FISH AND FISHING. 



377 



its white underside, seen from below, 

 blends with the rays of light from above 

 and equally protects it from being seen 

 from beneath, thus hiding it in a measure 

 from enemies both above and below. Its 

 most wonderful ability to change its colors 

 is in the spawning season, Then the fe- 

 male shades from copper to pink, while the 

 male is gandy with scarlet sides, rolling 

 and turning himself on dress parade before 

 his mate, which is always of his species, 

 although other varieties of trout may in- 

 habit the same waters. 



Trout are extremely sensitive. In the 

 water they can quickly detect change of 

 wind, shock from explosion or thunder, 

 etc. Possibly the change of trout with 

 each season from hibernating in winter to 

 full agility in summer is because they are 

 governed and affected through their sensi- 

 tive nature by the electric currents which 

 impart life to man and come to him in his 

 element of air, but no less to the trout in 

 its element of water. Man's agility does 

 not compare favorably with that of the 

 trout, and very likely the trout is even the 

 most susceptible. 



Let us all at this season honor these 

 creatures. Let those who seek them with 

 rod and creel employ none but lawful 

 methods, having in mind a just feeling for 

 the other fellow who may come later. 

 Above all, let none of us act the part of 

 the game or fish hog, but do everything in 

 our power for the continuance of the 

 trout, and not deplete the waters they in- 

 habit to their total extinction. 



A DAY AT QUIMBY POXD. 



It was a bleak, cloudy day when Clydt 

 and 1 took the steamer on Rangeley lake 

 for Hunter's cove. Thence we walked to 

 Quimby pond, famous for gamy trout. 

 I he pond is shallow, nearly round, and 

 the greater part of its shore is densely 

 wooded. We stopped at Dick Quim- 

 by's house long enough to engage a boat, 

 and then hurried to the pond. Every now 

 and then a trout would break water, leav- 

 ing a little ring of ripples. They were evi- 

 dently feeding, and I put my tackle to- 

 gether as quickly as my benumbed fingers 

 would allow. 



My fly rod was 9 feet long and weighed 

 about 4 l /> ounces. To my line I attached 

 a 6-foot leader, and on that looped a brown 

 hackle, with a cardinal for dropper. 



Having chosen* our boat, we stepped 

 aboard and pushed out into the pond. I 

 began at ence to get out my line, and was 

 using about 35 feet of it when a half-pound 

 trout swirled at the dropper, but I, being 

 too muHi excited, missed him. Clyde 

 rowed half a mile or so along the shore, 

 keeping about 200 feet from the bank, and 



then back to the landing, thus covering 

 the best fishing ground in the pond. 



Not far from where 1 got the first rise 

 2 trout leaped suddenly clear of the water 

 for my flies. That time I struck and 

 hooked them both. For the next hour 

 Clyde rowed me back and forth, and I 

 picked up a trout now and then. All that 

 while the wind had been rising and by 

 noon was blowing hard. So cold was it 

 that my hands were numb, and when a 

 trout rose to my fly I generally missed 

 him. 



We went ashore and ate lunch in the 

 woods, and a mighty cold meal it was. 

 I fished a while after lunch and caught 3 

 more; then, as the wind increased, we de- 

 cided to stop. Our catch amounted to 15 

 fish, averaging one pound each. 



F. S. Dickson, Phila., Pa. 



KEEP AN AQUARIUM. 



I have for some time been a devoted 

 reader of Recreation, and I suggest that 

 you interest your readers in keeping fish 

 in an aquarium at home. By this I do not. 

 however, mean 2 or 3 so-called "gold fish" 

 in a bowl, but a variety of small game fish 

 in a tank 12x14x20 or thereabout. I have 

 done this for some years past and 

 find it a most interesting thing. If 

 these fish are taken when very young 

 they will thrive in confinement in such 

 a space, providing sand, stones, weeds, 

 etc., are placed with them, in order 

 to give them such haunts as they 

 dearly love in brooks and streams. I 

 should like to hear from others who have 

 done this. One might think it impossible 

 to have a variety of these little chaps in 

 the same space, but I find no trouble. I 

 have not, however, had any black bass, 

 having never been able to secure any 

 small enough. I have had rock trout, rock- 

 bass, elfers (young eels), and several va- 

 rieties of which I did not know the names. 

 I have also had a few small sunfish. cat- 

 fish and a tadpole or newt in with them to 

 make things more interesting. All of 

 these have done well and I have spent 

 many pleasant winter hours watching these 

 little fellows enjoy life. 



John N. Ore, Chicago. 



"Shouldn't wonder." said the proud 

 father, as his wife came in with another 

 load of stove wood, "if our Ike wuzn't 

 President some day. Most of 'em ha^ 

 been sons of poor folks, you know." 



"He'd have a heap better chance if he 

 was a son of a pore widow," remarked the 

 lady with some asperity, and the lord of 

 the mansion changed the subject. In 

 dianapolis Press. 



