PREFACE 



Some one has said that the easiest way to write a book is to get 

 some one else to write it. I pondered over this remark for several 

 days and then said to myself: " If it be well to get some one else 

 to write it, would it not be better to get several others ? " Surely. 



And so I requested a number of my good friends, ardent 

 anglers, careful students of Ichthyology, and men who wield the pen 

 as gracefully as the fly-rod, to tell the world what they know of 

 their favorites of the crystal waters. Hence this book. 



It would be impossible for me to express my thanks to these 

 gentlemen, in words, for their noble work, but every reader of this 

 book will join me in praising their efforts and in wishing them long 

 life and a full measure of that grand sport they have taught us to 

 love. 



One of my contributors, dear old Francis Endicott, has, since 

 penning his charming paper on the Striped Bass, gone to his reward. 

 Peace to his ashes ! May an eternity of cool shades and sparkling 

 waters be his portion. 



The Editor. 



