed in little ​wooden shanties built for the purpose. This sport is much in vogue on some of the small lakes in the Northwest.

The great drawback to spearing fish through holes in the ice, is the inability of the spearsman to see objects under water, and to keep the cold winds from chilling him through and through as he stands almost motionless watching for his game;

but if the sportsman will supply himself with one of the little wooden shanties used by the fish spearers in the Northwest, he will overcome both these difficulties. The shanty, when the door is closed, is perfectly dark inside, having no other opening except a round hole, about a foot and a half in diameter, in the floor just over the hole in the ice. The only light seen by the fisherman is the bright, shining water, which glows like a full moon underneath him. As his eyes become accustomed to the peculiar condition of things, the nebulous objects first dis​cernible in the luminous water resolve themselves into floating grasses and reeds; the bottom, even where the water is quite deep, becomes plainly visible, and every passing fish is distinctly seen by the spearsman, while he, being in total darkness, is invisible to the creatures below. This effect can be readily understood when one remembers that the ice, unless it be covered with snow, is transparent, and that the light shining through illuminates the water. It is as if you were standing outside of a house on a very dark night looking through a window into a brilliantly lighted room.

The fishermen's shanties are provided with small sheet-iron stoves, which require but very little fire to make the house warm enough for one to sit with his coat off. The stoves are provided with small pipes, which issue through the roof or side of the house. A bench, camp-stool, or chair complete the furniture.

Catfish may be chummed for; that is, attracted by bait cut up and dropped through the hole in the ice. The bait will attract many other fish, which can be snared with a slip-noose made of fine copper or brass wire and attached to the end of a line. There is nothing alarming in the looks of this instrument, and a fish will not notice the snare until it finds the fatal noose tightly drawn about its body. It requires a little practice to snare fish successfully. I well remember my first attempt. A large "mud sucker" was discovered under an overhanging bank. Cautiously I crept to the edge of the stream, and with trembling, yet careful hand, I let the snare glide gently into the water. The fish did not move; by degrees I slipped the noose over the comical slippery head of the creature, and with a mighty jerk landed—not the fish, but my snare in the boughs of a tree that overhung the water. I was thunderstruck when I discovered that the fine wire of the snare had ​cut the fish completely in halves, and as the muddy water, stirred up by the commotion beneath, rolled away down stream, I beheld one-half of the "mud sucker" with the puckering mouth still moving, and the other half with its tail flapping in the water beneath.

It requires experience to learn just how hard to pull on a snare to catch a fish and hold it without breaking the line or cutting the game.

is far more exciting and sportsmanlike than snaring them. The fish may be attracted by dead bait dropped through the hole in the ice, after the manner before described, or if it be pickerel you are after, a trolling spoon can be danced up and down, and round and round, until it attracts the attention of the fish. Some fishermen use a wooden minnow weighted at the bottom with lead and provided with fins and tail made of tin. Such a decoy, to be effective, should be decorated with a brilliant red stripe on each side, a white belly, and a bright green back. By means of a line fastened to the wooden fish it can be made to swim around under water in a most frisky and life-like manner, completely deceiving the unwary pickerel. The decoy must be kept out of reach when the fish dart at it, and at the same time the spear must be poised, ready to cast at the first opportunity. Often the unsuspicious pickerel will stop and remain for some moments motionless directly under the hole in the ice, apparently considering the best mode of capturing the lively and gaudy minnow that dances so temptingly near his hungry jaws. This is a golden opportunity for the young fisherman, and waiting only such time as it may require to take aim, the lance should be launched. A good fish spear is described on page 188 and illustrated by Fig. 121. As soon as a fish is speared it should be thrown upon ​the ice outside the shanty and allowed to freeze. In this manner the meat is kept much sweeter and fresher than it is possible to preserve fish in warm weather, even for so short a time as it requires to carry the game home from the fishing grounds.

Fig. 200 shows the framework for a small fishing house; the posts and cross pieces are made of such sticks as can be found along the bank of any stream or lake. Fig. 201 shows

how the floor is made of planks, with a hole in the forward part to fish through. The whole frame may be covered with pieces of an old hay-cover, canvas, or what is better still, pieces of old oil-cloth, such as is used for dining-room or hall floors. If the framework be covered with any light cloth, the cloth should be tacked on and thickly coated with paint so as to admit no light. A frame like the one illustrated by Figs. 200 and 201 may be made, fitted up, and kept stored away until wanted for use. After hauling it out on the fishing grounds and cutting a hole through the ice, the frame can be covered with thick blankets, and without injuring the material the covering can be fastened by pins and strings over the framework and removed when the day's sport is finished. If, instead of rough forked sticks, regu​lar square posts be used, the whole can be covered with quarter-inch pine lumber, thus making a light but serviceable shanty. If the light come in under the house, pack snow around it. If the snow cover the ice to such a thickness as to darken the water beneath, sweep a place clean around your shanty, and the light admitted through the clear ice will illuminate the water beneath your hut or tent. Fig. 202 shows another form of fisherman's hut, made upon the same principle as the cabin of the Crusoe raft (Figs. 70 and 71, pages 99 and 100). Select hickory or any other elastic saplings, taking care to have them all about the same size. After boring holes with an auger in the side bars of the floor frame, bend saplings over and force their ends into the holes as shown in the diagram. The floor can be laid in the same manner as illustrated by Fig. 201, and the whole frame covered with some opaque fabric, or cloth made opaque by a coating of paint. A very beautiful and light fishing house might be made with a bamboo frame that could be taken apart and packed away for the summer like a jointed fishing-rod.