88 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AtJG. ST, 1885. 



diameter of the feiTule, by this means the wood on which 

 the male ferrule is fitted will be nearly as larp;e as the wood 

 of the female end. This is absolutely necessary in order to 

 sceuj-e a true bow to the rod. By using short ferrules the 

 stiffness at the ferrules will be lessened and the rod will bend 

 in a truer circle. By having the ferrules swelled or raised 

 at both ends, as is now the^ common custom, the wood of 

 larger joint near the ferrules must be some larger than the 

 wood of the smaller joint. This, by the abrupt "stiffness not 

 only affects the graceful bending o£ a rod, but actually makes 

 the rod weaker at the joint by one side being stiff er than the 

 other. 



The male ferrule can be fitted on by heating and di-iving 

 in the same way as the other, and afterward smeared with 

 rubber cement. The open end of the female fen-ule should 

 be welded by a small bead around the outside edge, it will 

 add much to the strength and is a necessity for short ferrules. 

 In this way veiy short ferrules can be 'used and still be 

 stronger than the wood, besides adding much, to the supple- 

 ness and spring of the rod. 



Ferrules without dowels that have by long use become 

 worn so much as not to fit snug can be easily remedied in 

 this way : Bore a hole in a piece of wood about one inch 

 thick and wide enough to have from three-quarters to one 

 inch solid wood each side of the hole. The stick should be 

 eight or ten inches long with hole near to the end, the hole 

 should be just the size the outside diameter of the ferrule 

 you desu-e to shrink. Then with a saw slit the wood through 

 the center of the hole to a few inches beyond the hole. Slip 

 this on the part of the ferrule that is filled with the wood of 

 the rod, then clamp the whole in a strong vise. Be sure to 

 have the open end of the ferrule project beyond the jaws of 

 the vise. By screwing hard with the vise the wood will close 

 up where sawed and hold the ferrule firmly without smash- 

 ing or bruising. Now have two other pieces of good hai-d 

 wood about one inch square each and about one foot long; 

 lay one on top the other; near the center put through two 

 strong wood screws, liaviug tbe screws about one inch apart. 

 Between the screws, with the center of the bit in the joint 

 between the stick, bore a hole the same size as the outside of 

 ferrule. After the hole is bored take out the screws and 

 with a plane dress a little less than one-sixteenth of an inch 

 off from each of the sides that the bit cut through, then oil 

 the outside of the projecting ferrule, screw on the clamp as 

 prepared and revolve it around, moving it back and forth on 

 the feiTule. By tightening the screws and repeating the re- 

 volving process you can shrink a loose ferrule to an exact fit 

 in a very short time. In business this operation J often find 

 necessary with new rods, as an imperfect fitting joint gives a 

 rod a vei-y unpleasant feeling in the hand. Tlie "operation of 

 shrinking a ferrule in this manner is quite simple and easily 

 done. 



For the last five years I have used no other kind of a rod 

 but the kind without dowels, and am more than convinced 

 that rods without dowels are best for any kind of a rod, 

 heavy or ligkt. However, heavy rods are fast becoming 

 things of the past. Sport ceases where labor begins. Hand- 

 ling a heavy rod is very much, like labor. Califoknian. 



OOLUMBDS, O. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I was very much pleased to read the experience of Mr. H. 

 P. Wells with a non-doweled salmon rod, as related in 

 F0RE8T -AJSD Strkam of August 13, and was much gratified 

 to learn tliat his rod withstood so successfully the trying 

 ordeal of killing twenty -five salmon. But while the result 

 can be looked upon as a perfectly natural one, or as a matter 

 of course by those anglers who have used this superior form 

 of joint, it is perfectly incomprehensible to me why manu- 

 facturers still persist in using the dowel and tenon joint in 

 any style of rod, for a rod joint that is good in one kind of 

 rod must be good in all. 



The success of JVIr. "Wells with the non-doweled joint, in 

 both salmon and trout fly-rods, only confirms my experience 

 of thirty years with the same joint iu both light and heavy 

 rods. One of the specifications for the Henshall black bass 

 rod is for non-dowel joints, and I am assured by manu- 

 facturers and anglers that it has had the greatest influence 

 in convincing them of the superior utility of this over the 

 dowel and tenon joint. I have never taken a salmon, but 1 

 am impressed by tlie opinions of anglers who have fished from 

 Nova Scotia to Florida, that the salmon is not so trying to a 

 rod as a bonefish or a tarpon of equal weight; but however 

 this may be, if a salmon fights as hard as either of these fishes, 

 when of equal weight, he is certainly entitled to his distinc- 

 tion of furnishing the acme of fresh- water fishing. 



During one of my visits to Florida 1 used for sea fishing a 

 heavy Henshall ash and lancewood rod of eleven ounces, 

 with flush joints, made by Abbey & Imbrie, and an ash 

 and lancewood striped bass rod of fifteen ounces, with 

 doweled joints, by another maker. With the former I killed 

 redfish, drum, and tarpon up to forty pounds, crevalle up 

 to thirty, bluefish as high as ten, and bonefish of five pounds 

 —I cannot say just how many, but certainly hundreds of 

 various sizes — and that rod is just as good to-day as when 1 

 first received it. In casting heavy mullet bait in this style 

 of fishing the rod never came apart, nor was there the 

 slightest loosening of either of the joints, in casting the bait 

 or in playing a fish. 



But my experience with the heavier striped bass rod, with 

 doweled joints, was not so pleasant, for although the joints 

 seemed to fit perfectly, no looseness or shaking being percep- 

 tible, they separated several times in casting, and once while 

 playing a heavy fish, and it was at last rendered hors de 

 cowMat by breaking scjuare off just below the ferrule of the 

 butt piece while casting, in consequence of being weakened 

 by the tenon at that point. Now this was a handsome, well- 

 finished rod, made of the best materials, and with as perfectly 

 fitting doweled joints as I ever saw in any rod, and for 

 which I paid a long price. I hold that the tapered dowel, 

 in the correspondingly tapered tenon, will become loosened 

 in its bed, like a wedge, from continual casting, and the 

 joint will eventually separate. My experience proves it. 

 Viewed in this light, a perfectly fitting dowel joint, that is, 

 where the dowel is accurately fitted to a tapered tenon, is 

 really worse than (as is often the case) where the tenon is 

 bored perfectly straight; in the latter case the joint is formed 

 by the ferrules only, for a tapered dowel in a straight hole is 

 worse than useless. 



While, as I have intimated, a long experience with both 

 light and heavy rods (bait-rods and fly -rods) has convinced 

 me of the greater excellence and utility of the flush, non- 

 doweled joint, with short, cylindrical ferrules, over the 

 dowel and tenon joint, I merely instance the two rods above 

 mentioned to corroborate and atflrm, so far as possible, the 

 experience of Mr. Wells with his salmon rod. I have had 

 light rods with doweled joints to throw apart or separate on 



other occasions, and have had them to break at the tenons, 

 but I have never yet had a non-dowel joint to separate or 

 thi'ow apart in casting or in playing a' fish, nor have I ever 

 broken a rod in any of its parts, in actual fishing, that was 

 fitted With flush, non-dowel joints. But then the dowel joint 

 is ' 'so English, ye knaw. " James A. Henshall. 



Ctnthiana, Ky., August, 1885. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Supplementary to the article of Mr. Wells, in the issue of 

 Aug. 13, anent simple ferrules, let me add my testimony to 

 his as to their great superiority over dowels. I have a 9- 

 ounce Henshall bass rod with simple ferrules, which I have 

 used for four years, and on which 1 have killed some pretty 

 heavy fish, running web up into the *teens, and the ferrules 

 on it are as close a fit to-day as they ever were. But let me 

 emphasize, by the recountal of a Uttle experience of my own, 

 his advice as to the necessity of having them fit so closely, 

 that the ends of the wood shall be in co'ntact. 



A few weeks ago while at Detroit Lake, Minn., still-flsh- 

 ing from a boat, I laid my rod down, butt between my legs, 

 joint and tip projecting over the gunwale, and proceeded to 

 fill my pipe. The wind was lilowing on my back, and, 

 when I came to light a match I had to turn pai-tially around 

 to shield it with my closed hands. While thus engaged, 

 some finny rascal took advantage of the situation to make a 

 sudden dash for my bait. Under the boat he went like a 

 locomotive, and before I could get at the rod, the butt ferrule 

 had been bent completely in two. Whence I draw a double- 

 barreled moral: 



First — Never, when your bait is in the water, lay your rod 

 in such a position that the reel can't render; and. 



Second — In putting yom' rod together, be sure that the ends 

 of the joints touch, which they didn't in this case, by half an 

 inch. H. P. IJfford. 



Casselton, D. T., Aug. 19. 



A TALE OF A LOON. 



MY old friend, whose "remarkable catch" of a lost fishing 

 rod at Sault Ste. Marie, published in the Forkst and 

 Stream some time ago, calls upon me frequently at my 

 oflice, and when he finds me disengaged is glad to talk with 

 me about his more than half a century's experience as a fish- 

 erman. His reminiscences are always entertaining from 

 their extended and varied character, and particularly so on 

 account of the pleasant and quaint manner in which they are 

 related. Here is an incident he told me a few days ago; it's 

 another remarkable catch : 



"A good many years ago, when our rivers and streams 

 afforded plenty of excellent fishing, before their waters were 

 polluted by the sewerage of cities and poisoned by the refuse 

 from hundreds of manufacturing estabhshnients and oil 

 refineries as they are now— mind you, contrary to the law, 

 too, notwithstanding our State Fish Commissions and the 

 fish and game protective societies organized in every town 

 and city — Chi-isty A. and Billy F. and myself went to 

 LoweU, on the Mahoning, to troll for large white salmon and 

 pike. I never fish with those murderous spoons, as they call 

 them, or artificial minnows with gangs of hooks on them, 

 which lacerate and tear the jaws off more fish than are cap- 

 tured by lazy, unsportsmanlike fellows with them. I bait a 

 single hook with a real minnow or a chub, and with a light 

 rod and suitable tackle take my chances and give the fish 

 theirs. 



"Well, Christy and I got separated from Billy F. and we 

 were having pretty good luck, but Billy had not a nibble. 

 He became tired and thirsty, besides wanted to have a smoke, 

 but couldn't find a match to light his pipe. He had been 

 fishing along a rocky point — a first rate place too it was for 

 big fellows. His bait was a fine lively chub, and he did not 

 like to lose it, so he cast it as far out into the river as he 

 could and stuck the end of his rod into a cleft in the rocks, 

 then started up to town for refreshments. He had not been 

 gone long, when a loon came swimming down stream, and 

 dove and rose up again in front of us. I remarked to Christy 

 that the loon was feeding, and if it got down a little further 

 it might find Bifly's bait. Sure enough when it next came up 

 it had the bait in its bill. It made a great rush when it felt 

 the hook, jerked the I'od into the water and started away 

 with it at great speed, the water flying from the reel five 

 feet in the air, so fast was it going. Christy took the oars, I 

 got into the bow of the boat and we went in pursuit of the 

 loon. He would dive, come up for air, then go down again 

 and so on, but for some reason could not steer well, tacked 

 hither and thither. The water flying from the reel always 

 showed us his position, and by making crosscuts we gained 

 upon him, and at last were near enough for me to catch the 

 rod. Then I had sport, the game was as strong as a fifty- 

 pound pike and a deal livelier and called into play all my 

 skill to save it. The chase continued for thirty minutes, 

 loon rising and diving and splasliing and straggling to break 

 away, and we had to make for shore. 



"When I got on land I began to reel in; there were about 

 one hundred and fifty feet of line out, and when the line was 

 shortened enough, we could see the loon in the clear water, 

 and were surprised at its length, and observed how it used 

 its wings under water just as in flying. At last he became 

 wearied and we were enabled to get the landing net under 

 him and lifted him out. Then we found the true state of 

 affairs. The bird had taken the bait by the middle and when 

 he bit it in two the hook slipped and caught in his shoulder 

 in front of one of his wings, not in the mouth at all. That's 

 why he had such strength. He was not much hurt and 

 could breathe freely, and consequently gave a long and gamy 

 fight. What should we do with him? We concluded to tie 

 him up and take him home for the proof of our exploit. A 

 loon's legs stick out behind you know, they can't stand up 

 like a goose, and v^e had considerable trouble in securing our- 

 captive as we finally did to a seat in the boat. I forgot to 

 say that a great crowd of people came down from the town 

 to see the fun while it was going on, and bets were even on 

 loon or fisherman. We got three cheers when we had gained 

 the victory. 



" We then began fishing again, and everything went along 

 nicely for a while, till the loon took advantage of the first 

 opportunity it had by jabbing its sharp bill with much feeling 

 into a very sensitive part of Billy's anatomy just as he 

 leaned forward to take a 'long pull and a strong pull' on 

 the oars. With a cry of mingled pain and terror Bill.y threw 

 himself forward, falling into the bottom of the boat, dropped 

 the oars, and very neaiTy capsized the crew. Some moments 

 elapsed before either of us took in the situation. 



"When we did and quiet and equilibrium were restored, a 

 council of war was held. It was agreed that the fight had 

 been alike creditable to both parties — the killed and wounded 

 were equal, and it was therefore decided to give the loon his 



liberty. He was untied, and without standing on the order 

 of his going, tumbled overboard, dove beneath the water and 

 came up again about fifty yards awav. As soon as he ap- 

 peared he gave a yeO which might ' have been heard three 

 miles off, no doubt to inform his mate that 'Eicbard was 

 himself again,' and then began adjusting his ruffled plum- 

 age and prinking himself in a manner which afforded us as 

 much amusement as any other part of the whole affair, tt 

 made us feel very glad that we had acted toward him so 

 macrnanimously by giving him his liberty. For ten minutes 

 he lingered in sight and continued to comb his feathers with 

 his bill and claws, now and then turning his head from side 

 to side in the most c omical manner to look at himself in the 

 mirrored surface of the water and observe the effect pro- 

 duced in his appearance. Then, with another scream he 

 bade the party good bye, dove up stream, reappearing agaih 

 and again in the distance, each time further away; bound as 

 fast as he could go toward home and Mis-. Loon, -^vhb Was, 

 I believe, anxiously awaiting him.'' H. 



FISHING IN DAKOTA. 



DURING the summer of 188—, while out on a land pros- 

 pecting tour, we chanced to drop into the town of 

 Gr— , on the line of the N. P. R. R., expecting to find some 

 choice, unoccupied lands; but after carefully searching the 

 adjacent country we were forced to admit that we had ar- 

 rived about a year too late. The season being far advanced, 

 we concluded to drop business and devote our few remaining 

 days to the slaughter of the finny tribe. The next morning 

 found us in a rickety wagon, behind two very small ponies, 

 which appeared utterly unfit to drag the load of 600 pounds 

 and over of humanity the distance of twelve miles to the 

 lake, our objective point. We started from the hotel at 7 

 A. M., winding our way up through the steep coolies leading 

 from the river bottom to the rolling prairies, upon which 

 the excellence of the roads could hardly be surpassed. We 

 then drove on for about two hours, the ponies alternately 

 trotting and loping, as best suited their individual fancy, all 

 the time, however, covering the ground in a way that plainly 

 showed they could pile up a large score in one day. 



Betwixt the departure and arrival at the lake, nothing of 

 note occurred, excepting the way our approrch caused the 

 numerous gophers to scamper off into their burrows. Our 

 party had become rather anxious at the non-appearance of 

 the lake, when suddenly our Jehu pulled up the ponies and 

 then we beheld, on looking down the steep bank beside us, 

 a most beautiful sheet of water about one and one-half miles 

 long that appeared from our elevated position to have sunken 

 down from the prairies, bearing high banks surrounding it, 

 thickly studded with cottonwood trees and various small 

 shrubs. It did not take us long to unload our traps and 

 tether the horses, when we were ready for business. Then 

 one of the pai'ty suggested that first we might better look for 

 the boat, that our host in town had informed us was hidden 

 in the rushes nearby our present position; so all hands 

 dropped their tackle and joined in the search, which resulted 

 in our finding a good chnker-built fastened to a stake in the 

 rushes. While searching for the boat we disturbed a mallard 

 duck with a fine brood of duckflngs, whose frantic endeavors 

 to escape from our intrusion was very comical to behold, 

 and the dexterity showed by the mother duck in leading her 

 young away to a place of safety proved most interesting. 



Setting traps and tackle in the boat, we then drew lots to 

 determine who would be the first to row, as we intended to 

 troll for whatever would bite. Friend A. took the oars, and 

 when he had rowed out far enough we began to let go our 

 lines, of which we had four. The last line had hardly 

 payed out when No. 3 had a good strike, which threw us 

 into a state of excitement. Each one of the party had some 

 advice to give, meanwhile the lucky man was struggling 

 manfully with his fish, that proved to be a pickerel of aliout 

 six pounds, which, although making a good fight, was 

 obliged at close quarters to succumb to the home-made gaff 

 hook with which we had provided ourselves. The next two 

 or three fish being under five pounds were thrown into the 

 water, according to the custom of the lake. Presently our 

 captain gave a sudden start which nearly upset our craft, 

 and began to pull in his line in dead earnest. We expected 

 he had a monster at last ; the fish showed good fight, but it 

 proved to be only a perch of one and one-half pounds. Here 

 let me state that the perch found in the waters of Dakota 

 are, as a rule, very gamy, and in fact offer as much sport as 

 a good-sized pike or pickerel. On taking the average weight 

 of the perch caught they tipped the scales at a pound each. 

 With a six-ounce split bamboo and a large yellow moth great 

 sport can be had with these fish near dusk. 



We then began to have poor luck, and at last they ceased 

 biting entirely. We were asking each other what might be 

 the matter, when a small boy came out from the shore in a 

 dugout, and kindly informed us that either we must keep in 

 shore or else use a thumper if we wished to catch any more 

 fish. Now as none of us had ever heard of such a thing as 

 a "thumper" we shrieked at the urchin to learn the meaning 

 of that word, and after considerable parleying we were 

 given to understand that the said article was nothing more 

 nor less than a five pound weight tied to the line about fif- 

 teen feet from the hook, which causes the line to sink, thus 

 reaching to the large fish that lay in deep water. As we 

 had nothing to make a "thumper" from, we decided to take 

 the boy's first suggestion to hug the shore, so our oarsman 

 was requested to get himself in motion, and we soon found 

 ourselves skirting a lot of reeds along the shore. Hardly had 

 our Unes straightened out when the fish began to bite, and I 

 never expect to enjoy such sport again, as we had our hands 

 full puUing in the lines as fast as we possibly could. The 

 water seemed fairly alive with wall-eyed pike and pickerel, 

 of all sizes from one to eight pounds in weight. Never had 

 - we enjoyed so much sport before, and as the reader may 

 imagine, we became rather excited, not to mention the snarl- 

 ing of the lines, etc. Upon reaching the end of the rushes, 

 which extended for about 800 yards, we made a long sweep 

 to turn the lines, returning over the same ground again 

 three times with the same general result as before. 



By that time it was about 3 o'clock P. M,, and our cap- 

 tain suggested that as we only had about one hour more 

 before our homeward start we had better try the "thumper" 

 for a big fellow. However, what to use as a thumper being 

 the question, all hands endeavored to find a suitable article 

 without success, until the small man of our party gave a 

 whoop like an Indian, enough to make one's blood run cold, 

 and yelled out, "I've struck it, boys," and produced a small 

 half-pound baking-powder can containing worms, which he 

 dumped into the lake, and forthwith proceeded to jab a hole 

 in each end with the gaft' hook. Then taking his bag of 

 brass shells, he removed the wads from about two dozen, 

 dumped the shot from them into the can, first running the 



