FISH AND FISHING. 



209 



matter. The owners of the stream where I 

 caught my trout will only allow some of 

 their friends to fish once in 3 years ; that is 

 why I had such good luck. Half of my 

 catch was divided among the owners of the 

 stream, and, with the exception of one mess, 

 the rest was given to my friends, both edi- 

 tors of the papers here being remembered. 



Dr. R. Bender. 



And thus it seems that this Doctor Bend- 

 er fished from daylight until dark, so far as 

 appears from his letter, without stopping to 

 eat. Clearly he was fishing for a record 

 and not for sport. If he had been a decent 

 angler he would have been content to fish a 

 few hours in the morning and then to rest, 

 walk about the fields or the forest, study the 

 birds, the animals, and the plant life and to 

 enjoy communion with nature ; but no, the 

 Doctor was fishing against time. He feared 

 that some one else might take more trout 

 that opening day than he, and he must put 

 in every hour and every minute of daylight 

 in an effort to make a big score. Then the 

 Doctor took a bunch of trout to the edi- 

 tor of each of the local papers in order to 

 be sure that his exploit would be published 

 far and wide, and, as usual, those editors 

 endeavored to smooth down the bristles of 

 the porker who tickled their palate. No, 

 thank you, Doctor, I do not care for your 

 picture; I have enough of such photographs 

 in hand to last me a long time. You have 

 gained sufficient notoriety from your present 

 raid on the trout, and I hope that when you 

 take time to think the matter over, you may 

 decide that you have had enough to last you 

 a lifetime ; that you may hereafter be con- 

 tent to quit fishing when you get enough 

 and to leave a few fish for true sportsmen 

 who may come after you. Meantime, your 

 number in the fish hog pen is 890. — Editor. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE BASS. 



June 8, 1903, L. and his wife, and my 

 wife and I, left Boston at 5 o'clock p. m. 

 en route for Lake W. We arrived at Con- 

 cord, N. H., at 7.05, and after a short stop 

 continued our journey, arriving at our 

 destination at 8.40. We had engaged quar- 

 ters at the W. house, and found everything 

 satisfactory. Mr. F., the proprietor, said 

 our chances were good, as they had been 

 catching some big fish. We strung our 

 tackle, and prepared for an early start the 

 next morning. 



We were called at 3.30 a. m., and 4 o'clock 

 found us on the lake. We rowed to P. 

 Cove, about 2 miles distant, and dropped 

 our anchors ; and baiting our hooks with 

 helgramites, we waited for the welcome 

 strike. 



Mrs. L. caught the first fish, and after a 

 heroic fight she landed a 3-pound bass. We 

 landed 4 more in the next hour, and then 



decided to try a spot down the lake. We 

 were slowly rowing along, my wife troll- 

 ing her line about 20 feet in the water, when 

 there came a pull, a shriek of the reel, and 

 a large bass leaped from the water in its 

 mad fury to escape. My wife fought him 

 until she was completely exhausted, and 

 then handed me the rod, and in a few mo- 

 ments I had him in the boat. He tipped the 

 scales at 4^2 pounds. We caught 2 more 

 4 pounders this same day, and my advice 

 to all who want the big ones is to try 

 trolling with a helgramite. Don't go deep ; 

 2 or 3 feet is deep enough. 



As the sun was getting high, as our well 

 burned arms and necks testified, we re- 

 turned to the hotel, feeling well satisfied 

 with our morning's catch of 7 beautiful 

 bass. 



We returned home the day following, and 

 were unanimous in declaring our trip an 

 enjoyable one. 



A. B. Jackson, Boston, Mass. 



A HANDY INVENTION. 

 720,136. — Fish Hook Releaser. John Hal- 

 liran, Grand Rapids, Mich. Filed May 

 5, 1902. Serial No. 106,001. (No 

 model.) 



Claim. — 1. Means for releasing a fish 

 hook, consisting of a weight adapted to be 

 temporarily and detachably connected to 

 the fish line, and to slide down the same 

 and to pass over the sinker and strike 

 against the hook. 



2. A tubular body having an opening 

 larger than the sinker and a slot or opening 

 in its side and extending from end to 

 end thereof, whereby the weight may be 

 temporarily attached to a fish line and al- 

 lowed to traverse the same. 



NIBBLES. 

 I own a small lake fed by a spring run- 

 ning about 200 barrels a day. The water is 



