890 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 18, 1883. 



hn mid Miner 



OPEN SEASONS. 



The digest of opeu seasons, printed in our issue of Aug. lli, has 

 been published in convenient pamphlet form, and will be sent to any 

 address, postpaid, on receipt of 10 cents. 



TROUTING ON THE BIGOSH, 



SECOND DAT. 



IT looked like rain in the morning, and a long consulta- 

 tion was held on the subject of the weather, and the 

 chance.? of getting caught in a storm. The Colonel, are- 

 tired army officer and the father of our youthful friend Jack, 

 had twinges iu his Gettysburg leg, as lie always called the 

 wounded one, and feared that a wetting might give his 

 enemy— the rheumatism— a chance to intrench himself where 

 he had thrown out a skirmish line, and so he decided to re- 

 main near the house where he could retreat in good order in 

 case of need. The Doctor had discovered a new fly on the 

 water, and beina a firm believer in a close imitation of nature, 

 thought he would sit by the window and moke some imita- 

 tions of them, "I tell you," said he, "if I have thistly it 

 will be the most killing one on the stream, and will make' up 

 for lost time when I go again. 



"Nonsense," replied the Colonel: "the less a fly looks like 

 anything in nature, the more killing it is. Color is what 

 you want, shape is of no account. Flies attract trout by 

 their colors, and if they are the right size, they may be of 

 any shape. Go on in the boat, a little sprinkle doe's you no 

 harm and the fish will rise at almost any bright fly this dark 

 day. What is your opinion, Mr. M ?" 



"What you say accords with my own views, but many 

 good anglers think differently, and there is no harm iu hav- 

 ing flies made to a form as well as to color. If the Doctor 

 prefers to stay iu to make some new flies, there appears to be 

 no good reason to object. As for myself, the threatened 

 storm may come or not, I will try it aione, as Uncle Ben is 

 going to mill." 



Jack had been an attentive listener, and now broke in 

 with a request to go alfiO. His father objected feebly, but 

 gave iu to the argument, that Jack had no' rheumatic leg and 

 besides the waterproofs were going also. When the boat was 

 fairly under way, Jack opened with: "I wanted to go with 

 you alone because you promised to show me how to cast a 

 fly. Father never has time to bother with me, and says it 

 will all come natural in time. I want it to come natural now 

 so that I can show the boys about here how it cau be done. 

 All our fishing last summer was done with bait and bean- 

 poles, and the first fly I ever cast was thrown yesterday, and 

 you saw how little there was of it." 



"But you took a couple of small trout." 



"Yes, but I can't get out over twenty feet of line und it 

 slaps down on the water like a pancake.' Say, what did father 

 mean last night when he asked the Colonel and you if you 

 would take Paul's advice?" 



"I don't know, Jack; I don't remember it." 



"O, no, your memory is short on one end. I heard the 

 Colonel say, 'Don't care if 1 do,' and vou all went in aud 

 locked the door; you needn't take too much trouble on my 

 account. What's that o.er there?" 



"Something has riseu in the water, probably a trout. Try 

 and see if you can make him rise again. Wait till the boat 

 gets a little Dealer. You splash your flies too much on the 

 water; don't cast at the spot, but above it. Cast as though 

 you wanted the flies to strike in the air ten feet over the 

 place where you want them to fall, and then let them settle 

 down That's good, for a short cast: giv» your line more 

 time behind you and don't use so muca strength; let the 

 spring of the rod throw the flies. Now reel off more line and 

 start it slowly from the watei, and as it is about to leave it 

 give it a quicker motion aud a spring backward and slop the 

 rod when it is about perpendicular. Very good; only give 

 it more time on the back cast and the flies will not be 

 whipped off. as the stretcher was on this last cast." 



"1 think I east thirty feet!" 



"All of thirty, but 'if you will practice, with the rules 

 given, for half an hour, I will guarantee that vou will cast 

 twice that distance. Bear in mind that you must start the 

 line slowly, stop it at the perpendicular, and give it time to 

 straighten out behind by allowing as much time for this as it 

 took to go forward. Count the time, aud make the back 

 east up in the air and not in the water behind vou. The 

 stopping of the rod at the right angle does this. There! you 

 had a rise; try it again." 



"I've got him! So, he's gone." 



"The fish took the fly. but had it sideways iu his mouth, 

 •md w-hen he. closed on it found that it was not what lie 

 thought it. If you had struck when you saw the swirl you 

 might have hooked him. Always strike from the reel* by 

 leaving the line free from pressure of the fingers, and then 

 you don't stiike too hard. Reel up, the storm is coming 

 and we must get the boat on shore and turn it up for a 

 shelter." 



The rain-drops began to patter ou the water and by the 

 time we had the boat turned up against a log and were safely 

 stowed away under it in the waterproofs, the music of the 

 shower on the bottom of the bout was worth listening to. 

 First it came in a regular pit-a-pat, a kind of rhythm sugges- 

 tive of the old time, "Essence of Old Virginia." then 

 quickened into a corn-husking jig, in which a trained car 

 could distinguish the light touch of the thin sole on the 

 sanded floor as it "weeded corn," and "kivered taters:" 

 increased to a rattling clog, hurried on until a full drum 

 corps was beating "triple bob majors," and tinallv settled 

 down into the long roll. 



All this took more time than it was required to tell it, and 

 while the two under the boat each used one ear to catch the 

 varying intensity of the storm, they had a reserve doing duty 

 in conversation. Here it might be' well to warn all enemies 

 that the jokes on ears doing duty as fans, flyscarers and 

 blankets, have been long in the service and refuse to do duty 

 on account of tbo law which exempts all those over forty- 

 five years of age from conscription. 



Jack said: "The rain comes harder and harder, do you 

 think it will last long?" 



1 answered: "Ask me an easy one, Jack ; for instance, 

 who will be the next President, or if the approaching comet 

 will knock the world out in one round, then I can tell you 

 truly that I don't know and don't care, but on the question 

 of the storm I can only say that I don-'t know but do care, 

 for it is a problem that" concerns our immediate welfare." 



Said Jack : "You won't give me away to the old man if 

 I light a cigarette while it rains, will you?" 



"Jack, don't get slangy, ^}ye me away' is a law form of 



-8&1H 



SALMON AND STRIPEO BASH KEEL-PLATE. 



TROUT AND BLACK BA38 HEEL-PLATE. 



expression in use among the policemen and the men whom 

 they hunt. Who do you mean by the 'old man?' if you refer 

 to your father, I would remind you that he is my friend, and 

 you must speak of him more respectfully. I shall insist on 

 having pure air under this boat, and shall object to cigar- 

 ettes. In fact, I object to that vile compound of paper and 

 old cigar stumps in all places. A reasonably fair cigar is 

 not unpleasant to most people, if not smoked so close to the 

 wet end to be disagreeable, and a pipe is a legitimate mode 

 of burning tobacco, but the cigarette is a nuisance on all 

 occasions. Stop to look into a"shop window on the street, 

 and the odor of burning paper rises in your nose, and you 

 look down and find an eight-year-old boy on the end of one 

 of the vile things. Bah! the'offense is rank and smells to 

 Heaven. Now, Jack, if you will smoke in defiance of your 

 father's orders, get a pipe' or a cigar, but do not injure your 

 health with those opium soaked things that are called cigar- 

 ettes. Pull the waterproof up to the side of the boat more, 

 so that the water will run under it. The rain is coming 

 heavier, and may pour itself out soon. It it stops by noon 

 you can practice casting for an hour or two, and later in the 

 afternoon there will be. flies on the water, aud the trout will 

 rise." 



"Does rain have any effect on fish f' 



"It seems to have. * After a rain they usually feed better; 

 perhaps there is a little wash of mud aud some worms into 

 the river; perhaps the rain water raises the temperature of 

 the stream slightly and so hatches out flies that otherwise 

 would have remained in their pupa cases until another day. 

 It has put a slight edge on my appetite already. Pass the 

 creel." 



It was two hours past noon when the rain slopped, and 

 we crawled from under the boat aud launched it. Jack 

 tried to cast for practice again and soon was nble to get out 

 fifty feet of line. "Now," said I, "don't try to cast further, 

 it is not necessary at present, but aim to "deliver the flies 

 lightly. Cast as'though the flies were to rest on that white 

 cloud above the distant tree tops and let them fall from there 

 by their own weighl, never mind the water, they will find 

 it. Many good casters lay the line out on the water aud the 

 flies go on to strike 1 ist, but this mode is easy and can be 

 done after you get the knack of bringing the fiies down 

 first, or at the time when the line straightens and falls. You 

 will read of casts ma e where the flics 'bung a moment sus- 

 pended in the air and then settled on tbe surface, lightly as 

 a thistle-down,' but that is a bit of poetic fancy that is never 

 realized. 



After an hour's practice the pupil became quite prolicieut 

 and we moved down to the pools and he took a oozen fair 

 trout before sundown, I only taking three, just to illustrate 

 to him some precepts that' can better be shown than told. 



Returning to the house we found our friends waiting to 

 sec the result of the day's catch, and Uncle Ben, who had 

 returned from the mill, most anxious of any. When be 

 saw the creels emptied of fifteen good fish, and was told 

 that Jack took four-fifths of them with the fly. a smile 

 broadened his face and his favorite exclamation" came out 

 with lengthened emphasis. Fked Mather, 



[to he OONTJUSDED.] 



What Fishes Eat. — The New York Association for the 

 Protection of Game held a meeting Tuesday evening. The 

 association has been incorporated. Gov. Cleveland was 

 elected an honorary member. -A committee of three was 

 appointed to confer with the committee selected by the 

 Chambtir of Commerce for the preservation of the Adiron- 

 dack forests. Prof. H. J. Rice, of the Fulton Market Bio- 

 logical Labratory, was the guest of the evening. Prof. 

 Rice was called on to talk about his work, and said that all 

 fish are cannibals, in the sense that they eat each other, and 

 their own eggs or young. For the past year he has been in- 

 vestigating the interuai economy of fishes in order to learn 

 what their food is aud also to determine their breeding sea- 

 sons. -He had examined over 6,000 fishes, and had found 

 that the cod and the bluefish are the most omnivorous. 

 Voung striped bass feed mainly upon crustaceans, and the 

 older ones on ale wives and menhaden. In the stomachs of 

 iod a little of everything that is in the water was found, 

 stones, sticks and food of all kinds; from one codfish a piece 

 of wood seven inches long and an inch and a half square 

 ; taken. New York city needs a type collection of 

 fishes, where students may compare, specimens. The pro- 

 fessor thought that fish do not eat much in spawning lime. 



The Herrings ok Central Lake.— Central Lake. Mich.. 

 Nov. 22. — Joe Minnie came here a week ago to-day, and 

 began catching "herrings" a day or two later with a dip-net. 

 He coVild not tell me when they first appeared. He fished 

 night and day, and left this week with a barrel or more of 

 tbe fish. I think that in all, between two aud three barrels 

 have been caught, They are taken in large dip-Beta made 

 from mosquito bars. 



THE "STANDARD" REEL-PLATES. 



* T the meeting of the National Rod and Reel Association 

 A held at the biological laboratory, Fulton Market, New- 

 York, President Endicott in the chair, the only business 

 transMcted was the adoption of a standard for ' reel-plates 

 w^hich would, if accepted by the large manufacturers, re- 

 lieve anglers from the necessity of having to file and tit a 

 new reel to their different rods" The Association has held 

 that i.nly two sizes are necessary, one for light reels used for 

 trout and black bass, aud the other for heavy reels used for 

 salmon and striped bass. As if to show the necessity for 

 such standard, one rod manufacturer sent to the Association 

 five rod-butts each with a reel-seat of different size. The 

 committee appointed to investigate this matter rflpuited as 

 follows : 



"The committee appointed by the National Rod aud Reel 

 Association to report for their adoption a standard for reel- 

 plates and reel-seats, respectfully repot t: 



"A letter was seat to all the noted rod and reel makers 

 throughout the country, asking their views aud requesting 

 their cooperation. Almost all of them responded to the 

 circular, and some sent sizes of reel-plates and 

 large manufacturer sending five different sizes, and all sig- 

 uified their willingness to conform to the standard adopted 

 by the Association. 



"Your committee would recommend the following as the 

 proper sizes for trout and black-bass reel-plates: Length, 

 2-iin. ; width, 4 iu. ; diameter of circle, ^in. ; thickness at the 

 ends, -ft- in. 



"For salmon and striped bass: Length, &}- id. ; width, $ in. ; 

 diameter of circle, 1 in. ; thickness ai: the ends, T £u in." 



(Siqued) 

 L. W. Winchester, President Restigouehe Club. 

 James L. Vallotton, President Pasque Island Club. 

 (\ Van Brent, Willowemoc Club. 

 H. P. McGown, Cuttyhuuk Club. 

 James Benkard, President South Side Club. 

 J. C. McAndrew, Restigouehe Club. 



Mr. Wiliium Mitchell moved tbe adoption of (lie standard 

 as recommended, aud Mr. Leyison seconded the motion. 



Mr. Thomas Conroy moved to amend the standard by 

 making the diameter of the circle larger, and that the diame- 

 ters of'the quarter and half dollars bo adopted tor the two 

 sizes 



Judge McGowu said that as there are two -izes to be 

 adopted, and Mr. Conroy's amendment covers both, he would 

 say that lie was a striped bass angler, and was unfamiliar 

 with trout reels, but others on the committee were. The 

 committee had spent much time in examining reel-plates, 

 and found that there was but little difference between those 

 made for salmon and those for striped bass. They tiad 

 averaged the sizes and iiad considered Mr. Conroy 's proposi- 

 tion, which he had before made in writing, aud thought the 

 diameter of a half dollar too large. They had also thought 

 it unnecessary to give any recommendation tor the thicktlCSS 

 of the plate in the middle, merely giving the thickness at 

 the euds where it affects the fitting of the reel iu the seal. 



Mr. Mitchell remarked that a half dollar was Lai 

 any rod made, and a reel-plate which was a segment of such 

 a circle would work loose. If the plate is the segment of a 

 circle which is smaller than the rod, it will bear upon its 

 edges and remain firm; a reel-plate which fits a seat of small 

 diameter will fit any rod. 



The question was called for and the amendment was lost, 

 The original motion of adopting the report of the committee, 

 was then put and was carried unanimously. Judge MeGow n 

 moved that the committee be directed to address circulars to 

 manufacturers of fishing tackle, and that Ihe cuts be printed 

 on it, also that extra copies of the plates be furnished to those 

 wishing them. Carried, and the meeting adjourned. 



Striped Bass in California. — The (frqasr cuiQ. 

 speaking of the bass imported into the waters of California 

 a few years ago, and winch were placed in the bay near 

 Martinez, says that a fish of this variety was takeu in the 

 Bay of Monterey recently, which weighed about seventeen 

 pounds aud was about three feet in length. The largest 

 caught on this coast previously weighing about four pounds. 

 The fish was a female and full of spawn, indie 

 those waters arc favorable to the propagation of [his fish, 

 which is extremely palatable, making a very desirable acqui- 

 sition. 



Anglers* Association of Eastern Pennsylvania.— 

 This association held its annual dinner at Limber's rcstnu 

 rant, Philadelphia, on the evening of the 6th, and about 

 sixty members were present, The" dinner was composed Of 

 fish entirely, and was finely served. After dinner many 

 speeches were made. Mr. John Gilliugham. the chairman, 

 said that during the year the association had been the means 

 of stocking seven streams; had destroyed 100 nets, bringing 

 as many "fish poachers" to justice, and had entered into an 



