208 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 10, 1884. 



won't do if I hear of a young and uprotect*»d partridge being 

 knocked out by a guileless sportsman. Well, cood dav, I 

 have a tilo of names oi offenders before the grand jury and 

 I must fo over to the hall, You might say, if you will, that 

 all complaints directed to me at 56 Cottage street will receive 

 prompt attention. Good day;' and the keeper of his excel- 

 lency's preserves and preserver of !he game and dignity of 

 the Commonwealth turned away, and the stone figure of 'jus- 

 tice ou the city hall tower seemed to smile on him as he bent 

 his steps toward the building." 



it is the Intention to enforce the laws although it is difficult 

 to get a conviction in Vermont. The article details a fight 

 with clubs, axes and pistols, and concludes by saying: 



"The prisoners secured were two brothers named Nat and 

 Joseph Sheets and Joseph Couture. The officers looked 

 around and discovered three or four barrels of fish of excell- 

 ent quality, caught that morning, which the fishers were 

 pn-pared to ship to New York. The prisoners and the two 

 large nets which were taken were loaded into the wagon and 

 the officers started out on their return tiip. As there was 

 room in the wagon for only a part of their number, Sheriffs 

 Barton and Atherton and Officer Dumas walked to Swanton, 

 a distance of seven miles. The prisoners were taken to St. 

 Albans where a complaint was entered against them for re- 

 sisting the officers of the law, and in default of bail in the 

 sum of f'JSO each, they were committed to jail in that place. 

 The State attorney at St. Albans has taken the case in hand 

 and the offenders will undoubtedly receive a lesson that they 

 and their partners in guilt will long remember." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am very glad to see that there is some one who will say a 

 word against the slaughter of the fish in the western part of 

 Vermont. It seems too bad that there should be so much 

 illegal fishing of our lakes, and even in the small streams, 

 where a few trout can be taken in the proper season. As it 

 is dow, there are a certain few who go fishing, and what 

 fish they cannot catch with hook and line, they will take by 

 nets and make a clean scoop as far as they go. In some of 

 the trout brooks instances have been known of lime bein° 

 thrown into the streams, which destroyed all of the fish that 

 came in contact with it. No notice is taken of any of these 

 acts, although there is a so-called fish protective society in 

 the place. The same thing happens also in our beautiful 

 Lake Bomoseen, where there are both large and small 

 mouthed bass, pickerel, perch, sunfish, bullheads, suckers, 

 and a small fish called the whitefish. The illegal fishing is 

 carried on during the whole season. As soon as the ice" is 

 out of the above mentioned lake, spearing is commenced, 

 and on any night during the spring that is suitable for spear- 

 ing, can be seen from three or four up to a dozen boats. The 

 writer has seen as many as thirteen jacks out at one time in 

 one evening, and from then until the lake is frozen over net- 

 ting is carried on. The nets used are mostly gill nets. It is 

 a commou occurrence in a certain locality to see the nets 

 spread out on the grass or around the porches, drying. It is 

 plain to be seen that such work is spoiling all hook and line 

 fishing. Now it is hardly possible for a person to catch with 

 & hook and line a decent mess of fish, where a few years ago 

 It could be readily done. It seems too bad, that as long as 

 we have a very stringent law T against all such illegal fishing, 

 there cannot be found some one who has the pluck to put a 

 stop to such work. 



The aforementioned fish protective society appointed cer- 

 tain men to prosecute all such offenders; but there has not 

 been one single instance of any of the offenders being brought 

 to justice. As this lake has become quite a prominent place 

 for summer visitors, it seems to me this illegal fishing ought 

 to be stopped. Such is the wish of one of the citizens of the 

 place. Snap Shot 6. 



Castleton, Vt., March 81. 



LENGTH AND WEIGHT OF FLY-RODS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The importance of selecting and using the right kind of a 

 fly-rod is so great that I wish to indorse the article written 

 by "Onondaga II.," in your issue of March 27. I do not 

 know the writer, but he must be a master workman at the 

 gentle art to handle the subject so well. 



Twenty years' experience at -fly-fishing has convinced me 

 that a good split bamboo from eleven to eleven and one-half 

 feet long, from nine to tea ounces in weight, and properly 

 balanced, which means much, is the safest rod that can be 

 used, except for brook-fishing or very small trout. The ad- 

 vantages of such a rod over a light and short one are: It will 

 stand harder usage, is quicker killing, will make longer 

 casts, and at the same time possess all the virtues that are 

 claimed for a light, short rod. 



On my second trip to the Rangeley Lakes I was taught a 

 lesson never to be forgotten. I had whipped the water from 

 twenty to forty feet below me with a light rod and three 

 flies attached to a short leader for half an hour, and walked 

 away in disgust, when a stranger to me quickly stepped on 

 to the rock. 1 had just left. He was armed with a ten-ounce 

 split bamboo of the latest pattern. A short movement of 

 the forearm, a gentle turn of the wrist, and the two flies 

 went bounding outward and upward and at last dropping on 

 the water like thistle down. Only a few casts, und they 

 landed sixty feet away, and as they touched the water so 

 deftly, a mighty swirl, a splash, and a five-pound trout that I 

 had driven "down the river was hooked and scientifically 

 killed. I stood and watched him handle that rod until three 

 trout, weighing nearly twelve pounds, were taken in that 

 one place. 1 lost my trout, but the lesson learned was the 

 best one and the only one 1 ever needed. 



Since that time I have done the same kind of work for 

 some hurrying, over-anxious nimrod who was apparently 

 driving oxen instead of fly-fishing. 



The point that "Onondaga 11." makes is a good one where 

 he says: "Such a rod will carry the flies to the full limit of 

 its strength, and at the end of a taut line, accurately and 

 softly." 



One thing to be observed in selecting a rod is to not get a 

 too slim or limber one. I have two objects in writing these 

 few lines. The first is to show "Onondaga II." that there 

 are some of the Fokest axd Stream's readers who appre- 

 ciate his article, and the other reason is to benefit some one 

 of Jess experience in thb Graft in tdcfcling and -using a fly. 



T oa. . E. T. w 



PcssAai, Cohn., March Sl. 



FISHES AND FISHERMEN. 



SOME are born to greatness, some are born to wealth. 

 Others come into the world and must needs work their 

 way to fame and fortune. Whether a fisherman is born to 

 always have good luck, 1 doubt, but I do not doubt the 

 Iruism, that all lucky fishermen had it bred and born in their 

 bones, as sure as the son of a king is natural heir to a throne. 



I was born on Friday, therefore must expect some bad 

 luck in my time, as in the past it has come to me, one way 

 and another. I was brought to first see the light of my 

 existence in Bradford county, Pa., near the mouth of the 

 Wyalusing Creek, and spent my boyhood, or halcyon days, by 

 the side of a rippling brook that ran through my father's 

 farm upon the banks of the beautiful Susquehanna River, 

 whose silent waters flowed past our very door. The lofty 

 mountain that lifted its giant head on the opposite shore, 

 cast its shadow every morning at our feet, and has a charm 

 for me that no other spot on earth has. The old crooked 

 river is mapped in my memory, though for thirty years I 

 have become acquainted with new faces and strange waters. 

 Now for our vacation of 1882. 



At the time of my first bout at sailing. I was a resident of 

 the thriving inland city of Syracuse. Whether it was for 

 the puipose of getting a huge joke on me, or for the purpose 

 of allowing me to spend some jolly days with a few jolly 

 Elmira boys. I will leave the reader to judge when my tale 

 has been told. 



Two years ago this coming summer, in July, I found my 

 friends awaiting me at the depot in Elmira." All prepara- 

 tions had been made and a large flat boat was anchored in 

 the Chemung below the road bridge. It had been well built 

 by my brothers, Dr. C. W. Brown and T. P. Brown, resi- 

 dents of Church street and College avenue. It was 20 feet 

 in length and some 10 feet wide, with 12-inch sides, braced 

 on the bottom with 2x4 scantling; a staunch craft, with a 

 large cabin, with upper and lower berths. Our stock of pro- 

 visions, fire-works, guns and ammunition were in great 

 abundance. The fire-works consisted of rockets, Roman 

 candles, wheels and crackers, all the gift of our genial 

 companion, Attorney-at-law Swartz. He had a fine voice, 

 and could enchant any crowd with his melodious strains. 



Our company was made up of two Browns beside myself; 

 Legal Swartz, captain or conductor of pyrotechnics; Dr. C. 

 W. Brown, captainisimo and general superintendent of mo- 

 tion; Rev. Manly S. Hard, chaplain and professor of good 

 order; W. H. Willson, of Ithaca, N. Y., a contributor to 

 Forest and Stream and the possessor of the largest slices 

 of any man in the party; Mr. Copeland, champion bass eater ; 

 one of the editors of the ~EAwim Daily Adder-User, the taker 

 of notes, etc. Several other gentlemen went on board with 

 us, who acted as sailors. The writer was dubbed the cor- 

 netist, he unfortunately having taken his horn along, the 

 echoes of which may still be reverberating, for all I know, 

 from rock to rock up and down the ravines of Sheshequin 

 or Sugar Run. 



It was Sabbath night, and we all trying to be patient for 

 the dawn of the morning. Our craft had'been loaded, and 

 everything was ready to lift anchor when the midnight hour 

 should have past. The hours dragged slowly on, our sleep 

 having been dreamy and fitful enough to produce hysteria 

 in a woman and hypochondriasis in any man but a born 

 fisherman. 



The night was pitch dark when we left the dock and 

 pulled out with a stiff wind blowing great guns. 



The river was low, and we were obliged to use an ash 

 breeze to get on at all. It was broad daylight, and the sky 

 overcast with clouds, before we had proceeded down the 

 Chemung three miles. At this slow rate we could not expect 

 to reach Athens, Pa., before midnight. At about 12 M. we 

 landed on an island, where we found a large encampment of 

 Elmirians — ladies and children principally — the happiest lot 

 we ever met. Their camp was called Wyckoff, and a neater 

 place one must go to the tropics to find. "Grand old elms and 

 beautiful buttonwoods cast their shadows over camp and 

 field. 



The chirping of birds and the merry laugh of the children, 

 combined with the musical voices of Rev. Hard anil Attor- 

 ney Swartz as they chatted with the ladies, completed the 

 charming scene. We remained but a short half hour to rest 

 from our pull against the wind, and to allow our captain, 

 Dr. C. W. B., to get more breath, to enable him to call 

 lustily to the oarsmen for more motion during the rest of 

 the day before us. 



From Camp Wyckoff we sailed for Chemung. Before 

 reaching this hamlet, nestled at the foot of a mountain,, we 

 must needs pass "Johnny Cake Dam." This spot in the 

 Chemung none of us will will ever forget. We called it the 

 worst dam that ever dammed a stream. The sequel will 

 show why. My brother and the writer had a skiff and went 

 ahead of the large boat to prospect. We heard the roar of 

 the water ahead of us, and felt the current sucking our boat 

 fairly from under our feet. We were standing .up looking 

 at the torrent of rushing water as it sped through the old 

 timbers and piles of the ragged remains of the defunct dam. 

 Nearer and nearer our trembling skiff approached the ter- 

 rible place, in spite of our efforts to pull into safe quarters. 

 We now gave up all effort to save our going over into the 

 whirlpool, and prepaied ourselves as best we could to meet 

 the shock. As serious as was our situation, Swartz and Rev. 

 Hard laughed to see our frantic efforts to use our oars to 

 conduct the boat into a space that might possibly allow our 

 little craft a clear passage between some of the numerous 

 piles, sticking their ugly heads above the water. 



At this moment we struck. I went through the air like a 

 rocket, some twenty feet, fish-rod in hand, and landed upon 

 the seething waves, and went under of .course. Fortunately, 

 the place 1 struck was a shallow one, and my feet touched 

 bottom. I braced and struggled against the awful current, 

 but could only hold my own. I felt something entangling 

 my legs; I felt for it, and grasped one of our trolling lines. 

 I pulled upon it, and found it was fast to the boat, which 

 had gone down between the piles. I was thus enabled to 

 pull myself to the skiff in the space of a few minutes. The 

 eddy formed by the lodging of our craft made it possible for 

 me to stand neck deep in the stream. 



My brother was fastened by one leg between the boat and 

 a log. I felt great alarm for him, but was soon relieved by 

 his good fortune to disengage himself by an herculean effort, 

 There we were, out in a cauldron (as it were), being furiously 

 washed and swayed by the crushing, foaming water-, not 

 knowing how soon we might lose our footing and be swept 

 down to death. 



The situation was becoming extremely alarming. Our 

 friends saw the plight we were id, and jumped from their big 

 boat and ran down" the beach to try. and save us. My brother 

 put his hand to his pdbketr and foiuid. biff lBdhey just about 



to pass out into the current. I also looked after my wealth, 

 and was just in time to save it also. We were but about 

 twenty feet from a little island, and on this we threw our 

 cash and it was secured by our friends. 



Our oarsmen— two as brave men as I ever met— took a 

 rope and cast it to us, which we caught and fastened to a 

 pile, and the shore end was manued by five of the crew, and 

 thus we were saved from a watery and untimely grave 



I was now reminded of a lost ct eel and fish, a lost coat, 

 fisn-rods broken and useless, a lost By-book worth ,«20, the 

 rod worth 825 with line and broken reel, all my trolling 

 lines and spoons lost, tangled or broken, and our hides wet 

 as a washerwoman's dress. In trying to get our boat loose 

 we broke it to pieces, and thus lost $25 "more. Bather an 

 expensive trip for the first day of our journey. In the "wee 

 sma'" hours of the night we anchored under the great iron 

 railroad bridge of theLehigh Yalley, at Athens. We took 

 a midnight supper at mine host Rice's hotel, and went to 

 bed with our boots on. and slept well, after one of the most 

 eventful and hard day's work of a lifetime, 



I neglected to mention that we were some three hours or 

 more getting our large craft over a sluiceway to the east of 

 the dam, and on our way toward Athens we found my creel 

 on a shoal, more than two uides fiom where we had our 

 great struggle in that dam site. 



When we left Athens, at 8 o'clock A. M., the wind was 

 still blowing, and the skies betokened showers. We now 

 entered the broad and tortuous Susquehanna and put out 

 our fishing lines, with bait and spoons, which we had re- 

 plenished at Athens. We took fifteen wall-eyed pike and a 

 goodly number of black bass before we reached Towanda, 

 some twenty miles from the place of starting at the railroad 

 bridge. 



At Milau we stopped for dinner, and such a dinner hun- 

 gry and wet fishermen seldom sit down to. 



Oh, how if did pour when we landed and while our dinner 

 was being prepared. It seemed as if the heavens were let 

 loose, and to add to our distress, we saw the river, so beauti- 

 fully clear in the morning, now fcegiuning to darken with 

 mud. Like true braves and jolly tars, however, we sat 

 down to fried pike and sweet and Irish patatoes, black rasp- 

 berries, fresh picked, fricasseed chickens, lovely white bread 

 and the sweetest of butter, coffee and tea of the best flavor, 

 also such milk as only can be had at a country hotel. Talk 

 about eating and clearing a table; talk of a flock of wolves 

 in a sheep fold; expatiate on a hawk swoopin g down upoti 

 a brood of chickens, and then consider the wreck made of 

 that dinner, and you will have reached the climax of de- 

 struction of viands. Not a cake, a pie, a chicken, or fish 

 was left outside of us. After the rain ceased to pour we 

 all went to dig fish worms, which seemed to be the best bait 

 for pike and bass that day. We had small, strong spoons, 

 with red and white feathers covering the hooks," whirlers; 

 three hooks which we loaded with worms, a wad oi the 

 squirmers, most tempting in lakes or rivers for wall-eyed or 

 glass-eyed pike. No angler should go after these fish with- 

 out the worms and the spoons I have described. They are 

 the boss for summer fishing. 



The best pike fishing 1 ever had in any river is the Sus- 

 quehanna at Milan, and at the mouth of Toweuda Creek, 

 and at WyalUsiDg. The best lake for fishes is Onida ; though 

 they abound in great uumbers in Onondaga Lake, where 

 they are often taken with a fly. 



When we reached the long streak of Stillwater above 

 Towanda, we took several oi the largest pike of the. day. 

 Here friend Swartz sent up a few rockets, and we fired 

 eral rounds of cartridges from our fowling-pieces to let the 

 citizens of the tQWU know of the approach of the jolly 

 pirates. It still rained, and we all housed as soon as we 

 could in the Ward House, kept by Col. Jordan. In the 

 evening we had a host of friends and some curiosity seekers 

 call upon us. Rev. Mr. Hard and Swartz gave a display of 

 fireworks that elicited great applause from the company, and 

 especially from the crowd that congregated on the streets. 

 The evening passed too quickly, lor it was one of the pleas- 

 an test often enjoyed. The following morning we found the 

 river swollen and* quite roily. We had poor luck fishing, but 

 made a quicker passage to Wyalusing on account of the high 

 water. 



After coming to anchor at Well's Ferry, Capt. Brown 

 arrayed the company in military order, tlie guns and fish- 

 rods to shoulder, and with martial music we marched two by 

 two to the Wyalusing House, kept by J. M. Brown, where 

 we rendezvoused for a week, and enjoyed ourselves as only 

 such a wide awake party can. Day after day we picnicked 

 our sweethearts and better halves, having met US there by 

 rail. We fished and banqueted by day and by night, and 

 every hour was full of pleasure. 



One day while fishing in Bennett's Eddy, I had a bite 

 that raised me oil' my feet. Our boat was anchored, and I 

 had oul about fifty feet of line, baited with a young bullhead 

 as long as one's index finger. The fish was a monster, and 

 after 1 struck him. he took a bee line for the west shore. 1 

 could not check him in the least; on he went so rapidly, now 

 heading up stream that all my line had run out, and 1, brac- 

 ing with both feet, this towing the stem of the boat against 

 the current. What to do in this emergency I did not then 

 know, I was so much excited. 1 soon found that one thing 

 was sure, my line must part if 1 could not turn him. My 

 eight-ounce fly-iod, split bamboo, was bent in a senoi-eircle 

 and still on he' went, never once slacking pace. Snap went 

 ruy leader, and down I went in the bottom of the boat, the 

 heaviest fish I ever had hold of was gone, and so was my 

 strength and patience. Have you ever been in such a plight? 

 If so, you know how to piiy a brother angler, 



The* Susquehanna River is the most natural water for fish 

 in the. State. One shore is made of a mass of she! ving rocks, 

 the. other is shallow, and gravel bottom, covered with a rank 

 growth of eel grass. Here the young fish can live and thrive 

 unmolested, while near them the male fish stand guard by 

 night and by day till the gamy little fellows are large enough 

 to shift for themselves. A resident of Wyalusing told me 

 that he had seen two rods wide of the shoal water, along 

 Bennett's Eddy, so alive with young black bass, that the 

 water was kept constantly roily by their motion in it during 

 spawning or hatching time. 



There are. millions of bass hatched out in this one long 

 stretch of still water. This is only twenty -live minutes' ride 

 from the hotel at Wyalusing and only ten minutes' wulk 

 from a lovely private boarding house at Brown town, kept 

 by Theodore Brown, where the best of board and the neatest 

 of sleeping rooms can be had for a dollar per day. Phila 

 delphia people put up there and at Wyalusing every sum- 

 mer, and the fun they have would make a dyspeptic envious. 



1 have taken four-pound small-nioutheti. olack bass right 

 in front of Mr. Brown's boarding house, to which water one 

 can go in tbit'e' vnirrutfes. Boys and girls ten years' old catch: 



