Jdi.v 18, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



469 



day ti umbered one hundred and sixty, and were found in 

 the. headwaters of the Scoharie, on the western slope of the 

 Oatskill Mountains Nut one of them, however, measured 

 over six incShes, and while we may possibly be mistaken, the 

 idea haums us that we enjoyed about forty for supper, 

 cooked by the wife of the mountaineer under whose roof it 

 Bras out privilege to spend the night. Booh a rest as we en- 

 joyed was never excelled by any mortal, and the peace which 

 rested upon the Surrounding woods and mountains, and in 

 the starry heavens, was only made more blessed by the 

 soughing of the breeze in a neighboring hemlock and the 

 distant Bong of a. whip-poor-will. 



The largest common trout that we ever saw weighed a 

 little over four pounds, and was taken at the head of the 

 tide in a. brook at Marshfield. It was not our fortuae to 

 capture him, but it was a privilege even to "look upon this 

 king." lie was presented by his* captor to Daniel Webster, 

 and the dinner at which he 'was served was made intensely 

 interesting to the writer by an exchange of fish stories be- 

 tween the - host and his honored guest, John F. Crampton, 

 the British Minister accredited to Washington. 



The largest trout we ever captured weighed a little less 

 than three pounds, and this is the way the feat was per- 

 formed: We were on the road from the Merimichi to the 

 Nepisiquit in New Brunswick after salmon, and our driver 

 had Stopped at the Tabusinlac to water his horses. The 

 stream at that point was only a large brook, but under the 

 bridge was a very inviting pool, in which, as we were pass- 

 ing over it, we, noticed a pleasant-looking disturbance in the 

 way of ripples. The horses were very thirsty, and of course 

 it took some fifty minutes to water them, and as we could 

 not afford to idle away so much time, we "whipped out" our 

 smallest salmon rod "and a nice, little fly. "We made five 

 casts and took out that number of trout, one of them weigh- 

 ing nearly three pounds, and the balance two and one- 

 quarter, one and one-half and one pound, and a half-pounder. 

 Of these fish two of them were out of season and unfit to 

 gat, but the other three were, fresh run and in good condi- 

 tion. For fifteen miles from the sea the Tabusintac is quite 

 a large river, but above tide water it has the character of a 

 large mountain brook; and although itjformerly abounded in 

 striped bass, salmon, sea and common trout, the settlers 

 near the sea have well-nigh destroyed its fisheries by their 

 cupidity and ignorance of true economy. 



Once when we were passing over from Lake George to the 

 Adirondacks on foot, we tarried for a few hours at a bridge 

 which crossed the upper Hudson, because the spot looked 

 inviting for a little sport. While standing on that bridge, 

 engaged in untieing a knot, the fly which we had just at- 

 tached to our line happened to be dangling about one foot 

 above the water, when a trout weighing half a pound made 

 a leap for it and hooked himself, so that the fellow was 

 caught without the formality of wetting a line. 



But our trouting recollections have not always been with- 

 out alloy; and here is an incident connected with the beauti- 

 ful waterfall of Glen Ellis, among the White Mountains. 

 We were piloted to it by the lamented Thompson during the 

 summer that he first opened the Glen House. We re-visited 

 on many subsequent occasions, enjoying in their perfection 

 the falling waters, the mosses and ferns and flowers, and all 

 the matchless glories of the place. On one unhappy day, 

 however, we re-visited it with a number of friends, singing 

 its praises as we all scrambled down into the ravine and 

 over the great bulging rocks, when lo! as we approached 

 the superb pool, the very paradise of trout, we saw painted 

 upon a great boulder these horrible words, "Plantation 

 Bitters."" The idea of catching a trout or using the pencil, 

 under such circumstances, seemed preposterous. Our first 

 impulse was to follow up the unknown barbarian, who had 

 committed the sacrilege, and murder him in cold blood, 

 but we concluded that such a course would be inconvenient 

 and not part icularlv Christian-like, and so we came away, 

 and have never had' the heart to look upon Glen Ellis again 

 — with the skirts of her beautiful garments trailing in the 

 dust of unadulterated barbarism. 



The contrasts of the wilderness as seen by the angler, 

 however, are not always so depressing as the one just men- 

 tioned. For example, here is one that we witnessed among 

 th;' Green Mountains, not far from the historic town of Ben- 

 nington. There is a mountain stream in those parts which 

 we remember as we sometimes do U lovely dream. It flows 

 over a bed of whitish marble and granite, the pools alternat- 

 ing like jewels upon a thread of gold — all of them pure as 

 amber, and each one with a character of its own — some of 

 them twenty feet in depth, but looking as if you could easily 

 wade through them, if so disposed, and all of them the home 

 of trout as charming in their hues as the pools themselves, 

 almost impressing the beholder with the idea that they 

 were fairy fish, and not intended for the use of sinful and 

 sordid anglers Indeed, into some of these pools, it is quite 

 impossible to look when the. sun is shining in its effulgence, 

 and even when looked upon during a lowering thunder 

 storm they seem to form an atmosphere of light still brilliant 

 and peculiarly t heir own. And it is among these pools— 

 themselves forever singing a crooning song — that the birds 

 pour forth their sweetest melodies in a continuous strain. 



Now, within a few miles of the stream just mentioned 

 there is a little lakelet, which in its way is quite as impres- 

 sive in its influence, upon the beholder, but as different as 

 could possibly be conceived. It is very small, perfectly 

 round, closely hemmed in on all sides by a dense forest, 

 while its waters appear to be as dark as those of Lethe, and 

 the drinking of which would most likely — transport one into 

 oblivion. When, after a long and fatiguing tramp we 

 reached the borders of this lake, it inspired a feeling of 

 dread. It seemed to us a most splendid location tor the 

 "House of Usher." It was with difficulty that we could find 

 a convenient spot to rest our weary limbs, and in hunting 

 for one, we had to kill two or three snakes. There was not 

 a single bird to be seen or heard, but the turtles were 

 abundant, as well as the trout, but the latter were dark in 

 color, and seemed to be perfectly happy when taken out of 

 then- desolate home, as if to them any change of scene would 

 be a blessing. The trees around the lake were so tall that 

 they only permitted a round patch of the sky to appear, and 

 even that had a cold blue hue as if sympathizing with the 

 gloom below. As we looked upon the lilies, then in full 

 bloom, which skilled the lake, there seemed to be. something 

 horoic in their efforts to make their home cheerful, but it 

 all in vain; and when we had retraced our steps out of 

 this glooming bit of wilderness and had reached the. world 

 of sunshine, we went upon OUT way rejoicing and full of 

 thankfulness for the beautiful everywhere. 



And now. in fauev. we ore upou the head waters of the 



C: fawbu in North Carolina. It is the month of May, and 



i e a veritable ' 'solitary horseman, " butnot the one alluded 



to by the novelist. We are alone, and crossing the moun- 



tains that slope toward Tennessee, so as to strike the valley 

 of Virginia, and there wind up our equestrian tour. We arc 

 not equipped for fishing, but happen to have a small line and 

 a few flies in our pocket book, Bui I lie Catawaba where we 

 now look upon it, is very shallow, covered with golden and 

 crimson pebbles, very clear an 1 beautiful, with a wall of 

 lofty wood-covered hills protected on either side. That there 

 ; in this stream cannot for a moment be doubted. 

 But what shall we do for a rod? A careful hunt for a twig 

 is of no avail. We consult; the mother of invention and she 

 our riding whip, and a moment after the word is 

 saicTthe deed is done. We then intimate to our beautiful 

 and sure-footed little mare, as best we can, that it would do 

 her good to perambulate the river for a little while, and so 

 we leap into the saddle, and begin to try and throw the fly. 

 All that we. can well do, however, is to drag the fiy_ from 

 one side of the stream to the other. Instead of being wild the 

 fish are willing, and in half an hour we have taken half a 

 dozen as beautiful trout as -were ever seen. We compliment 

 and reward our intelligent companion for her important 

 assistance, by letting her enjoy a little patch of grass, packthe 

 fish in our saddle bags, and resume our journey. That 

 night we spend under the roof of a frontier farmer, partake 

 of a, fish supper with his family and then spend a couple of 

 hours before bed time talking with our host about the people 

 who live in the valley of the beautiful Catawba, 



And now we will conclude thifl rigmarole with an account 

 of a royal feast that we enjoyed on the shore of Lake. Super- 

 ior. We were a party of Chippewa Indians, except the 

 deponent and the trader who had us all in charge. The 

 wind had compelled the brigade of canoes near the Apostle 

 Islands to land upon the main shore, and this spot was at 

 the mouth of a small stream "teeming with trout. After 

 picking up along that shore and packing away all the agates 

 that we wanted," with the Porcupine Mountains iu full view, 

 we inij rovised some fishing gear and caught a goodly lot of 

 trout weighing from ten to twenty ounces. We cooked 

 them by means of sticks before the fire — with a magnificent 

 sunset glorifying the. great lake — sprinkled them with a bit 

 of salt, and having placed them on a bit of birch bark, 

 summoned the trader and the chief Hole-in-the-Day to the 

 banquet, with two or three others of the royal family besides. 

 Among them was the son of the chief who, as is quite com- 

 mon with sprigs of royalty and other common folk, after 

 succeeding to the crown of feathers, subsequently disgraced 

 himself in Washington City by his profligacy and dissipa- 

 tion. Since that day we have*partaken of many a banquet 

 of good things in 'what is called the civilized world, but 

 never have we feasted more, gloriously than we. did upon 

 those trout on the shore of Lake Superior. 



WITH HACKLES AND GENTLES. 



FIRST PAPER. 

 " Let's fish, and let's sing together, 

 In spite of wind and weather; 

 For here pure joy is found , 

 So let the toast go round: 

 Come, here's to all anglers true, 

 Fill your glasses, but ne'er get foul" 



HALL and a hearty welcome to the honest angler whose 

 eye may, perchance, read the above, written on a win- 

 dow of an inn near Dumbarton, and whose soul is in sym- 

 pathy with the sentiment therein expressed and suggested. 

 i write "suggested" advisedly, for the little word ' 'fish, " used 

 either as a noun or as an active verb, is sure to suggest more 

 than can be expressed to the brother of the rod and creel. 

 Visions of the. past and future come up before him, and 

 whatever his present may have of joy or woe, these mental 

 gleams of flowing water and of rising fish will intensify the 

 one and mitigate the other. 



A fisherman's joys, like his sorrows, are such that no alien 

 to the craft can understand — in one sense an angler is a 

 separate, and strange being, having, 'tis true, the form and 

 semblance of other men, but a "thing apart" from them, like 

 Byron's description of a man's love as compared to that of 

 woman. 



By the grace of Forest and Stream 1 purpose, as an 

 angler, to write a few papers on "the gentle art" for those 

 who "be quiet and go a-angling." At the start, I admit that 

 a half selfish purpose incites me, and it is that when I can- 

 not cast a fly or bait the hook I take pleasure in writing of 

 so doing, tn my reflections, experiences or anticipations, if 

 I have any interested followers, and if I in anywise beguile 

 any angler's leisure time, I shall be satisfied. I shall write 

 as 'the stream flows, carelessly and freely, turning aside now 

 and then for any pleasant shade or shallow, and striving 

 only to run free of "snags" and aught else that peradventure 

 mars the pleasure of the angler who — 



* * * "Envies no man's joys 



But his who gains the greateit sport; 

 With peace he dwells far from the noise, 

 And bustling grandeur of u eourt." 

 The old turnpike, my friend, hath led our feet to this 

 pleasant riverside and we will now try what the. river hath 

 in store for us. 



It is not my ideal of an angling water — it is too sluggish, 

 its hue too dark and its banks too low and boggy for a genu- 

 ine and art ful bout with the rod. it is too suggestive of cat- 

 fish and other ignoble tins unworthy of a true angler's creel, 

 to awaken much enthusiasm. Nevertheless it is a river, and 

 I know there are. perch, pike and black bass therein, so we 

 will beseech the rabble to lot our hooks alone and pray the 

 fates to send the same a few goodly specimens of the three 

 above named. If you like you may try your new "spoon" 

 for the Ebox, but 1 am minded to tempt a voracious Parti 

 with a well secured brandling. Bait-fishing of any kind is 

 not the acme of the art, but when no fly-fishing is to be had 

 the. use of well prepared baits is not to be scorned. They 

 must be well prepared, however, to make them endurable, 

 and with such I have taken many a lusty fish, after a sharp 

 struggle with naught, but light tackle atwecn us. 



For all kinds of fishing let the tackle be as light as may be 

 compatible with security 1 am not an advocate of using a 

 willow-withe for a rod, however; there must be a staunch- 

 ness to support the spring and a balance to the temper of 

 every rod. It is very comfortable to be at the landward end 

 of alight rod and tried tackle when the fish is ' •struck" and 



'ill greeting felt at the wrist! There i> 



bolden the "three -'races" — the grace of the darting fish, the 



i he bending rod and the unconscious grace of the 



rapt angler as, with eye and hand alert, he plays the fish to 



the net, of gaff. Tn years agonc I have seen the btne form 



.ful woman adding grace to a "played" 



her fish to land, and never did - fair than with 



if victorj' on her animated face, the two-pound 



trout lay in her hand! There is a rare pleasure in the society 

 of a woman who loves to angle — who can throw the cares 

 and pleasures of her sex and society aside and cast a fly with 

 deft hand and can play and kill her fish with consunlmate 

 skill. There are such— God bless them! Would there were 

 more. ! 



Not a rise to your spoon yet! Not. a bite to my worm 

 either! It is rather monotonous, I admit, but we are, at any 

 rate, free from the daily cares and perplexities of life, and 

 while we are comfortable, let us not make ourselves uncom- 

 fortable, by worry. The sun rides too high for the fish to 

 feed, and let us be content if we only hold the rod and sec 

 the water kindly take its shadow on this, our first outing. 

 Our beloved master in the art, Walton, wrote pleasant 

 words on the taking of few or no fish, and cited many con- 

 solations therefor. "This free air, that lovely stretch of river, 

 and the knowledge that this is but. the beginning of our Ash- 

 ing days together, ought to give us cheer. Look ye! your 

 float indicates life at the hook and — I have him! A sturdy 

 tug and a pound of good flesh at the least. That sudden 

 rush and pause means to me a goodly perch, and recall 

 days long gone and scenes far removed from this. He. plays 

 well, and I hardly expected to find so much "game" in such 

 dark and slow-running water, which goes to prove that 

 "appearances are. deceitful" often. A few more runs and I 

 will land the fish ! Here he is! A. lusty perch, as 1 said, and 

 in excellent condition. I break his neck, thus instantly put- 

 ting him out of pain, and the creel has one occupant of over 

 a pound weight. 



We may reasonably hope to take more, as he belongs to a 

 gregarious family, and I advise you to leave the spoon and 

 follow my example, since I have proven it to be a good one. 



For years I have made a practice of killing my fish as 

 soon as they were landed. It is humane, and it makes them 

 in better condition for the table. A struggling fish in a creel 

 makes me rave, so beware! Instant death to all game — whether 

 of fur, fin or feather — should be the purpose' of all sports- 

 men. Quick killing not only ceases misery, but puts the ti -sh 

 in firm and toothsome condition for the palate and stomach, 

 and — you have a bite 1 Be wary, and keep him from the 

 jagged abutments of this old bridge, or your line may Buffer 

 abrasion and your expectancy the loss of the fish. In spile 

 of my predictions we may secure a "fry" for breakfast; an- 

 other brace will do this, as your fish is quite equal to.the one 

 I have landed. 



Thus, with indifferent success, we sit. on the crumbling 

 embankment and fish, and dream and talk; laying plans for 

 the morrow, and with every breath "sucking in" health and 

 quiet joy, although our floats dance idly on, rather than vig- 

 orously down-sink under the mimic wave. 



'Tis'enough to know that the town is behind us, its cares 

 likewise! We are free, we are fishing, we are happy! 



" Old Father Time has played his pranks, 

 My hair is silver gray, 

 Yet still along the verdant banks 

 Of streams I fondly stray. 

 The gentle craft I still pursue 

 Wbile wandering to and fro, 

 And angle, as I used to do, 

 A long time ago." 0. W. R. 



THE RED DRUM. 



T^ROM all I can glean, the 



Red Drum" of the. New 

 Jersey coast is the "Redfish" or channel bass, Scimnops 

 ocellaims, 6f the South. Last winter a noted Pennsylvania 

 fisherman informed me that he had captured a number of 

 large ones near a wreck off Atlantic City, during tl e sum- 

 mer of 1881. In a paper received to-day' I noticed that they 

 are biting near Cape May. As I have captured numbers of ' 

 this noble fish, and as successful fishing is to a great extent 

 dependent on little things, I fancied that a few remarks 

 might not be out of place. 



On the Atlantic coast of Florida they run large, the small- 

 est I have thus far captured with a hand line weighed nine- 

 teen pounds. On the southwest coast they do not attain the 

 size they do on the eastern — the largest I have thus far cap- 

 tured with a rod and reel on the latter coast weighed but 

 twenty-four and a half pounds. In fishing for channel bass 

 at themouth of this river, fr generally use a hand line, for 

 the tide runs like a mill race. I use. a strong hand line and 

 a first quality Virginia hook one inch and a quarter from 

 tip of point to shank. At times these fish feed at the edge 

 of the surf and it migLt be well for your Northern fishermen 

 to test this mode of fishing. They could use a bass rod and 

 reel or a hand line. 



For surf fishing I use a square lead three inches long and 

 one inch in diameter. When casting the lead I place in the 

 center of the mold a cylinder of writing paper about three- 

 sixteenths of an inch in diameter. When the lead is cold I 

 remove the charred paper, and have a smooth hole from end 

 to end of the sinker. To obviate cutting and chafing of 

 line. I dress the ends of lead with a pocket knife. Fifteen 

 inches from the hook I tie a half knot, the line is passed 

 through the lead and is arrested by the knot. With a coil of 

 line in left hand I enter the surf," and with a few swings of 

 the sinker around my head, I give it an impetus which lands 

 the bait outside of the surf. Owing to the shape and the 

 weight of the sinker it remains stationary, and the action of 

 the tide and the undertow on the bait draws the line through 

 the lead, and the bait moves freely. As the line is not 

 fastened to the sinker, a bite is easily detected. For surf 

 fishing it will be found advantageous to soak the hue for 

 twenty-four hours in shellac varnish, and after removing it. 

 stretch between two stokes or trees, and before the varnish 

 is-dry rub the line with apiece of coarse cloth. A line 

 treated in this way will render easily, and not be so liable to 

 kink as an ordinary line. 



Li fishing from a boat, in this section, fishermen throw the 

 bair from thirty to fifty feet astern. The result is, the bait 

 remains on the bottom, the fish quietly munch it and escape 

 the hook. For a large fish, if the bait is still, they arc ad- 

 dicted to nibbling, and prove good bait stealers. My expe- 

 rience has taught me to anchor over the bank, and w! 

 fishing with a 'hand line in astrong tideway, to use a twelve 

 ounce lead. 1 use a snood three feet long, and attach n to 

 the line six inches above the sinker. 1 allow my line, to run 

 out until the lead touches the bottom, when I raise il 

 fooi. By this arrangement the bait floats with the tfd 

 kept in motion, and a bass will seize it with a vim. and Hi 

 music will commence. By adopting this mode, I one morn- 



. fore 8 A. M., landed eleven of these fighters, an I 

 ing forty-live pounds. If fish do not bite. I sometime- a 

 float and allow the line to travel with the tide, and then bj 

 capture a stray one. It is not generally known, but channel 

 bass bite dtrring the moonlight nights lathi- 



