126 



RECREATION. 



this fly. The head may be well tied down 

 and plainly varnished, or it may be made of 

 scarlet, white or yellow chenille. I some- 

 times add jungle fowl to the wings, but it is 

 not worth the trouble if you expect pickerel 

 only. 



This makes a conspicuous fly. If the 

 wings are tied on the sides of the hook, not 

 too low -down, they have more play and 

 give life to the fly. Playing it by short 

 jerks, or pulls, of the rod top is most kill- 

 ing, and by pulling in line with the left 

 hand the fly can be made to work effectively 

 as close as desired.. This method enables 

 the angler to cover much more water with 

 less effort. Some people may look down 

 on this sport, but I think that any angler 

 trying it for the first time on a good pickerel 

 pond will find real pleasure in it. The fly 

 can be seen and every fish as he rushes 

 out of the weeds or rises from the depths. 

 Larger fish may be taken by sinking the 

 fly with a large shot. I never fancied this. 

 If the fish do not take the fly firmly and 

 are not well hooked cut a small piece from 

 the belly of a little pickerel and stick it on 

 the hook under the tail. This will give a 

 taste of fish to the fly, and if a pickerel 

 misses it he will be likely to come again. 



Our long nosed friend is a good table 

 fish and is sold in New York, under the 

 name of brook pickerel, at 2 cents a pound 

 more than pike or the great Northern 

 pickerel. The species must be prolific un- 

 der favorable conditions, as I know of 

 lakes that are fished nearly all the vear 

 through and from which tons and tons of 

 pickerel are taken annually. It is a favorite 

 with country anglers, and on the Dela- 

 ware I have heard complaints among the 

 older people that the introduction of the 

 black bass has reduced their supply of fish 

 by killing out the pickerel in many of the 

 lakes and streams. They say that former- 

 ly a man could go to the river or to one of 

 the many small lakes near and catch a 

 good string of pickerel and perch for his 

 family. Now there are plenty of bass, 

 but they are so capricious that there is no 

 certainty in a day's fishing. Sometimes bass 

 take helgramites ; or, again, crayfish ; or 

 frogs, crickets, minnows, grasshoppers or 

 nothing at all, just as they hapnen to feel 

 inclined. Lamperns are also a favorite bait 

 on the Delaware. Bass begin to feed late in 

 the Delaware, and emit early in the season. 

 This is quite an indictment against our no- 

 ble friend, the small month black bass. The 

 only truth in it is, probably, that the bass is 

 a fighter and not afraid of any other fish. 

 He drives the pickerel off his feeding 

 ground and no doubt swallows the smaller 

 ones when sharp set. He multiplies rap- 

 idly and takes most of the food sunply, 

 leaving only the scraps for pikey. Judging 



by the rapid growth of the fish, food must 

 be abundant in those ponds in which the 

 bass is not native, and that is why they are 

 such uncertain risers at the fly there. When 

 they do take, great sport may be expected. 

 There is no sturdier fighter, and I think it 

 was Col. Fred Mather who said that, pound 

 for pound, he is the equal or superior of 

 any nsh that swims. 



Nevertheless, do not despise the pickerel 

 if your vacation time is in July, August or 

 September, and no better fish is to be had. 

 The fish is much better than its reputation. 

 If you lose all your flies, skitter with the 

 ventral fins attached to a narrow piece of 

 flesh which is white and attractive. You 

 may troll if you like or spin a minnow cr 

 fish with live bait. Pickerel bite fast some- 

 times on a cool September or October 

 morning, and really large fish are often 

 taken. Two years ago a friend and I 

 caught 60 good pickerel in an afternoon, 

 using flies until all we had were bit off, 

 and then skittering. We would have had 

 more fish if I had not gone off for an hour 

 in pursuit of a suppositious summer duck. 



AT NOTTOWA LAKE. 



At 4 a.m. on October 6th, 1899, I was 

 awakened from a sound sleep by a tremen- 

 dous poke in the ribs and the voice of my 

 wife saying: "Come, do you know it is 

 time we were stirring if we mean to fish 

 today?" 



After rustling a breakfast we set out 

 on a 9 mile drive to Nottowa lake, arriving 

 soon after 6.* We took only rods and lines, 

 knowing we could procure boat and bait at 

 the lake. 



When I shoved off my wife sat in the 

 bow, and cast her fly in ever increasing 

 lengths, but to no purpose, until we both 

 grew impatient and the best half of the 

 day was gone. "Try a frog," I said. She 

 reeled in, took off the bucktail, put on a 

 hook, adjusted the frog, and cast again. 

 There was a rise, but the bass missed the 

 bait, as the canoe was moving too fast. I 

 knew a bass would not rise twice to bait 

 immediately, so we made a circle and came 

 up again farther out. A few careful casts 

 and another rise ; this time our fish was. 

 hooked and by the way the reel sang I 

 knew it was a large one. He made a wild' 

 swerve and started for deep water, I fol- 

 lowed with the canoe and soon we were 

 far out. Then he dived. 



"Thumb him," I cried. 



"I am doing so. My thumb is nearly 

 raw." 



"There, hasn't he slacked some?" 



"Yes," answered my wife, beginning to 

 take in the slack. Five, 10, 15 yards were 

 recovered, then the fish made a mad rush, 



