Voices from the Past: Ernest McGaffey (1910)

Ernest McGaffey was a popular writer and sometimes poet in the sporting magazines of the early 20th century. Here's an epistle fitting for this time of year...

Muskellunge

by Ernest McGaffey

Then suddenly the lithe rod bends,
And swift the tense, taut line extends
As all at once from watery lair
A watchful pickerel lurking there
Drops like a panther on the prey,
Strikes, feels the hook and darts away.

Then all at once a mighty fish upsprings,
The rod bends double and the bright reel sings,
As from the depths a giant muskellunge
Vaults and vanishes with a sudden plunge.

-- Dr. Todd