Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1924, Page 58

MAGAZINE SECTION he Sundiy St WASHINGTON, = Part 5—8 Pages ‘Now C Impatient at De- lay Caused by Po- tomac Floods, They Have Been Watching Daily Reports of River Conditions and preparing the Bait and Tackle. Knowledge Gained Through Years of Experience to Be Put to Test. SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 1924. omes the Season for D. C. .Ang’lers to Enjoy Real Sport B €. | Some Well | Known Officials | and Other Busy Citizens Among Those Who Share in the Noonday Gatherings for Re- hearsal of Tales of Fishing Adven- tures of the Past. Some Favorite Trips Made by the Initiated. “Tm_: day is near!" That is| o * - o £ 8 ¥ . 4 ¥ g 3 X 3 | Louis Lindler of the War Depar the chant of the golf bug, 7 e 5 ! s . . & 7 A ment. If vou want to know the racquet wiclde A 2 3 % f ] 4 é i to catch a part r K A ball fan, n ish at a parti on all other followers of outdoor sports, vear, ask Lou. as they gaze alternate.y at the cal- | the migrator: ender and the sk d long for the! the United wh overs! and | service carded without fe: from the undevia their favorite sport by 1 and ardos-damper would be no less lese deste to say that followers of these various * are chafi 3 their bits another. Who, there He keeps closer tat wanderings of i tates employment harvest hands. He gauge his calculations on jons of the year, but on t of locust blossoms, cts and the growth w nre Annual excursion of Potomac Anglers' | Ascociation to ChesapeakeBeach/ does on does n the erop of of ves ) e it comes to Congress there a great many ardent devot the piscatorial pastime in both houscs but all will concede th: tive Harry B. Hawes ranks little short of Iz f in the zea 3 to this sport. | Hawes an ardent angler, but b for various other forms { door life. Any question of his | premacy among his colleagues a | fisherman can be dispelled by quo epic he delivered tly = the House floor on outdoor x x * tual arrival of the . sin to run. Daily | ‘:\ innovation for conditio: m Har which is expected supplant “put-and-take’ with eager | 3 ract Is kept with | diversions hitherto em away the time until than k Walto: thusiasm h other they of the time | their favorite | g ’ : : which the | nds just at a time o an early ¢ j y X 4 s i 1z season was a thrust at their | 2 o 3 g . 3 . * | mpatient lon floods took an rece fishing this nd oved to w the outlook the Highway and| ¢ bridge: or be it known Fields to very few cities of in the excellence of its fishing grounds. While thers are those who annually hie themseives away to the lakes of Wisconsin or make a yearly pilgrimage to Canada in search of the elusive bass or trout, there is little doubt that the axiom; “Distance lends enchantment to the view,” is the principal dri 5 element in such a journey. ‘There are prob: fish in the P Bay and in the streams found large c can one that Washington just in Chesa numerous connecting stuaries as may be vicinity of any other the country ay that these fish are dull or sluggish. They are just as virile and “red-blooded” and possess mwuch fighting spirit, pugnaciousness and “viciousne: as may be found anywhere in the country. It is strange that there are not more anglers in the District of Co- lumbia than there are. It is no doubt a striking exemplification of nothar axiom, that familiarity breeds empt. Washingtonians are too > to the scene to appreciate their tune. He who lives on the moun- n top cannot see the mountain. many peake ity P * JOR the edification of those who have failed to realize the enjoy- nt and pleasure lying at their doors, some of the closely guarded secrets of a coterie of Washington anglers anent the habits and family life of Potomac fish have been acquired (never mind how), and will be disclosed as well as is possi- ble by an amateur. Before we get into that, however, it may be well to dwell for a mo- ment upon the habits and eccen- tricities of the angiers whence the information comes. If you want to Jearn about fish, would you go to a fish wharf? No! That's where they catch ‘em in nets. Therefore, go to a bait and tackle store. There, every day at noon, in sum- mer or winter, in fishing season and out, assembles a bunch of cronies— ardent devotees of the sport made famous by old Ike Walton—who would rather talk fish, bait and tackle than eat. And that is what they do. Coming on their lunch hour, they must go without food or else their jobs arc different from those of the rest of us. Sometimes these sages of rod and reel divert their daily meeting to discussions of politics or to argu- inents about the relative merits of this or that Senate scandal investi- gation, but it takes a mighty impor- tant subject to warrant any ex- tended digression. Sooner or later the talk gets back to the “biggest fish I have caught,” the, best place to catch this or that marine monster or the most tempt- ing bait to dangle before the sensi- tive ‘snoot of & particularly finicky or overly fastidious inhabitant of the waters. It may be sald without fear of suc- cesstul contradiction that more fish have been and are being caught from the' top of the mad-tom box in the rear room of the bait and tackle store than anywhere else from the Potomac River to Cape Cod. There each day gather for the rogular noontime fishing fest such confirmed anglers as George L. Wood, superintendent of rural mails, Post Office Department: E. C. Kemper, iawyer, 1741 New York avenue; Henry Madert, a piano tuner; Louis ¥. Per- ron, retired plate printer of the bu- reau of engraving and first president ¢ the Potomac Anglers' Associa- tion, and Eid Ford of the Post Office Department . (] its size | Neither | | it involves S7ull weight of the First rush. T %nrin&gf ihe bottom to get awau~ H.ARMSTRONG ROBERTS. Conserving “The Outdoors” Our forefathers came with the Bible in one hand and the rifle in the other. Some of their descendants have lost the rifi both the Bible and the rifle. Let us restore the confidence and strength that knowledge of the ore the spiritual strength the Bible gives. Let us help to bring back both by the purchase of a piece of the where strong men and spiritual power find the best rifle brings. Let us re: big “outdoors,” nourishment. ‘When we lose our “pep,” when good food tastes bad, when friends do not satiéfy, when life bacomes a bore, when music seems out of tune, when the old dog annoys, when the doctor fails, and the good wife irritates—there is but one remedy for the “run-down,” and it is found in the forests or on the streams in the big “outdoors. There we g0 to church and worship God by conversing with the things He made, listening to sermons from rocks and trees, choir music from the birds. If you need a fresh start and want to lose the “run-down" feeling and get back your “pep,” go fishing. It is a notable fact that of the Twelve Apostles selected by Christ four were fishermen. They were natural philosophers who made their living in the big wide-open, who knew the stars, the tempest, the sea, the sun, the moon, the winds, and the calm. They were prepared for a campaign for men because they had first campaigned with the elements of nature. Study of nature had prepared them for a study of men, and their thoughts and teachings were big, like the outdoors from whence they came. Remarks of Representative Harry B. Hawes of Missouri in the House of Representatives Thursday, January 24, 1924. THESE are the regulars. There are others who, because they missed a day or two of attendance during the past winter, have been placed on probation, and hence are tempora- rily outside the pale of the honest-to- goodness old gang, who might lose a day at work without a twinge of conscience, but miss the daily ses- slon—never! TaKe Wood, for instance. And you can't name him without Kemper, for they always fish together; that is. of course, speaking of “outdoor” fish- ing. When bass fishing is on they both have single-track minds, and scorn to pull in a fish of any other complexion. When bass fishing 'is over, however, or before it has be- gun, they are still anglers, and have been known to display without shame a gigantic cat—meaning catfish, of course. One of their favorite ways of spending a day is to take a canoe from a boathouse above Great Falls and pole up the Maryland through Black Riffles and on to Sen- eca, drifting back around the islands along the Virginia shore, past the old Indian fish trap, casting for bass both ways. On these trips they use nothing but artificial bait. A word of warning to those who would attempt to duplicate this fe: without a proper realization of what If you have never poled side | ; some the Bible; some a boat, you absolutely cannot make | tho trip until you have learned the art. Even with considerable poling ex- | perience, it takes a husky man to get a boat through Black Riffles, and there is a lot more swift water be- tween there and Semeca. But the trip is well worth the exertion. There is no more wildly beautiful| scenery anywhere in the vicinity of, the National Capital than is found on both sides of the Potomac along this stretch. And fish are not entirely absent, aithough not so plentiful as at one time. George and Ed claim to have. caught thirty nice bass on one such trip only last summer. They divide the labor of poling on the way upstream, -one taking the staff for half an hour while the other casts, and vice versa. On the way down they let the boat drift while they both fish. “Louey” Perron is the handy man on fishing excursions, and, apart from his never-failing good company, | is a highly prized addition to all fish- ing trips for his ability, quickly and ingeniously, 1o repair broken fishing tackle which otherwise would be use- less. He is a veteran fisherman, and yields to no jone in the number of fish caught on hook and lne in the Potomac and nearby waters. He was one of the organizers and became the first president of the Totomac Ang- ! 'mi-" (’\W,ash{n == praudl?{ exhibit their caich. - i ton fishermen p Tear GreatTulls. lers' Association, a chapter of the Jzzak Walton League of America Perron in his spare time from fishing does the repair work for the store and takes care of ail the fishing tackle of Representative Harry Hawes of Missouri. * k% % 'ORD, another of the coterie, is the silent member of the group, but | what he lacks in conversation he| makes - up in actual performance when it comes to catching fish Known as one of the “old originals he delights in teaching the intri cies of the sport to ‘beginners and| opening up to them an entirely new | world undreamed of. As a conse- quence of this faculty Ford has a large number of proteges, who, hav- ing become infected with the virus of the sport, give full credit to the veteran for leading them Into ways of pleazure and health. William M. postmaster, is TBill) Mooney, city at present one of the estranged members of the group. When he was chief clerk of the Post Office Department he usually found time to drop in for the noon hour seance, but when he became city post master and was moved over near the | Union Station he could not so often | find time to attend. However, his new work does’ not | interfere with Mr. Mooney's inclira- tion to fish nor with carrying that in- clination into effect. Being possessed | of a fine launch, when the toils and | cares of the day are over the post- | master is wont to repair to his boat | for a quick run down the river to| some favored spot where he may give himself to his obsession without stint. No President of the United States ever got as much pleasure out of the yacht Mayflower as “Bill" Money gets from his boat. =7 | radio habit | outfits which they Al acquired ing compact carry ‘right” is the radio, of the boys who have are plar can and set up in the boat or or listen-in on the doings of tunate beings. Again the day near! In fa | some of the more impatient fishern POSTMASTER BILL MOONEY and his string of bass. There are no obscure spots on the river, so far as this fisherman and his boat are concerned. Any place the boat can go becomes familiar territory to Mooney, and, knowing the habits of fish, he can seck them out unerringly in their lairs. Bass and rock are about the only fish Mr. Mooney cares to catch, and o Interested is he in the preserva- tion of this sport that he never lets | pass an opportunity to report catches made by others out of season or by unlawful methods. the wording of the laws relating to bass fishing, and is interested in the | sécuring of additional legislation to furfher protect the sport. It is said of Henry Madert that he can catch more fish from the mad- tom tank than any other indoor fish- erman. Whether he keeps that rec- ord on the water is a maiter of dis- Needless to say, | he also obeys the letter as well as| | pute, wut, like Held, wnen rock fish- | ing is of, Henry may usually be| | found in the vicinity of Turkey Foot | | Rock, and he fishes with just as much | ardor and enthusiasm there as lhe does indoors. No fish story is complete without mentioning Dr. Victor Brown, a chiro- practor on H street northeast. Be- ing possessed of a strong innate sense of duty, Dr. Brown finds himselt every so often torn between respor- sibility to his patients and the lure of the water. Sometimes the moment arrives when he can get'away without dis- appointing his patients. Then all is “jake” At other times the lure comes unexpectedly at a busy hour. On these ‘occasions he endeavors to compromise with duty by inviting his patients along. 1f you ever see a man in a bobat | vigorously pounding another's spine, vou may be advised that a dark murder is not in the making, but that Dr. Brown's piscatorial complex has | gained the ascendancy at a time when business might have interfered with ple; re. Brown has fished up the river and down the river and all over the river. | He has fished in the bay and in the | waters of the nearby creeks and" streams. He knows the habits and | feeding hours of Potomac fish as well | as he knows the physiological reac- tion of one of his breath-taking punches on a defenseless vertebra. Another angler who is considered a specialist on fish food or bait is | and quite a number we | acquainted already have been angling for ca caught be fore the flood came along. And jus a word about catfish. This sort of f 5 is rot alway appealing to 1 ranger in Wash- ington, but tha because he 1s not wiil the Poto cat That acquaintance, once made. brings a change of heart. ¥or some reason the catfish caught in the Potomac are endowed with mure spunk than their brethren of other waters. They do not come in like a water-soaked 1 and many a fisherman experiences all the thrills of capturing a fighting bass only to find a lively catfish has taken his bait. Even experience times taken by su are some the antie: | of & vigorous cat which breaks wate like a bass. Only a sudden dive the bottom reveals the nature of the brute. The Potomac cat frequently runs to twenty pounds, and monster: of thirty pounds occasionally caught. In the Missouri River spe mens of this species of fish have been caught weighing 150 pounds and even the Tennessec River hoasts of fifty-pounders, but it is said the do not put up the fight of a twenty- pound Potomac cat. The best bait for catfish this time of vear is shad entrails. but times they will take cut herring, chicken entrails and soft-shell crab. At this season they are found only in the deeper water, and may b« caught almost anywhere from the wall of East Potomac Park, the Georgetown Channel, Outlet Lock and below Little Falls. Some big ones inhabit the deep holes and chan- nels on the upper river, both above and below Great Falls, usually in the vicinity of the mouth of a creek. With warmer weather they will seek shal- lower water, and may be caught on angleworms and liver, while in hot weather some fishermen insist that the best bait is either bread balls made from the soft part of bread kneaded with snappy cheese and with ordinary chipped beef. * * % 5 THE first of the migratory fish to arrive in Washington watcrs will be the perch, white and yellow. Usu- ally due about April 15, they are a few days late this year, accordiag to Lindler. Then will come the rush of the heedless herring. making the waters of the Potomac ripple and boll witi their wriggling forms, intent onlv upon spawning and disdainful of even the most tempting food. Be- cause of their great numbers, how- ever, bait is not necessary. As a matter of fact, these fish live on wu microscopio food. Thousands are caught each year by Washington anglers on bare hooks through the simple expedient of snagging them. Close on the heels of the Kerring comes the woracious rock, big and little. The” rockfish come also to spawn, but, unlike the abstemious herring, they are positively ravenous in thelr desire for food, devourinig not only the herring roe, but the herring themselves. Rock fishermen use for bait herring gills, cut herring, ‘including half a herring at a time. softshell crab and bloodworms. After the herring run is_over,,“finger” eels make an ex- cellent bait. When the rock run is on they may be caught almost anywhere in tho river up to the tidewater. At this (Continued on Third Page.) some.