A LESSON IN TROUT TICKCING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1892, 15 May 1890, Page 28

A LESSON IN TROUT TICKCING.

Ha was a litfc'^ raaa, wi:h kemt, -ee l ; cs? iyes oud a very long noes. His name vms Mot-ea SbriDnpfcnn v and bo wh t'^ most pxr' o>> fc ponch'-r in Worcßt'u^hire I wai onrc°aled behind a tree on thn b&nk of a shallow stmijin, angling lor trout, wben the redoubtable Moans crept stealthily up the brookside, with his fevrot eyea fixed on tbo water. Presoully ha took eff his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeve, and smeared bis right arm with

clay. Then, dropping on his hands and knees, he crawled to the brook and thrust hia dirty hand into the water. In less than a quarter of a minute a fair-sized trout lay flopping and gasping oil tbo bank at my feet. " Veiy well done, Mo," I exclaimed, stepping from behind the tree. " Much practice makes perfect. I've tried to tickle trout many a time; but nover got one out of the water."

"Who be you?" roturnad the poacher, savagely, pocketing the fish.

As Mo waa an ugly cuatomar, I spoke him fair. It was prudent. Ha was banged Bhortly,afterwards for murdering a policeman. "Caught anything!" he asked, when satis* fied that I had no intention of getting him into trouble,

"Nor you won't. There's a meadow up stream as waß flooded this mornin'. The fish be full o' gruba and ineeks as the water ha' washed into the brook. No fear aB they'll bite till they be hungry agen. Come wi' me, an* I'll put you up to la Jdodge or two. It ain't so easy as it looks to tickle trout. I've. Been fools try to put a white arm undor 'em. Might aa well try to £ohuck 'em out wi 1 aclothes prop. My arm's generally brown enough 'thought tbe clay ; but I've been away for six months, and it ha' got a'most too white."

This 'was as much as to Bay that he bad passed the last half year in Worcester, or some other gaol. He led the way up Btream, keeping his eyes fixed on tbe pools. Presently ha stopped, and pointed towards some object, invisible to me, in the water. Mo's eyes were as keen aa a heron's or kingfisher's. " There's a whopper, theer," he whispered ; " you watch me, an' you'll ccc how I ticklea'em. First I getß me .big finger under their bellies ; they thinks it's a bit o' weed rubbin' 'em, an' they likes it. Then I tiokles 'em wi' me little finger, an' gets the others well under 'em an' rooked up. It's no use trying to catch hold of 'em ; they're too quick, an' as slippery as eels. As soon as me hand's well under 'em I shoots it up quick as lightnin', an' I generally has 'em. Just get behind that bush," I obeyed, and Mo stole a little way down stream.returning behind the trout, which I bad not yet seen. Creeping to the brink of the brook on his hands andknees, be stealthily slipped tha olay- ameared hand into the water, when I at once perceived tbe fish. Presently I saw Mo's "big finger" at work; then his little one. The trout waved its tail gently aB if it enjoyed the tickling. Its pleasure, however, was brief* for Mo' suddenly shot up his hand, and sent the fish flying 20ft through tbe air. "That's two," said the adept, picking up the Bpeokled beauty ; " an' there's another in th& pool as I means to have. It's no good tryin' to tickle him, though. He's startled, an' I'll ha' to grope him." Picking up a stone, he shied it into the water, and jumped in after it, heedless of a wetting. He regained the bank almost immediately with the trout in his hand. " I knew he'd bolt up that rat hole if he were skeered smartish loike," ho said, pointing to a hole in' the bank beneath the water.

In the next pool Mo discovered three fish whioh could neither 'be "tickled" nor " groped." They were too far from the banks for the first method, ' and there were no holes into which they could Btrike for the second to be available. The poacher was equal to tba occasion. Producing a wire noose from one of his] cavernous pockets, he affixed it to my fishing-rod. Then, choosing a fish, he dropped the noose into the water a yard distant from its tail, and gradually drew it forward until tha snare was round the trout's body. A sudden jerk, and it lay on the bank. '- That beats all your hook, an' lines, an' fließ, an' that rubbish," he observed. " You anglers goes in for sport ; I goes in for fish ; an' when the water's clear X can catch more in an hour than you can in a week."

A statement I didn't dispute. A little higher up the stream the poacher pointed out half a dozen trout in a small pool connected with a large one by a narrow oh&nnel.

" I'm goin'- to have the lot," be said, fishing a rabbit net out of his pocket, whioh be proceeded, to fix to a hazel twig bent to the shape of a hoop. Having tied the hoop net to the bottom joint of my rod, he held it in the narrow channel, which it almost filled. " Now go to the other end of the pool an' frighten the fish, an' mind as you doea frighten 'em. I obeyed, with the retmlt that two only of tbe trout escaped. The others rushed into the net and were safely landed on the bank. "I think this'll do for to day," said tha poaoher, stowing tha take away with a couple of rabbits and the other contents of his pookets. And the poaoher stole away without offering hia scholar and assistant a share of the capture.