TROUT FISHING. 263 



one and a half pounds ; and the true angler well knows that a well- 

 conditioned fresh -run fish, from this size to a pound larger, on the 

 finest and most delicate tackle, will give him nothing of which to com- 

 plain in the way of exercise or excitement. 



" At a short distance from Snedecor's is another stream, known as 

 Green's Creek, which contains a peculiar and distinct variety of Trout, 

 which is called in that district the Silver Trout. I have not seen this 

 fish, but learn from good sportsmen that it is of a much lighter and 

 more pearly hue than the common Trout, the bright and silvery lustre 

 of the scales prevailing over the back and shoulders. It is crimson 

 spotted, but the fins are less strongly yellow, and it is perhaps a 

 slenderer fish in form. The flesh is said to be firm and well-flavored. 

 The Silver Trout is rarely taken much over or much under a pound 

 in weight, and rises to the fly or takes the bait indiscriminately. This 

 stream has, I know not wherefore, of late years lost much of its cele- 

 brity, and is rarely visited by the best sportsmen. 



At Patchogue, yet a few miles further, there is a very large pond, 

 which was formerly perhaps the most famous on the island, both for 

 the abundance and the size of the fish which it contained. They have, 

 however, become latterly so scarce, that few persons from a distance 

 think it worth their while to pause there, but proceed at once to Sam 

 Carman's, at Fireplace, eighteen miles eastward from Liff. Snedecor's; 

 these two being in fact the par excellence fishing grounds of the Island, 

 and the difference between the two rather a matter of individual pre- 

 judice and fancy, than of any real or well-grounded opinion. 



" The character of the fishing at Fireplace is nearly similar to that 

 at Islip ; the stream flowing from the pond is larger, and contains 

 much larger fish, the most beautiful, both in shape and brightness of 

 color, of any on the island. In this stream, two pounds is a very com- 

 mon size ; perhaps, fish are as frequently taken of this weight as under 

 it, and upwards to four pounds. Their flesh is very highly colored, 

 and their flavor, as I have observed before, second to none. Indeed, 

 it is but a few years since Carman's fish were estimated by old sports- 

 men the only fish worth eating ; of late, however, fashion which rules 

 in gastronomic tastes as otherwise has veered a little in favor of the 

 Islip Trout, and it remains at present a debatable point between the 

 two. The course of Carman's stream lies chiefly through open salt 



