460 



RECREATION. 



October still better results were had. It 

 was noticed, as a rule, larger, more bright- 

 ly colored flies were required than for the 

 small mouth. However, the particular 

 kind of fly must be determined by experi- 

 ment by the angler in each locality. The 

 large mouth varies in habits as much as 

 does the small mouth in different parts of 

 its range. — Editor. 



A GREEDY BANKER. 

 Have you room for one more hog in 

 your pen? William H. DuBois, president 

 of a local bank and ex-State Treasurer, 

 recently caught over 100 square-tailed 

 trout in one day. I am sorry I am unable 

 ►to furnish his photo, for he would be quite 

 an addition to your swine gallery. Kindly 

 mail him sample of your magazine. 



B. F. H., Randolph, Vt. 



I wrote Mr. DuBois asking whether this 

 report was correct, and here is his answer: 



It is not true that I caught 127 trout in 

 one day, but it is true that Lyman Hutch- 

 inson and I caught that number May 20th, 

 and it is also true that Leonard Hutchin- 

 son and I have to-day caught 132 trout, 

 and they were beauties, too. 



Wm. H. DuBois, Randolph, Vt. 



What are you trying to do, Mr. 

 DuBois? Clean out the trout streams in 

 your vicinity? Trying to keep your friends 

 and neighbors from getting any? If you 

 were invited to a dinner would you try to 

 eat everything that was put on the table, 

 and to keep the other guests from getting 

 anything? You might just as well. Such 

 action would be no more ill-mannered nor 

 disgraceful than that which you boast of 

 in your letter. — Editor. 



TO KEEP GUT FROM CRACKING. 



W. M., Brooklyn, N. Y., wishes to know 

 what causes gut to crack. A long article 

 could be written on that subject. The first 

 and foremost cause is careless handling 

 when it is dry and brittle. I presume W. 

 M. has some flies in his book that have 

 rarely been out of it; some perhaps never. 

 Those, of course, are extremely brittle. 

 Let him stick such flies into a small piece 

 of pine or other soft wood, side by side, 

 rest the stick across the top of a tumbler, 

 with ' the gut in the glass, fill the glass 

 nearly to the heads of the flies with quite 

 warm water, stir in it a tablespoonful of 

 glycerine, and let the flies remain over 

 night. Wipe off the gut and replace in 

 the fly book. At the end of 2 months they 

 will not crack so easily as those not so 

 treated. I have monkeyed with the stuff 

 18 years and that is the best thing I know 

 of. If aflyone can give us anything better 

 I should be glad to hear of it. If W. M. 



will look on page 452 of "American Game 

 Fishes" he will find a short, concise ac- 

 count of the manufacture of gut. There 

 are other good things in that book, and 

 J. H. Keene knows what he is talking 

 about. Chas. S. Van Horn, 



Williamstown, Mass. 



In April Recreation W. M., Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., asks the cause and remedy for the 

 cracking of gut on flies. That is a difficult 

 question to answer without more particu- 

 lars. Exposure to the air and use will 

 cause gut to crack. If W. M. will care- 

 fully wrap his flies up, keep them from the 

 air and never use them the gut will last in- 

 definitely; but as long as he uses them it 

 will crack and wear out. Some people 

 think the varnish at the head of the fly 

 causes the gut to crack, but that is not so. 

 If no varnish is used the gut will crack 

 just the same. There is really no remedy 

 to prevent it; but by having flies made on 

 eyed hooks new snells can be put on in a 

 few seconds. My exhibits at Paris are all 

 tied hooks. 



S. Howarth, Florissant, Colo. 



In answer to the question of W. M., of 

 Brooklyn, N. Y, I submit the following: 

 The silkworm gut on flies is often of poor 

 quality. Nothing will prevent such from 

 cracking. Gut of good quality, if thor- 

 oughly soaked in water before it is used, 

 will not crack. Surgeons use the same 

 kind of gut for stitches, and sometimes 

 preserve it in wide mouth bottles contain- 

 ing one part of alcohol to 3 parts of water. 

 To this mixture is sometimes added car- 

 bolic acid, 2 per cent. Gut of the best 

 quality if kept perfectly dry when not in 

 use and thoroughly soaked in water before 

 being used will keep a long time without 

 deterioration. Very dry gut, even of the 

 best quality, will always crack. 



Prescott Dudley, Chicago. 



NIBBLES. 



Louis Hull, of Waterbury, Conn., went 

 trout fishing early in April. He was lucky 

 and returned home with 11 fish strung on 

 a willow fork. As he paraded up the 

 street, swinging his legs and the string of 

 trout in rhythmic motion, a game warden 

 met him and leveled his weather eye on the 

 spoils. There he saw 3 fish that were 

 under the minimum length of 6 inches, 

 and, in fact, one or 2 of them were under 

 4 inches. The game warden laid his hand 

 promptly on Hull's shoulder and said, 

 "You are my man." Then the 2 men 

 marched to the police court, and it was 

 noticed that Louis's face was not nearly so 

 proud nor so imposing as before. Neither 

 did he make so brave an effort to get 

 everyone to look at his string of fish. He 



