CHAPTER XXIX.
How to Attract Perch.--Perch-fishing.--Pike.--Good Sport.-- Plaster Casts.--Model Eggs.
"I say," said Frank, "you remember when the minnows ran at thecaddis-worms in their transparent cases, but could not eat them?"
"Yes."
"And you know what shoals of perch there are about the broad, and howdifficult it is to drop upon them, because the water is so shallow andclear?"
"Yes."
"Then what would you say to putting a quantity of minnows in glassbottles, and sinking them in the broad, in a good place, for two orthree days? I think a lot of perch would collect together and prowlabout trying to get at them, and then we could go and catch any quantityof them, live baiting with minnows."
This project was agreed to unanimously, and after a day or two, the boyswere busily engaged in collecting wide glass bottles, or wide-mouthedjars, and in fishing for minnows, of which they got a considerablenumber by diverting the current of a brook, and baling the water out ofa pool in it.
They had managed to obtain about a dozen large glass bottles or jars.They filled these with water and put a number of minnows in each, andthen corked them up, making holes through the corks to admit fresh waterand air to the prisoners. These bottles and jars were conveyed to a spotwhere perch were in the habit of congregating,--near an island of reeds,where the water was about five feet deep, with a fine gravelly bottomsuch as perch delight in. The large shoals of perch which roamed aboutthe broad were very often to be met with here, and it was a favouritefishing place of the boys.
One Friday night they took the yacht to this spot and moored her therein a convenient position, sinking the bottles and jars from six totwelve feet distance from her, so as just to be within easy reach oftheir rods. Leaving the yacht there they rowed back in the punt. Theyacht was pleasanter to fish from than a small boat, and they took herthere overnight to avoid making a disturbance in the morning.
On the Saturday morning they rowed to the spot in the punt, armed withtheir rods and bait-cans filled with minnows. Getting quietly on boardthe yacht, so as to avoid any concussion of the water, they peered intothe clear depths. Two of the jars were easily to be seen, and round eachof them was a circle of perch, or rather several circles, for next tothe jar were some very large ones with their noses placed against theglass. Behind these large perch were others, in circles of graduallylessening size, until they came to the very small ones, which werethere, not so much attracted by the minnows as hanging on of necessityto the tails of their elders.
The boys laughed quietly to each other at the success of theirexperiment. They had certainly succeeded in drawing the fish together.
Dick was the first ready. He had baited his hook with a live minnow, thehook being run through the skin of its back near the back-fin. As theminnow sank through the water, and before the float touched the surface,there was a general rush of the perch up towards it. Dick pulled hisbait out of the way of some small ones which were rushing at it, andthen the largest of the shoal, a patriarch of about four pounds inweight, came hurtling at it, dashing the others to right and left ofhim. The poor minnow made a futile attempt to escape the wide openjaws, but it was of no use, and they closed upon it and the hooktogether. Dick struck and hooked the perch, which immediately made aspirited rush straight away. On being hooked it had blown the minnow outof its mouth, and it was eagerly snapped up by another perch. Dick'sperch fought very gamely, and Frank and Jimmy forbore to put their linesin until it was secured, for fear of fouling. After a very sharpstruggle Dick drew the perch within reach of a landing-net, which Frankslipped under it and lifted it out. It was a beauty, in splendidcondition, its black bars being strongly marked across its goldenscales.
PERCH AND GUDGEON.]
Frank and Jimmy now put their lines in, while Dick was rebaiting. Inless time than you can say "Jack Robinson" they each had a fish on, bothof them good ones. And now the sport was fast and furious. As fast asthey put in they had a bite, the perch even following their strugglingcompanions to the top of the water as they were being drawn out. Thevery large ones soon grew wary, but the smaller ones, fellows of abouthalf to three-quarters of a pound, seemed not to have the slightestshyness, and rushed to their fate with the greatest eagerness. Thefloats lay for a very short time on the water before they went underwith that quick dash which characterizes a perch's bite.
"Here's a gudgeon in the bait-can," said Jimmy. "I will put it on myhook and try for a big one. It may be tempting."
He did so and threw it in. Immediately the float went under water withsuch swiftness that he knew he had hold of a big one and he struck, tofind his rod bending double and his line running rapidly off the reelwith the rush of a large fish.
"You have got a big one," said Frank. "Let him have line."
Jimmy did so, until the line was nearly off the reel, and then he wascompelled to give him the butt. The line stood the strain, and the fishwas turned and came back slowly and sullenly, while Jimmy wound in hisline. The fish allowed himself to be drawn up close to the yacht, andthey saw it was a large pike, and then it went off again. This time therush was not so long or strong, and after two or three rushes oflessening power, the pike was drawn within reach. Frank unscrewed thenet and fixed the gaff-head on the stick, hooked Mr. Pike through, andhauled him in. It weighed nine pounds. Jimmy was proud of havingconquered it with a light rod and line not very well adapted forpike-fishing.
PIKE.]
Towards noon the wind began to rise, and as the clearness of the waterwas then destroyed by the ripple, the big perch lost their caution inconsequence. The small ones now left off biting, possibly beginning tosee that it was not a profitable occupation. Presently the sportaltogether grew slack, and as it was then three o'clock, and the boyshad been too busy to eat anything, they left off for lunch. After lunchFrank said,--
"I am sated with slaughter; and as there is such a nice breeze, let ussail about the broad."
"Frank would give up anything for sailing," said Dick laughing, as heput away his tackle.
I forget how many fish they really got that day, but I know that bothnumber and weight were very great indeed.
They took up the jars and bottles the next morning when the water wasclear and still, and released the prisoners which had done them suchgood service.
It was worth while preserving a memento of a four-pound perch, and as itwas a pity to spoil it for eating by skinning, it was resolved to make aplaster-cast of it, and this was done in the following manner:--
They bought some plaster-of-paris and mixed it with water until itbecame a thin paste. This they poured into a box, and when it began toset they laid the fish on its side in it, so that exactly one half of itwas covered by the plaster. The fish had first been well oiled, so thatthe scales should not adhere to the mould. When the plaster was set andhard the fish was taken carefully out. Several holes about an inch deepwere then bored in the plaster round the imprint of the fish. Theplaster-cast was then well oiled, the fish laid in it, and more plasterpoured in, until the fish was covered. When this in its turn had becomehard it was taken off, and both sides of the fish were now representedin the mould. The holes which had been bored in the first mould, now hadcorresponding projections in the second mould. This was to insureaccuracy of fit when the pieces were put together for the final cast. Ahole was then bored through one side of the mould. The interior of itwas well oiled, the pieces fitted together, and liquid plaster poured inthrough the hole. In a couple of hours the moulds were separated, and aperfect cast of the fish was the result. This Mary painted inwater-colour to imitate the natural fish, and the final result was verycreditable to all concerned.
While upon the subject of plaster casts, I must mention an occupationwhich the boys resorted to in the winter-time. Their collection ofbirds' eggs was almost as perfect as they could hope to make it for manyyears to come, but at Frank's suggestion they added to it, foradditional perfection, a representation of the egg of every Britishbird. The
y made these eggs of plaster and coloured them very carefully,and varnished them with white of egg. These artificial eggs could nothave been distinguished from real ones as they lay in the cabinet, buteach egg was marked with a label, signifying that it was only a model. Irecommend this plan to all students of ornithology.
The Swan and Her Crew Page 31