Outlines and Silhouettes 125 



place where caught, and date lettered in black India ink in 

 the right-hand corner. Without fail, every one of my fishing 

 friends and every new member of the Yale Fishing Club that 

 sees my fish-mount silhouettes for the first time exclaims, "This 

 is wonderful; I'm going to start a collection too!" 



Outlines Burnt in Wood 



Fish trophies produced in wood go well in a casual or rustic 

 type of room. A series of fish outlines burnt in wooden plaques 

 add interest to any informal room whether it is the den at 

 home, a boy's room, or the main room of a fishing camp. The 

 fishes outlined may be of several different species, or the display 

 may consist of a single kind. 



You and your family may fish in an area that has several 

 species of fish (for example: bluegill, sunfish, catfish, yellow 

 perch, bass, and pickerel; or along the shore: tautog, dinner, 

 flatfish, bluefish, striped bass, etc. ) . Have a family competition. 

 Father can be weigh-master and recorder; of course the rest of 

 the family should witness the weighing-in of any fish he catches! 

 A temporary outline of each fish entered is made. As a heavier 

 fish comes in, another outline is traced; and the previous record 

 discarded. At the end of each season, the biggest fish of each 

 species is permanently recorded with its outline burnt in a 

 plaque. The angler's name, date, and place where the fish was 

 caught should also be burnt in. It could be great fun to have 

 the final party of the season reserved for the wall hanging of 

 the outline trophies. 



George Albrecht and I stayed at a fishing camp, on the banks 

 of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick, Canada, where we 

 took great interest in the burnt-in outlines of Atlantic salmon 

 that lined the walls. Every salmon over 15 pounds taken by 

 anglers who stayed at this camp was burnt directly into the 

 wood of the wall. Each outline was accompanied by the name 

 of the angler and the fly which took the fish. This collection 

 was unusual because the silhouettes dated back many years. 



