126 FISHING IN T H E OHIO.
in the middle current of the river, so that the people on board could not
observe the fish that had been hooked. Not a single steamer had as yet
ever gone down the Ohio ; now and then, it is true, a barge or a keelboat
was propelled by poles and oars; but the nature of the river is such
at that place, that these boats when ascending were obliged to keep near
the Indiana shore, until above the landing of the village, (below which
I always fixed my lines), when they pulled across the stream.
Several species or varieties of Cat-fish are found in the Ohio, namely
the Blue, the White, and the Mud Cats, which differ considerably in
their form and colour, as well as in their habits. The Mud Cat is the
best, although it seldom attains so great a size as the rest. The Blue
Cat is the coarsest, but when not exceeding from four to six pounds, it
affords tolerable eating. The White Cat is preferable to the last, but
not so common; and the Yellow Mud Cat is the best and rarest. Of the
blue kind some have been caught that weighed a hundred pounds. Such
fishes, however, are looked upon as monsters.
The form in all the varieties inclines to the conical, the head being
disproportionately large, while the body tapers away to the root of the
tail. The eyes, which are small, are placed far apart, and situated as it
were on the top of the forehead, but laterally. Their mouth is wide, and
armed with numerous small and very sharp teeth, while it is defended by
single-sided spines, which, when the fish is in the agonies of death, stand
out at right angles, and are so firmly fixed as sometimes to break before
you can loosen them. The Cat-fish has also feelers of proportionate
length, apparently intended to guide its motions over the bottom, whilst
its eyes are watching the objects passing above.
Trot-lines cannot be used with much success unless during the middle
stages of the water. When very low, it is too clear, and the fish, although
extremely voracious, will rarely risk its life for a toad. When
the waters are rising rapidly, your trot-lines are likely to be carried away
by one of the numerous trees that float in the stream. A " happy medium"
is therefore best.
When the waters are rising fast and have become muddy, a single
line is used for catching Cat-fish. It is fastened to the elastic branch of
some willow several feet above the water, and must be twenty or thirty
feet in length. The entrails of a Wild Turkey, or a piece of fresh venison,
furnish good bait; and if, when you visit your line the next morning
FISHING IN T H E OHIO. 127
after you have set it, the water has not risen too much, the swinging of
the willow indicates that a fish has been hooked, and you have only to
haul the prize ashore.
One evening I saw that the river was rising at a great rate, although
it was still within its banks. I knew that the White Perch were running,
that is, ascending the river from the sea, and, anxious to have a tasting of
that fine fish, I baited a line with a cray-fish, and fastened it to the bough
of a tree. Next morning as I pulled in the line, it felt as if fast at the
bottom, yet on drawing it slowly I found that it came. Presently I felt
a strong pull, the line slipped through my fingers, and next instant a
large Cat-fish leaped out of the water. I played it for a while, until
it became exhausted, when I drew it ashore. It had swallowed the
hook, and I cut off the line close to its head. Then passing a stick
through one of the gills, I and a servant tugged the fish home. On
cutting it open, we, to our surprise, found in its stomach a fine White
Perch, dead, but not in the least injured. The Perch had been lightly
hooked, and the Cat-fish, after swallowing it, had been hooked in the stomach,
so that, although the instrument was small, the torture caused by it
no doubt tended to disable the Cat-fish. The Perch we ate, and the Cat,
which was fine, we divided into four parts, and distributed among our
neighbours. My most worthy friend and relative, NICHOLAS BERTHOUD,
Esq., who formerly resided at Shippingport in Kentucky, but now in
New York, a better fisher than whom I never knew, once placed a trotline
in " the basin" below " TarascoiVs Mills," at the foot of the Rapids
of the Ohio. I cannot recollect the bait which was used ; but on taking
up the line we obtained a remarkably fine Cat-fish, in which was found
the greater part of a sucking pig !
I may here add, that I have introduced a figure of the Cat-fish in
Plate XXXI. of my first volume of my Illustrations, in which I have
represented the White-headed Eagle.