June 84, 1880.] 



FOIfcEST AND STREAM. 



415 



by afix yearning for something better. We are rarely 



satisfied with what we arc and with what we have, ami 

 are too frequently romplaining. One of the places 

 Where this mental condition does not exist is up to your 

 knees in a trout stream, with the trout taking hold. 

 There are some annoyances, the principal one being the 

 ik HreSj the musquitoes and the midgets; but do 

 Hjft allow them, though they attack you on all sides by 

 legions, to preclude your enjoyment. The old campaigner 

 knows h..w to successfully repulse their attack. There 

 are [In. Hays of no luck, when the trout refuse to rise, but 

 tbe angler who returns at dusk with an empty creel has 

 not necessarily wasted his time, for if he. ha.s cultivated 

 KB observing faculties his day will have been " idle time 

 not " idly spent.'' He will surely leaxnsome new lesson, 

 Bid perhapg discover some secret of nature, for there 

 are plenty yet undiscovered. He may have walked off 

 some superfluous flesh, knocked some pretty ailment in 

 the head, and renewed his lease of life. 



derate indulgence in the sports of forest and 

 stream is certainly conducive to health and longevity ; 

 ferried to excess it may tend to unfit one for the sterner 

 and more Important duties of life. It would perhaps 

 ^operate much as medicine properly prescribed for the. 

 various body diseases does — be beneficial up to a certain. 

 Rage, which being attained it would be more safely dis- 

 pensed with. Guides are not as a class noted for lon- 

 gevity, nor do they retain their strength and activity up to 

 Bse age that the occasional fishing and shooting man 

 i -, He takes his medicine when he does not re- 

 quire it. but because he may be obliged to, and it does him 

 jio good. This may or may not be the reason, but the 

 fact remains. Millaed. 



The July Magazines. — Articles of special interest to 

 Forest and Stream readers are: Scribner's: "Does 

 isection Pay?" "The California Alps," " The Metrop- 

 olis of the Rocky Mountains " (Denver), " Coney Island," 

 •Canada," harpers: "By-paths in the Mountains," 

 ' The Santa Fe Trail," "Summer Clubs on Great South 

 Bay." Atlantic,: "Wintering on JEtna." Popular 

 Science: "On tbe Modes of Distribution of Plants," 

 " Notes on a few of Our Birds," Lippincolfs : "Through 

 tbe Yellowstone Park to Fort Custer," "On tbe Skunk 

 River." 



THE TILESTON MEMORIAL FUND. 



New Tork, Jane Mh.. 



r Fi'i-eM and Stream. : - 



ivh i.u ui'kiimvleilffo the receipt to ante el' rurtlior contribu- 

 te the '• TUeston Memorial fund " as follows:— 



■ ■I -•■ :i.-i: no« aged. J 138 " 1 1 E. J. W\\ tehead 85 uo 



Jobn ' 



Garrotl i 



-. 36 00 1 Linflo, Horace L. 



w 







,, ;;:. nn | Movers, \V. It. 



Hn 







. .. 3SD0 ara,tUrougBE.LobtD 



in fi 00 



C.Hii.l'.Cn'nllinr .. 



... »> U0 | L. H. Smith 





.. 5 00 



J. Dwitfhl EYauels..-. 



... Ill nil 1 A Virginia liion.l. 





.. 6 00 



Bayard Thayer 



... in on , Edward E. U.udy. 





.. 5 00 



Rotjt. Hume 



... 10 00 | 1). H. Baldwin. ... 





.. 100 



E. A. Hetv.becic.. 



. . . ft 00 I Total : . . 





..J3S8 00 



W. A. MelnluBh 



a DO 1 







THE NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION. 



Rochester, N. Y., June Ulh. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



Yours of the 11th iust. was duly received, in which you 

 request my opinion concerning the future programme of 

 the .Now York State Association tor the Protection of 

 Fish arid Game. 



As the name implies, we are supposed to do something 

 m the way of more efficient game laws, and also in the 

 encouragement of the propagation of fish and and the 

 introduction of game birds to restock the now depleted 

 waters and fields of our State. It is not surprising that 

 to the observer It would seem as if we bad lost sight of 

 our object, and only met for the purpose of selecting the 

 -place for our annual meeting, and then to indulge in a. 

 tournament for the balance of tbe week. Not a, word is 

 si: id a bout the protection of fish and game. 



Iu that we are wrong. If we were to have animated 

 speeches and essays urging upon tbe various clubs form- 

 Id lion tbe importance of restocking our fields 

 with game birds and game fishes, it would 

 'eot to excite a spirit of emulation among 

 cry club's standing then would be dotor- 

 iat it had done for the general welfare, and 

 ruber of crack shots who can make a clean 

 traps. It is well known that a few years 

 ■ailed) were abundant in all parts of o 



ing 



aiL.i strean 

 have the 

 them, and 

 d by 

 not by its 

 score at tl 

 ago quail ( 

 State. Owing cm 

 nearly all disappee 

 of z ir State !:; tl 

 and liberate them 

 5kg until another > 

 course, wo must d 

 of course calls f 



tiy tp severe winters they ha 

 :ed, What better thing can the clubs 

 m obtain quail where they are plenty 

 iere. thereby insuring us good shoot- 

 ■vere winter destroys them, when, of 

 • it again. Stocking fields and streams 

 : a better enforcement of the game 

 laws. Let it be known that the> game constable has bis 

 local club at bis back, with money and influence, and it 

 ill make his work easier and more effective. 

 Tbe propagation and protection of fish seems to be well 

 m u, but with game birds it is different. One is 

 under the fostering care of the State, the other must be 

 ,'oared for by the various clubs of the State. 1 believe 

 this would be done if discussion were had in our State 

 convention, and its importance fully impressed upon the 

 delegat.es. The game laws of the State should be. dis- 

 cussed and needed amendments suggested, and a com- 

 mittee formed to urge the. passage of tbe same bv the 

 Legislature. These matters should be discussed and set- 

 tled in convention, and not left to a committee to report 

 jm the future, tbe members of wbich, living hundreds of 

 aniles apart, will never meet for consultation. To 

 facilitate the business, why is not tbe suggestion 

 a good one, that the various clubs, in their meet 



ings. discuss the game law of the State, section by sec- 

 tion, and present the result of their deliberations to be 

 acted upon by the State convention? Another thing 

 might be done : put pit the selection of the place for 

 holding the annual meeting until the second or third 

 evening of the convention; then we must fill in the 

 space, and something of interest to sportsmen generally 

 would undoubtedly be brought out. Delegates would 

 come prepared to express their views and experience, 

 and out of it all would be obtained much of practical 

 importance. 



What about the tournament? While it would un- 

 doubtedly interfere somewhat with the deliberations of 

 tbe convention, I am not yet in favor of its abolition. If 

 it is to usurp the legitimate business of the convention, 

 the sooner it goes the better, but 1 believe it can be left, 

 kept in its proper place, ami furnish innocent recreation 

 to the delegates and others in attendance. I am not of 

 those who condemn trap shooting as a cruel amusement, 

 or as being the cause, except remotely, of the dimin- 

 ished number of pigeons, To the super-refined there is 

 an element of cruelty in all held sports, and to those not 

 so sensitive there is something repulsive in the stories of 

 big bags of game made, and spoiled by the hot weather. 

 The destruction of pigeons by the netters who send them 

 dead to market by the car load, and also tbe great 

 destruction of squabs for the same purpose, is the pri- 

 mary cause for their diminished numbers. The old birds 

 are as unfit for food, when first caught, as a setting hen. 

 In our trap shoots they are fed and kept long enough to 

 be in good condition for market. But I am not going to 

 quarrel with those who differ with me about trapshoot- 

 ing, and will only say that if we can in tbe future, as in 

 the past, keep our tournaments free from all taint of 

 gambling, I am not opposed to it, 



Perhaps some may think, because I agree with you in 

 so many things, that I agree with your views expressed 

 in your editorial of last week. So far as tbe beneficial 

 influence of our Association is concerned, and that we 

 should more properly be called the " New York State As- 

 sociation of Pigeon Shooters," rather than the "New 

 York State Association for the Protection of Fish and 

 Game," not entirely. Judging from appearances, you 

 are not far out of the way, but in reality there is a de- 

 cided influence for good in the object claimed by our 

 name in our conventions. The influence of all the clubs 

 forming our Association is in favor of the protection of 

 flsh and game, although it may not, as it should, ap- 

 pear in our meetings, it; is nevertheless felt in framing 

 and enforcing our game laws. From the Lewis County 

 Club, of Lowville, which has done such splendid work 

 in protectingthe deer of the North Woods, all through the 

 State can be found clubs wdio are giving their influence 

 and their money to that end. It is to be regretted that 

 all this does not appear iu tbe reports of our conventions, 

 so that the vast number who read our proceedings might 

 better understand the spirit that rules us. If the effect 

 of your editorial shall be to correct these shortcomings 

 you will not have written in vain. 



I have written you at much greater length than I in- 

 tended, and still there is much more that might be said. 

 We need good, honest criticism, and no doubt it was the 

 welfare of our Association that inspired your article. 

 Wit, J. Babcook. 



Friitor Forest and Stream :— 



Permit one of your readers to say that in your article, 

 " The Work of a State Game Protection Association," 

 especially in tbe second clause, you "hit the nail on the 

 head." I am informed that six weeks ago " floating " for 

 deer had commenced "up iu the woods" — as we call the 

 North (to you) Woods. Local authorities can or will do 

 nothing to stop it. Some arrests were made last season, 

 but all " fell through " in some way or another. This 

 year I have heard of no attempt being made to stop it. 

 Judges, justices and attorneys all participate in the hunt, 

 and when some poor Frenchman gets arrested and put in 

 jail he sends for some prominent legal gentleman and 

 says: "Can't you fix it so I can get out of here? you 

 know how it is yourself, Judge," and soon the public 

 hear that said Frenchman has his liberty, You are on 

 the right ttack, go ahead. 



Sino Smct, iV. Y„ June mh. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : — 



Your editorial article on the New York State Associa- 

 tion for the Protection of Fish and Game, in isstto of 

 June 10th, is an honest and fearless expose of a long 

 standing and constantly growing abuse. If there is in 

 this State a considerable body of men who really desire 

 that our game should be properly protected, it seems 

 almost strange that they should for so long have been 

 wilbng to allow another body of men, with aims and 

 practices totally different, to usurp the title properly be- 

 longing to the former. No one who will take the trouble 

 to follow the proceedings of tbe so-called New 5 

 Association for tbe Protection of Fish and Game for the 

 past few years, can find in them anything pertaining 

 seriously to the protection of lisli or game, and much 

 that directly militates againwt such protection. 



For this reason those who wish to act in the matter of 

 game protection have a rigid, to demand the Association 

 iu question to change either its course or its name, and if 

 it will do neither, then the game protectors, if there are 

 any, ought, out of respect for themselves and their good 

 name, to organize for the purpose of doing the work the 

 others fail to do. 



Game protection will now receive the approval and sup- 

 port of the general public, and tbe name of "game protector 

 can never carry with it the healthy, manlyand legitimate 

 sense that it should so long as public butchering of birds. 

 tore from nest and young, is the only evidence of exist- 

 ence shown by the largest Association assu min g that duty 

 and taking that name. 



This is not written as an ethical consideration of trap 

 shooting, but to charge the New York State Association 

 for the Protection of Fish and Game with utterly neglect- 

 ing the work its title so plainly demands of it. and with 

 traducing those who demand that that work shall be 

 done. Trap shooting, when called by that name, may or 

 may not be perfectly proper ; but trap shooting by game 

 protectors certainly is not. A political convention' devot- 

 ing itself to singing Moody and SaiiUey hymns would. 

 on the same ground, be amenable to censure. That this 

 Association adds to the gravity of the charges against it 

 by the form of its dereliction oannofc be denied ; but that 



point need not now be enlarged upon. The way seems 

 .o\v opened to those who are dissatisfied with the conduct 

 if the Association to give some force to their opposition ; 

 irid it is the writer's earnest hope that the views, pro 

 mil con, of those interested shall he fully expressed, and 

 f it shall be found that the opposition is sufficiently 

 Itrortg, to take proper action. 



With a one-fourth part of the time, energy and money 

 devoted to trap shooting by the so-called New York State 

 Association for the Protection of Fish and Game, an 

 earnest and honest organization could put game protec- 

 tion on a worthy foundation, and double the sportsman's 

 resources in this State. Chahlrs, A. DltAPEft, 



pa and Jjftf/«f tffishmn. 



FISH IN SEASON IN JUNE. 



FKE9H 1 



SALT 



Sea Bass, Cenlroprirtinatrarius. 

 Sheffiriheau, Arclwsargus proba- 



Sferfp'ea Baaa, Ro< 



Unncalus. 

 amcricarta. 

 regal is. 



— Address all communications to ' 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



Blu-Mlsli. Pumatnmiis ptiltntrix. 

 Spanish Mackerel, Cyhlum mac- 



ulatum. 

 Cero, Cyhtummialc. 

 Uonito, Santa Pe.tamm. 

 KbiH-llah, ihoilieiiru-. nehulmim. 



Forest and Stream 



FLY-FISHING FOR BLACK BASS. 



. THIRD PAPER— ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 



FLY-FISHING and the art of making artificial flies 

 dates back at least to the ancient Greeks and 

 Romans. During the palmy days of the Roman Empire, 

 the rod.line, book and artificial fly were well known. Noel 

 do la Moriniere tells us that the lines were generally 

 made of horsehair, single, double and plaited ; and ac- 

 cording to ./Flianus Hie hair was colored IB different wayBi 

 The fishing rod was chosen with reference to the sup- 

 posed weight of the fish to be caught, and the resistance 

 it could offer. The hooks were of copper or iron, and 

 coated with tin. The art of making flies of leal hers and 

 other materials has, perhaps, neverbeen carried further 

 in our own. time, even in England itself. It is possible 

 that the national love for fly-fishing was introduced into 

 Britain by the Romans. 



It is with some degree of trepidation that I approach 

 the subject of artificial flies, for I am afraid that 1 hold 

 some very heretical notions on the subject. But of one 

 fact I am" positively convinced, and that is, that there is 

 a good deal of humbug in this matter, as evidenced in 

 the many fine-spun theories and hair-splitting arguments 

 that are advocated and advanced (pertaining to the ffl in- 

 struction and use of artificial flies) by some anglers, 

 but which theories do not hold good in practice. 



In England, more especially, do anglers proceed to 

 extremes as theorists in the matter of artificial Hies for 

 trout fishing. They seem to be divided, principally, into 

 " colorists," or those who think color of paramount im- 

 portance to form, and " formalists," or" entomologists," 

 who maintain that form is everything, and profess to 

 imitate the natural fly, in its proper season, in every 

 particular of form and tinting. But there is no evidence 

 that one class is more successful than the other, as 

 anglers. On the other hand are the followers of Mr. 

 Pcnnell's system, or plan, who confine themselves to, 

 and advocate the employment of, but three "typical" 

 flies— green, brown and" yellow palmers, or" hackles"— 

 and claim that they are sufficient for ail practical pur- 

 poses, and can be made available for different waters and 

 seasons, bv increasing or diminishing the size of the 

 flies, as' circumstances seem to demand. While tbe ad- 

 herents to this latter theory are fully as successful, from 

 all accounts, as those who have a list of nearly a thousand 

 named Hies to choose from, and en.joy the satisfaction of 

 having reduced tbe perplexing matter to a delightful 

 simplicity, ami of obviating the troubles of a repeated 

 changing of the cast of flies as practiced In' others— they 

 ae&nes feel a regret deep in their hearts for 

 casting down and sweeping awav the idols and cherished 

 traditions, and to a certain extent the poetry of fly-fish- 

 ing, tiy their iconoclastic though sensible opinions and 

 practices. 



Where fish are plentiful and in a "biting mood," al- 

 most any fly, be it never so rudely tied, and of the least 

 possible resemblance to any thing in the insect creation, 

 will he successful, even if clumsily cast ; on the contrary, 

 there are times when the best made flies, cast by the 

 most skillful artists, are neccessarv to induce a rise. Be- 

 tween these extremes must we look for rules for out- 

 general guidance, and without occupying further space 

 with arguments, pro and con, it will be sufficient to say 

 that there are certain general rules which apply to the 

 character of the fly to be used at certain times, and 

 which rules arc the result of, and founded upon, the ex- 

 perience and observations of ny-fishers for many genera- 

 tions past. 



These rules, so far as they apply to black bass fly-fish- 

 ing, are few and simple : — " 



. Flies should be. small, rather than large, tbe average 

 trout-fly being usually large enough. 



3i On bright days, and with clear, low or fine water, 

 flies should be quite small, and of subdued, dark or neu- 

 tral tints, 



3. For cloudy days, and high, turbid or rough water, 

 larger and brighter flies should bo used, 



4. For very dark days, or from sunset until dark, or on 

 moonlight evenings, gray or yvhitish dies, of good size, 

 should be employed. 



1 shall not go into an entomological description of dies 

 (frid their counterfeits, for it is neither requisite nor 

 advisable, in view of the necessary limited scope of 

 these papers, f will merely state that the majority of 

 artificial flies arc of two kinds, and are intended to rep- 

 resent the perfect winged insects of certain orders, and 

 the larva:- of others ; thus, most trout flies are tbe pre- 

 tended imitations of some of the species of the orders 

 Diptera and Nefiropierd, the former comprising tbe two- 

 winged inseots, as the gnats, mosquitoes, midges, etc., 



