April 2, 1885. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



18 7 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



MR. W. II. CHTLDS, one of the members of the Phila- 

 delphia Kennel Club, while down the bay duck shoot- 

 ing, Tuesday, the 19th inst., saw immense flocks of snow 

 geese, and from information given bim by the man he had 

 employed, he learned that the fowl had been there about a 

 week." An effort was made to get a shot at them, but, as is 

 always the case, the geese were too watchful, and the flock 

 took wing in a mass and shifted to safer quarters not very 

 far distant. 



Ornithologists who are interested in the subject may now 

 foe sine of the presence of this beautiful goose in the waters 

 of Delaware Bay in large numbers every spring and autumn, 

 and that they appear here not as occasional stragglers merely, 

 as the books state. 



During the cold snap of last week a large shipment of 

 "Western game reached Philadelphia. I notice a number of 

 white-fronted geese in the lot and not a few snipe, besides 

 mallards and teal. As I write there is a southerly storm 

 brewing, and doubtless we will have a warm rain. This 

 will bring the snipe most surely, and they are about due, 

 taking the average of their several arrivals. The meadows 

 in most places are in good condition or will be so after a 

 rain, although there is yet some frost in the ground. Newly 

 arrived snipe, however, generally seek spring marshes where 

 vegetation is advanced and the soil does not contain much if 

 liny frost. Homo. 



The Repeating Shotgun. — Dr. D.,one of our crack shots, 

 is rejoicing in the possession of a Spencer repeating shotgun 

 and lias been making various targets as well as testing the 

 fact that a single gun will do better work than any double 

 gun. The Doctor claims that more game is killed within 

 So yards than beyond that distance, and any gun to be a 

 good field gun, one that brings meat to the bag, must do as 

 good work at 25 yards, as at 40 or 60; therefore his targets 

 are made at those distances and he thinks he has never seen 

 in all his forty years' experience, more perfect targets, while 

 at 40 yards he put 890 pellets in the 30-inch circle, still at 

 25 yards the distribution was so regular and even that while it 

 would not have let a quail through, at the same time would not 

 have torn or lacerated it. Every sportsmen knows how often 

 he has wished bis gun would shoot four or five times when 

 the birds were getting up all around him, and the Doctor 

 thinks he is now prepared for any emergency. — Dtsner (Mar- 

 shalltown, Iowa, March 27). 



Spring in Iowa.— Spring has opened up very satisfactor- 

 ily for the sportsmen. A few ducks have pat in an appear- 

 ance and the hunters are wild. Dr. Kibby and Will Osman 

 were out after ducks a few days ago, but had rather indif- 

 ferent success as it was a little 'too early. Rev. J. B. Case- 

 beer and Dr. Dorsey had a hunt ou the tapis for the same 

 day but it fell through. Reports are coming in to the effect 

 that good quantities of geese are in our neighborhood. While 

 the waters are not too high, the country is still a little more 

 inundated than will, make the spOrt-firsVe lass for a week to 

 come. What few quail there were about here have wintered 

 very well, and if the sportsmeu will protect them for a year 

 we will again have fair shooting. "Will keep your readers 

 advised of events here. — Disner (Marshalltown, March 26). 



Indiana. — Last fall's shooting season was rather disap- 

 pointing upon the whole. It was dry and very warm, except 

 in the latter part, when the blizzardsmade shooting anything 

 but a pleasure. Quail were fairly plentiful; have been 

 gaining steadily since the great snow, and if we could but 

 have the law fairly respected they would make good shoot- 

 ing in a few more seasons. It was too dry for woodcock in 

 the fall. All their favorite resorts in this vicinity were dried 

 up. Hare in abundance, and the light snows bring all the 

 old muskets into requisition.— C. W. W. (Fairland, Ind.). 



Yicksburg, Miss., March 21. — The snipe have gone north 

 mostly, though a. gentleman heard the "scaipe" of several one 

 evening the first of this week, as he passed from the entrance 

 to the government building to the Hotel Windsor at New 

 Orleans. The season on quail in this neighborhood will 

 close wilh a large supply left over. Many of the coveys have 

 apparently been untouched. — Burr H. Polk, 



On a Runway.— Cleveland, O., March 14.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: "Behind or in front of a tree?" That is the 

 question proposed by "A. F. T." as to how to watch for 

 deer. My experience is that deer will come sufficiently near 

 while sitting on a log. See illustration in Forest and 

 Stream for March o. — Dr. E. Sterling. 



Belleviixe, Out., March 19.— It is reported that a game 

 butcher in one of the northern townships found forty deer 

 yarded, killed them all, and after stripping off the pelts, left 

 the bodies to rot in the woods. The Sportsman's Club are 

 working up evidence in the case. 



Quantioo, March 27.— Great nnmbers of ruddy ducks, 

 whistlers, redheads, and a few canvasbacks are in the lower 

 Potomac now. Gunners from Washington are down to-day 

 at their club house, Richland station. The fowl are expected 

 to remain some days.— T. C. 



A Card from Major Verity.— Adironda, March, 1885. 

 — Editor Forest and Stream: Permit me to say that no ac- 

 counts of my adventures are authentic unless signed by 

 myself. I am very respectfully yours— Ma.t. Joseph 

 Verity, U.S.H.M. 



Favorably Reported.— Albany, April I.— Special Dis- 

 patch to Forest and Stream: The bill to prohibit the hound- 

 ing of deer in New York State was this morning reported 

 back from the Game Law Committee of the Senate without 

 amendment. 



In Goshen's Hole.— I spoke of the deer killed in Goshen's 

 Bole as the blacktailed deer. I used that name as it is the 

 one almost invariably used here, but "mule deer" is the cor- 

 rect name.— Millard (Bear Creek, Wyo.). 



A Hunting Hokn.— Will some of those who write of 

 "winding the horn," give instructions how to prepare a hunt- 

 ing horn, or where a good one can be purchased V— War- 

 ren. 



Tennessee. — Qail and ducks are plentiful here. Although 

 we have had a very severe winter, it does not seem to affect 

 them much.— B. (Knoxville). 



Minnesota.— St, Paul.— The Legislature adjo urned with 

 out making any changes in the game laws, 



\m nni Bivet Mi 



THE BIG TROUT OF THE THAMES. 



BY J. HARRINGTON KEENE. 



4 £ Tj^OR myself I hold the salmon to be the king of fish, but 

 V trouting to bo the choicest form of angling ; in the word 

 salmon including all the migratory species, and by trouting 

 meaning also fl y-fisbing for grayling." Thus saith Mr. Senior 

 ("Red-Spinner"), the angling editor of the London Field, 

 in a charming little work written for the "Fisheries" of 1883, 

 and he adds in a sentence or two further on, "There can be- 

 no question that salmon and trout between them represent 

 the science, ethics, poetry, rhetoric and all the rest of the 

 delicious sport of angling. " I am only concerned here with 

 the trouting part of this quotation. I fully and entirely 

 agree with "Red-Spinner," and go further in laying down 

 my individual dictum, that of all trouting that for the Thames 

 trout is far and away the chief sport, in that it requires the 

 exercise of greater art, patience and ability than ordinary 

 trout angling, and that its guerdon is a fish which has no 

 superior in beauty and strength among the Salmonddai. April 

 1 is the opening day on the Thames, and it is a joke too ven- 

 erable and oft repeated to be omitted here, that (he fish often 

 makes a fool of its would-be captor on that auspicious date. 

 The law allows of the trout being taken much earlier, it is 

 true, but the instinct of the Thames trout fisherman has 

 made the. unwritten law as it is, and no one would face the 

 reprobation which would inevitably fall on him by begin- 

 ning to fish sooner than this. The season of winter in Eng- 

 land is of all seasons the most capricious, and it Occurs now 

 and then that these large trout have not "mended" as they 

 should do, even by the orthodox date, certainly they are 

 never thoroughly takeable much earlier. The Thames trout 

 is unmistakably fin poisson d'Atril. 



Some particulars as to the personality of this fish to justify 

 the praise I have showered on it ought here to be given, 

 Briefly then it is a true '8ttVm,d fario or brown trout, and ex- 

 cepting in size and symmetry, the 15 pound Thames trout is 

 identical with the tiny twelve-to-the-pound fingerlings of 

 Dartmoor. Of this there is no doubt ichtbyologically. Lay 

 the two fish side by side and you will see that the larger i's 

 more symmetrical, and that its coloring is on an extensive 

 pattern, but the proportions in both are substantially the same 

 and size for size there is not much difference in their fight 

 ing power. Indeed those little fish of Dartmoor and Devon- 

 shire streams are. gallant little fellows. Verily, "they have 

 great souls in their little bodies." as Virgil said of the bees, 

 some thousands of years ago, and some pretty sport can be 

 gotten from them, Lilliputians though they be, by the side 

 of the Biobdingnaggian proportions of the fish we are now 

 discussing. 



Yes, the Thames trout is a brown trout, and no one who 

 has peeped through the interwoven gothic arches of the over- 

 shadowing alders' into the limpid, oily eddy, wherein a large 

 one is lying taking his afternoon siesta can forget the mot- 

 tled tortoise-shell markings of the broad-shaped back and the 

 rich dark brown of the powerful tail any more than he can 

 the full orbed eye, set like a ..huge diamond amid dark brown 

 velvet. Be wary as you look, lest you scare him, for with 

 one powerful sweep of that helm-like tail, he will disappear 

 like a beautiful dream, to a dead ceitainty. So, now you 

 can seebim quite clearly. Mark the crimson jewelry of his 

 gills as they slowly expand and close with rhythmic regular- 

 ity, and by gently bending down you will get a side view of 

 unmatched beauty; the brown markings gradually shading 

 Off to a silver sheeny white and studded over with deep car- 

 mine spots. Surely Paladin of old never wore such a mag- 

 nificent scale armor, nor was Solomon, in all his glory, 

 arrayed in such a prismatic wealth of tints and general mag- 

 nificence. Now this fish, as I have hinted, grows to the 

 weight of fourteen or fifteen pounds; indeed Frank Buck- 

 land once east one caught at Reading which weighed 16 

 pounds 15 ounces ; this was in 1880. 



The reason for its remarkable growth as compared with 

 its brothers of such rivers as the Colne, Test, Itchen, etc., is 

 not definitely known. The most probable explanation is that 

 the river produces a plentitude of some kind of insect life 

 w T hich is not so prevalent in other waters. Mr. Francis 

 Francis thinks that the larv* of the large stone fly is the 

 secret, but I can't quite adopt this theory inasmuch as that 

 the fly is quite unknown in reaches where I have myself 

 taken some of my finest fish. My idea, which I broach with 

 diffidence, is that its size and strength came of long continued 

 cannibalism, in other words it is a well known fact that this 

 fish feeds almost entirely on the Lett ciseus albumus, or bleak, of 

 which the Thames possesses immense numbers, and this diet 

 together with the exertion necessary in the chase, develops 

 its size and agility. As a collateral support to this idea I 

 may mention that Alresford Lake, near Winchester, there 

 are trout of the Ttchen breed which weigh from eight to 

 twelve pounds, though their original progenitors uever exceed 

 four, and there are myriads of roach and rudd in the lake 

 and an infinitesimal amount of insect life. And again in 

 my experience of trout streams I have invariably found that, 

 the patriarch of the mill tail, or arch, or camp sheathing, is 

 he who feeds Tegularly on the fry of the stream. Of the 

 Thames trout one thing is certain. He feeds as regularly as 

 a London alderman, and at stated times you will see him 

 chase aud catch his prey. Having ascertained the particular 

 hour at which he dines you may wager your bottom dollar 

 he does not vary a quarter of an hour for weeks — of course if 

 he isn't caught that is. 



This biings me to the subject of bis capture. The trout 

 of the Thames are not very plentiful, and with the wealth of 

 coarse fish life (which notwithstanding the thousands of 

 anglers is owing to the Thames Angling Preservation Society 

 becoming still greater) it is doubtful whether it is possible to 

 greatly increase the number without decreasing the size and 

 quality. Still there seem to be quite sufficient for the exclu- 

 sive patrician Thames trout fisher, and really I think if a 

 man gets an eight or ten pound fish once in a season it ought 

 to satisfy him, especially if he only fishes as accident and 

 leisure allow, and not systematically, and at the same time 



fetsgood spoil with the" pike, perch, carp, barbel, etc., etc. 

 'ishing fairly regularly I got thirteen in two months at old 

 Windsor in 1876, and thought myself highly successful. Here 

 as a sample is the report of trout caught in one week— which 

 I know to be correct— in 1883 from a length of the Thames 

 of twelve miles: Chertsey weir, four fish, weight 7f pounds, 

 4 pounds 14 ounces, 5 pounds, SJ pounds; bhapperton weir, 

 four fish, weighing, respectively, 5|, 41, 3f aud 2 pounds; 

 Sunbury weir, two fish of 7 and 4.J pounds respectively ; Sun- 

 bury, one of 10 pounds; Hampton Court weir, four fish, 

 weighing, respectively, 14 pounds 10 ounces, 7 pounds, 4 

 pounds and 2 pounds; Thames Ditton, one fish, 7 pounds 2 



ounces, Kingston, oue fish, weighing 7 pounds. This shows 

 a total of 17 fish, weighing together 99 pounds 14 ounces, 

 and is not a despisable record by any means, though it is not 

 at all exceptional. 



It will be noticed that many of the flsh were taken at the 

 weirs. These, it should be 'said, are the favorite "hovers" 

 and feeding grounds of the Thames trout. The larger the 

 fish the more will he delight on a bright, sunshiny day 

 to hunt the darting "willow blade," as the bleak is some- 

 times termed, amid the roaring, tumbling torrent of the weir, 

 where also, curiously enough, the bleak is fond of being, 

 little, and slender though he be. Naturally here, likewise, 

 the ardent piscator is seen, either moored securely right close 

 to the woodwork or perched on the cross beams above cast- 

 ing the flashing, spinning bait, now into the roughest of the 

 torrent's flow and anon gently and artfully governing it into 

 some foam-crowned eddy, where perchance the fish has re- 

 tired for a rest and lieth perdue. If tnis be so, not a moment 

 does that waiting fish pause to reflect; but, like a jungle 

 tiger springing ou its unwitting prey, he plunges on the bait 

 and then— the keen triplet hook is firmly fixed in the gristle 

 of his fierce jaw. Ye gods, what a period of heaped-on ago- 

 nies the next twenty minutes or so becomes. Your rod is a 

 light bamboo spinning weapon, your reel line is of eight- 

 plait dressed silk, your trace and hook-liuk are of single 

 salmon gut, and yon are pitted against a brute with the 

 courage of a lion and the wile of a fox, and strength to back 

 it up. Moreover, the breadth of the river is perhaps not a 

 hundred yards, and snarls and snags and submerged roots 

 fringe its banks. Besides all this, you are unable to move 

 from where you stand, and the struggle is carried on in the 

 boiling stream rushing away at thirty miles an hour. Think 

 of it, oh, brother piseator, and imagine the hopes and fear-, 

 that thrill through and throb the bounding pulses of the. 

 fisherman who has perhaps fished many days and only at 

 last, when patience has been well nigh exhausted, has met 

 with reward. Slowly, however, the pace tells on the game 

 fish, and piscator will find, as I have often, that when his 

 quarry has fought to a standstill, and not till then, will it 

 give up. But when it has once given up like this, be sure 

 it is all over with it. It is of no use throwing it back expect- 

 ing it to live— even supposing you mad enough— for it will 

 float away, a fish exhausted to the death. Its heart is 

 brokeu, its vitality is expended, and you are its captor but 

 not its conqueror. This may seem romantic, but it is simply 

 true of this splendid fish. 



Another and yet more sportsmanlike method of catching 

 this trout is known as the "Nottingham" style. The tackle 

 is yet more light and fragile, indeed, ray line is usually of 

 undressed silk twist, no thicker than ordinary sewing silk. 

 and gut of corresponding texture. A single, hook of No. 4 

 size is the retaining weapon, and a rod which is of the pe- 

 culiar make known as the "Nottingham," built of yellow 

 deal and lance with a wooden light-running reel are the other 

 equipments. A live bleak is the bait, and the way the tackle 

 is used is as follows: You ascertain when the trout usually 

 feeds, and some time previous the boat is anchored about 

 thirty yards above the" U9ual spot. When Sir Su'iao fario 

 breaks the water, on goes a lively bleak— beiug a top-water 

 fish it won't dive— aud the line is paid out till the feeding 

 place is reached. Then the rod is lifted as occasion requires,' 

 and the wind playing on the hue in the air, urges the bait 

 hither and thither in a most enticing way. Of course there 

 is a good deal of art in this movement, simple though it 

 sounds. When a fish is hooked depend on it there is a war. 

 and it's odds oil the fish. This method is very successful 

 when the fish has taken up his quarters in a quiet nook of 

 the stream, and not in the rough water of the weirs, but it 

 requires a first-class fishermen to use if, and therefore it is 

 not the most popular of styles on the Thames. 



Thames trout are sometimes taken with the fly, but as 

 small salmon and lake trout patterns are only used— this fish 

 has never been known to rise to a live iusect— it is fatigue- 

 iug work, and far from generally remunerative, and the 

 method only demands a pissing mention. Taking it com- 

 prehensively, the two styles described are the best, giving 

 the greatest amount of sport all around. And it maybe 

 safely said that an old trout of a dozen pounds is no tool, 

 and requires very great aud silent care to inveigle. More- 

 over, the fish has also a notion of avoiding the hooks, though 

 he almost tears off the bait. I ouce had a big fellow jump 

 at my bait in which were four triplets and a lip-hook— 

 thirteen hooks in all— aud he smashed the head of the bait to 

 pulp, but he avoided the hooks. Query: "How was it done?" 

 and with that question HI just leave the subject for this time. 



"FLY-RODS AND FLY-TACKLE." 



A BOOK with the above title has just been published. It 

 is enough to say that it is written by our valued cor- 

 respondent, Mr. Henry P. Wells. It is confined entirely to 

 the subjects named and does not wander off into bait fishing, 

 nor angling in general. Mr. Wells has devoted more time 

 and attention to the materials used in fly-fishing than any 

 person we know of, and his experience is well set forth in 

 this most valuable book. In the chapter on fish hooks and 

 the principles which govern their efficiency, the author has 

 gone over the whole ground of draft lines, penetrating 

 power, and all the forces which a model hook should possess. 



It is the chapter on rods and rod material which will be 

 the most closely scanned and criticised of anything in the 

 book. Here Mr. Wells has given the results of his study of 

 the subject together with his own preferences as to the action 

 of a rod. He recognizes that some may dissent from his 

 views when he says: "One likes a rod as stiff as a poker for 

 the lower third, and withy for the remainder of its length. 

 Another will look at nothing not stiff in butt and tip, and 

 sloppy in the middle joint. A third must have plenty of 

 action in the butt, and not much elsewhere; a fourth, uni- 

 form action from handle to the tip, but quite stiff withal: a 

 fifth the same general spring but great flexibility; and so on 

 to the end of the chapter."" The author is an amateur rod 

 maker who has experimented with eveiy wood known to rod 

 manufacturers, as well as with some that are not known to 

 them, and therefore he is an undoubted authority on this 

 subject. This chapter and the one following which gives 

 directions in rod-making forms the most perfect treatise on 

 rods extant. 



The directions for casting the fly, a most difficult thing 

 for a beginner to learu from a book, are as good as anything 

 which has appeared. We might dissent in a trivial matter 

 or two, such as the illustration showing the hand holding the 

 rod with the line running under the fore finger, etc. We 

 strike from the reel and believe it to be the true way, but 

 this is largely a matter of individual preference. The book 

 is one of great value and will take its place as a standard 

 authority on all points of which it treats, and we cannot 

 commend it too highly. 



