126 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I Sept. 18, 1883. 



$m and §iver tghhinq. 



ANGLING RESORTS — We shall be alar! In hunt for publi- 

 cation holes of good fishing localities'. Will not our corre- 

 spondents favor his with notes of desirable points for angling 



To insure prompt attention, communications should be ad- 

 dressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and not to 

 iiaiir.idv.ais, in whose absence from the office matters of im- 

 portance are liable to delay. 



OPEN SEASONS. 



The digest of open seasons, printed in our issue of Aug. Ill, ha! 



been published ii 

 address, postpaid, o 



lient pamphlet form, and will lie sent to a 

 eipt of 10 cents. 



THE COMING TOURNAMENT. 



A MEETING of tlir. committee of arrangements of the 

 National Rod and Ree] Association met at Mr. Black- 

 ford's, Pulton Market, on Wednesday, the 5th, Mr. Benkard 

 in the chair. The following sub-committees were appointed : 



Committee on Grounds— Martin B. litown, chairman, 

 Fred Mather, Francis Endicotl, E. G. Blackford, W. C. 

 Harris, Hon. H P. McGown. R. VauVleek. R B. Law- 

 rence. 



Reception Committee— Hon. R. B. Roosevelt, chairman; 

 T. Ma-own. Jr., Prof. A. M. Mayer. Barnet Phillips, Dr. E. 

 Bradley, C. B. Evarts, Rev. H. L. Ztegenfuss, 



On Trout Castiug— Hon. R. B. Roosevelt, chairman; 

 Francis Endicott, James Benkard. Edward Weston, Louis 

 B. Wright, Rev. H. L. Ziegenfnss, C Van Brunt. R. B. 

 Lawrence. 



Salmon Casting— L. W. Winchester, chairman; W, Blair 

 Lord, Hon. James Geddes, G. B. Evarts, James Benkard, D. 

 fl . I r 



Bass Casting — James L. Valloton, chairman; 8. M. Blatcli- 

 ford. Isur:eTnv,nse.id, Hon. U. P. McGown, Francis Endi- 

 cott, Dr. J. A. flenshall, Dr. J. C. Keuworlhy. 



The committee on prizes will consist of the whole commit- 

 tee of arrangements, whose names are included in the a hove 

 list of sub-committees. Mr Fred Mather, as the secretary 

 of the Association, was appointed a committee on printing. 



Alter a little discussion Hie following rule was adopted: 

 No one shall he permitted to enter an amateur contest who 

 has ever fished lor a living; who lias ever been a guide, or 

 has been employed in either the manufacture or sale of fish- 

 ing tackle. The judges in auv particular class, on appeal, 

 shall have power to decide in all matters relating to entries, 

 and their o. cision shall be final. 



The question of casting with the minnow for black bass 

 came up. ami it was decided not to h:ive such a contest. Mr. 

 Emliontl said that an otiuce and a half minnow, as recom- 

 mended, was a heavier weight than is used in what is called 

 light striped bass casting, and Mr. Harris remarked that 

 there was no such easting done east of the Alleghany Moun- 

 tains, and therefore it would be difficult to gel entries in a 

 class arranged for it. 



The secretary called attention to the limited time for pre- 

 paration before' the date which was fixed last spring, and it 

 was decided to postpone it. The new rlates agreed upon arc 



Tuesday and Wednesday, October 10 and 17. The I ' 



then adjourned until Tuesday, the nth. at the same place: 



In a circular issued by the committee they say: ■'The 

 rules denning amateurs and experts will he more rigidly 

 drawn than heretofore. There will be no solicitation ol 

 prizes I mm any one. The Association will furnish all first 

 prizes and mosl of Ihe others, There will be no special 

 classes. All prizes freely offered, without special conditions 

 attached, will be accepted at the. discretion of the commit- 

 tee, and due credit given to the donors, and all prizes offered 

 ii, dealers in fishing tackle will be placed in the amateur 

 classes In which no one directly or indirectly interested iu 

 the sale or manufacture of fishing tackle is eligible. It is 

 requested that notice of intended, donations be sent lathe 

 secretary by September §0, and thai the prize's be sent not 

 later than October 0." 



BLACK BASS AT ST. CLAIR FLATS. 



NOW is the gladdest season of Ihe year for the angler for 

 Mack bass. The fish are ravenous and the weather is 

 charming. Cool nights and blight, sunny days together with 

 heavy catches of the gamy bass" ought to make the average 

 fisherman a happy being. I have been cruising around the 

 "Hats" for two or three days with ample success, but have 

 been di-misted to note that several parlies from the hotel at 

 Star Island have been murdering these noble fish by deep 

 trolling. There is, however, a strong feeling against such 

 unsportsmanlike fishing, and I sincerely hope that lovers of 

 the rod and reel will generally use their influence against 

 deep trolling for black bass. 



A. party of seven Detroit gentlemen have just relumed 

 from a most enjoyable excursion to Lake Superior. They 

 were gone some 'fourteen days, and the main object of the 

 trip was a good time, although a deal of fishing was done. 

 The vovage was made in Mr. Geo. B. I lib's handsome steam 

 yacht May Lillie. and, by the way. for seagoing qualities as 

 well as most comfortable accommodations, the boal cannot 

 be excelled, and she is, moreover, fitted up elegantly. The. 

 pan experienced some severe storms, and the yacht proved 

 her reputation for staunchness tO be deserved. ' Ihe largest 

 black bass caught on the trip weighed six and one-half 

 pounds, and was taken in the vicinity of Detour, Mich., and 

 all the pattv unite in saying that the very best black bass 

 fishing they ever had was found at that point, and advise till 

 seeking the finest sport to make Detour their "Mecca." 



Aueul reliable fish stones, an incident remembered by the 

 Writer, nearly on a par with the one lately related in Forest 

 and Stream, may not be amiss. With two ladies in my 

 boat, I was fishing for perch in Detroit River, when one of 

 the fair ones having a sharp tug ouher line pulled up quickly, 

 and a thrce-ponud pickerel (not hooked at all) following the 

 minnow bait with a tremendous rush, leaped fairly and 

 squarely into the lap of the charming flsherwomau. There 

 was, ol course, some energetic screaming just about then, 

 andthctish evidently feeling out of his "element and dis- 

 gusted with such a reception, flopped back into the water 

 before 1 could secure him, to the intense relief, however, of 

 his i f otitic charmer, and the loud regret of the brunette safe 

 in the other end of the boat. 



Although much flustered, our blonde friend promptly 

 threw her hook in again, when lo and behold, the same sharp 

 b.te. the same quick" jerk by the lady, and the same pickerel, 

 unless I was much mistaken, came shooting into the boat 



some s i,\ inches behind Hie minnow, this time falling al his 

 charmer's feet, which, of course, with frantic baste and 

 screams were quickly withdrawn, I secured the fish as he 

 was lo all appearances bound to offer himself to the hand- 

 some blonde, and as we caught no more of his species either 

 before or after, it is, of course, fair to infer it was one and 

 the same pickerel. Delta. 



St Ci.Aiti Flats. Sept. S. 



THAT BIG TROUT. 



\VTE knew him very well. Year after year, as winter 

 t 1 gave place lo kindly spring, he used to come back to 

 bis old haunt under the culvert that ran over the Middleton 

 Brook, beside the mill plantation. And there on a fine warm 

 evening we could generally see him if we peeped cautiously 

 over, lazily sucking in what Hies the eddies carried right in 

 his mouth, for he would barely stir a yard lo gobble up the 

 finest "green drake" thai ever gol into limbo by dallying 

 with the treacherously smiling water's edge. No, he 'was 

 not a greedy fish. Iutt took what good things fortune sent 

 him, without troubling himself about the flotsam and jetsam 

 that passed him by cm the right hand and on the left. But 

 probably his lazy, easy temperament kept him iu high con- 

 dition, for he was a lusty trout, with a girth and sides that 

 would have done credit to our Loudon Aldermen. To sec 

 him was to admire and long after him. For, as near as we 

 could guess from so long an acquaintance with his lordship 

 of the brook, he would lie three and a half pounds' weight, 

 or even a little over. And how we did long to have him on 

 dry land, that the accuracy of good British "standard weights 

 might decide to a nicely whether our judgment was discrim- 

 inating or at fault! But the difficulty was to inveigle the 

 monster. And that perhaps lent him" his greatest charm. 

 He was so far from curious, so little inclined to be hasty in 

 action, that minnow and worm and flv, if hooks were part 

 of their appendage, could never extract from him the faint- 

 est semblance of "a glorious nibble." No matter, either, 

 whether the water was thick aud brown with a thunder 

 shower, or clear with summer drouth, he let our lures alone. 

 As a family friend, we all used to drop him a line iu turn, 

 while OVU opinions differed as to the best method of enticing 

 him into a correspondence. My father, whose views were 

 of the severely hones! order, would never attempt anything 

 but the straightforward if artificial fly, and the times that 

 he has wriggled at full length up the bank, cowering behind 

 some opportune tussock of reeds and grass, only to be dis- 

 appointed of a rise, would make all sympathetic and right 

 feeling angels weep. 



One frequent visitor Of ours, a Mr. Clifford, was desper- 

 ately enamored of this retiring trout, and there were no 

 stratagems that he held too base lo employ for his capture. 

 He generally waited till the brook wa.s in flood, and then 

 dropped in large lobworms at the top end of- the culvert, let- 

 ting the stream carry them nicely iu the direction of the 

 monster's jaWS. Live minnows, too, with a hook very del- 

 icately inserted under the skin so as to leave, them full scope 

 for their most natural gambols in the water, were dispatched 

 in the same direction j but never a bite came hut once. That, 

 once 1 shall never forget 1 was sitting on the bridge, when 

 all of a moment, I saw my friend's eyes go round as saucers, 

 and his ringers tighten convulsively upon the rod. "I have 

 him now," he hissed between his teeth, as the line came taul 

 anil the rod bent double. For one instant there was a de- 

 termined resistance, the next an audacious quarter-of-a- 

 pouuder wci.t flying wildly through the air a1 the rale of 

 forty miles an hour ovei the head of the disgusted Mr. Clif- 

 ford- lie never heard the last of thai : but It did not make 

 him desist from his efforts at luring the coy beauty. Why 

 the big trout was never caught napping when the water was 

 colored we could not make ml, I had a theory (it may be 

 romantic, but I gave that fish credit for all human sagacity) 

 that when he saw one of those tempting lobworms or lively 

 minnows bearing down upon him, he used to sail up stream 

 till he got above the bait, and then drop down sideways in 

 Ihe current a few inches above i I to see if his portly form 

 encountered the unseen resistance of a easting line. 



To come to my own pel way of augliug for him; I had a 

 great idea of "dibbing" or "daping" with the natural fly, 

 bliiebol lie, grasshopper or what not, impaled upon a tiny 

 hook. As my feeling was thai this suspicious customer was 

 always looking out for casting lines, my notion was, don't 

 let him have any of those troublesome things in the water to 

 bother him and get in ids way. "Dibbling" is the very 

 thing for him; and keep a big bumblebee Hopping up and 

 down ou the top of the water, and if you only make il lot k 

 lifelike enough you'll get him one of these days. But the 

 day was long incoming. I shall never forget peeping cau- 

 tiously through the reeds and seeing the sardonic look upon 

 his lordship's face as 1 kept agitating the rod-point and keep- 

 ing a large may fly dancing wildly about two feet from his 

 stal el v nose. He" never showed the slightest desire to possess 

 himself o'f the dainty, and only acknowledged the delicate 

 attention at, last by sheering a foot further off. This want 

 of confidence hurt me very much. 



The keeper's idea was that a fish like that was better out 

 of Ihe brook than in it— "always a eating of the small fry," 

 as he elegantly condescended to explain. So Velveteens was 

 allowed to have a grand field-day, when he summoned two 

 or three other choice spirits, and, after mature deliberation, 

 they agreed to block up both ends of the culvert with nets 

 ami then frighten him into one of them. So the geniuses set 

 to work with their apparatus, and refreshment in the shape 

 of a large stone jar of heady ale. And first they blocked up 

 one end, watching to see he didn't bolt, and then they closed 

 up the other. Now they were sure they had got him. and 

 they sent word up to the house, for the gentlemen to come 

 and see the big trout caught. But we didn't quite like the 

 idea of a game fish done to death in that fashion, so none of 

 us went down— fortunately, as it happened, for in the event 

 l lien- was very Utile to see. When they had got then nets 

 down one intrepid spirit volunteered to go in under the cul- 

 vert with a stick to "prod" him out. In he went, and 

 splashed under the culvert, in a very cramped and uncom- 

 fortable position, I should fancy; but after "prodding" away 

 for a quarter of an hour without, bolting the big fish, he came 

 out again looking rather in want, of the fresh ah-, and said two 

 or three big "snags" had drifted in with the stream undei 

 the culvert" aud the trout must be trotting up and down 

 under these, for he never could even feel him with all his 

 "prodding." • 



After some, bad language, and finishing the contents of the 

 stone jar, Velveteens then disbanded his talented coterie, and 

 sent tip to the bouse to know if he might shoot, him next time 

 he might "'appeu upon 'im houtside the culvert." But this 

 roused the finer feelings of our very imperfect nature, for so 

 far we had been consenting unto his untimely end by nets 

 and "prodding." But now we felt that his escape was pro- 



vidential, and we unanimously declared that so B '< 



should never come to his end save hi fair and lawful methods. 

 ! I i ir such a goOdly resolution ! Only the very nexl week 

 we had two troublesome schoolboy cousins to slay with us. 

 and we were sorely put to it to provide them With t ntertain- 

 menfe Fortunately they were, considering their age and in- 

 experience, determined anglers, and as the contemplative 

 Bport took up so much of their time and very little of ours, 

 we always encouraged their disposition toward n i thj 

 fullest extent. We "even went so far aa to tell them t ' ai 

 our pet, trout, laughing in our sleeve the while to think what 

 a dance be would lead them if they once fairly became en- 

 grossed iu endeavor for his capture. We really turned an 

 apoplectic purple -when giving them full instructions how 

 to approach the culvert without being observed by the ever- 

 watchful fish. But we laughed loo soon. 



It was only one short hour afterward that two members of 

 our parly, as they were leisurely pacing up and down the 

 terrace walk, heard howls of delight proceeding from the 

 vicinity of the Mill plantation culvert — howls so inexpress- 

 ibly dreadful that their first thought was that one of these 

 unruly schoolboys was murdering the other, and that this 

 devoted other was strenuously resisting his own ultimately 

 demise. Full of this idea they lied wildly it: the direction 

 Of the culvert, aud were rewarded or. arriving at the brook 

 by seeing these t wo pleasant boys squatting like red Indians 

 upon their hams, yelling with irrepressible un otion, and in 

 the midst of ibctu, Hopping vainly on the grass, was a lour- 

 pound trout! 



The rest of this sad story is soon told. Our instructions 

 how to approach unseen had been all too perfect. With an 

 ingenuity thai wits positively fiendish they bad first made u 

 cross-line out, of a ball of string we hail unwittingly lent 

 them to fly their kites with, and hud attached to the middle 

 of this line a yard of strong salmon gut, and to that lliree 

 powerful hooks tied back to back as in pike Ashing, Willi 

 live bait. This done, like some crafty Ojihbewav upon Ihe 

 war-path, one wily schoolboy had squirmed along, renin a 

 fairs, and across the culvert till he was safe ou the further 

 bank, and exactly opposite the unconscious risk, >-.■ ,, j on 

 end of the cross line with him. With Machiavellian puit 

 niug had they then approached the water down either bank, 

 till thev could noth get a peep ol the monster through the 



in in-, and could drop the hooks softly down into the water 



not far from his noble tail. lie had no suspicion of his 

 danger, but lay, they said, without ever moving, till they 

 worked the hooks stealthily alone", using fair "give and take'" 

 with the cross-line, right, under Ids belly fins; ajlu then— 

 Ii, rrre.se,, „ /,tw*/— tlfey regularly "snatched" him. One 

 good upward jerk from two powerful schoolboy arms, acting 

 in harmonious accord, fixed the hooks firmly into the under 

 part of his body, and then his "play" (or so thej cal ■:. . 

 for what was death to him was sport to his inhuman assail- 

 ants) was brief but tremendous. 



Alas for that trout ! he was goodly and pleasant in his life. 

 yet the Philistines gol him, instead of some more high- 

 minded and right-thinking sportsman. — Ltmgman'* Mnr/a~ 



A WYOMING TROUT1NG TRIP. 



Ol'liopeu season has come, but 1} lias been most of the 

 time too hot for either man or beast lo hum with any 

 comf'ort, so the game has thus far escaped any very great or 

 persistent effort to tbiuils ranks. 



Some days ago, however, business called three of us to a 

 point about fifty miles north of here, so we concluded io 

 coralline pleasure therewith, aud went provided With fishing 

 tackle to "sec what we could see" in Uie way of irout fiom 

 the two Goose creeks, and with camping outfit, US other ac- 

 commodations there would be none where we were bound. 



A long hut very pleasant drive brought n« to our lie.t 

 camp on the Little Goose, just above the sawmill, and at the 

 mouth of the canon, where the Btream debouches from the 

 Big Horse Mountains; a clear, colt I, rushing, roaring, tumb- 

 ling stream we found, once the home of blindredR of trout, 

 but now, alas, almost fished out, the settlers and overj one 

 fishing it to death, until half-pounders are about alltbat BSC 

 left. 



But a few years ago this stream was almost entirely un- 

 known aud unfished. White men there were none, and the 

 Indian is a poor fisherman in these pans, BO the fish had had 

 it all their own way for many a year. Scouting parties ami 

 military expeditious found trout in plenty ami oi large size, 

 a very welcome change from the field did of lit. eon and 

 hardtack. Now the valley is rapidly sctllingup; wire fences 

 losing farms and fields are everywhere, and the large Irout 



m large 

 To jo 



s aud make 



t cast wasbut a few moments' 

 :k; and, although there were 

 no very great fish caught, nor any very great numbers, we 

 still hail "the satisfaction of catching enough for outbreaks 

 fast. It was too late to go ftir up the canon, so we were 

 forcetl to be content with what we could catch close loennip. 

 Besides this we found a large party ot •■picnicker-" !„ ,, , i -, 

 who had been busy whipping the ream with I in- success, 

 SO we concluded ""to call it a go," and to try our luck further 

 , ..i tlav, especially as out business called US tbi ft 



The next morning,' after fishing awhile and adding some 

 to our score, wc hitched up aud drove over to the Bij 

 and again made camp. We drove as far as was pusaitl 

 our camp was right against the mouth of the canon, a beau- 

 tiful spot, the wtldness of nature all around US, and a mag- 

 nificent Stream at OUt feet, pouring over ledge tiller leoge 

 and forming deep pools wherein the trout deli. 

 preparatory for another rush up stream. 



Findiug'the fish indifferent to the fly. we were fenced to 

 fall back on grasshoppers, ffnd the afternoon was passed 

 in Whipping pool alter pool and scrambling over ledge after 

 led"-e further and lurther up the stream and into the canon, 

 Through tangle aud brush and fallen timber, a dim trail led 

 up and up, and by dint of hard eliml ; e our way. 



Stopping here and' there as a favorable pool show 



I wish I could describe it Could such a scene be trans- 

 ported to the White Mountains, the Adliondacks, or any 

 Eastern resort, all else would pale beside it. 



Our fishing-was cut short by heavy rain late in the after- 

 noon so our "camp for the night received rath! r mote atten- 

 tion than on the night before. Our urn was pitched; a 

 huge fire built in front of it, and after a heatty supper of 

 trout and fried pork, we passed away the time by ns fight 

 and heal with Ihe pipe aud story, until time for bed. 



1 had my dog and gun with me, hoping to have been able 

 ■.. grouse but only one hen ami two chicks were 

 seen, one of Which was "iaken in." All the gin use are 

 away from the streams iu the little draws tided wilh rose- 

 bushes, and are hard to find, so f was forced to give them up 



