April 9, 1885. | 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



207 



hu mid Miver 



SECOND DAY OF THE TROUT SHOW. 



OWING to the crowd around Mr. Blackford's stands on 

 the first day and the late arrivals of some specimens 



it was not possible to give a complete list of the exhibition 

 on the da v of our going to press. On visiting the market 

 next day we were attracted by some handsome specimens of 

 Scotch Trout from the Tweed and the Forth, sixteen in ali, 

 sent by Prof. J. Cossar Ewaft, of the Scotch Fisheries 

 Board.' Mr. J. 0. Men ha II, of Portland, Oregon, forwarded 

 finely preserved trout from Idaho, StUino purpurcdas, 

 variously called, according to Jordan, "salmon trout of the 

 Columbia," "YellowsfoneYrout." "lake trout," add "Rocky 

 Mountain brook trout." Fifteen most elegant trout from 

 the celebrated Castaha springs, near Cleveland, Ohio, were 

 sent by Mr. J". L. Yale and attracted much attention. 



The exhibition as a whole was up to the average and as 

 usual attracted anglers, uaturalisls. sight-seers and many 

 ladies. It requires some knowledge of fishes to fully 

 appreciate bow instructive these displays are. and to 

 recognize the differences between the species, It is seldom 

 that' we find a collection of fresh specimens of tfaledinux 

 fontiniiUs, SfdffKvns namiiycmli, Snluw fnrio, Stdino hidea, 

 'and Bolmn purpuratiis, in fact we may say such an oppor- 

 tunity only occurs at Mr. Blackford's annual trout openings, 

 when he spares no pains nor expense to provide this 

 ichthyoloiriea] treat. 



The live carp shown were Sent by Maj. Culyer from Pros- 

 pect Park, Brooklyn, and were the progeny of fish placed 

 (here four years 'ago. The parent fish now weigh about 

 fifteen pounds and the young shown were from two to three 

 pounds weight. 



OPENING THE TROUT SEASON. 



IN XEAV TORE, 



THE opening day was a pleasant one in the vicinity of 

 New York; the sky was bright aud the air was mild 

 and spring-like. In the early morning it was feared that 

 there would be a lack of breeze, especially on the north shore 

 of Long Island, but before 7 A. M. a light ripple broke the 

 glassy stillness, of the ponds and gladdened the hearts of the 

 anglers. On the south side quite a strong breeze from the 

 south made the day as nearly perfect as one so bright can be. 

 At the South Side Club over one thousand fish were taken, 

 and as the members do not kill fingerliugs, this number rep- 

 resents a goodly weight. At other places on the Island the 

 catch was fair, 



It was expected that ex-President Arthur and Mr. Francis 

 Endieott would, by invitation of Mr. William Floyd-Jones, 

 fish at Massapequa, but the ill health of both prevented their 

 acceptance. Mr. Austin Corbin and friends had fair suc- 

 cess at Robinson's Pond ; Mr. August Belmont gave some 

 friends fine sport in his preserves near Babylon; Mr. W. H. 

 VanderbuYs ponds yielded some good fish* to a few guests; 

 Mr. Bayard Cutting, who recently purchased the pond of 

 Mr. George Lorillard at Oakdale, invited a few friends to 

 wet their lines in it, but the catch was small. At Sayville 

 the Hon. R. B. Roosevelt and party fished his preserves and 

 found them well stocked and the fish rising freely. Messrs. 

 De Forest and Weeks met with a fair reward at Ainityvillc, 

 while the Suffolk Club members met with more or less 

 success. 



On the north shore. Rev. Dr. H. J. Vandyke took a few 

 good sized fish at Smithtown. Master Wadace Blackford 

 wet his lines in the ponds of Messrs. Jones and Hewlett, at 

 Cold Spring Harbor, with small success as to the number 

 but took some fair sized fish. Harry Miner entertained 

 friends at Locust Valley, but the fishing was poor, the stream 

 at that place having been greatly damaged by the February 

 freshet which filled all thepools with sand. Mr. E. Weeks 

 of tliat place took a few fish on the meadow below. The 

 best fishing is still on the south side of the Island. There are 

 few public waters where fishing is free and these are naturally 

 over-fished. The Smithtown River is one of these, and it 

 still yields some sport, and although the catch is likely to 

 be of large fish there are not many of them. 



In former years there has been some fair fishing to be had 

 at Mount Kisco, and at White Plains, on the upper portion 

 of the Bronx River, but we have not heard from that region 

 so far. There seems to be reason to believe that the trout 

 fishing this season will be fully equal to that of several 

 previous years, and the fish are in much better condition 

 than was expected from the lateness with which the waters 

 were covered with ice. 



TN MASSACHUSET'IS. 



The opening of the trout season in Massachusetts has been 

 a failure thus far. Ponds and streams are yet full of ice, 

 and the grouud covered with snow in the western part of 

 the State. The open season lawfully begins Apiil 1, but 

 this year nature has refused to comply with the law and 

 open the ice-locked waters. So much' the better for the 

 trout, all too scarce as they are. They thus gain a few days 

 more of life. Not the usual display of trout has been made 

 in the markets, for the trout are hard to obtain. Not one 

 against ten last year has yet appeared. 



In Maine and New Hampshire the thickest ice of the sea- 

 sou was made after the middle of March, and it is now fast 

 above the trout waters. The prospects are poor for an early 

 opening. But many of the parties are already planned. 



A company of Boston sportsmen have a steamer already 

 engaged to take them from the foot to the head of Moose- 

 head Lake the day the ice goes out. The telegraph will in- 

 form them when it is likely to move, and they will hie to 

 the rendezvous with hooks baited with a worm. They will 

 be first on the ground and catch bushels of trout, probably; 

 but, alas, for the cold, bitter winds and colder waters! Give 

 us a little sunshine and green leaves, even with fewer trout — 

 if they will rise to the fly— in preference to cold winds and 

 woods full of slowly departing snow. 



But it is singular how some trout do get into market. The 

 law forbids possession previous to April I in this State, and 

 yet the few that were shown in the markets were on the 

 platters at the opening of the stalls All Fools' Day in the 

 morning. One chap in white frock carelessly answered, 

 "We have had them three or four days, but didn't dare to 

 show them till the law was off." How hard those market- 

 men try to evade wholesome laws for fish and game protec- 

 tion. 



By far the finest thing in the trout line seen this season is 

 in the window of Appleton & Litchfield, fishing tackle 

 dealers, in Washington street. It is a painting of an Andros- 

 coggin kkdmo foitluialis, a noble specimen, weighing eight 

 pounds. The painting is about 2x3 feet, showing only the 



(rout, the leader, the water and a bit of shore. The hook is 

 in his jaw. He is plunging head downward against the 

 strained leader. The broad tail appears above the foam of 

 the plunge, and the true angler can see the split bamboo 

 buckle', hears the reel hum — how his nerves thrill — if that 

 gut should break! in position the picture is full of life, new 

 to artists, but old to the anglers, like the smell of powder to 

 the old soldier. But alas! honestly the writer would suggest 

 that the water is just a little too green, like the ocean, and 

 that the bluish-gray, sparkling foam of the fresh-water lake 

 is lost— so hard to paint but so easy to see. The picture is 

 by Walter M. (Bracket, the well-known fish artist, and an 

 earnest worker for fish aud game protection in the Massa- 

 chusetts Association. Special. 

 Boston, April 5. 



LEASING TROUT STREAMS. 



A QUESTION which now threatens to be brought into 

 j\. New York courts is the right of an owner to lease 

 trout streams to individuals or clubs. A correspondent of 

 the New York Times, writiugfrom Middletown, N. Y., says: 

 "Some of the principal summer hotel and boarding house 

 keepers in the Sullivan and Ulster county trout regions, are 

 endeavoring to have an organized effort made by all people 

 interested in the same business to test the question as to 

 whether the members of private sportsmen's clubs acquire 

 the exclusive right to fish in streams by the fact that they 

 have leased the Waters of parties through whose lands they 

 flow. The importance of this matter is vital to those wdiose 

 livelihood depends in a great measure on the attractions which 

 trout fishing affords to their localities, as during the past few 

 years the best portions of the trout streams in not only tbe 

 above counties but in Delaware county have passed under 

 the control of private clubs, and some of the most famous 

 streams have been leased from mouth to source. No person 

 not a member of the clubs so leasing, or bearing a permit 

 from them, can cast a line in their water without making 

 themselves liable to arrest aud punishment. The Willowe- 

 moc, the Beaverkill, the Neversink, and all their numerous 

 branches, streams that made the region celebrated among 

 anglers years ago, are no longer common property, and the 

 native who has lived wdthin sound of their waters and fished 

 them at will all his life, as well as the oily angler who has 

 been in the habit of spending his vacations along their banks, 

 can now only steal to their pools and cast their lines as 

 poaching outlaws. As it is now, a few men control the great 

 trout region aud alone enjoy it to its best advantage. The 

 opponents of this class ownership of fishing rights hold that 

 these streams, having been restocked during the past few 

 years and brought back to their original value as trout 

 waters by the work of the State Fish Commission, the cost 

 of which' work has been paid from the public funds, a few 

 persons cannot enjoy the advantages of such public work 

 and expenditure to the exclusion of all others by the mere 

 formation of clubs and leasing the privileges of the streams. 

 They hold that the fish in tbe creeks are now public prop- 

 erty^ and the. courts will be asked to decide upon the cor- 

 rectness of the ground taken. If the anti-club people do 

 not succeed in ourtailiug the privileges of the clubs, many of 

 the sportsmen's resorts will ueoessarity be closed, and thou- 

 sands of dollars that have been left in that section annually 

 by city people will be diverted elsewhere. This is a matter 

 in which the railroads as well as the boarding house keepers 

 are interested, over 15,000 persons having paid them for 

 transportation to different trout regions last season, and their 

 co-operation in testing it will be expected." 



It will be seen that the main point of objection lies in the 

 fact that some, or all, of the streams have been stocked at 

 the expense of the- State. No doubt this will be a very 

 knotty question for the lawyers, and we shall watch the case 

 with great interest. So much will depend on the ownership 

 of the land and the legal rights of owners on streams which 

 are navigable wholly or in part, and the many conditions of 

 ownership which will be found in the different brooks, that 

 it is impossible to give an opinion upon the merits of the case 

 in the light of our present knowledge. It is for the courts to 

 decide whether riparian property holders may dispose of their 

 fishing rights to others or not. The Fish Commission has 

 given fish to stock private waters in several cases, and 

 whether such action would necessarily throw those waters 

 open to tbe public or not is one of the points at issue. It is 

 well known that well-stocked waters within easy reach of a 

 great city soon become fished out and worthless for angling 

 when thrown open to the public, so that within a few years 

 afterward there is uo fishing worth going after there. 



A correspondent comments on the Tim ra article-as follows: 

 "Permit me as a member of one of the clubs alluded to, to 

 give in as few words as possible the condition of affairs from 

 our standpoint. I f the fishing in these streams would always 

 remain as good as it was when the hotels were built and 

 railways introduced into this section, their argument would 

 be better, but unfortunately the reverse is the case. Four 

 years ago I ceased fishing the Beaver Kill because it was 

 utterly fished out, and for the first time fished in the Never- 

 sink River. I found there, as had been the case with the 

 Beaver Kill and adjacent waters, the river almost devoid of 

 fish; that parties from a distance were in the habit of visit- 

 ing the streams with tbe apparent view of carrying away as 

 many fish as possible, regardless of size, hiring small boys 

 to increase the catch, and making use of other unsports- 

 manlike ways of depleting the streams. I have heard parties 

 boast that tliey had carried away 1,100 fish (some of which 

 were scarcely two inches long), the result of three days' fish- 

 ing, besides all they ate. In contradistinction to this the 

 Neversink Club limits the catch to twenty five per day to 

 each member. The fish must exceed eight inches in length 

 and be taken with the fly. One aim of the club is to pre- 

 serve the fishing generally by preventing the excesses al- 

 luded to, the result of which will be a real benefit to the 

 whole of this section. It is a mistake lo suppose all the 

 streams are leased. The above facts show that it is not 

 the fault of the clubs that the streams are depleted of 

 fish, but it is owing to the thoughtless and indiscrimi- 

 nate slaughter by persons whose only object is their own 

 pleasure for the time being. The real facts are the fishing 

 has been destroyed by this class of persons, permitted by the 

 hotel keepers and owners of the streams to fish them. Sports- 

 men will not patronize hotels or travel over railways for the 

 purpose of whipping streams that contain no fish. As to the 

 legality of the clubs to lease the streams, I beg to say that 

 should the clubs waive the ownership of the fish in their wild 

 state they certainly have the right of property, and can ex- 

 clude any person from trespassing upon their grounds for 

 the purpose of fishiug. The clubs not only lease the water, 

 but the land through which it flows. Granting that citizens 

 have a right to catch State trout, I fail to find the authority 

 that permits them to trespass upon private grounds. The 



statement that 15,000 persous who visited this region last 

 year will be diverted elsewhere unless the clubs are broken 

 up seems not to be borne out by the facts. The clubs have 

 been in existence some years, arid the fishing outside of the 

 club grounds is worthless, Y/hen the Neversink Club leased 

 a portion of the Neversink River, the scarcity of fish was so 

 gl'Gat that it had to stock the stream. Sonic thousands of 

 yearling trout were bought and put in the river at the ex- 

 pense of the club. It is the pure air, the charming scenery, 

 the low price of living, and the accesibility from New York 

 city that induced these 15,000 people to visit this section. 

 Trout fishing is only one of its charms, and this will be en- 

 tirely ruined in a few years unless the streams are properly 

 protected." 



A writer in the (Jonhiucrdid AdwrUsui- says: "In Europe 

 streams are considered tbe property of the owners of the 

 land on the banks, or else they arc under the control of the 

 municipalities. The right to fish, subject to all the provis- 

 ions of the law which regulate close and open seasons, is in- 

 vested in these property owners or municipalities. The plan 

 works excellently there, even in the vicinity of large cities. 

 While living at Ooburg, Germany, I could, by a walk of 

 twenty minutes, reach a stream where, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, I could land a dozen trout or grayling, weighing 

 from one-half to a pound each, in an hour. For this privi- 

 lege I paid $8 a year. Here all the streams have been fished 

 out. The game laws have, done something, but not enough. 

 It will be an undoubted hardship if all the streams are rented 

 here." 



CASTING FOR TROUT. 



IN the volume entitled "B'ly-Hols aud Fly-Tackle," by 

 Mr. II. P. Wells, which we noticed last week, we find 

 much on a closer perusal which is more instructive than the 

 ordinary run of angling hooks, partly because if is new, and 

 partly because Mr. Wells has the faculty of saying things so 

 concisely that his meaning is perfectly clear. His chapter 

 on casting the fly and that ou flies and fly-fishing, contain 

 about all the instruction which can be obtained from a book. 

 With these, combiued with practice, the novice may become 

 an expert. 



Of the most killing dies he says; "It may well be con- 

 ceived that he whose angling has been confined to much 

 fished waters, and he who habitually fishes far from the 

 haunts of men, where trout arc both numerous and unedu- 

 cated, would differ in experience, and consequently in 

 opinion. 



"We must remember that our horizon does not include the 

 whole habitable globe. II, may rain in the State of New 

 York, while the sun is shining in full splendor elsewhere. 

 The truth is, there are few points in regard to fly-fishing of 

 wUich it may justly be said this is right and that is wrong, 

 irrespective of attendant circumstances. As the inhabitants 

 of the Eastern States differ from those of the West or South, 

 so the fish of different localities differ in habit and inclina- 

 tion. The most killing flies on the Maine waters would 

 scare the trout of a Pennsylvania brook into fits. We know 

 next to nothing of the causes which influence the conduct of 

 fish. To-day they will take any kind of humbug greedily — 

 to-morrow r , without apparent change of conditions, they act 

 as though it were a solemn fast, and ignore every form of 

 temptation." 



Mr. Wells cautions beginners not to strive after a long cast, 

 but to let that take care of itself, and that thirty-five feet 

 should not be attempted until thirty can be cast without 

 effort; and advices that the wrist and not the elbow should 

 he trained to do the work. Directions for casting when 

 wading, casting from a boat and from a bank, are given. 

 When casting, he says : "Locate your boat first, if you fish 

 from a boat; or, if you cast from the shore, take your staud 

 deliberately and noiselessly. Then allow some minutes to 

 elapse, that any alarm occasioned by your approach may 

 subside. When you begin, start at about thirty or thirty-five 

 feet, aud cast around your position, directing the fly at each 

 throw about six feet to one side of where it last fell, and so 

 cover the water like the rays of a fan. When one circuit has 

 been completed without a rise, lengthen out about six feet, 

 and, beginning at the same starting point, repeat. Continue 

 this until you have all the line out you can cast perfectly 

 straight every time, ami do not go a single foot beyond. Nor 

 should discouragement follow because success is deferred. 

 It behooves him who would boast of the capture of a large 

 trout (and it is a thing to boast of) to remember that if he 

 wants to catch any fish he must keep his line wet; or, in 

 other words, be patient and persevering. His vigilance must 

 never flag, ever expecting the very next cast to draw the 

 wished-for prize." 



The beginner is told that success in fly-fishing in waters 

 where the trout are familiar with the wiles of the angler de- 

 pends much on concealing the connection between the line 

 and the fly. 



"We have all cast," he says, "time and time again without 

 a rise where we knew the fly was seen by trout every time it 

 touched the water. We have then changed and ckauged 

 our cast, yet all in vain. We have distinctly seen a trout 

 rise to the fly, approach if closely, and then, turning from it 

 warily, revert whence he came. Under these trying circum- 

 stances permit me to advise that after the cast has been varied 

 a reasonable number of times without success the leader be 

 changed to one of a different color. I feel confident that in 

 many cases this will solve the difficulty." For instance, if 

 we are to fish a meadow stream or water in which an appre- 

 ciable quantity of green floating matter is present, we should 

 provide ourselves with green leaders. If, on the other hand, 

 the water appears brown colored, we should use our dark- 

 est tinted leader at all hours. Under ordinary conditions of 

 clear water we should begin with a lighter ink-dyed leader, 

 varying to the uncolored sort about half past 10 in the fore- 

 noon, and returning to the first from 8 to 4 o'clock Finally 

 we are cautioned "not lo be deceived by the appearance of 

 the leader as we look down upon it, for this gives little or no 

 indication of its visibility when viewed from underneath." 

 He gives the result of his experiments with a tank with a 

 glass bottom through which he looked upward to discover 

 bow the leader appeared from the point of view of the fish, 

 part of which he detailed for Forest akd Stream some 

 time ago. 



In concluding, the author regrets that fly-fishing is not 

 more in favor with ladies, and thinks that "where the use of 

 a boat is practicable, there is no earthly reason why they 

 should not derive the same mental, moral, and physical 

 benefit from it as do men. It is a general pursuit, and a 

 cleanly, and affords an ample field for the exercise of that 

 manual delicacy and skill for which women are pre-eminent, 

 while at the same time, unlike every other out-of-door sport, 

 no great muscular exertion is required, nor is excessive 

 fatigue incurred." 



