Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 199, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1912 — BIG SALMON CATCH [ARTICLE]

BIG SALMON CATCH

Forty-Nine of These Fish Caught in Seven Days. Two Brookline Men Landed the “Beaten ties” in Famous New England Stream—Terrific Battle Follows “Strike.” Brookline, Me. —Seven days’ fishing with a catch of forty-nine salmon, all weighing between three and five pounds, was the luck of George C. Stevens of Winthrop road and Charles R. McWilliams of Manchester road, Brookline, during a recent trip to New England’s celebrated salmon fishing ground. Grand Lake stream, Maine, says the Boston Herald. Success like that might cause the occasional disciple of Izaak Walton to yearn for many a day, but Mr. Stevens and Mr. McWilliams, both veterans of the rod and line, are not unduly elated by it. That was the sort of eport they went after and expected; the sort of sport they had had many times in the past. They are willing to admit, however, that the capture of a dozen “beauties” in one day was an w achievement to be rather proud of. For season after season the pair have visited the two broad stretches of placid water set deep in the pine woods, Grand lake and Big lake, and the little darting river which links the two and which is known to every devoted angler as Grand Lake stream. Each season has equaled its predecessors and each season’s record has spread the fame of the region abroad.

Today Grand Lake stream is known In every corner of the country where there Is an enthusiastic lover of the game fish. Each year brings together at the camps along the shores of the lakes the pick of the salmon fishermen of the continent. There are many tales of notable catches. One man, fishing with a fly late in May, took 29 in one day and another is reported to have landed 120 in 16 days. Lying 169 miles north of Bangor. Grand Lake stream Is reached only after the Washington country railroad is followed to Princeton. Then there is a jaunt of 16 miles by motor boat and cart to the camps deep in the forest The journey is a long one, perhaps, but no true fisherman thinks of that once he has glimpsed the broad expanse of water sweeping before him for 50 ( square miles. He has only to watch a while for one of the canoes which dot the surface here and there, until he sees a shimmer of silver as a fish jumps clear to strike and the fever is upon him. After that he is busy, except at the Interval when he snatches time to eat and sleep. Either a light bamboo or a light steel rod is employed, with silk line, double leads and a 2-0 hook. On this a minnow is securely placed in such a a manner that the little fish turns and twists to glye a close imitation of natural swimming. The salmon Is something of an epicure in his tastes; he is particular about his diet and will not rise to dead bait or offal; he Is to be lured only by a bait that Is in motion. As the guide paddleft leisurely along some 50 or 75 yards of line trail behind and then the angler waits for things to happen. Pretty soon there is a flash of gleaming white and a tug at one lines; It is the strike. The salmon has parted at the tempting minnow, has leaped In a graceful curve a good three feet out of the water and is off. Now comes the hum of the reel, a song dear to the heart of every devotee of the gentle art, and the play begins. While the pleasant whirr continues the ounaniche tries every trick to hold him safe. The salmon will fight for liberty with a pertinacity greater than that of any other denizen of lake or stream. It takes a'good half hour of playing before he can be reeled In and during

that time he struggles all the time. For a moment he gives in and then is off again with a new lease of strength: Throughout his battle is punctuated with a series of picturesque jumps, qften as many as a half dozen, before hfe finally quits. While all this is going on everything is forgotten in the excitement of the sport. There are no cares, no worries, no schemes of business for the man with the rod. There is just one thing in the world, and that is the fish on the end of the line.