He
had fished in southern waters for muscalonge immense,
He
had trolled in Nova Scotia at very great expense;
He
had cast his flies in Moosehead, for the moose that swim around,
He
had landed bass and tautog from the great Long Island Sound.
He
had cast in western waters, in the grand Ontario,
He
had landed monster salmon from the bold Pacific flow;
He
had had all kinds of fishing in the streams ‘neath Heaven’s dome,
But
the kind that held him captive was the kind he found at home.
For
he came home every summer to the old New England town
Where
he spent his early boyhood as a country youngster from,
And
he’d take some worms and minnows and his old flat bottomed boat,
And
he’d go up in the shadows where the water lilies float.
Way
up alongside “Perch Hole” where he angled years ago
Where
the perch were always waiting for the bait a fellow’d throw.
With
his long cane pole for pick’rel, and a perch’s belly white
He
was always in his glory when they started in to bite.
‘Twas
the swishing of the pick’rel, an’ the slapping of the bait,
And
the croaking of the bullfrogs in their meadowland estate;
‘Twas
the old familiar landmarks, on the creek and on the shore
That
would fill his longing bosom with a happiness once more.
O
he’d fished in all the rivers and the lakes of great renown,
He
had caught all kinds of fighters from the muskellunge on down;
But
the kind he longed for mostly, that which gave him utter joy,
Was
the good old fashioned fishing like he had when but a boy.
July
14, 1904
muscalonge – variation of muskellunge,
or ‘muskie’:
The tautog or hoodfish, Tautoga onitis, is a species of wrasse native
to the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to South
Carolina. This species inhabits hard substrate habitats in inshore waters at
depths from 1 to 75 m (3.3 to 246.1 ft). It is currently the only
known member of its genus.
Barlett
(1848) wrote, "[Tautaug] is a Native American word, and may be found in Roger
Williams' Key to the Indian Language." The name is from the Narragansett language,
originally tautauog (pl. of taut). It is also called a
"black porgy" (cf. Japanese black porgy), "chub" (cf. the
freshwater chub), "oyster-fish" (in North Carolina) or
"blackfish" (in New York/New Jersey, New England).
The muskellunge (Esox masquinongy), also known as muskelunge, muscallonge,milliganong,
or maskinonge (and often abbreviated "muskie" or "musky"),
is a species of large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish native
to North America. The muskellunge is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae.
The common name comes from the Ojibwa word maashkinoozhe, meaning
"ugly pike", by way of French masque allongé (modified
from the Ojibwa word by folk etymology), "elongated face." The
French common name is masquinongé or maskinongé.
The muskellunge is known by a wide variety
of trivial names including Ohio muskellunge, Great Lakes muskellunge,
barred muskellunge, Ohio River pike, Allegheny River pike,
jack pike, unspotted muskellunge and the Wisconsin muskellunge.
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