426 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Junk 80, 1881. 



hirnself on his pectorals and lies in wait for liis prey, aud 

 woe to the unwary sun fish or heedless shiner that ventures 

 half a yard away from the protec iug bull-rushes. 



Here, along the margin of ihe reeds, disporteth the h'ack 

 bass — Jet me write his name in large letters — the bold biter, 

 the game figh'er aud the one altogether lovely. More cun- 

 ning and curiosity and siss in his eye, more impudence and 

 fearlessness and strategy, moi e gome and staying qualities in 

 his make up, and more pure and vigorous fight lias he in him 

 to the square inch than 1ms the whole pike family, except, 

 perhaps, the noble mascalorge. 



Strike a six-pounder with a light rod, work him away from 

 the rushes where you can tight" him on fair terms, in thirty 

 or forty feet of clear water, and after you have dropped him 

 over the side of your boat, securely attached to the end of 

 your stringer, you will have added at least a half a year to 

 your lease of life. 



Besides bass and pickerel, inascalonge are occasionally 

 taken in this lake and a few others of the chain, but they are 

 not plenty, and it is a feaher in the lucky fisherman's cap 

 who succeeds in capturing one. 



We were told of one weighing 40 lbs that was speared last 

 spring at the month of the little stream connecting Cedar 

 aud Intermediate lakes, which made us the more eager to 

 handle one, but we were disappointed, as all our lures "failed 

 to induce one to strike. I fished along through the steadily, 

 falling rain nearly a mile from camp and had taken but two 

 bass, the pair weighing perhaps 6 lbs., when 1 got into a fight 

 with a pickerel that induced me to believe my early edu- 

 cation in that line of sport had been neglected, and largely 

 increased my respect for them as a game fish. I was sitting 

 with the butt of the rod resting on the seat under my leg, 

 watching a pair of loons out in the lake, when he struck the 

 frog, and the jerk was so sudden and poweful that rod, reel 

 and all came near going overboard. 



He must have fastened himself the first dash he made at 

 the bait, for I did not strike at all, but just stopped the reel 

 with the thumb, and when I cot to my feet aud the line tight- 

 ened up he was a huudred feet away, and going, strong as a 

 horse. 



For a minute it was uncertain wheth' r he would go his 

 way or come mine, but with the rod well up, the strain soon 

 brought him around, head to the boat. He came slowly in, 

 surging from side to side with a strength that was astonish- 

 ing. When he g it sight of the boat he shot off out into the 

 lake with a velocity that made the rrel whistle, but with a 

 pressure on the spool that nearly blistered my thumb, I 

 stopped him, and as he turned he leaped into the air like a 

 bass and spitefully shook himself. I worked him back near 

 the boat again, and be lay quietly for a moment or two close 

 to the top of the water, which was so clear I could b> e every 

 movement of his fins, and 1 fancied I could tell what he was 

 thinking about by the expression of his eye. His long coun- 

 tenance wore such a resigned look that I thought he had 

 given up the fight, and I reached for the gaff, but lie was 

 only playiug possum, for he suddenly dashed under the boat 

 with a rush i i wim impossible to check, aud it was only by a 

 prompt dip of the rod ami leading the line quickly around 

 the steru of the boat that it was prevented from fouling, in 

 which event he would have smashed my tackle and flii.ted 

 his tail at me in derision. 



When he finished his rush— aided by the excellent temper 

 of the rod — he sculled gently <>ff down the lake, pretending 

 not to remember anything about what had just taken place ; 

 but all the lime I knew he was studying over a new scheme 

 to get rid of the steel in his jaw. 



Fresh trouble was brewing and it behooved me to study 

 closely all the points in his tactics. I held an easy line on 

 him for half a minute and then gave a smart pull* to wake 

 him up, when, turning with a quick swirl, he threw his broad 

 tail OUI of the water and started straight for the boa'. A 

 frantic whirling of the reel-handle kept the line out; of Lis 

 way, but left no time to settle with a stray deer fly that bad 

 come in under my hat rim out of the rain and camped on the 

 side of my nose. When within three or four yards of the 

 boat he came to the surface with a rush that sent him four 

 feet out of the water, and after a vain effort to shake out the 

 h ok his vicious-looking jaws came together with an audible 

 snap-snap, evidently intended to part the line, hut the wire- 

 wrapped silk snell was made especially for such customers, 

 and he fell back in the water, bursting, nodou t, with wrath 

 aud disgust. The failure of this scheme seemed to take the 

 starch out. of his dorsal, for I noticed as he plunged under 

 the boat (a favorite bit, of strategy with a pickerel) that he 

 had a worried, demoralized look ou his long face that said 

 plainly, " Wl ere am I now ?" But the fight was not all out 

 of him yet. Another rush and he came around under a strong 

 pull, and this lime started in a circle around the boat, drawn 

 nearer at every turn of the reel. He had apparently made 

 up his mi d that the heft of his trouble lay in that "quarter 

 and, gathering all his failing strength for a final effort, turned 

 aud came straight at me, and when ten feet away left the 

 water and struck one of the oars hanging over the side as he 

 fell back. This last failure to circumvent the enemy, coupled 

 with the rap he got from the oar, bewildered him, and he 

 lost heart in the struggle. Another feeble and aimless rush, 

 and I reeled him a ongside, and, with rod in left hand, thumb 

 on reel, ready to let go at the first stroke of his tail, held his 

 head partly out of water, jerked the gaff in his jaw and lifted 

 him into the boat. He thrashed furiously arouuo for a min- 

 ute, and finally lay gasping and utterly spent, yet with a 

 sullen g earn in his eye that admonished me to be on my 

 guard when extracting the hook from his mouth. 



As I wished to take' him to camp alive to show the boys, I 

 did not knock him on the head with the club provided lor 

 the purpos-, but inserting it betwe n his jaws held him down 

 with one knee, released the hook aud strung him on a piece 

 of strong cord at the same time. The long, brave fight was 

 over, fought with dogged courage aud fine genet a'.ship on the 

 part of old longface, and serious doubts as to the final result 

 on mine; but as victory had perched on my banner 1 was 

 exceedingly comforted, and sat down to relieve the tension 

 on my nerves and put on another frog 



Many similar battles afterward, with both smaller and 

 larger fish than this one, inclined us to the opinion that the 

 fighting qualities of the pickerel are greatly underrated, at 

 least we were surprised by the vigor and gameness shown by 

 them in this lake. Most of them, while on the hook, would 

 leave the water — unusual with pickerel — from one to four 

 times, after the manner of a bass, more n ticably when 

 brought near the boat, and their strength jh prodigious, re- 

 quiting the most reliable tackle to bring thein 10 gaff. A 

 very few made no fight whatever ; just set their caudal fin 

 "hard-a-port," and suffered themselves to be reeled in like a 

 bent stick. All such cravens were at once knocked on the 

 head for their lack of Bpirit. 



Crossing over to the west shore to a long point reaching 



out into the lake, which shut off the view of the upper water 

 from our camp, I skirted along the rushes for half a mile, 

 without' taking a fish, then crossed back and dropped into a 

 quiet, little bay, dotted here and therewith patches of lily 

 pads, which looked so inviting for a cast that I stopped the 

 boat about, sixty feet away and dropped a frog within three 

 feet of a broad lily leaf glistening in the rain. Inslamly 

 there was a swirl in the water, and after a sharp, fierce figlr, 

 1 lifted about a 4|- lb. large-mouthed hass over the side of 

 the boa'. Fishing leisurely back to opposite "long point," 

 I took five more of the same kind of bass, but no pickerel. 

 Here is about the na'rowest part of the lake, it being some- 

 thing Las than half-a-mile in width. 



Nearly straight across from the point comes in from the 

 back bids a little stream of nio«t delicious, clear, cold water, 

 cold almost as ice, and so clear that it looked white con- 

 trasted with its green setting of mosses and ferns, and spruces 

 ami cedars. A tew roils of clean, sandy beach afford a good 

 landing place, and it is one of the few spots at which a land- 

 ing run be made ou account of the overhanging trees and 

 bushes that lap the water around nearly the entire shore 



Pulling the boat up on the land near the mouth, I drank 

 from the stream till I had to shake out a reef in my pants, 

 and always after, when passing, I made a point to stop and 

 drink of its crystal waters. 



A noticeable feature of the little streams flowing into fhese 

 lakes is the entire absence of any fish life in them, which 

 may be accounted for, perhaps, by their low temperature and 

 the shifting nature of the sandy bottoms. Some of the larger 

 ones, however, abound in trout, and Cedar River, which 

 flows into Iutermediate River from the east, just above Bel- 

 laire, excellent trout and fair gra\ ling fishing may be had by 

 the angler who has the pluck in him to toil and 'sweat full 

 sore " through the almost impenetrable tangle of brush and 

 swamp to get to the good places. Under the leaning trunk 

 of a tree hard by the little stream, and out of the drip of the 

 rain drops through the boughs overhead, 1 kicked the cramps 

 out of my legs and ate my lunch in solitaty but satisfied 

 silence. 



Taking a parting drink of the svteet, cold water — I could 

 scarcely gel, enough of it — I reluctantly headed the boat for 

 camp, and leisurely floating and fishing along, arrived at the 

 island about p. xr., taking on the way down five more long- 

 fadCS and a small-mouthed bass. 



Tne weights of the bass run from 3£ to near 5 lbs. The 

 big pickerel weighed 8i lbs., the others all the way down to 

 3 lbs., altogether a fine day's sport, despite the rain. 



The pure loveliness of the striug of bass put the boys in 

 such excellent humor that a movement in force up the lake 

 was at once determined on for the morrow, and, supper over 

 and pipes lighted, the cam]) yarns were cut short for an early 

 turn in and turn out in the morning. Ihe vociferous snore 

 of ihe camp boy aud the battled hum of a horde of gore- 

 seeking mosquitoes on the outside of the bar ceased their 

 rasp on our nerves as we droppe l off to sleep, listening to 

 the sweeter music of the steady patter of the rain on our 

 canvas roof. 



TO BE CONTINUED, 



NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



ONCE more northward ! Up the valley of the Merrimac 

 and through the capital city of New Hampshire, where 

 the crowd and the display of military uniforms and the mu- 

 sic of brass bands proclaim election day, and tell us that a 

 di-tingu'Shed citizen of the State is about to take the Guber- 

 nxtor-al chair once occupied by his bilher; rattling through 

 the bustling towns of Laconia and Lake Villag- , and sweep- 

 ing arouud the beau iful shores of Lak.- Winnepesaukee, the 

 cars of the Boston, Concord a/ d Montreal Riilroad at, length 

 deposit us at the Pemigewaiset House at Plymouth for din- 

 ner. 



This satisfactorily disposed of, we take on board our travel- 

 ing companion who shall be known as "Rob," and a can of 

 land-locked salmon fry, uhich he has brought from the 

 Stale Hatchery, and s art again for Connecticut Lake. 



Up the beautiful valley of Baker's River windiug through 

 the mountains of Ruruney, Qtiincy, Wen worth and War- 

 ren, tound the base of Mooailauke aud Owl's Head we cross 

 the Warren summit, and drop down into the Connecticut 

 Valley at Woodville, and buck over into Vermont at Well's 

 River to exchange passengers with the Passumpsic Road, aud 

 then move od again up the Atnmonoosuc through Lisbon and 

 Littleton to Wiug Road Station, where the White Mo ju'aiu 

 branch diverges, and crossing another summit come to White- 

 field, the great lumber town where the Jefferson Road turns 

 off, aud where we calch a glimpse of Mount Washington 

 through the gaps in the lower range, and keep on down John's 

 River till we reach the Connecticut again at Lancaster. 



Thence to Oroveton Junction, where we change to the 

 Grand Trunk Railway, and arrive at North Stratford in time 

 for supper. A pair of nice horses and a light wagon meet us 

 here, and deposit us at the Parsons House, Colebrook at 10 

 p. M. The young fish are placed under the stream from the 

 aqueduct in laudlord Bailey's barn, and we turn in to start 

 again the next morning up the Connecticut Valley to the 

 lake, which we reach at noon after a delightful drive. 



Tne young salmon are safely deposited near the mouth of 

 a small brook emptying into the lake, once our dinners eaten, 

 aud a double-seated "buck board" with a pair of powerful 

 clack horses provided by 1 ndlord Smith, of the Lake House, 

 to lane us into Second Lake. 



White shirts are changed for blue flannel, shooting-jacket 

 pockets filled with fly hooks, lines, reels and other parapher- 

 nalia, valises left behind us, and wi h rods, baskets aud rub- 

 ber boots we are deposited at the camp of the Conn. River, 

 Sumpler County, at the outlet of Second Lake at 4 p. m. A 

 tramp of three-quarters ot a mile further brings us to Capt. 

 Tom Chester's hosp table camp, where we find the worthy 

 captain with bis assistant Harding, and your old correspond- 

 ent, Edward Norton, ready to welcome us as the first arrivals 

 of the season. "Uncle Tom" has been enlarging his camp, 

 and las added a new kitchen and laid a floor overhead to get 

 more sleeping ace 'inuiori'ltionR, and Norton is showing his 

 manifold talents by making chairs for the camp while await- 

 ing a party of authors and artists who are daily expected to 

 tike sketches for an illustrated article for a p >pular maga- 

 zine. 



"Rob" is hungry for trout and is soon at the laurling raft, 

 where his success induces the writer to join them, and with 

 a. piece < f minnow for bait we basket enough nice brook 

 trout before dusk for breakfast, the next morning. 



Saturday morning is cold and rough, with the wind from 

 the east and no fish rising to the fly, but Norton pilots us to 

 the leeward side of the point between North and East inlets 

 where, with live minnows, we are soon busy and return to 



camp at 11 a. m. with three lake trout weighing six and one- 

 ha f pounds, pnd a good assortment of brook trout from one 

 pound down to one-fourth of a pound. 



In the evening we try the inlets with a fly, but without 

 success. 



Suuday israw and stormy, but clears about 4 p. m , and we 

 get about a dozen trout for supper from the landing rat'. 

 Monday it is still b owing hard, and ice has formed on Uncle 

 Tom's pond below the spring, but we try the Point again 

 after bieakfast, using live minnows as before, aud unfortu- 

 nately using up our stock of bail, but have a few minutes 1 

 exciting work. 



"Rob" seated in the stern of the boat strikes a. trout in- 

 ihore, and in a second mor« the writer strikes one "out- 

 board" from the centre scat, and by the time i hey are fairly 

 hooked Nor on has one in the bow! And now comes the 

 fun! My fish is fighting to get inshore, and Rob's is on his 

 way for deep water, and Hie split bamboo and the slender 

 lancewood are both well doubled under the strain and the 

 effort to keep the lines apart, but a quick movement and a 

 rise from my seat, as my fish makes a rush toward the steru, 

 enab'es me to swing my rod over Rob's head while he short- 

 ens his grasp and we are clear, my line cutting water for the 

 rocks, and his shooting out for the lake. 



A few minutes' steady fighting, and Norton behind me, 

 after bringing in his victim, a half-pound brook trout, grasps 

 the landing net, and scoops up mine as I draw him to the 

 side of the boat, as handsome "a Salmo fitntitmlis of one and 

 one-quarter pounds as -ever was seeu, and then pa-sing the 

 net to me, 1 am in time to secure Rob's prize, which turns 

 out to be a "laker" of two pounds. Auoth r "laker" of 

 three pounds falls to Rob's lot in the morning, and two more 

 brook trout of one pound each to mine, and we return to 

 dinner and put up our rods, having tsken from Fr day night 

 till Monday morning eleven and a half poimds of lake trout 

 and over twenty pounds of brook trout from Conn. Lake. 



The afternoon sees us on our way out to First Lake, where 

 we spend the night, and return to Colebrook on Tuesday 

 morning, and reach Diamond Pond before tiiglu. Here the 

 Messrs. Roll'e have fitted up a nice summer hotel with every 

 accommodntion for fishermen, and we pass a pleasant day, 

 though without much success in fishing. The "cold snap" 

 has sent the fish to deep water apparently, and though w« 

 whip the lake for hours wi'h all the flies in the catalogue 

 the result is small, those taken fallen to the coachman or 

 scarlet ibis. 



We are a week late, a party from Holyoke, Mass., having 

 been very successful the previous week, and probably the 

 next comers, after warm weather conies again, may be 

 equally so. The object of the trip is however attained. We 

 secure ample evidence of the success of the "plants" of 

 land-locked salmon in G mi. Lake in '79 and Diamond Pon,d 

 in '80, these fish having be<-n oft n seen in both waters. 



Returning from Diamond, halt a dav is spein at Sim's 

 Stream, ami a good basket of small brook trout taken, not to 

 mention ihe numbers ot fingerl-ng- restored to the stream. 



June 10th fb ds us on our way through Dixvil'e Notch, to 

 'ry a pond in Wentworth'a location, marked on ihe maps as 

 Wentworth Pond, bulknown to the native- as " Ore- nough." 

 We are met at Akei's Pond, in Errol, by Amasa Ward, ihe 

 guide, and taken lu his boat across Aker's Pond, and there 

 by a two-mile carry reach his camp on Greenougu. Here wc 

 fare suntptuou-ly on trout till the 13th, though we 

 calch I ut few more than we c a eat, hut the 

 Cateliing of ihose is not to be forgotten. Two gentlemen 

 from Boston, Messrs. C. and G., with Rob aud myself, make 

 a merry party, and a. trout of one and one ti df pounds falls 

 to the lot of each, Mr. C, Rob and the writer, aud enough 

 smaller ones to keep the camp in rations while "Atna-a's" 

 trout chowder on Sunday was a dish not to be forgotten. 

 Greenough Lake is a scene* of beauty buried deep among the 

 dark spriice-covered mountains, wiih clear water and a rocky 

 bottom, it is a veritable trout paradise, but the fishing, like 

 all lake fishing, is uncertain. 



Great, quantities of foul are sometimes taken here, and the 

 writer can testify to their sameness on the hook, aud their 

 toolhsomeness on the table, o 11 these backwoods trout, dis- 

 dain the delicate flies of civilization, and a, big, gaudy bass 

 fly, a silver doctor or a sen-let ibis are most killing. 



My best trout of seventeen inches 1 killed wiih a scarlet 

 ibis. We took t.woor tinee dozen petty trout from Clear 

 Stream while waiting at Akei's for Ward, but the glory 

 of this stream is departed. 



Monday, the lSih, took us back through the Notch to Cole- 

 brook Tuesday Rob and the writer took six dozen more 

 small chaps irom Sim's Stream, and Wednesday brought us 

 back to brick houses and "biled shins' again. My split 

 bamboo rod gave perfect satisfacti n, anil though some of my 

 companions 'thought it rather heavy— GO ouuees— I did not 

 find it wearisome, and think I can kill a heavy fish with 

 it quicker than with a lignter rod- 



Should any of my fellow spoilsmen who read Fohkst and 

 Stkkam feel inclined for a trip to Northern New Hampshire 

 let, me commend ihem to the Percy House, North Stra ford, 

 kept by C. E. Smith, the Parsons House, Colebrook, by E. 

 F B liley, the Lake House, Coon. Lake, by Mr. Smith, a 

 brother of the one at North tjtralford, to "Uncle Tom's" 

 camp at Second Lake, and the Messrs. Knife at Diamond 

 ponds, and finally to Amasa Ward at Errol, ami the order 

 they go the better. 



How we took "Uncle Tom "by surprise before his summer 

 supplies had arrived, and how we lived on trout steady for 

 three days, we will only hmt at, for we met the long del iyed 

 supplies going in as we came out, and the. pork and potatoes, 

 coffee and flour held out amply — what di I we want more ? 

 Nothing but the anticipation of repealing the visit in 1882. 



Ton W . 



To Wabd qb» Mosquitoes— Gouverneur, N. Y. — Iii an- 

 swer to " W. C.'s" inquiry for something to drive off mos- 

 quitoes, I cm recommend the following : J oil of peunroyul 

 and % olive or sweet : oil mixed. A two-ounce vial full will 

 last one person for a two-weeks' trip in the woods. Rub it 

 well on the ban* Is and face. Be careful not to get it in the 

 eyes. It is not di-agreeable and will wash off easily. Have 

 used it for several years with good result.— E. F. B. 



Minnesota Shooting.— We can put one or two gentlemen 

 into communication with a Minnesota farmer who is a fre- 

 quent contributor to this journal, aud who lives in an excel- 

 lent country for ducks, geese H nrt prairie chickens. Com- 

 munications should be inclosed tons aud addressed to ' Min- 

 nesota." 



Take Hop Bitters tiree times a day and yt 

 bins to pay. 



1 will liavc 1 



