68 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Feb. 19, 1885 



Appleton &i Cu., Ilofland is quoted as advising "a speckled 

 mallard featber for the wiug of the alder." So from the 

 above and many other sources, aud from samples from many 

 Jly-tiers, we are led to conclude that the peacock's herl for 

 body, amber-colored hackle for legs, and -wings of some 

 slightly mottled semi-transparent feather to resemble the 

 delicately veined wings of the natural insect are the requisites 

 for imitating the alder fly. 



1 presume Mr. Mather refers to the old universally known 

 "March brown" which by errror he speaks of as tire "marsh 

 brown." 



Iu 1676 Charles Cotton wrote of this fly, placing it in his 

 list of flies for the month of March, and calling it the "bright 

 brown." 



Mr. Francis M. Walbran, years later, says, "In speaking 

 about the 'March brown' it is always well to Ascertain 

 which fly is really meant, the 'brown drake' as it is styled 

 by Michael Thea'kstou, or the 'red brown' which I have 

 previously stated is called the 'March brown 1 in spine 

 districts. " Mr. Aldam distinguishes them by calling the 'red 

 brown' (a February fly) the local 'March brown,' and the 

 'brown drake' the 'March brown of Great Britain; 1 Jack- 

 son names it the "great brown,' and some Yorkshire 

 anglers the 'dun drake,' while in Wales it is called the 'cob 

 fly/ This fly is a great favorite with the fish while it 

 is on the water, iu fact I have seen fish killed with it until 

 the end of June; the female is a lighter fly of a more olive 

 tinge than the male, and during its season I have generally 

 found it, answer well to use one of each pattern at the same 

 time. The following is Mr. Ronalds's pattern for the female 

 fly, which lie has observed come upon the water a few days 

 later than Ike males: 'Body pale olive green wool, ribbed 

 with tine gold twist, less a honey dun hackle, that is less 

 bright than a golden "dun. wings upright, from the quill 

 feather out of the middle of a hen pheasant's wing.' " 



Mr. Ronalds, in the "Entomology," further states that 

 "the male has a chocolate hue and the female a green brown; 

 it generally appears in great numbers upon the streams 

 where it is. found toward the latter end of March, and is very 

 eagerly devoured by the trout. The fly lives three days in 

 this state and then changes into the great red spinner." Also 

 "The March brown is a great killer on the Dove. In Wales 

 they make it as a hackle, with a brown mottled feather of a 

 partridge and rib with pale green silk. " 



Mr. "Theakston says: "The brown drake commences 

 hatching the latter end of March, if the weather be favor- 

 able. She is a favorite leader with her craft through the 

 spring; next in size and importance to the head of her class, 

 the fairy queen or queen drake, to whom she resigns her 

 supremacy : she casts the brown badge and becomes the bril- 

 liant amber drake, or the largest of the red drakes, errone- 

 ously called spinners." 



Mr. Roosevelt, in "Superior Fishing," quotes Mr. Roualds 

 in regard to the fly, and recommends: "Body, sandy r mohair, 

 ribbed over with olive silk; tail, two fibers of a brown hen's 

 feather; wings, from the mottled wing feather of a brown 

 hen, which may be found of the exact shade; legs, a brown 

 hen's hackle." 



Mr. Thnddeus Nonas gives the following: "March Brown 

 — Brown body, ribbed with yellow silk, brown hackle, tur- 

 key wing."' The fly-tiers of" this country have seemed to 

 unite oiT a morpbadite representative, by making the wiug 

 of a chocolate brown, well represented by the wild turkey 

 feather, and a body of olive-brown hue, ribbed with gold, 

 I have never seen the March brown made with a blue wing, 

 nor can I find any authority for so doing. 



The brown coughlin, caughlin, coflin , as it is variously 

 called, is a fly with a slate-colored wing, and is probably the 

 one Mr. Mather has in mind when he speaks of the brown 

 coffin. I should not like to be responsible to the originators 

 of this fly for this last innovation in the name which has had 

 a more cheerful sound heretofore. I will not write of the 

 attributes of this fly, fearing to add to what may already 

 seem wearisome. I will here apologize to Mr. Mather for 



nized it by his description, aud so gave name in note, not 

 thinking of the propriety that I should sign the same. 



Some one may question giving English writers as of au- 

 thority in this country; but if we take their old well-known 

 flies— earned for many, many years, illustrated and discussed 

 iu their books— is it justice not to follow their models as far 

 as possible and retain their names? What benefit can there 

 be iu further deviations and consequent confusion. As we 

 make new combinations or imitations and find new mate- 

 rials to perfect the same, let us not deviate from the main 

 idea: that is, if it be a combination merely, to adhere to the 

 original; if it be an imitation, seek only to copy the natural 

 insect by the most ingenious methods possible, with due 

 regard to the trials and success of other people who have 

 attempted the same task. Let us not be hasty in question- 

 ing their manner of imitation, lest we pass unnoticed some 

 good reasons for the same. Consideration must al ways be 

 given to the appearance of a fly in the water as well as when 

 fresh and dry in our hands. 



I believe that by a little careful study, patience and con- 

 siderable reading in regard to artificial flies, relating to which 

 there is a most charming literature, we shall in time unite 

 upon what is most desirable. 



I will here predict that the imitative theory will be more 

 and more acted upon; flies with outspread wings; flies with 

 double wings and elongated bodies, like the familiar dragon 

 fly, and with a closer application of natural colorings are 

 constantly being sought for, and proving themselves useful. 



Charles F. Orvis. 



Manchester, Vt., Feb. 12, 1885. 



[Those who have the first edition of Mr. Orvis's book will 

 find the Montreal fly figured on the plate opposite page 79, 

 and the alder fly on the plate opposite page 157]. 



Editor Forcut and Strtam: 



Thanks lor calling my attention to the above communica- 

 tion from Mr. Orvis iu time to append my explanation to his 

 article. In my previous communication I had not the second 

 edition of "Fishing with the Fly" before me, although I 

 have it iu my library. I took the first edition of that book, 

 and entirely overlooking the list of "lake flies," compared 

 the plates of "trout flies" with the sheet of "Standard Trout 

 Flies," published by Mr. Holberton. Hence I did not find 

 the Montreal in Mr. Orvis's plates, and the omission of the 

 alder fly was one of those oversights which happen to a busy 

 man at times. A second search shows that the fly is there, 

 I acknowledge the error. My object was merely to 

 show how our authorities differ, and uot to set myself up as 

 one. The substitution of marsh brown for March brown was 

 merely a typographical error. 



A closer inspection of Mr. Orvis's plates shows that he 

 duplicates seven of his eighteen "lake flies" in his plates of 

 "trout flies," but the Montreal is not so duplicated. Con- 

 cerning the "March brown and brown coflin," I merely 

 stated that Holberton gave both names to one fly, and here 

 again is an error in spelling, for the latter gives the name as 

 brown coflin, and not coffin. I do not pretend to know the 

 derivation of the name, but Mr. Orvisseems to have worked 

 it out, or at least to have given the spelling of English author- 

 ities. 1 agree with him that we should follow the English 

 nomenclature for flies which we have derived from English 

 anglers, any other course creates the confusion of whichsev- 

 eral of your correspondents justly complain. 



Leaving out all American angling works which describe 

 flies and illustrate them with wood' cuts, the only two who 

 have published finely colored plates of flies which present 

 them to the eye as they are made, and appear, are Mr. Hol- 

 berton aud Mr. Orvis. They leave nothing to the imagin- 

 ation as do Norris, Roosevelt, Scott, Frank Forester, et al, 

 and therefore we can compare their flies to better advantage. 

 I called attention to their differences and erred in omitting 

 one fly from the list of Mr. Orvis, while the types made me 

 mis-spell two other names. It seems to me that if there are 

 any points to be settled, and differences to be reconciled, 

 they are between the two gentlemen whom I have quoted as 

 authorities. Fj;ed Mather. 



GAMENESS OF THE BLACK BASSES. 



IN the last Forest and Stream, under the title of "Camp 

 Flotsam," and the sub-head of "The Elysium of Peren- 

 nial Bass," your correspondent, and my old friend, "Waw- 

 ayanda," knocks a chip off my shoulder in the hope of 

 taking a rise out of me. In school-boy days, when any of 

 us lighter ones thought the other fellow was too big for us, 

 and that discretion was the better part of valor, the standard 

 suggestion was that he should "take some one of his size." 

 "Wawayanda" is a bass fisher by nature, taste and experi- 

 ence. I fish for bass only when trout are not accessible, and 

 am not of those who think the bass the peer of the trout, 

 even if he weighs pounds where the trout weighs ounces. 

 Therefore instinct bids to beware of breaking a lance with 

 so formidable an adversary. Falstaff says: "Should I turn 

 upon the true prince? Why, thou knowest I am as valiant 

 as Hercules, but beware instinct; the lion will not touch the 

 true prince. Instinct is a great matter; 1 was a coward on 

 instinct. I shall think the better of myself and thee during 

 life, I for a valiant lion and thou for a true prince." 



Here is the chip which he knocks off, and which the in- 

 stinct of a Falstaff forbids to be picked up: "This leads us 

 to assert another fact sustained by our experience, viz., that 

 the small-mouth is a more vigorous fighter in waters where 

 it is not a native; transplanting seems to infuse a new vigor 

 and to add several degrees to their gameness. What says he 

 of the Bigosh to this?" 



I have said in print that there was little or no difference 

 in the game qualities of the large and small-mouth black bass. 

 I have argued this with "Wawayanda" across the mahogany, 

 in the boat, and under a bark shanty. He still thirsts lor 

 gore. "Instinct" forbids. Macbeth says^ "I dare do all 

 that may become a man," and in this spirit will remark: 

 My fishing for black bass, and by this generic term I mean 

 both species, for I do not follow the nomenclature of West- 

 ern New York and Greenwood Lake in classing the small- 

 mouth as "black bass" and the big-mouth as "Oswtgo bass,'' 

 has been limited to the Hudson River, from Albany to Hud- 

 son, in boyhood, when the catch was accidental while fishing 

 for perch,' etc. ; the Delaware River from Lambertville to the 

 Delaware Water Gap, in both of which rivers the fish are 

 not native; among the Thousand Islands of the St, Lawrence; 

 around Kelly's Island in Lake Erie; on the St.Clair Flats, near 

 Detroit ; the New Jersey lakes (fish not native) ; the Mississippi 

 River between Dubuque, and Prairie Du Chien; the James 

 River, Virginia; and on the Tangipahoa and Notalbany 

 rivers in Louisiana. This, I believe, comprises all the 

 waters in which I have captured black bass, if we except 

 certain Canadian, Western New York and Adirondack 

 waters, where they r have been accidentally taken while trout 

 fishing. On this limited experience I do not feellike putting 

 on the gloves with "Wawayanda," unless they are very soft 

 ones and Captain Williams stands by to see that I do not get 

 it too hard. Still I will venture to say that the big-mouth, 

 inappropiately called "Oswego bass," has been underrated 

 by anglers generally. My old friend Alexander Mosely, in 

 life the editor of the Richmond (Va.) Whig, called him a 

 vulgarian when we took him in the James River, and I often 

 challenged him to nominate his fish before landing, but he 

 always hedged. 



If necessary I can refer to my published opinions on this 

 subject between 1870 aud 1879, which express the same sen- 

 timent herein given, that the big-mouth has been underrated. 

 Dr. Henshall, in his "Book of the Black Bass" (1881) does not 

 make the least distinction between the species in the matter 

 of gameness, and I agree with him to this extent: Under a 

 pound weight the small-mouth may be a trifle thegamest; 

 from a pound to two pounds there is little difference, while 

 both species after reaching three pounds weight degenerate 

 in fighting qualities, and are not equal in staying powers to 

 the light weights. 1 am aware that this is not the popular 

 belief, but it is my own, and with King Henry VI. can say: 

 ''So first the harmless sheep cloth yield his fleece, 

 And nest his throat unto the butcher's knife." 



Therefore my scalp is ready for the knife of either "Wa- 

 wayanda," A. N. Cheney, or any black bass fisher who 

 may be after hair. » 



I do not seek a controversy in this, and only write in 

 answer to a challenge. If wrong, as I often am, then it must 

 be ascribed to a desire to defend a fish that I believe to have 

 been slandered and maligned. The motto of our country 

 might be changed from E pluribus unumlo Aut Omsar aut- 

 twVms, a free translation of which might be rendered "the 

 best or nothing." We must be made to believe that a prima 

 donna is the very greatest that the world has ever heard or 

 we would not listen to her, the circus must be the "greatest 

 show on the planet," and the angler must have the gamiest 

 fish or none. Having never killed a salmon I think that fly- 

 fishing for trout and grayling is the highest form of angling, 

 and rank the black bass next. If near waters that do not 

 contain these fish 1 will fish for what may come to hand, and 

 have enjoyed bobbing for eels at night when that was all 

 that could be had in the way of fishing. Not "sport," of 

 course, but fun. and a thing to put in an evening when 

 nothing better offered. 



In this spirit 1 fish for black bass with a fly, if their ever- 

 changing humor will permit it, and if they utterly refuse it 

 then bait is resorted to. If it can be proved that the small- 

 mouth is, at a certain weight, gamier than the big-mouth ; 



then I will still claim that the latter is a noble game fish and 

 well worth angling for. We can only speak from our own 

 experience, and mine has been that the differences between 

 these fish are trifling when at their gamiest weights, but that 

 both fall off in staying qualities when large. I will not ad- 

 mit that the big-mouth is deserving of the epithets bestowed 

 on him, which it seems fashionable to echo. 



"Wawayanda" claims that the small-mouth is gamier in 

 waters to which it has been transplanted, a claim that 1 can- 

 not affirm or deny, as I do not consider that I am as good a 

 bass fisher as he," nor have I had the experience, but would 

 ask, how does transplanting affect the bottom dog in this 

 fight, the derided big-mouth? Fred Mather. 



CANADIAN SALMON RIVERS. 



THE regular auction sale of Canadian salmon rivers is 

 thus reported in the Montreal Gazette: About a 

 hundred persons attended this sale to-day at the office of the 

 Commissioner of Crown Lands in the government buildings. 

 The audience was composed chiefly of salmon anglers and 

 their representatives from England and the United States. 

 Judging from the numerous diagrams and accurate descrip- 

 tions furnished it would appear that the Commissioner and 

 his aids have made good use of the time during which those 

 privileges have fallen to the disposal of the provincial 

 officers. The upset prices were, as is probably the case with 

 many other things known only to the disciples of old Izaak, 

 somewhat fanciful; and the bidding was therefore no criterion 

 to the value of the property or the estimate which each angler 

 might attach to his particular fancy. Still the bidding on 

 the whole was brisk, and the prices procured were satisfac- 

 tory to the department. Nearly $4,000 were realized from 

 this sale. This amount will be the rental for the current 

 year, and will continue to form part of the provincial 

 receipts for other four years of the leases. There were 32 sal- 

 mon rivers offered, 2 trout, streams, and 3 nondescripts, said to 

 be fit for pickerel and winnisb. The latter were not bid for, 

 and three or four of the so called salmon rivers failed to 

 draw a starting offer or to go off at the upset figure. First 

 on the list was the Metapedia River, with its tributaries the 

 Casupscal and Amqui. These rivers have been for above 

 twenty years in the occupancy of Mr. George Stephen, who 

 Is said to have purchased all of the riparian rights and to 

 have spent considerable sums in guarding andlrnproving 

 the salmon fishing thereon. 



After some lively bidding these streams and all others con- 

 nected with the main river were adjudged to Mr. Whitcher, 

 of Ottawa, for $260, who was supposed to be acting for Mr. 

 Stephen. The next sold were two divisions of the Resti- 

 gouche, which were bought by Dr. F. W. Campbell, of 

 Montreal, and Sir Roderick W. Cameron, of New York, the 

 former paying $200 and the latter $170. The Quebec side 

 of Petapedia was awarded to the Restigouche Salmon Club 

 at $100, to form with the New Brunswick half opposite a 

 breeding reserve. A barren stream, the Little Cascapedia, 

 was bought, by Mr. Riopel, M. P., for $60. The river Bona- 

 venture was divided into three sections, which w r ere let to 

 Mr. Thorne. of New York, for $285. Nobody would take 

 the Grand Pabos. but the Little Pabos was let to Mr. Louis 

 Cabot, of New York, for $150. Its neighbor, the Grand 

 River, was bid for $50 by Col. Walker, of London, who 

 has puchased the other riparian rights from the settlers. 

 Three Gaspe rivers sold at high prices. They were bought, 

 for Bostonians by Mr. R. N. Hall, M. P.; the St. John was 

 for Mr. Cooper, at $240; the York was for Mr. Barnes, at 

 $840, and the Dartmouth for Mr. Lane, at $520. 

 With the exception of this last one, the Gaspe 

 livers were controlled by purchasers of private grants 

 along their banks. Mr. Hogan, of the St. Lawrence 

 Hall, secured the Ste. Ann des Moutos River at $230. There 

 was not much competition for it, but the upset price was 

 unaccountably high. Mr. D. C. Thomson, of Quebec, took 

 the Murray River at its upset value. The Escoumain was 

 knocked down at $25, which was dear for an empty river. 

 Sir Roderick Cameron bought the Laval River for $75. The 

 Trinity fell to Mr. Gil mom- for $105. The Moisic was 

 adjudged to Mr. A. Fraser for the same price. Mr. A. P. 

 Posers bought the Little Saguenay for $345. This stream 

 was offered at an upset price quite inconsistent with the 

 balance of rights on it disposable by the department. The 

 same miuht be said of the St. John, which was purchased 

 for Mr. E. Price at $150. The river Mars, on which nearly 

 all of the pools are in private property, was bid up by a 

 stranger to $235, at which figure it also fell to Mr. Price. 

 The famous St. Margaret was sold to Mr. Russell aud Mr, 

 Brackett respectivelv, the northwest branch at $310 and the 

 northeast at $120. These prices were out of all proportion 

 to the rights conveyed, as nearly all of the pools belong 

 already to Mr. Willis Russell and his associates, who have 

 built eight or ten cottages along the river and secured the 

 lands bordering on the adjacent pools. 



In addition to the rental paid in each instance, the lessee 

 will be taxed with the cost of private guardianship, as the 

 lessor does not assume any of the cost or responsibility of 

 protection. The sums paid for rent are therefore about one- 

 third of the cost to the several holders. It is very improb- 

 able that the federal government will spend any more of the 

 public moneys to protect and improve properties used and 

 controlled by private individuals. If the revenues are thus 

 appropriated by the province and the usufruct enjoyed by 

 tenants of an authority which does not contribute one cent 

 toward their maintenance, the probability is that in a very 

 few years the federal authorities will abandon them alto- 

 gether. There was among the intelligent and enterprising 

 persons assembled ou this occasion, a pretty forcible expres- 

 sion of dissatisfaction with the prospect which existing cir- 

 cumstances present. They foresee decline and ultimate deser- 

 tion of the salmon angliutr privileges which the official organ- 

 ization adopted at the time of confederation had done so 

 much to cultivate and enhance. They all seemed to think 

 that there has been a fatal want of foresight, enterprise and 

 liberality in the administration of the salmon fishery interest 

 by the present fisheries department, as otherwise the official 

 control and uniform development of the whole salmon fish- 

 ery would have been maintained. The short-sighted and 

 illiberal policy which has displaced the provident and vigor- 

 ous management of the salmon fishery interest was discussed 

 in terms not by any means complimentary to the Minister of 

 Fisheries. 



It is worthy of notice that a subject which could at this 

 time of the year attract together at Quebec so many intelli- 

 gent and experienced business men implies something more 

 lasting and valuable than the mere gratification of a passion 

 for the sport of salmon angling. It evinces a much stronger 

 appreciation of the recreative value of such facilities for 

 reasonable but exhilarating enjoyments as the holiday visit 



