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FORESTS AND FISHING 



THE boys and I went fishing a few 

 days ago. We really started to 

 work in the garden, but the worms 

 which we dug up were so good and 

 plump that they had much to do with 

 calling us away from the job. It was a 

 pretty hot day anyhow, and we knew it 

 would be more pleasant in the shade of 

 the hemlocks and ash trees along the 

 creek than it was in the unshaded garden. 



A convenient tin can soon held a plen- 

 tiful supply of angle worms, and it wasn't 

 long before we gathered together hooks 

 and lines and started off. Fortunately 

 our house is not far from the creek, which 

 flows through a deep gorge not more than 

 a stone's throw away. Just above and 

 just below^us the water tumbles over the 

 rocks in beautiful falls, and the sound of 

 these is constantly in our ears. Of 

 course, we are used to it, but when other 

 folks come to visit us, and especially 

 when they are so good as to stay over 

 night, the sound of the falls makes them 

 think that it has been raining all night 

 long, and they are surprised in the morn- 

 ing when everything is bright and dry. 



Not far above us there is a dam which 

 makes a fair-sized lake or pond, and just 

 above this the water runs still and deep. 

 Here we can clamber down to the creek, 

 bait our lines, and if we are lucky can 

 catch enough bass for dinner. 



It was not long before we had our lines 

 in, and were waiting with as much pa- 

 tience as we could muster for the much- 

 desired "bites." It was very cool and 

 quiet where we were. We could look 

 over to the State road and see the farm 

 teams creeping past and automobiles 



whizzing along, leaving trails of heat and 

 dust behind them. We thought we were 

 a great deal better off than they were, and 

 we had ceased to worry about the garden. 



Pretty soon the oldest boy got a bite, 

 but he was not quick enough to hook the 

 fish, and he rebaited his hook and set 

 himself to waiting again. We then got 

 to talking about fish and how long they 

 lived, and whether they could hear, and 

 how they could breathe under water; so, 

 of course, I had to tell them the best I 

 knew about it. 



Then we got to talking about the effect 

 of forests on the life of the fishes, and 

 how the very best and gamiest of our 

 inland water fish must have cool, clear 

 water; how trout that once thrived in 

 streams, which were shaded over by the 

 trees, disappeared when the trees were 

 cut away and the streams were left open 

 to the sunlight. Not only that, but the 

 roots of the trees form a filter which lets 

 the rain fall through gently without 

 washing in any fine particles of silt to 

 make the stream muddy. For the brook 

 trout thrives best only in clear water 

 which runs over pebbly bottoms rather 

 than over mud. 



From that we got to talking about the 

 use of forests to the fish, and we saw how 

 the fishing was best where the forest was 

 protected, and how forest fires had de- 

 stroyed many fine fishing streams, and 

 how even the anglers, who cut away the 

 willows and brush from the banks of little 

 streams in order that their lines and 

 fishing flies would not get tangled, had 

 really brought about a greater harm by 

 opening up the streams to full sunlight 

 and taking away the coolness of the water. 



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