July 15, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



489 



Profit in Bear Traps. — A York county, New Bruns- 

 wick, bear trapper took into Fredericton recently nine skins 

 of bears, trapped in the neighborhood of Zionville. Some 

 of the skins netted $15 each in addition to the $3 bounty. 

 Beavers are still found in New Brunswick in certain 

 localities numerous enough to make their trapping profitable. 



Rhode Island.— Manton, K. t, July 12.— Ruffed grouse 

 and quail are quite plenty in this vicinity, but woodcock 

 are scarce. — T. M. A. 



,SY9* .-,, . 



Mr. Griffin Smith, of Longmont, Colo.,jr?W * 

 shot a mountain lion on the Little Thompson',' 

 ured nine feet from the end of its nose to the tip ' 



MUZZLE VS. BREECH. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



I have b»-en enter ained by readme "Napoleon Merrill's" "Muzzle 

 vs. Breech" in Forest a>d Stheam of July 1. Indeed I was interesied 

 enough to hunt up 'he copy Cor April 8. to which he refers. "N. M." 

 shot 70 rods, or thought he aid. He did not measure the distance, so 

 I will wager that he did not shoot over 55 rods. I never knew a 

 "guessed" 70 rods to pan out over ahout 50. And he killed 4 turke.vs 

 out of 20 shots. "N. M." must shoot better than that if he ever 

 attends a turkey shoot in Canton, or the breechloaders will laugh at 

 him. I used the old-fashioned muzzleloader long after breechloaders 

 came in fashiou, simply because I could not afford to buy a breech- 

 loader. I have clipped chickens' and partndg"s' (erouse) heads off 

 with it, and also just as easily with the breechloader. I own a Rem- 

 ington .22. Winchester .32 and Martin .38 The Remington and Marlin 

 were regular stock guus; the Winchester was made to order, but is no 

 better shooter than those of their regular stock. I am no marksman, 

 shoor but litMe, and would b" no man to champion auy gun, but 1 

 would like to meet that muzzleloader of "N. M.'s" at a turkey shoot 

 Some three years ago we shot here for a badge, 200yds , 10 contests, 

 half at any resr, half off hand. A 14-pound muzzleloading target gun 

 and a flue double barrel were both left far in the rear before the 

 string wa^ shot out At a 50yds. snoot, 10 contests, the double gun 

 met the same fate, much to the discomfiture of a good friend of mine, 

 who loaned it to a member of the cluh to show the boys what it could 

 do. The heavy gun did not appear in that contest 



Tell "N. M." that T will on auy still day take my little .22 Reming- 

 ton with 5 grains of powder and shoot for turkeys at 175yds and °et 

 'em up for all the boys if I can't kill more than 4 in 20 sho^s I'll 

 take my 32 Winchester, 20 grains, ar same dis'ance, and agree to 

 make it 10 out of 20 shots. My Marlin I have, shoe, hut little- I hardly 

 know"no>vit does shoot. Rut I'll shoot it just as many rods as "N. 

 M." will his muzzleloader, and the man who gets the least number of 

 turkevs pays all the bills. If "N. M." comes to Canton to shoot he 

 will shoot just so many yards by the tape, whether at turkeys or 

 target. If at the former he won't be ruled out for killing 4 turkeys 

 in 20 shots either, and after he is satisfied with me he can take a 

 twist at half a doz^n others, any of whom will be happy to > hoot with 

 a man who thinks the killing of 1 turkey in 5 shots a wonderful per- 

 formance. There are good muzzleloaders and good breechloaders 

 and perhaps a muzzleloader can be found that can beat any breech- 

 loader, but to do it it must shoot a long ways bet ter than "N M.'s" 

 did. He must not think breechloaders cannot shoot well simply be- 

 cause he struck a lot of fellows — 1*11 wager the guns were all ri^ht— 

 who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn unless they were on the in- 

 side of it. We had one such fellow at a shoot I remember. He 

 fired 60 shots without drawing blood, and would have had equal suc- 

 cess with either muzzle or breechloader or even a hand spite. Our 

 boys do not pretend to be. good shots and their guns are all stock 

 guns, costing perhaps $15 each. Remingtons. Winchesters, Stevens 

 Colts, Ballards, all sorts, mostly .32 and .8S-cal.: but it takes about 40 

 turkeys to "go around" at a shoot! They don't make hogs of them- 

 selves by killing them all at once; they let the 4 in 20 shots do their 

 full share of the shooting, putting in a shot now and then when it 

 gets dull, letting the "man who puts 'em up" keep a little ahead. So 

 when it comes night each one has turkeys for himself and all his 

 friends, the poor shots have their share of the fun and the owner of 

 the turkeys comes out a few dollars ahead, as he ought to. 



Canton, N. Y. J. H. Rrj6HT0N.lt 



Don't twist your neck off . but use Allen's bow-facing oars. Little 

 catalogue free. Fred A. Allen. Monmouth, 111.— Adv. 



and $wer fishing. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish 

 ng Co. 



TROUT IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



AT the request of a number of expert anglers who have 

 enjoyed the delishls of this sequestered retreat of 

 brook trout — the genuine Salmo fontinrdis — for years, 1 send 

 you a brief description of the country, made famous hy 

 Craddock's "In the Tennessee Mountains." and of a fishing 

 excursion just concluded. I do this for the information of 

 those who truly love the sport, and who will be gratified to 

 discover new streams and new scenes in which to spend their 

 fishing vacation. 



I am seated in a log cabin that has withstood the storms 

 for over a quarter of a century, in view of.that huge archsean 

 pile, Grandfather Mountain — summit of ranges that never 

 disappeared during the convulsions of millions of years — and 

 at the foot of the knoll on which this cabin stands are the 

 lovely meadows through which ripple the pellucid waters of 

 Elk River after its animated descent. Down it has come 

 from its source in a foothill of Grandfather, over boulders 

 and beneath hlooming laurel (rhododendron), with banks 

 bordered and pools shaded by ivy (kalnia) and honeysuckles 

 (azaleas), pausing here and there to afford shady retreats for 

 its royal inhabitants, and again dashing over rocky impedi- 

 ments until it reaches the pebbly channel of the Banner 

 Meadows. Through these it sings and laughs, hiding its 

 "beauties" under an occasional clump of laurel until it 

 reaches the rocky rapids that lead on down to Smoky and 

 Scaly mountains. And every pool at foot of rapids is alive 

 with tiout — a fish that above all others that swim can thrill 

 the nerves most deliciously when struggling on a brown 

 hackle that has hooked him securely. And this Elk is but 

 one of three limpid rivers whose sources are found in that 

 foothill a couple of miles beyond the meadows. 



Tliis charming spot, with its sublime mountain surround- 

 ings, five or six thousand feet above the tide, and forest-clad 

 on~tbeir tallest summits, is never visited by anglers from the 

 North because Bohemians have defamed and ridiculed these 

 mountains out of consideration. Never wa9 a greater 

 wrong done to fishermen. For eight years successively and 

 in the month of J une tne anglers of our city have gone to 

 Banner's Elk, and been welcomed with a hearty, simple, 

 dreamy hospitality found nowhere else out of these muun- 

 tains; have been fed on well cooked and wholesome food at 

 Mrs. Louis Banner's and have caught thousands of trout 

 ranging in weight from six ounces to one pound. True, 

 these pink-dotted darlings are not so large as can be found 

 in some streams of the North, but they are just as gamy 

 when hooked, and just as delicious when lifted from the 

 frying pan. 



Banner's Elk, headquarters for movements on the Elk, 

 Watauga and Linnville rivers, is reached by the East Ten- 

 nessee, Virginia & Georgia Railway to Johnson City, twenty- 

 five miles south of Bristol and about 200 miles northeast of 

 Chattanooga. The East Tennessee & "Wester M .l"Cafo 



lina Railroad connects at Johnson's and will transport you 

 to Cranberry, thirty-five miles distant in the mountains, 

 where there is a gem of a hotel kept in Northern style. 

 From Cranberry you go in a hack or on horseback, as you 

 prefer, to Banner s Elk, eight miles distant. At Banner's Elk 

 you can be accommodated at S. M. Dugger's, who keeps a 

 regular hoarding house, or at his father's, a farmer who takes 

 in fishermen. Our club, including our ladies, always stop 

 at Mrs. Louis Banner's, but as only ladies compose that 

 family they are sometimes timid of entertaining those they 

 do not know, realizing, no doubt, that few strangers turn 

 out to be angels in disguise. Board is one dollar a day, and 

 it is excellent for the mountains of any part of the country, 

 ilway ride from Johnson's to Cranberry carries you 

 the Great Portal — the Doe River Gorge — into the 

 JT» <- "the Adcghanies. This gorge pierces the mountain 

 f*8«e that swings from the pillar of the Smokies — Roan 

 Mountain — and latches on the pillar of the Blue Ridge — 

 Grandfather xMouutaiu— both of these lofty elevations enter- 

 ing the clouds 6,000 feet above the sea. The Doe has ground 

 down a channel through this rocky spur, in places 1,000 feet 

 deep, and alongside its rushing waters the railway ascends 

 up grades 300 feet, and around curves as short as 20°. Now 

 it is on a level with the stream, again it is 100 feet above; 

 now the iron horse pants so close to the rear coach you can 

 almost toss a cigar to the engineer five car-lengths away, 

 again it dashes into a short tunnel that pierces a section of 

 the Potsdam vertebra?. The peaks reach up into the clouds, 

 usually clothed with pines, maples, beeches, linns and bal- 

 sams, but occasionally exposiug bare piles of rocks hundreds 

 of feet perpendicular, which at times thut in our train as 

 securely from sunbeams as if it was in the bottom of a deep 

 well. Over the clear, cold water project fringes of bloom- 

 ing laurel, ivy and honeysuckle. 



From Cranberry the road ascends on the bosom of the 

 mountain that bounds Cranberry River on the south, afford 

 ing snatches of lovely mountain views. After three miles 

 you ford the Elk and then you ascend that river. If you 

 come in June not only will the oaks, the maples, the hick- 

 ories, poplars, chestnuts, chenies, linns and beeciies and 

 bakams clothe Smoky and Scaly, but the laurel will have 

 on its glorious white plumes, the ivy its delicately tinted 

 and dotted clusters, and the honeysuckle the great redly 

 golden blossoms that are the glory of the mountain sides all 

 through Western North Carolina. For over three miles you 

 will ascend through bouyh-embracing forests, along the 

 bosom of the mountains at whose feet the Elk tosses, tum- 

 bles and swirls, the water of which is clear as crystal, cold 

 as ice and filled with speckled trout. Only the young and 

 agile fishermen venture on these boulders, and they are 

 always repaid with creels full of the largest fish found in this 

 section of the mountains. 



In the low mountain, three miles from Banner's Elk— a 

 foothill of Grandfather— rise the Elk, Watauga and Linn- 

 ville, and the springs of their sources are not a thousand 

 yards apart. The W atauga leaves the feet of Grandfather, 

 flows on by Valle Crucis to the Tennessee and thence through 

 the Missssippi to the Gulf of Mexico. The Elk commingles 

 in the same Hood. The Linnville, however, pours down 

 through a deep rift in the Linnville range, and after tumbl- 

 ing over a precipitous ledge one hundred feet perpendicular, 

 it hurries on between the gloomy wall of a deep canon to 

 the valley and thence to the Atlantic Ocean. I am told by 

 those who have lollowtd the course of the Linnville from its 

 source and gazed upon its rapids, pools, falls, carious and 

 beetling cliffs, that there is no sublimer scenery to be found 

 anywhere on the continent 



It has been a wet June all over the country and these 

 mountains have not been exempt from the discomforis of 

 showers. We reached Banner's Elk on June 13 for dinner, 

 and at 5 that afternoon began our first assault upon the 

 gamy inhabitants of the Elk. Only three of the four men 

 were in this first engagement and one of these was hampered 

 by the presence of ladies who attempted the sport for the 

 first time, yet when darkness fell, after two hours of whip 

 ping, there were discharged from the three creels upon the 

 floor of the porch seventy-live toothsome beauties, and over 

 twenty had been thrown back to grow larger by next year. 

 From that evening on we found the brown hackle and the 

 king of the waters or the coachman the most attractive flies. 

 We never caught a large tiout on a miller, though sometimes 

 a little fellow would rise to it. TJsu dly we fished with three 

 flies on a six foot leader, a brown hackle always at the tail, 

 then a king of the waters or a coachman and a miller or an- 

 other hackle. 



From Banner's Elk an excursion is made through the Mc- 

 Candless Cabin Gap to the sources of the Watauga and Linn- 

 ville. It is for a while up the Elk, then tnrough the dense 

 laurel and up the precipitous face of the foothills, with a 

 soil of leaves and woods decayed during centuries, twelve 

 inches deep, covered with trees of fifteen feet girth, and ferns 

 and mosses that are as beautiful as found anywhere else on 

 earth. There is excellent fishing in the Watauga, beginning 

 a little after you leave Callaway's, a mile or so below the 

 source of the river. At Callaway's you can ascend to the 

 summit of Grandfather, from which can be obtained an 

 almost limitless view of mountain scenery. From Callaway 's 

 you can fish down to Shull's Mills, where the river makes a 

 short turn to flow out into the valley of Valle Crucis. That 

 journey will be an unalloyed delight — mountains, valleys, 

 laurels, ivy, honeysuckles, dancing rapids, flower-shaded 

 pools, trout large and plentiful. At Shull's Mills is Boone 

 Fork, full of trout, and Joe Shull's resid- nee, a reasonably 

 comfortable lodging place. It is belter to take lunch from 

 Banner's and avoid the wretched cooking at Callaway's. 



R turning from Shull's Mills along tne highway, you enjoy 

 the scenery to the full. After passing Callaway's you reach 

 the Linnville, and in about three miles excellent fishing, You 

 fish on down to Webb's Pond and spend the night at Estes, 

 a half mile beyond; reasonably lair entertainment. In the 

 morning you can go to Linnville Falls, then across to Martin 

 Banner's for dinner, where you will get an excellent meal. 

 You will now be only five miles from your feather bed and 

 big wood fire at Mrs, Banner's, at Banner's Elk. One pressed 

 for time can fish the Watauga to Shull's Mills, ascend to the 

 summit of Grandfather, so down the Linnville to the falls, 

 and be back to Banner's Elk within three days, after having 

 a bushel of sport and a barrel of enjoyment. 



There are other streams in Western North Carolina where 

 trout are as plentiful and perhaps larger— as, for instance, 

 the Nantihala, Toe (Chestatoa) and Pigeon — but my heart 

 turns lovingly to the Elk, Watauga and Linnville, and my 

 homelike home at Banner's Elk. My residence is in Chat- 

 tanooga, Teun., and I will cheerfully answer all letters of 

 genuine anglers who may wish to learn more of these arteries 

 of the heart of the Alleghaniea. G C. GeiTNOB. 



Banner's Elk, Watauga County, N. C.j June, 1886. 



LIGHT RODS FOR SEA FISHING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have never fished in fresh water, but have caught many 

 weakfish in the waters adjacent to New York, always using 

 —as does everybody whom I see fishing in salt water — a 

 stiff rod. But the query has often presented itself, why can- 

 not a four or eight pound weakfish be taken with a light rod 

 as properly as can a four-pound black bass? which has the 

 reputaiion of being a mighty fighter. 



I have had occasion this season to have a new rod made; 

 but the tackle dealer would not permit me to have a light 

 rod — I must have a stiff bamboo. And so say all the natives 

 with whom I have talked upon the subjeet. 



It seems to me that a foui or six pwund weakfish will not 

 work more havoc than a black bass of similar weight; but it 

 may be that where a fish is at liberty to run he will get the 

 line afoul of one of the many oyster stakes with which weak- 

 fish grounds generally abound, and that as those fish are to 

 be found mainly, if not only, at the beginning of the flood 

 tide, where one fishf s on the flats he might lose several while 

 monkeying with one. But the black bass light rod angler 

 turns up his nose and says : 



"Well, if that is the kind of feller you are, you had better 

 go out and buy half a dozen lines and by and by haul them 

 in and thus take your fish." 



it is said that fresh-water fishes have hard mouths and 

 when hooked generally stay hooked, and that salt-water 

 fishes have tender mouths (as we all know weakfish have), 

 '"a weakfish is allowed play he will wear loose and 

 thi 1 am speaking of tide runners and not school- 



tish, „^<, purposes of this communication. But I would 

 like to know if in the nature of things there is anything to 

 prevent or to discourage the use of as light harness for weak- 

 fish as for the same weight of fresh- water fish. A. E. C. 

 New York. 



A MAINE ANGLING TOUR. 



REACHING Bryant's Pond by rail, thence the well-known 

 delightful stage ride brought me to Andover, Me. From 

 this village a buckboard takes us to the Androscoggin Lakes. 

 Arriving at the "Arm" and making a tour of the lakes 

 through to Rangeley City, my obj -ct being to visit the various 

 camps, see all the improvements, give the bojs a call, and 

 try the fishing for a big one. We were in at the death of a 

 few fish of eleven pounds and under, but not on our own 

 hook this year. The grandeur of scenery of these magnifi- 

 cent lakes is too well known to all the world to need a word 

 of remark at this day, but the early and best time of the Ash- 

 ing season here was past, as we expected. According to 

 programme we pushed on to Kenebago Lake, where, for a 

 few days, we had good sport with the little trout with which 

 Kenebago is literally alive, one roa in one day scoring over a 

 hundred with the fly. 



Passing on from here we take the river and go north two 

 miles to Little Kenebago, where we also find plenty of 

 trout. Then after about three miles more of this enchanting 

 scenery of the river, we leave our boats and take the trail 

 leading to the Seven Ponds of the Dead River country. 

 About eight miles over hill and through dale, now on the 

 river bank, again winding about the mountains with the 

 river two hundred feet beneath as it roars and Dours along 

 in the solitude of the forest, and here we are at Long Pond. 

 We took here some fine trout of three-quarters of a pound 

 and very gamy. Feeling that the clay was passing we hur- 

 ried on two miles more by spotted trail and arrived at L 

 Pond, one of the seven. After crossing this, a short carry 

 of half a mile brings us to our old camp, where all so well 

 remember our fine sport of the previous two years; taking 

 any desired number of trout three-quarters of a pound to a 

 pound and a half each, all with the fly, finally becoming . 

 dissatisfied with a strike unless the captive turned the scales 

 at a pound; and I doubt if better sport can be found in the 

 States. 



This year we expected a repetition of those conditions and 

 were not disappointed. Here the poacher has not revelled, 

 and thanks to the judicious legislation of Maine, he never 

 can ; and right here let me join in the chorus of voices that 

 praise the efforts of the Maine Fish and Game Commission, 

 for at Tim Pond, which has a basketful for each that come, 

 whether publican or sinner, since the stealing from spawuing 

 beds has been stopped, the trout taken are of much larger 

 average weight. The deer and caribou are becomiug so 

 numerous in this region that the New York deer hounding 

 legislature would turn pale with envy at the sight of the 

 tracks. The management of the camps and tables is in the 

 hands of old timers in the business, and all We had to do was 

 to enjoy ourselves and stay as long as home interests would 

 permit. 



Then we made our way out on horseback to Smith's farm, 

 from which elevation is laid before one some of the finest 

 scenery in New England, including views of Mt. Bigelow 

 and other peaks. The stage rattles along its winding course 

 to the panorama of the valley of the Carabossett River to 

 Kingtield, where the railroad takes us up and soon whirls 

 us back to our homes, healthier and wiser, if not better. M 

 BrojIfield House, Boston. 



Lake Geoboe, N. Y. — Game Constable Burnett learned 

 recently that five men from Putnam had been spearing trout 

 in Lake George, and was about to proceed against them 

 when they got wind of the fact, and going directly to 

 Justice of the Ppace Lewis Burgess of Ha^ue, made com- 

 plaint against themselves, and were fined five dollars each. 

 It was a comparatively easy way out of a bad scrape, as the 

 Putnamites have been for some time notorious for indulg- 

 ing in the unlawful practice. The men earnestly declared 

 that they "would not do so again," and the justice believes 

 that the lesson taught them will prove, a salutary one. Mr. 

 Buigess. who is familiar with tht; lake and its fUhes, is of 

 the opinion that trolling for trout should be stopped, or at 

 least that the close season should be extended until the first 

 of July. He says no person unacquainted with the subject 

 can imagine the'number of trout that are taken by trolling 

 from the first of May to the first of October, and especially 

 at the opening of the seaeon, when the trout are near the 

 surface. He thinks still-fishing with hook and line the only 

 legitimate way to take trout. As one specimen of the capa- 

 bilities of the lake we would state that Mr. Wildman Smith 

 of Hague, caught on Monday of last week, a salmon trout 

 which weighed seventeen and one-fourth pounds. Two or 

 three years ago Mr. Levi Newton captured a similar one that 

 brought down the scales at the same notch. • Neither of 

 these stories are of the ordinary "fishy" description, both be- 

 ing well autheatkated.--G I ie/w Falte BepvMican, July 6. 



