172 



RECREATION. 



business was guiding, and I have guided 

 all manner of men, from the most stubborn 

 hog to the genuine conscientious sportsman 

 who knew when to quit. 



I ask you pointedly, did our Creator place 

 these beautiful fishes in the waters of this 

 earth for our amusement, for man to tor- 

 ture for sport, or were they placed here 

 for food to be propagated and protected as 

 a farmer would raise his chickens or lambs ? 



Which is better, to catch 20 trout for one 

 pound or 10 trout for 20 pounds ? 



I once guided 2 rich New York city 

 sportsmen up a trout stream. They drank 

 about 10 bottles of beer and 2 of whiskey, 

 and tortured 275 speckled trout to death 

 with a fish hook through their heads. The 

 275 fish weighed 15 pounds. I received $3 

 for my day, which was spent climbing trees 

 and diving in the brook to unfasten their 

 hooks. That same evening a friend of 

 mine, a farmer, 'drove 16 miles to visit me 

 and get a mess of fish for his family. We 

 took a net with a proper sized mesh and 

 no whiskey or beer, and in 2 hours' time 

 my friend was on his way home with 12 

 trout, which weighed 22 pounds. These 

 trout were killed instantly without any suf- 

 fering from barbed hooks in their heads. 



It has been many years since I have 

 owned or fished with a net. I adhere strict- 

 ly to the law, which I think is the quickest 

 way to make right a law which is wrong ; 

 but I claim that the only proper way to 

 catch fish in the majority of the Adirondack 

 waters is with net, with a proper sized 

 mesh. If hook fishing were to be prohibit- 

 ed and net fishing allowed, our State hatch- 

 eries could be dispensed with and our 

 brooks and lakes would soon be overstocked 

 by nature's own course. I am prepared to 

 prove all my statements and I leave this 

 letter for open debate. Will gladly answer 

 any one caring to write me concerning this 

 matter. 



C. E. Merrill, Merrill, N. Y. 



TROUT BEST FOR WASHINGTON WATERS. 

 I have on my place a lake covering about 

 4 acres. It has no visible inlet, but the 

 water remains 6 feet deep throughout the 

 year and is about 10 feet deep in the 

 spring. There are a good many weeds 

 growing in the lake. I should like to stock 

 the water with some kind of fish but do not 

 know what species would be best. Will 

 you please tell me what kind you think 

 would thrive in such a lake? Where can I 

 get the spawn? When must I put the 

 spawn in the lake? 



Arthur Borak, Rocklyn, Wash. 



ANSWER. 



The probabilities are that the lake would 

 be most suitable for black spotted trout, a 

 species native to most of the waters of 



your State. If you do not care to try trout, 

 the yellow perch, which has been introduced 

 into Lake Union and other lakes about 

 Seattle, would doubtless do well. You 

 could probably obtain a supply of yellow 

 perch from some fisherman at Lake Union, 

 or you coul-d easily collect them yourself. 

 Trout could be obtained from the Bureau 

 of Fisheries station, Bozeman, Montana, by 

 application to the Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries, Washington, D. C. 



It is not advisable to put black bass into 

 any of the waters of Washington or Ore- 

 gon, as they harm the trout, which will al- 

 ways remain better fish for those States 

 than the black bass. No one will ever go 

 to Washington or Oregon for black bass 

 fishing. If he should want that sort of 

 sport he will go to the upper Mississippi 

 valley or elsewhere in the East ; but good 

 trout fishing will attract not only residents 

 of the State, but people from the East to 

 the lakes and streams of Washington and 

 Oregon. B. W. E. 



^BOUT FLY FISHING. 



I beg space for a few words in reply to 

 an article called Fly Fishing which ap- 

 peared in a weekly paper of March 19th. 

 I quote in part from the article in question: 



"Such a lot of fudge has been written 

 about fly fishing that a voice from the wil- 

 derness can have little effect. Fly fishing is 

 a sport that requires wisdom, experience, 

 and skill, sometimes. Sometimes ignorance 

 achieves equal results with the artificial 

 fly." 



The writer says many men can cast 

 an artificial fly, but few are able to cast a 

 live fly with the delicacy and accuracy ne- 

 cessary. Possibly the author of that article, 

 celebrated fly fisherman and honored au- 

 thority that he is, would condescend to 

 publish a treatise on live fly casting, <~>r 

 "How to cast 180 feet with a 4 ounce rod 

 without a back cast" ! Surely the fly fish- 

 ing fraternity would recognize the immense 

 value of such a treatise. 



Have any readers of this article on fly 

 fishing ever heard that a trout is at certain 

 times in position for the fly, and that 

 when this center of the stage is filled the 

 trout there will invariably take the fly? Do 

 I hear you say you have not? Fie on 

 you for an untutored fisherman ! You 

 should know at once when a trout is in 

 such a fix that he must take the fly cast 

 over him ! 



I am no angler, and if C. W. R. 

 would, out of the fulness of his heart and 

 his well stocked mind, publish a book of 

 one and a half pages on fly fishing I would 

 subscribe for a copy with the greatest 

 pleasure. 



L. M., South Braintree, Mass. 



