288 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[MA* 10, 1883 



oeagaiu the Colonel finds lrimscif obliged to exerciaeljlfl, 

 i<l discretion, lmt n last succeeds once more in 

 quicfin Ms prisoner sufficiently to bring him in view, 

 (Then strange to say, 'tis no longer the same tMrty-pound 

 muacalonge, bul lie baa retreated within theskin of tbo 

 ' ' i h 1 1 . 'I- ii 



Oh! horrors! Is my mind wandering? Is it April lv ire 

 raj eyeglasses telescopes, that 1 have turned end lor end and 



pi velyV or are any other kind of glasses to blame 



mil accouttl for the phenomenouf 



ii up, as ilir Colouel did, in a sort of "UiMNp 

 ■ manner, and content ourselves watching too hand 

 lower the once discarded net, and take possession of the 

 rii'.si supposed three pouud bass, 



If I may be allowed to speculate on the above, I should 

 guess that the muscaionge mistook the bass for ball and 

 caused the whole mistake, which when discovered he dis- 



jtorged id so did th I d! L disgorge (not the bass), but a 



Few wordsand epithets. Verax. 



Port Rowan, ' talarfo 



QUIET SPORT.-II. 



uv mii.i 1 1; i •. 

 7"1SSENQ th' lily pads, waltzing with ferns and butter- 



K 



ilmnty 



cups, nodding to every bush, rippling the lake and 

 deliciously pungent with the resinous odor of pine and bal- 

 sam, '-•.■one the early morning liree/.e. The morning light 

 shimmered Over the 'Mo Straggled among the trees 



long before the rising sun gave- it a lew hours oi solidity, 

 "Birds with music-trembling bosoms" were pouring forth 

 then tr isurcs of wild meJody; and then came the softest 



blush iu the easl. as our cook prepared (o struggle with 



riaiuie! flap-jacks, 



Such mornings belong ouly to the forests, where each one 

 comes • like a maidjjn's love, lull of hloom, purity .and 

 There is wine in the air, which produces an 

 exhilarating effect, but does not put your eyes in mourning. 

 It is not assoeiated with !e i ;. ■ ■ i.., wil'li c in i | 0U to 

 be fined ten dollars and a promise of future good behavior. 

 It. is a cordial of almost incredible virtue. 



hp-jacks were light ami tender, the Coffee clear, 



the Oread tolerably light, Roy had caught four hue trout, 



which the cook hurriedly disguised in a salt and pepper Bttit, 



with pork trimmings; and we mattered over lake and inlet 



■ . ■ fane i 



Ward, as we remarked when we left the staid old town of 



(Joslow, WUS 8 real lover of the wood.-, hut he was a plelnan 



angler, ignorant alike of the dancing fly and the lightning 



d the trout, He knew naught oi' trout fishing iu its 



icelletice The slimy angle-worm, the fat grub, and the 



dull thud and leadj pull of bor.t fishing, were toiimtnn 



iug and the end of Ids piscatorial experience. 

 He had always spoken depreciatingly of the little Imita- 

 tion gnats fine, lines, and light rods, btit had been prevailed 



i I'M toiuvesl iu an outfit, and had accordingly provided 

 li n i I! v ith a most formidable lot of fishing tackle, always 

 insisting that he expected to derive about as much sport, and 

 i a ure n ii mosquito would extract from a snow-hank. 

 Bul when he saw the ease and grace with which. Glen deliv- 

 i i Intensity Of his faith in his owu ability to 

 prrfoim as well, ami ihr !■ rorol hi seal approached the 

 Mil lime, lie knew he could do as well with an hour's prac- 

 tice. He paddled his raft to one of the favorite parts of the 

 lake aad commenced to flourish his flies, which he did as 



awkwardly as a low would dene i ice or a man eat corn 



from He- cob, 



Glen, within speaking distance, advised and caulioned 

 him, and not"! a gradual improvement in his method; and 

 after he. had snappi d off a few flies he thought he began do 

 si'i'l the 'hang of ihe tiling, " and took it up— in fact went 

 it alone, it was a fishing day every inch of it. The trout 

 wen in feeding mood all around.' Out Ward missed three 

 OSes with an accuracy and precision really wonderful. 



His roseate predictions were fast vanishing. His patience 

 and his fly-book had been well tested, and he began lo think 

 fly-fishing was not as easy as his fancy painted it. There' 

 lie was, during the long morning, squatted on his raft, a 

 premium specimen of a piscatorial Micawbitr. .Mr. Micuw- 



bi:i would surely have stopped waiting for something to 

 turn op; Job would have lost his submissive reputation and 



i here, old fellow, take my hat; and Patience come down 

 from off the monument and gone to bed. All these celebri- 

 ties competing with Ward would surely have been awarded 

 no honor above highly commended. 



A tier long waii h._ and iv1 vi n hi bad commenced to 



fidget villi anxiety, presto! a Hash, and he had accidentally 

 struck. The trout's movements were quick and subtle 

 i, t, disconcert ft tyro, and be had hiBOwnpeouKar 

 trey -Of-dettling with matters and things. As he "flashed 

 from the Mi-flushed wave" our friend was not polite enough 

 to drop his lip like a gentleman. The handsome fellow 

 1 1, i re? your most obsequious, bow. Do not let him injure 

 his tad Oy having it come in contact with your leader, 

 Ward , ill uh si-i/id with a nervous and excitable 



paroxysm, rnd consecruentryhis first impulse was to grow 

 i. ' :i -i mite pule, which paleness rapidly developed into as 

 itttar ftu appl'OftCh to whiteness as a living face can, His 

 l,,.,k .Iiim'jm! liom eagerness to uncertainty, from un- 



rtain . to rli p ir Rewas as badly oil' as a man with 

 two doctors or I wo wives. As Ihe dillicultiet of his position 

 and surroundings increased it showed that his case had de- 

 velop, d into buck-ague— the tip of his rod broke, and the 



leader parted. ''Great Caarnr dead and turned to dust; 

 could thai Utile trout have escaped and left me thus?" 



Ward was as pious at home as lie was excitable here. He 

 read his Bible in preference to Bocaccio. and his walk was 

 upright Let as draw -a veil before oim and forgel the 

 ' Saxon he employed in deploring his ill luck, 



lack of nerve or senseless excitability. He did not relax in 

 expressing bis own opinion of himself, hut wo will, for 

 others have forgotten ihoniselves. Tin- rise, strike and 

 escape were so sudden that it seemed a dream, but here's the 

 tangible evidence that mischief hud been done. A man as 

 ; demoralized as ihe Knight of the Sorrowful Counte- 

 nance after his attack on the windmills, a missing leader 

 and a broken rod, were more than circumstantial evidence 

 Of irouty's late presence in Ihe till. dr. 



Despondency reigned supreme in his eorporosily, and de- 

 preciatingly dubbing himself the Jonah of the party, he 

 paddled ashore to seek the comfort the shanty afforded, and 

 there we found him when our morning fishing was over, 

 and • • returned for a bite and a loaf until the late afternoon 

 Ashing On the lake. As Ward's rod was broken and there 

 were I- to be repaired, Boy, h good amateur 



workman, offered to supervise the putting of them iu Order. 



ft was a delightful lounging place; and not thoroughly 



rested from yesterday's tramp, we employed our time be- 

 tween loafing and the little trifles that help make a camp a 

 pleasant, place. 



Beds of boughs were made; the roof of the shanty patched 

 i ; some underbrush, whi.-h had a bad habit of 'switching 

 us as we went lo and from the lake, cut out; the spring was 

 deepened, and several seals made; but the great master job 

 was the table which the cook erected vesterday. for it was 

 n way up in the air. It was a grand looking off place for the 

 birds, if we leave it so, perhaps some one will stumble across 

 its magnificent ruins in ihe aires yet to come, and will say of 

 it: •'There were giants in those days, for here is the evidence 

 of their one lime existence. How wonderful, and to what 

 puny dwarfish growths have we descended." How they 

 would have mourued the decadence of Ihe human corpus". 

 However, as posterity had never done anything for us, we 

 consulted our own convenience, by chopping off u few feet 

 from the table and lowering it lo a level with our chins. 



Meanwhile Hoy was busily employed in repairing the rods 

 that had Buffered during ihe morning's sport. 



"Tivixi the camp-fire and t: 



Sat the ejepert tackle-mem 



In i lie land of spruce nud hemlock. 



In Ihe land of runuiuj; water. 



Meaning BBhing-rbda of bamboo, 



R"i.ls of laneewood and of greenbeart. 



Some were pretty badly busted, 



Busted at the tip or reel-plate, 



While some others scarcely scratched were. 



He was thinking as he whittled, 



Whittled on the joints aud whistled— 



Doing these three things at OUCe - 



'if Ihe sport he'd have tomorrow. 



When the morning sun was shining. 



Shining if it wasn't eloudy; 



If 'I was cloudy, till the games, 



When it rains we've higher water. 



Uuf tu eate h 1 lie- FonlinalK 



Speckled brook-trout-, prince of fishes, 



Would the old man surely chance itV 



Would the old man go a-tlshing 



When the brook was rising higher. 



Its waters creeping up the bank, 



"Whirling round and round aud downward?" 



You can shout your affirmative. 



Ton can lake your affidavit, 



He would take his roil an.l ehauce it,. 



W hero the rod was badly damaged, 



When.' the pole was busted badly. 



He'd kind er paste U. up with glue 



And wind around i! I breads of silk. 



Windmg round and round and tying, 



And then kind erkalsommeit, 



lvalsomine it with some varnish 



That he earrleil in l) bottle, 



soon the rod grew convalescent, 



Bye-mid -In- grew well as ever; 



Theu the old man stopped his whittling. 



Stood erect and stopped his whistling, 



Sanded Mr. Ward his gtel one u I 

 "There's your rod, old fellow, with a new lease of life, 

 but don't do any more quick, heavy lifting with it. A 

 slight movement of the wrist produees a wonderful move- 

 ment at ihe tip of the rod. Put it away until to-morrow 

 and it will serve you many a good turn if you treat it 

 right." t __ 



ANGLING FOR WHITE.FISH. 



IK your issue of April 20 is au article on angling for wMte- 

 ris'h. I have seen a great many wdiitefish taken in vari- 

 ous ways, with pound nets, gill nets, seines and with spears. 

 But I have never seen one taken with the hook, or rather I 

 do not know of one instance where this fish has taken the 

 hook. They are sometimes hooked in the body and taken 

 from Ihe stream in that way. but that is not of very frequent 

 occurrence. 1 kuow of different persons who have angled 

 for them in the Detroit River in the fish pens where there 

 were thousands of whitefish, and I do not know of one 

 instance where they have been successful in taking one. It 

 is an established fact that this fish does not feed on animal 

 food. 1 have made inquiries of different fishermen on Lake 

 Erie, Luke Huron aud Lake. Michigan, and only one opinion 

 is found to prevail among them. They say the wdiitefish 

 will not. take the hook. 



This lish is sometimes speared through, the ice at night, 

 by cutting a hole about two feet in diameter on top of the ice, 

 and three" feet underneath, the object of this being to better 

 facilitate the landing of the fish. The hole made, a stake 

 is usually stuck in the ice to support the light. Everything 

 being ready- the spear is taken in hand and developments 

 awaited, The light attracts the lish, and as he slowly rises 

 to the surface, the fisher ever on the alert, plunges the spear 

 into him and the fish is taken. 



The natural home of the whitefish is the great lakes and 

 rivers, although they will live in inland lakes where the 

 water dues nol reach a very high temperature. The average 

 weight of this fish is about two pounds, although J have 

 seen specimens taken that weighed from twelve to fourteen 

 pounds. 1 1 is possible that there may be instances where 

 this fish has taken the hook, but it is not probable. A great 

 many persons have confounded the whitefish with Ihe lake 

 herring; and in fact if you take a white-fish weighing one 

 and a half pounds, and a herring of the same weight, it 

 would require an expert to tell which is which. They are 

 nearly of the same color, their tins and scales are nearly the 

 same": and a wdiitefish and heiring weighing one and a half 

 pounds each would be nearly of the same struct ure or form. 

 There is one way by wltJCh the whitefish can be distin- 

 guished from the herring. The upper part of the wddtetish's 

 mouth is the longest, which is the reverse with the herring, 

 the lower part being the longest. The herring are often 

 taken with the hook during both summer and winter, and I 

 do not think it matters what kind of bait is used. They 

 are a very good food fish if taken when the water is cold, 

 but if taken during the months of July and August from 

 streams where the water is warm they have worms in them. 

 This fish is not to be compared at any time with the white- 

 fish. Those who cultivate whitefish for their sporting 

 qualities will find their labor lost. But as a table fish it has 

 no superior among, our fresh water fishes. 



Martin E. O'Brien. 



Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 



[We have been told of two or three cases in which the 

 lake whitefish have been taken on the hook, but such occur- 



rences ure unusual, and, we presume, accidental. We 

 know, however, that the Rocky Mountain whitefish will 

 readily take a, fly, for we have caught a great many of them 

 in Montana in this way. Standing on the rocks in one creek 

 we have, in three successive casts, taken, on a red ibis as a 

 tail fly. a trout, a grayling and a whitefish,] 



WOODIVIONT ROD AND GUN CLUB. 



WE supplement the frequent notice* in these columns of 

 the W'oodmonf Rod and Gun Club of Washington 



D. < with the following particulars whi:h are extracted 

 from Ihe. Washington .%ir: 



The character 'and purposes of the clubwill be pretty well 

 understood by its title; but they are still further emphasized 

 by its corporate seal, which includes as its appropriate device 

 an antlered deer s head and two conventional dolphius on a 

 shield, which is supported by a heraldic scroll bearing the 

 legend '-Protect and Enjoy." This is in plain English, as 

 it ought to be, in order that the honest unlettered hunter or 

 angler may be able to understand it without securing the 

 services of an interpreter or referring to mi English-Latin 

 dictionary on the sly. 



Like most of the successful aud useful organizations of its 

 class, the "W. R. & G. C." began in a modest, and humble 

 way, though its founders took the wise precaution to secure 

 at the beginning a well-located aud ample field for its opera- 

 tions. This was found in a large old estate situated in 

 Washington county. Md., bearing the appropriate title of 

 "Woodhiont." It lies a little above and nearly opposite 

 Great Cacapon station, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 

 about one hundred and sixty miles west of Washington. 

 The original purchase consisted of 2,023 acres, bul this amount 

 has since been considerably increased by later purchases, and 

 in order to extend the hunting privileges as well as to prop- 

 erly protect game, etc., the control of a large additional 

 acreage has been secured by lease. The estate is situated on 

 the north or left bank of the Potomac, as already stated, and 

 extends from the river on the front to the old National Road 

 in the rear, and from the base of the Touoloway Mountain 

 on the east to the crest of Sideling Hill Mountain on the 

 wesi . Less than ten years ago this estate was valued at find was 

 sold for $22,000; but of course it cost the club no such sum. 

 With the exception of about one hundred acres the entire 

 estate, wiih its leased dependencies, is heavily wooded with 

 fine large timber, and in places with heavy undergrowth. 

 which furnishes a most excellent cover for game of all kinds 

 to be found anywhere in that section of the country. Deer 

 and turkeys are by no means scarce, while small game, both 

 fowl aud animal, abounds in the woods, and in season ducks 

 are plentiful on the river. 



The advantages presented by Woodmont as a resort for 

 anglers maybe at least partially understood when it is 

 stated that the estate has a frontage of threi quarters of a 

 mile on the famous Potomac fishing grounds in the vicinity 

 of Dam No. 0. The locality affords opportunities for both 

 deep or still water and rapid wider fishing. Below the high 

 dam the river runs for several miles over a rocky bed. thus 

 furnishing a long stretch of tumbling cascades, circling 

 eddies, and quiet pools, ever greatly affected by game fish of 

 all varieties, and always so tempting to the angler's eye. 

 Above the dam there is a level or pool extending some th'rec- 

 miles to the westward, in which the water is always deep 

 and still, and beyond this lake-like sheet of quiet water 

 shoals and a swift running current are met again. AU these 

 several divisions are filled with the small-mouthed black 

 bass, which is now recognized by both scientists and 

 anglers e.'erywdiere as next in game qualities and delicacy 

 to the spotted trout, and by some placed even above that 

 universal favorite. Something of the quantity and size of 

 the fish in this particular locality may be inferred from the 

 statistics of the club for last season. " The summer of 1882 

 was not regarded as a favorable one for anglers, nor was 

 there much fishing done by members of the club or its 

 guests, in fact, there. w T as seemingly less than the usual in- 

 dulgence, whether numbers or time be considered, yet the 

 catch for the summer added up 1,296 bass, weighing 930 

 pounds, or nearly half a ton in all. Perhaps the majority of 

 these were taken with live bait, but a very fair proportion 

 fell a victim to the seductive fly — not a few of the members 

 declining to use any other device. 



Iu addition to the buss, which. Having been there for 

 uearly thirty years, may now be considered as acclimated 

 and thoroughly at home, the Potomac at this point has been 

 liberally stocked during the past two years with land 

 locked salmon, and large numbers of young brook and Cali- 

 fornia trout have been placed in the streams emptying" into 

 it in that locality. It is too early yet to judge of Ihe final 

 results of these experiments, but a number of small salmon 

 were taken last year, showing that at least some of them 

 are alive and thriving, and there is every reason to believe- 

 that the, enjoyment of the angling frateruify w ill be soon 

 and greatly augmented from this source. 



The living accommodations of the club consist of a large 

 new and line club house, situated on a high bluff, overlook- 

 ing the river and a beautiful range of Country beyond, 

 which cost, with its substantial fittings, about £6,000. The 

 building contains a fine club room, a large dining hall, a 

 magazine room, stere room, linen room, servants room and 

 ten large, fine chambers, all comfortably furnished. In 

 front, and running around each end of the building, is a 

 covered portico twelve feet deep. In the rear of the main 

 building, and connected therewith, is the kitchen, and also 

 ample quarters for the superintendent 'and his family. Iu 

 connection with this establishment there is a stable and 

 other necessary outbuildings, an excellent Cement-lined 

 cistern, holding more than 12,000 gallons of water, and an 

 ample icehouse, in which is now stocked upward of 100 

 tons of excellent ice. Near the center of the estate, two 

 miles back from the river, and in the midst of ihe bosl 

 Bhooting, is a comfortable hunting lodge, containing six 

 rooms, 'suitably furnished. This and two or three other 

 houses situated at different points on the estate are occupied 

 by the game wardens of the club, who look after ih? inter- 

 ests generally, and see to the enforcement of the game and 

 fish laws of the State. 



Already the efforts of the organization in this direction 

 have been productive of the most encouraging results. Im- 

 mediately upon entering upon proprietorship it turned its 

 attention to the general protection of game in the vicinity, 

 under the provisions of the Maryland laws, and the preven- 

 tion of poaching on its own premises, which are formally 

 "posted," iu accordance with legal requirements. Through 

 its efforts trespassers and law-breakers have been _ arrested 

 and punished so that now close seasons are begin i ri 

 observed, and private rights are respected to a greater ex- 

 tent than ever before. In consequence game has steadily 



