ON THE OLD 
‘Old doubt, is 
somewhat similar to many old streams 
The Stream,”’ no 
with which the readers of THE ANGLER 
are familiar, yet upon this one Old 
Hugh, who is eighty years of age (I 
have known him for so many years 
that we have become grizzly and gray 
together), taught me every legitimate 
method for taking trout. In olden 
times this stream had such a reputa- 
tion for its many fish, that it seemed 
as if people from near and far devoted 
their energies to deplete it, and by 
their incessant greediness and ever- 
lasting fishing, succeeded in doing so. 
At its lowest ebb, I made an effort to 
lease a portion of it and, in time, se- 
cured 134 miles, about half its length, 
and from July, 1878, to May, 1880, the 
old stream had a rest. In the mean- 
time it was stocked with fry and year- 
lings. A fishing club was formed, and 
the stream has been fished regularly 
and rationally, with results so satis- 
factory that a good basket may be 
procured on almost any day, weather 
and water being in order. 
Hugh and I fish the river for black 
bass during the months of September 
and October, but I like to take him out 
on the “Old Stream” once every 
season as a reminder of the olden 
times. My dayis Friday, so he selects 
either the first or second Friday in 
June, as our most successful days in 
years gone by were on some of the 
Fridays on the 7th day of June. 
We got an early start this year on Fri- 
day, the 8th, andarrivedat the most de- 
sirable portion of the stream shortly af- 
STREAM WITH OLD 
HUGH: 
ter 8:30 a. M. It proved toa delightful 
day, the stream well filled, the water 
clear, while there was sufficient shade 
nearby for comfort. On the 5th I was 
shown some May flies, and expected to 
have found them about the water, but 
not one could be seen, or any other fly. 
The stream was quiet, not a fish rising; 
and it has always been somewhat of a 
puzzle that I could never make any 
sort of a catch with a fly before 9:30 to 
10 A.M. When in doubt, I often fol- 
low the advice given by Francis 
Francis, to put up a red palmer and 
Wyckam’s fancy, but they did not at- 
tract a fish, although a small alder 
used as a drowned fly took three of 
eight inches in length. 
Well on to about ten o’clock a fish 
about thirty yards above, kept rising 
every minute or two, and I surmised 
there was arise of fly, and it is always 
a pretty certain conclusion to arrive 
at on this water that some of 
the duns are being hatched. A 
pale olive dun was attached as 
stretcher, and at the first cast three 
fish made for it, but the largest got 
there first. It was a nice fish of ten 
inches in length. Hugh came to me, 
and we got down on our knees, just 
sufficiently away from the stream that 
we could see the rise. By giving the 
line a few flicks backwards and _ for- 
wards between casts, I managed to 
maintain a floating fly. The first cast 
often brings two or three fish to the 
lure, but, of course, only one is taken, 
and I donot usually cast over the same 
water with the next cast, preferring to 
