1 24 Sporting Sketches 



But when the water, surroundings, day, and fish 

 are as they should be, then indeed is fly-fishing the 

 artistic and fascinating thing of which enthusiasts 

 have raved ever since the introduction of fine tackle 

 and its necessary fine art. The trail of the trouter 

 must penetrate the picturesque nay ! it is one long 

 gallery hung with the scenic masterpieces of East 

 and West. Forever before one winds, or spreads, 

 the silver pathway of the brook the flashing shield 

 of the lonely lake. Forever in one's ears is liquid 

 melody of cold, sweet water, always singing to 

 woody aisles of shadow, or breaking in foamy music 

 about the feet of stony sentinels whose everlasting 

 duty is to guard the gem-like lakes of all the forested 

 North. 



But trout fishing is not always the delicate play 

 of fairy tackle upon baby streams and bantam lakes. 

 Where the purple battlements of Superior's shore 

 repel the white-maned cavalry of the queen of fresh- 

 water seas, there is trout fishing unrivalled for scope 

 and grandeur of accessories. Where a big bay 

 curves in behind the outer cliffs and leaves the tu- 

 mult of surfy assault to leap, break, and retreat from 

 its hopeless task, I have stood of a summer evening 

 and wondered. A full half-mile of calm, crystal- 

 clear water, cold as the sweat of a dying glacier, was 

 ringed and dimpled everywhere by the play of rising 

 trout. The first big drops of a summer shower might 

 produce a similar effect. And, to avoid a possible 

 misunderstanding, let me say that brook trout are 

 meant, and not " lakers " or any other fish peculiar 

 to large waters. In the bays, coves, and at intervals 

 along the north shore, the brook trout finds con- 



