FISH AND FISHING 



37S 



ever made. Have been an angler all my 

 life, but never before have I landed 

 more than 60 fish in one hour. I use a fly 

 rod altogether, and I tell you I was a busy 

 fellow during the 2 hours I speak of. I 

 catch lots of fish, but this is my record. 

 If you have any record of an unusually 

 large catch, I would be much pleased to 

 have a copy of same. 



Elmer S. Foote, Paris, Ky. 



ANSWER. 



Yes, I have plenty of such records as 

 yours and have branded some -hundreds of 

 the creatures' who made them as fish hogs 

 of the most ornery possible sort. It is 

 strange that a man with your apparent in- 

 telligence should have lived as long _ as 

 you seem to have lived without learning 

 that such hoggishness as you have dis- 

 played in this case is held in contempt by 

 all decent sportsmen. If you had been a 

 charcoal burner or a moonshiner or a barker 

 living in the mountains of Kentucky it 

 would not have been surprising that you 

 should have groped around in ignorance ; 

 but inasmuch as you are a business man 

 connected with a big corporation, living 

 in a live town, your action is unpardonable. 

 Instead of boasting of your shameful work 

 you should have gone and hid yourself in 

 the Ohio river swamps until the mosquitoes 

 could have had time to suck the bad blood 

 out of you. — Editor. 



he had ever made such a boast or not he 

 should have been dealt with as a deliberate 

 and intentional law breaker. Still, he paid 

 a good round price for his trout, and it is 

 possible he will be content in the future 

 to observe the law when he goes fishing. — 

 Editor. 



GIVE THEM THE LIMIT. 



Frank Drumheller, a Hazleton fisherman, was 

 arraigned before Judge Shovlin yesterday on 

 the charge of catching trout less than 6 inches 

 in length. Drumheller, it appears, paid no at- 

 tention to the notices placed along Hays creek 

 by the Freeland Game and Fish Protective Club, 

 but took everything that came along in the shape 

 of trout. 



The club had him arrested, and the evidence at 

 hand was so conclusive that Drumheller was only 

 too glad to compromise the case by paying $58. 

 His violations had made him amenable to a fine 

 of over $1,000, but as his was the first case to 

 be brought to the attention of the club, the 

 officers agreed to be lenient. 



Hereafter, it is said, no mercy will be shown 

 to violators of the game laws and the full pen- 

 alty will be demanded in all cases. — Freeland, 

 Pa., Tribune. 



This is another case of misdirected le- 

 niency. The fact that everybody had been 

 warned as to the provisions of the law and 

 as to the intention of the club to enforce 

 them should have been sufficient notice, 

 and Drumheller should have been soaked 

 to the full extent. In that event if he 

 could not raise money enough to pay his 

 fine he should have been required to serve 

 out the balance in the county jail. We oc- 

 casionally find a man who publicly defies 

 the game or fish laws, who makes his boast 

 that he will kill game or song birds or take 

 fish when or where he pleases. This man, 

 having seen notices posted along this 

 stream, was acting on these lines. Whether 



FISHING IN LAKE CHELAN. 



In spite of the difficulties of travel and 

 the necessary lay-over at We.natchee, Che- 

 lan is rapidly becoming a popular resort. 

 There is considerable game in the moun- 

 tains and good fishing at the upper end of 

 the lake and in the tributary streams; but 

 this will not last long. In May and June, 

 while the trout are seeking their spawn- 

 ing grounds, the people from Great Bend, 

 Wenatchee and the crew of a trading 

 steamer take great quantities of fish and 

 salt them down for future consumption. I 

 am told that a ton and a half to a man is 

 not considered hoggish. 



A famous Alpine club of this State, I 

 was told by one of the mountain men, offers 

 $2 apiece for goats in and out of season. 

 I saw campers last week with guns and 

 game bags apparently full of game, although 

 it was the closed season. Recrea- 

 tion is well known in the neighborhood, 

 and at Lakeside and Chelan there are 

 members of the L. A. S. and a local gun 

 club, which shows signs of activity. I 

 can procure plenty of guides on the lake 

 who will promise me a shot at a goat in 

 and out of season, but the guides are not 

 the ones to blame. At this season of the 

 year the goats are all in inaccessible places 

 along the snow line and rapidly decreasing 

 in numbers. There is a good hotel and 

 good fishing at Moore's Point, on the lake, 

 but no tenderfoot need try for these fish. 

 A rougher fishing ground 1 never traveled 

 than that of Fish creek. 



Dan Beard, Spokane, Wash. 



TROUT WASTE IN UTAH. 



Replying to your letter : It is true a 

 vast number of trout are destroyed in this 

 State by being let into irrigating ditches. 

 I have been wrestling with this problem 

 for years, apparently without success. For 

 6 years, ever since I have been fish and 

 game commissioner, I have urged the pas- 

 sage of a law compelling the screening of 

 ditches and canals. But as most of our 

 law makers are agriculturists, they are 

 loath to legislate themselves out of a nickel 

 or 2. 



Under the present law it is optional with 

 the County Commissioners of each county 

 whether the irrigation water ways within 

 their jurisdiction shall be screened. Year 

 after year I have entreated the county 

 boards to take action in this matter. A 

 few try to do something, but most pay no 



