AN angler's notes ON THE BEAVERKILL 



to the bitter end. The brown is more of a cannibal 

 than the native ; in fact, most brown trout that I have 

 opened have contained trout, some of which have 

 been a fourth as long as themselves. As food, the 

 flavor of the brown becomes " weedy " after the mid- 

 dle of May and is decidedly unpleasant to the taste, 

 though early in the season he is not so bad. The 

 native is sweet and delicious as long as the stream is 

 up. All talk now about the brown trout is futile; 

 they are there to stay and will remain as long as 

 there are trout in the stream. 



Flies. 

 One of the peculiarities of the native trout is that 

 they will seldom rise, in the daytime, to a fly that has 

 much red in its composition. The most successful 

 flies are the dull, modest-colored ones. The following 

 list is as complete as needed : Cahill, Marston's 

 Fancy, Drab Wing Cowdung, March Brown and 

 Ginger March Brown, Whirling Dun, Black Spinner, 

 Coachman, Black Gnat, Orvis's Red Fox, and Yellow 

 May or Green Drake on No. 12 or 10 hooks. My 

 preference is for a Sproat hook. I like a long, slender 

 point and a fair-sized barb. The O'Shaughnessy is 

 the best hook for big flies, but is too clumsy for any- 

 thing less than a No. 8. The Cahill fly should have 

 light-brown speckled wings; they are often tied too 

 dark. In my opinion the Cahill is the best fly on the 

 Beaverkill ; it was the best when I first fished the stream, 



