FISH AND FISHING. 



289 



looked nearly as white as this paper. We 

 caught it easily as it did not appear afraid 

 of us. 



It had the shape of a brook trout, was a 

 light cream color all but the head, which 

 was white with red spots on the sides, the 

 same as in an ordinary trout. The eyes 

 were red, and the under fins pink. The tip 

 of the tail was pink and the back fins white. 



I believe it to be a diseased fish, as it did 

 not appear any more gamey than a gold fish 

 in a jar. I showed it to a number of men 

 and all said they had never seen or heard 

 of anything like it. 



I put it in alcohol and to my surprise it 

 could not stand the spirits as well as most 

 fishermen for it soon became discolored. 



I had intended to send it to you but it is 

 so badly discolored now that you could 

 not form any idea how it looked when 

 first taken from the water. 



Max Kemery, Johnstown, Pa. 



It was doubtless a sick trout, disease hav- 

 ing caused the discoloration. Or, it may 

 possibly have been an albino trout. — 

 Editor. 



yes, you can catch them with bait. 



Augusta, Ga. 



Editor Recreation: In your August 

 number you have communications from 

 E. A. Adams and B. W. E. in reference to 

 German carp. I agree with B. W. E. that 

 the German carp is a nuisance, but he is 

 wrong in the statement that " There is no 

 particular bait which, when placed on a 

 hook, is of any value for catching carp." 

 Thousands of them are caught in this 

 vicinity, on the Savannah river, and adjacent 

 dead rivers, or in swamps, lakes, lagoons, 

 etc., by anglers using our common trot 

 line, and by rod and line, using a bait made 

 of cornmeal and cotton, as below. 



Stir meal in boiling water until it makes a 

 thick dough ; work in enough well-picked 

 cotton lint to give consistency ; roll out in 

 small balls about y 2 inch in diameter, and 

 use on a No. 4-0 or 5-0 Kirby hook. 



The anglers here use a trot line of 3-16 

 inch cord, stretched in eddies, slack enough 

 so weights will reach bottom. On this line 

 are placed, about 18 inches apart, lines 12 

 inches long, with hooks. The bait does not 

 wash off easily, if the cotton is worked well 

 through the dough. 



In fishing with rod and line, bait a place 

 with corn bread placed in a crocus sack, and 

 sunk at a convenient place for length of 

 rods. I will guarantee an angler good sport 

 in landing a carp weighing not more than 5 

 to 10 pounds. I see many weighing 30 to 

 40 pounds each, brought in by the regular 

 river fishermen. It is necessary to have a 

 large size landing net, or the fish will get 

 away, for they are not safe even in a boat 

 unless put in a sack, tied to the bottom of 

 the boat. Many jump, or flop, out of boats. 



I have played a carp 30 minutes, and was 

 kept quite interested until I could get my 

 landing net over him. 



German carp should be known as water 

 hogs, for they destroy the eggs of all other 

 fishes. They will ruin any lake or pond for 

 any other fish. Carp caught from dead 

 rivers or lakes have a decidedly muddy 

 taste and are not so good to eat as those 

 caught from running water. 



A carp stuffed and baked makes a nice 

 dish. Fish balls made of carp are also 

 palatable. Carp are not to be despised when 

 cut into steaks and fried. 



Our best fishing months for carp are Sep- 

 tember, October, and November, but they 

 can be caught any time in winter when not 

 too cold. No angler here needs nets to 

 catch carp, but each man uses 10 to 30 trot 

 lines, having 25 to 50 hooks on each line, 

 and the men net $15 to $25 a week for 

 their catch. The fish sell readily at 25 cents 

 to $1 apiece, according to size. 



S. T. D. 



ARTIFICIAL FLY FISHING. 



Fly fishing and fly making have been 

 practiced for 2,000 years. The first book 

 written on the subject is, " Fysshynge with 

 an Angle," by Dame Juliana Berners. This 

 fair angler-author advises fishing for trout 

 in " lepyng tyme " with a " dubbe," and 

 at conclusion of the treatise she gives direc- 

 tions for making 12 sorts of " dubbes " for 

 " troughte and graylynge," 2 of them being 

 as follows : " The ' doone ' (dun) fly : The 

 body of ' doone woll ' (dun wool) and 

 ' wynges ' of the ' pertryche ' (partridge). 

 Another ' doone ' (dun) fly : The body of 

 black ' woll,' the ' wynges ' of the blackest 

 drake, and the jay from the ' wynge ' and 

 the 'tayle.' " 



This treatise was written 1496. In those 

 early days they did not have the great variety 

 of material we now have for making flies. 

 They used hair from different animals for 

 the bodies, such as bears' hair of different 

 colors, spaniels' hair from behind the ear, 

 hogs' down, to be picked from under the 

 throat ; and many other kinds, mixed with 

 camlet, a sort of stuff made from camels' 

 hair. 



Since then there have been vast changes, 

 and within the last few years great improve- 

 ments in fishing tackle and in fly making. 



The American trout are up to date, so to 

 speak, especially in States where the streams 

 have been well whipped. They are most 

 fastidious, and, although on occasions they 

 can be taken on almost anything in the shape 

 of a fly, at other times they scorn all tempta- 

 tion. E. G. Chatfield. 



URIAH GOLDEN TROUT. 



A singularly beautiful and entirely new 

 variety of trout has been discovered at the 

 fish hatchery of the San Francisco and 



