[)EC -- 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



429 



of Quebec 'mil [few Brunswick. Nova Scotia rivets, as I 

 understand if, still remain ojten to nil comers, 



'Well," snid out of rayinqiiisitive friends, who baa made 

 up his mind ><> kin ft salmon al any cost, ' assume that, by 

 book or by croofc, 1 have obtained :i permit, What shall f 

 .In with ii: in-, rather, what must 1 do to renderit availatile?" 



"That is ' cmestioi - i. ., . ■ , red than bow to ob- 

 tain u permit. The first thing aecdfulisan appropriate 

 equipment such as rod. reel, Hies and leaders, in regard to 

 a' rod, the essential things are strength aDd elasticity. 

 father can easily be obtained separately, bal woodihwhicb 

 in. ill are perfectly combined is hard to get hold o£ Brit 

 without both neither is of any use, either in castiiigorui 

 billing. Aiodthat is unresporsiveisuot only a very- un- 

 pleasant thing to Handle, hut will fail to do the work re 

 quired even in the hands of an expert, No one can east 

 a fly with a hoop pole, hut one might almost as well have a 

 hoop pole as some rods thai ara palmed off as appropriate 

 for salmon easting. Unless l he spring is equally distributed 

 i butt, and can lie distinctly fell at the latter aswellas 

 clearly seen ul the former, it is not a rod for the work for 

 whicli it is intended. But with such a rod easting is an ab- 

 solute pleasure, whether I he responses are few or ninny. 

 One may manage lery well with an inferior line, if it only 

 bas strength, Wttil second or third rate strong leaders, and 

 with flies Which would trot pass muster in the eye of an 

 artist, but he had better stay at home than to go to salmon 

 waters with anything leas than a number one rod,, whether 

 of wood or bamboo. My own favorite rod isof Wood, hut 

 his fair to say that il is the onlj one of half a dozen that 

 can he, branded as perfect. But this one is perfect. If lias 

 the very spirit, of elasticity in every tilier, and responds to 

 every movement as if instinct with life Sui 

 better than rubies, and is worth more than its weight in 

 gold. T would rather break every other tod I own than 

 raise so much as a splinter upon the surface of this grand 

 old hero of a hundred battles. Nevertheless, I have made 

 slightly longer easts v. iih a bamboo, but 1 never give a large 



tisii HsbuiMvithoui a trernoi. Its advantage is Bghti ■■ 



weight — no iinuii advantage, be it understood, when one's 

 muscle isof delicate fiber. 



"In fishing for salmon, l likes line of good weight- -iipt 



, but for casting. A heavy eighteen-foot 



u can feel. The 



lor work with a 



i rod. • An oiled 



nd twenty- 



sueh r rod 



n sufficient 



let-, and a 

 (1 sure 



id lii 



eds something at tin 



nplished expert would make poor i 

 rout line on B double -handed salmon roi 

 r medium strand, a hundred or a hundred 



ards in length, is what - one need-. Will 

 lie and with -uch leaders and flics — both 

 nbers- -as can be procured of any honest de 

 eel mad e for use and not for ornaiiient , one may 



ll ii a jporl will not be marred by bad tacklirJ; , 



i i- vuik so far, lint after i have secured my tackling, 

 .vino i.ml'lii do With it?" 

 '-My only reply to such qu tioni use it." 

 •'That's till very welt; but how'.' Have you uo specific 

 idviec to give a willing pupil on that head":" 

 "No: because while you may he taught by a cook-book 

 salad or slew a rabbit, I never knew an 



_ngler made In a written recipe: It _ 



tin proof of the pudding is in the eating' i 

 way to learn how to angle is to angle. O 

 to until his head swims about fly casting a 

 and still make his firs! east a-, awkwardly i 

 seen a ily or stretched a leader. But thoi 

 any experience in casting tor trout will ha 

 Casting for salmon. The movements it 

 me, The only vital differei.-re is 

 rods, and this difference is practical! 

 fact that both hands instead of one 

 manipulation of Ihc rod used in eastii 



ally 



mere verlud instruction, bOWever clearly Or graphically im- 

 parted, can give to you the rhythmic movement, the delicate 

 twist, the carctul manipulation, and the nice discrimination 

 required to make a wise use of the constantly varying con- 

 ditions in which an angler finds himself when casting fer 

 i. f<>p-y wasn't brought up— she 'growed; 5 and thai 



is the only' way to become an expert on salmon w ttters. 



'I never knew two anglerswho cast exactly .■dike, while T 



have seen scores who were the peers of each other. Each 



has his peculiar attitude, motion and swing: hi* straight, 

 lateral or sweeping cast, but each reaches his goal with 

 equal precision, if not With equal grace. Bach manipulates 

 his fly on the water, awaits a rise, and strikes and lights his 

 fish after his own fashion, but certain general principles are 

 adhered to by all. and all have the same measure of felicity 

 from the beginning to the end of the fray. But whatever 

 their manner of casting aud striking and killing, the testi- 

 mony of each will be/that whatever of skill they have was 

 acquired, not from instructions in the theory of the art, but 

 in the knowledge that came to them from actual experience! 

 from all of which I do not wish to lie understood OS COu- 

 deinning the honest efforts of honest anglers lo transform 

 a novice into an expert fry/ written or verbal instructions— 

 I have, done a little of both myself— but simply to impress 

 the earnest aspirant with the feet that the only way to 

 learn locust is to cast, and the only way to appreciate the 



pleasure avaih 

 no man ever yet. nei 

 of the creamy flake 

 one glowingly desci 



-els rested upon his 

 learned It 



in the 



of the 



■Milts yvhicli t 

 or by bavin 



at 

 that the only 

 nay be talked 

 ■almon fishing 

 he had never 

 ise who have had 

 ve no difficult 



the' Weight of th( 



eutralized by the 

 e employed in the 

 for salmbn. Dur- 

 ing ail im\ thirty yearn nf exclusively trout or bass fishing I 



had never used a double-handed rod. When I first launched 

 my canoe on a salmon river I had to float through a mile of 

 wafer swarming with trout before I reached a pool where I 

 could have an opportunity to cast for salmon. Inmaking this 

 distance I kept my eight-ounce trout rod in active motion, 

 with such results as gave me a surfeit. When this stretch 

 of water was passed" aud my Indian gaffer said, -Trout no 

 more, salmon pool, trout rod no good,' I promptly, but 

 ■ cry tremulously, look hold of my siliimn rod. which looked 

 ponderous as a weaver's beam and felt as heavy as a hem- 

 ling, and prepared to reach out for the point indi- 

 cated by my Indian mentor. Holding my rod in my left 

 hand, with' the butt pressed against my body. 1 pulled the 

 line from the reel with my right hand, keeping it out by the 

 ! iri I quick backward, and for ward movement until the 

 ile-iii I length was obtained, whenl seized the rod with both 

 ii: . ..il found lwysi-lf casting as easily and as steadily as 

 if I had. been 'to the manner born.' Although kind friends 

 me a score of lessons, the memory of them had all 

 \aui,h'd when the crucial moment came, but by simply 

 doing with a slight variation, what 1 had always clone when 



ii ci i ,i trout. I did just the right thing, in the right 

 way, at the right moment. And when the rise came and I 

 struck nry fish, I did precisely What I would have done 

 with S large trout or bass in similar waters. I held him 

 taut when" I Could, gave him line when the pressure de- 

 manded it. reded in w hen T could do so with safety, 

 humored him when he sulked, brought him to within reach 

 ot the gaff as soon as possible, and landed him with a shout, 

 probably the happiest man in all the Provinces. I have 

 killed hundreds of salmon since, but I do not think I have 



.■I cast better, manipulated my fish more discreetly, or re- 

 ceii i .1 more deserved compliments from my critical lccc c 

 .,-• heartier congratulations from mv angling companions. 

 No. a reasonably skillful trout Usher aped have QQ fears 

 about striking out boldly fot salmon. It is only necessary 

 lor him to make can-ruf use of what he already "knows, anil 

 to lake care that he does not loose his head' under the ox 

 cilemeur of such sport as, in his wildest imaginings, he had 

 never dreamed of." 



"But," said a novice lriend win, i- ambitious to graduate 

 from a hand trawl to a fly- rod, "what hope can jhaveto 

 successfully tackle a salmonS Surely there are some rules a 

 knowledgc.'of which would assist -uch un furtunates as my- 

 self?" 



'The only- rule I cue lay down for you and those like you 



who have the good sense to aspire to the dignity of salmon 

 anglers is this: Begin as soon as you can and learn front &S 

 perience. There is no other competent teacher. If you had 

 bji ambition to copy a Raphael, you might read eve.rj ire w 



that has ever been \\ linen mi tone ami tint, light, arid -I . 

 die different varieties of color and the most ,-H'eclivi m,„n 

 of applying them, without being any the better qualified to 

 make the copy than if you had never seen a Raphael. So it 



is with angling for salmon, No amount of reading ot of 



non anglers is to expe 

 acquainted with the luscious flavor 

 well-cooked salmon by having some 

 (Avdeliciouslvthe delectable mor- 

 gratifled palate. SO no man ever yet 

 ,mon, or attained unto a full appreeia- 

 ght wrapped tip in the exercise and 

 e from it. by being told how to do 

 [escribed to him the eestacy of the 



other." 'G. D. 



"MILL BROOK." 



OH yeS, "Monatiquot," your first trout was caught, there. 

 so wa- t he subscriber's first and last Well, the shady- 

 side of life is close at hand, the period when one learns to 

 the full that every chapter of his own personal experience 

 abounds in ■•huts" aud "ifs." no matter how- smoothly it be- 

 gins. There are grav hairs here and there: a bald spot the 

 size of a Bland dollar is visible on that part of the cranium 

 which is most exposed to the gaze of the youthful scoffer. 

 There is a tendency to cynicism — to assert solemnly that 

 the pains of life are to its pleasures as ten to one — to "quote 

 with grave emotion: 



•'The world's £11 inn — a.u<! lliere. unknown, 



I. solitary, sit me down ; 



Many I hear, and some t see. 



1 naught to them— they naught to me. 1 ' 



Yer. in approaching the sere and yellow ot bilious middle 

 age. memory has a few pleasant stereoscopic slides, and no 

 matter whit tier they are shown up by some other 

 fellow or you take the glass in your own Hand, one some- 

 times enjoys a lode backward at certain phases of his 

 youthful existence. 



Thus I See Mill Brook, and myself, an ungainly youth 

 With a passionate fondness for wildwood sports, 'pursued 

 with a three-dollar shotgun or a bamboo fishing pole. It is 

 about sunrise of a June morning; Mill Brook lies black aud 

 motionless under the rustic bridge crossing the country road. 

 On its smooth surface arc peace-suggesting lily pads, be- 

 neath w-hich lav the mighty three-pounders, those which we 

 dream of catching the night before; those which we men- 

 tion on returning home as having been hooked and after- 

 ward lost. 



There is a wonderful stillness as the sun shows it-- face 

 over ilic tree tops. As trembling fingers adjust, the writhing 

 worm on ahooS large enougafor a ten pound a-.tfish. the 

 ear mechanically notes the chatter of a red squirrel in the 

 spruce and hemlock which line the road. The distant Caw- 

 ing of crow s who are discussing the matter of looking after 

 some sprouting corn in afield close by is heard, and pet- 

 chance the tar-off voice of the farmer' warning some early 

 intruder to ''git outer that tall grass!" 



The musquitoes are specially vindictive, and ihe fisher- 

 man, with ill-suppressed f'jiry, bangs his exposed face and 

 neck w-ith one hand, while with the other he unlimbers the 

 bamboo pole, and allows the sinker (a split half ounce bul- 

 let) to cleave the waters with a "chug," aud bear the writh- 

 ing bait toward the bottom. 



Not for the days of my youth were the slender tiy rod or 

 the alluring fly. Even had such been the ease, the peculiar- 

 ities of an aider-bound brook, with closely overhanging 

 branches of oak. maple, spruce and hemlock] were not con- 

 ducive to such displays of art. The subscriber tried it once 

 —only once. And when he finally recovered about six I eel 

 of line from certain exultant limbs twenty feel above his 

 head, at the expense of perspiration, abraded cuticle, and 

 rent, garments, he, remarked in the strongest language- af- 

 fected by a profauele.sK boyhood, that "the aaul darned 

 old flies' was gone and he' was glad of it— darn 'em! 

 This is a reminiscene of fish fished for— not the catch 

 thereof. Every man possessing the usual or average vivid 

 imagination, can supply the hiatus in relation to the catch, 

 by thinking of the big string Ac would have caught under 

 similar circumstances. Or at least those which he would 

 say (or write) he had caught. 



And now, having scrambled through clinging blackberry 



and raspberry vines. Ihe subscriber is threading the mazes 



' : caed wood. That is. he presumes that visi.aed wood 



i en :ct— if so, the copyright is reserved by him. Other 

 wise, let it pass without comment. Below "the w ell worn 

 cattle path on his left runs the stream with a pleasant — 

 though strict ly on cold water principles — 'glugity -glug." 



In the distance is a murmur of waters a- inad-m c u-iug 

 which it is m truth. Yellow-hammers flash through the 

 tree tops, squirrels chatter shrilly, aud an occasional par- 

 tridge whirring cway from under hi;: f ■:■( with slartling sud- 

 denness, causes him to mutter vindictively that it's always 

 so when he's left his gun (the deadly three-dollar weapon) at 

 home. £ 



Louder comes (he voice of the waterfall, and now he 

 emerges on the rocks aeaf its base. There are eddying cir- 

 cles of massed up foam skurrying over the deep, dark Dool, 

 and anon the stream gushes down over polished boulders 

 between ledgy banks 



Again be essays his luck, and .again the Writer draws the 

 veil. Though lie will remark iu passing that he lias pulled 

 stroke in a w halt-boat, which was lining something like 

 eighteen kuois in tow of an eighty-barrel bull, and nol felt 

 the excited pleasureuieut consequent upon the tug of a two 

 pound trout, The fact was. he (Vas rathffl too wet and 



frightened ami hungry, and worried about getting back to 

 the vessel some twenty miles astern, shortening sail in a 

 tropic thunder squall, to feel any such emotion as pleasur- 

 able excitement under the lormer eirt lirn-i 



Vol under the latter, said eX-eit I place to uu 



emotion ot Seme and tempestuous wrath, for which poor. 

 I ns c ecu hasmi vem. noexpn ton 



What knew he of playing a trout, except us connected 

 with the play of knife and fink over the crisp Hakes of tin 



savory fish on the following morning. Audit" thebambdo 



end is brittle and the line made last to the said end, and the 

 trout pluugeth violently with animated protest against being 

 •yanked" forth by main strength and si upidify— what then'.' 



iVever mind. These were the halcyon clays of youth 

 after all. No pleasurable emotion of after years approaches 

 such scenes. And were it uot for the weariness and vexa- 

 tion of spirit which would be the fab- <>t the reader— even of 

 him of He- Indian nom-de-plum? 'Morialiquot"— I would 

 fain follow Mill Brook toils source. 



But enough. Editor and writer alike have other duties 

 than to follow- these, my meandering^ further. The one 

 musi yawn over tnnumeiable MSSfobe read, the other 

 over yet unfinished pages of MSS. to be written "for the in- 

 struction and education of youth," and Mill Brook be left to 

 its own meandc'ings. farewell. "MonatRpiot," thanks for 

 stirring up Torn moment this tide of memories. 



TltK SntseiiLBElt. 



Phii.aiiki.i-im i. I "a. 



OF CENTRAL LAKE. 



THE "HERRINGS 

 Editor Fm-mtttM Sfrmm: 



I have read in your paper of November 23 the. reply of 

 "Kingsfisher" to my i onouunii alion of October 27. anenf 

 the "herrings'' of Central Lakes, and their annual migra- 

 tion, ft occasioned me some surprise, as I was conscious of 

 uo misquotation. In so far as I, have sinned, 1 ask his 

 pardou. 



While sitting iu a hotel iu a distant, town, 1 read "Kiug- 

 tislnr's" article of \ngust ii, laid down the paper, and have 

 never seen it since. 



This may perhaps excuse my fault, as my article was 

 hastily written, some weeks after the occurrence of which I 

 speak. 



While I have nor sought to obtain for myself public, recog- 

 nition as a "Scientific man," 1 may claim this much in com- 

 mon with most of those justly entitled lo such distinction, 

 that I never see or hear a palpable misstatement of a fact 

 in natural history, without at least feeling the desire to let 

 the wind out of i't, and 1 seldom attii 

 rences feu- which 1 myself cannot sa 

 prefer, instead, to make known Sttcl 

 dcr my own observation, iu the ho| 

 with, the notes of other observers, iln 



which is simply "an organized iuquiry into facts," may he 

 the better served. 



1 may perhaps claim as wide an experience with the rural 

 population Of Vmericft, and possibly as extensive a knowl- 

 edge of its characteristics as "Kingfisher" himself. 



There are few States or Territories fro, a Maine to Texas 



pt to explain oecur- 



faciorilv account, but 



■ that by comparison 

 cause of exact science, 



in winch T In 



pret 



end if f do r 

 •Kingfisher 



i foui 



rn. W 

 blindh 



ill 



would"? 



d myself at one lime or another in 



nth -the people." 



iuiI. trapped, fished, voy- 

 e besl of them, and the respect of 

 many admirable qualities is not 

 ver'theless, it may be <-aid that 

 (he loose, unsupported state- 

 ' liable 



,- pi 



s ihe 



u lie 



dulit 



I hat" 



which 



b'Jtter lessons of my life ha\ 



I remember years ago the authoritative statement of an 

 old sportsman that the largest flights of woodcock were 

 always on the night of October 10 but my heaviest bags 

 were never made on the llih 1 Blink, but f am nol cer- 

 tain, that it is Herman Melville who states on the authority 

 of the natives of Tvpee. that there is a ,-eitain fish which is 

 only -cm on a particular day of the year aud which then 

 appears is taken in great numbers, and vanishes for another 

 twehemonth. [ do nol learn that this statement has ever 

 beeu verified or confirmed. Such tales are common, but 

 it is needless to repeat them here T think that those most 

 competent to give opinions on such subjects will agree with 

 me that the periodical movements of birds and fishes, bk, 

 the blossoming of flic flowers, cannot be depended on to 

 occur with any given species upon a certain day. 



The habits 'of the fishes of the Intermediate lakes and 

 rivers furnish material for a most, interesting study, and il 

 has long been my hope that I might one day find more 

 leisure for its pursuit. In many waters with which 1 am 

 familiar, the common ■•bullhead" {Pi,n<li>ihix otruriits. Do 

 Ivayi is of all fishes the one on which the rustic angler 

 chiefly depends for sport. It may always be counted on to 

 furnish material for a fry or. chowder, and little, skill is 

 requisite for ifs capture. In these lakes, however, all this 

 i- ehnng d. Tin: bullhead, though rarely seen, is here, but 



[bavi mfa beardofno taptuml by the hook and line. 



"Were it the habit of this fish lo ascend the streams and 

 spawn, like many others, and if in consequence they should 

 at times appear in large numbers, td the mouth of brooks, 

 what idle 'ales mighi be -■{ in circulation concerning them 

 by those who had failed io observe them unless when thus 

 congregated, and who had neither time nor taste for obtain 



i'ng accurate information concerning their haunts or habits. 



"Kingfisher" expresses doubts if 1 am an "honest angler." 

 When least my eye over the worn fishing tackle in rny r gun 

 ease, aud about toy establishment, the old lly book and 

 favorite, though used-up rod and remember the" many glori 

 ous and fruitful seasons when we kopt good company 

 together, when thai same old rod waved above the mountain 

 streams of Maine, or sent its long line whistling over "West- 

 ' 1 cannot resist the conclusion that 1 have a 

 claim to that title. 



As 1 have said. 1 have soughl no recognition as a scientific 

 man. anil neither do J claim distinction as a destroyer of 

 fish. 1 should hud far more pleasure iu such studies in 

 it icioiy as I have indicated, c aning fishes ahd 



their surroundings, than in taking from the water a lubhorly 

 five-pound pickerel, only to break iis neck before putting ft 

 back again. I here enter my protest against such useles-, 

 and wrongful slaughter of fish, by which our lakes are be- 

 coming depleted ot their valuable food fish, to the serious 

 annoyance, if the residents of this region. I have, talked 

 with no one who is of the opinion that any good can be ac- 

 complished by such a course, and 1 regret "th at one whom 1 

 regard as an estimable member of the angling fraternity 

 ShOUld have found se]l'-ju>lilicali<m for -iich practices. 

 Thai whole herring statement appeared to me so ridicu 



