FOREST AND STREAM. 



7 



Achlrcss all cominmmuons to tlw Forest, md Strenm Pwb. Co. 



W 



DOBSONS. 



THE most likely places to find dobsons axe in brooks 

 and riTcrs below dams and factories, where the wa,ter 

 is low a i)art of the time. I believe they are to be found 

 in nearly aU natural trout sti-eams. Provide yourself 

 with a net such as is used to catch minnows; it should be 

 of good strong twine, 2 or 3ft. across, with an iron 

 hoop, the hoop'made oblong, so it will cover more space 

 on the bottom of the stream. A net made of mosquito 

 netting will do for a few times, but it soon wears out and 

 the water does not pass through as readily. Take also an 

 iron-toothed rake, or, what is better, a potato digger. Set 

 your net in some narrow part of the stream where tlie cm-- 

 rent will pass through it; keep it upriglit with a forked 

 stick shaped like a hay fork, placing the handle end of 

 your stick before yoiu- net and let the net fall back against 

 the forked ends. ' If you have some one with you to care 

 for the net you will not need the stick. Now, go above 

 the net and with votu- rake stir the coarse gravel and smaU 

 stones, so that the rile will pass thi-ough the net; and lift 

 the large rocks with the hands and let them back again 

 nearly as you found them, for some other dobsons may 

 •want to live there, and they prefer flat stones for a hiding 

 place. When you start them out from their hiding 

 places the cuiTent carries them against the net. and they 

 immediately catch on and Avill remain for a few minutes; 

 but you had better examine your net often. 



More dobsons are lost by improper care than are used for 

 bait. They are nattu-al fighters and they cannot bear high 

 temperature in the sun if kept out of the water. Get a 

 good sized box (an old boot or shoe box will do, a box of 

 this Icind will accommodate a hundred witli ease), bore 

 some holes in the end near the bottom and cover them 

 -with wire netting. Put some coarse gravel from the bot- 

 tom of a brook spread about ibi. thick evenly on the bot- 

 tom; place some small flat stones on the gravel with some 

 pieces of rotten wood if jon have them; next get some 

 moss from the bottom of a brook; tliis known as rock 

 moss, it grows on stones and is about 1ft. long and con- 

 tains insects on which the dobsons feed. If you cannot 

 get it you can use the moss used by florists and nursery- 

 men to pack their goods m. Place the moss on the stones 

 3 or Sin. deep. Place vour box in some cool place where 

 it will be out of the suii, on the north side of a building or 

 in a cellar. Now get an old paint keg or something that 

 will hold water and place it on or over your box and fill 

 it with water and fix it so that it will run a very slow 

 stream or just drip. A pail of water will do for twenty- 

 fom' hoiurs. Place your dobsons in the box and they will 

 soon find hiding places. If you sliould have any trouble 

 with their crawling over the top of the box make a screen 

 to keep them in. You can keep them in this way all the 

 season. Mass. 



JUNE TROUT FISHING IN MICHIGAN. 



''E have just returned from a four weeks tiip to 

 northern IVIichigan. We camped three days on the 

 Boai-dman River trout fishing with good success, going 

 from there to Follet's landhig on Elm Lake— Follet's Creek 

 was fairly alive with trout, and a couple of hours fishing 

 each day secured us all we wanted to eat. One of the 

 catches was seven trout weighing 51bs., another of six 

 trout weighing 41bs. Henry Mack caught the largest, 

 weight 20oz. Battle Creek, which empties into Elm 

 Lake one mile from FoUets, is a first-rate trout stream, 

 the water is clear and cold, is easily fished and is packed 

 with trout. 



From Follet's we went to Southerland's on Eoimd Lake. 

 During the five days we were there, no less than seven 

 wagon-loads of men and boys came with boats, spears, 

 gigs, jacks and pine knots, for the pm-pose of taking fish 

 at night. It was not good weather for spearing, but they 

 took away over four hundred fish. I asked one of the 

 men if he did not know it was against the law to spear 

 fish? He says yes, "but they all do it.'' At the narrows, 

 between Eound'and Elk lakes, is a favorite feeding place 

 for bass and Mackinaw trout, and almost any still night 

 jack-lights can be seen off Skegeemaugh Point. One man 

 told us he only went fishing occasionally; the last time 

 he had speared eleven lake trout weighing 1271bs. , these 

 he salted down, and when they were used up would try 

 his hand again. This sort of fishing with a ten-foot pole 

 is fast making away with the bass and lake trout in this 

 chain of lakes. I notice "Kelj)ie" is doing some good 

 work for the protection of fish against spearing. That he 

 may be successful is the wish of many. 



The largest fish we caught here, were two 41bs. small- 

 mouths, one 4jlbs. large-mouth, and a lib. brook trout. 

 One morning Harry was fishing in the lower end of the 

 lake, and hooked a fish which played peek-a-boo with him 

 for a few minutes, and then said "good-by," taking Ms 

 ■hook and six inches of line with him. Twelve hours after, 

 another party fishing in that part of the lake, boated a 

 41bs. small-mouth, which had Harry's hook and line fast- 

 ened to him. Frogs were used for bait, with the aid of a 

 landing net we could catch as many as we wanted in a 

 few minutes. I see that "Kingfisher" has added another 

 to the list of "speckled beauties." At home, ladies who 

 wear square and three-cornered patches of black court 

 plaster on then faces, are called "speckled beauties." 



On a bright sunny morning we broke camp and cross- 

 ing Round Lake pulled up Torch River to the mouth of 

 Rapid River, and up this for aboiTt two miles where we 

 came to a good camping place. From the mouth of the 

 I'iirex to a point about a half mile above camp, the river is 

 quite free of logs and overhanging trees, and affords fine 

 fly-fishing. We fished near the camp most of the time as 

 enough trout to supply the table could be got 'without go- 

 ing far. The first evening, in an hour's fishing, and within 

 fi:fty yards of camp, Harvey took eleven and I nine 

 trout weighing from 4oz. to 12oz. each. One day we 

 walked two miles up the river where the stream is quite 

 rapid, and among the logs, roots and mossy banks we got 

 some big fellows, but we enjoyed the fishing most near 

 the camp where we could use a fly, even if we did not get 

 such large fish. After enjoying ourselves liere for a fcAv 

 days, Ave put our traps aboard one evening and floated 

 quickly down stream; turning up Torch River we were 



soon heading across Torch Lake to Spencer Creek, where 

 we an-ived just at dark. Putting up our tents was short 

 work, and then sittijig around a big fire, we had a juUj 

 time talking, smoking and singing. A whip-poor-will and 

 a loon threw in their notes at times, in an "Amen" and 

 "God bless yon" sort of a way, that reminded us of a camp 

 meeting. Wc were at Spencer's four days, fishing in the 

 mill ponds and the two creeks. One evening wliile stand- 

 ing in two feet of water, a school of about forty trovit 

 came and ran then- noses against my rubber boots, they 

 3ncandered around me for a moment and then struck out 

 for deeix'r wat«r. I threw a gang of flies after them and 

 it seemed to me that the whole school went for them at 

 once, such a rushing and flapping of tails and fins I never 

 saw; one of the largest caught on to the leader, and while 

 lie was sailing off to the right, another took the tail, 

 and such fun for me. In five minutes the two little 

 fighters came up and let me imhook them without making 

 the least fuss. They only weighed 14 oz. both together, 

 but they were game to they backbone, the fought man- 

 fully and gave up like gentlemen. 



Now a good word for camping-out life. In Michigan 

 especially I never knew of any sickness whatever in camp. 

 I tiiink if the cork-and-bottle an-angements were left at 

 home and only pm'e water drank, there would be little 

 use for a medicine chest. 



From Spencer's we went back to Follet's, and from there 

 overland to Traverse City. While the boys were making 

 preparations for the triij home, I hunted up Meade the 

 guide. It was like old times to see liim again, and we 

 had a pleasant chat while waiting for the train. We 

 found plenty to talk aljont, as we had taken many trips 

 together. All being ready we jumped aboard the train 

 and were soon on the way home. Our trip had been a 

 sixccess in every way, and we were well pleased. 



J. O. S. 



OOLUMBUS, Ohio, July 8, 1886, 



A CAST WITH "PISECO." 



THE daily papers had told that the famous old warship 

 Powhatan had arrived in New York harbor and had 

 been put out of commission, therefore I knew that 

 "Piseco" would spend some time on shore, and a few days 

 later a letter came from Mm announcing tliis event, sa.y- 

 ing that time was a burden upon Ins hands and asking if 

 it would not be possible to wet a line with him. A few 

 days before an invitation to join a friend on Lake Super- 

 rior had been declined and another from one of your well 

 known correspondents to beguile the black bass in Back 

 Bay, Lake Champlain, had been regretfully acknowledged, 

 and I had written "Piseco" that wliile my heart was with 

 him, that portion of my anatomy would be all I could 

 spare at present. The ink had not yet dried upon this 

 answer when a letter came from Mr. Stimson, manager 

 of the Mountain Home, saying that the trout were plen- 

 tiful, and that in order to "meet them on the June rise" I 

 would haA^e to be on the ground within a few days. This 

 coming on the top of "Piseco's" letter broke me all up. 

 The allusion to meeting them on the June rise assumed at 

 once the form of an invitation and of a challenge. A post- 

 script was added to the letter already Avritten to "Piseco" 

 saying that I would meet Mm at Kemseix, on the Utica 

 and Black River road, witliin forty-eight hours, and we 

 met. I had left New York at 9:15 the evenmg before, 

 breakfasted with liini at Remsen, after which we drove 

 thirty miles in time for dinner at the Mountain Home, on 

 the east branch of the West Canada Creek. A challenge 

 by the dogs warned the household of our apiiroach and 

 we received a greeting that astonished my nautical com- 

 rade, who soon paced up anddoAvoi the piazza as though it 

 was as familiar as his own quarterdeck. 



In the afternoon we tried the creek, fishing some two 

 miles of still water, but it was late in June and the trout 

 were on the riffs and only to be had by wading, a practice 

 formerly indulged in with great pleasure, but abandoned 

 on accoimt of certain protests from a sciatic neiwe, for 

 which I entertained profound respect. This nerve and I 

 get on very well together as long as it is treated fairly, but 

 it has become quite independent of late, and it is given to 

 strikes, boycotts and locking out. We have submitted 

 the differences to arbitration, and the terms of om com- 

 pact are these: So long as I refrain from wading cold 

 trout streams and chilling the aforesaid nerve while its 

 fellows, the spinal column and brain, are enjoying the 

 heat of a June sun, there are to be no pangs, j)ains or 

 penalties, and as I prefer \o^v shoes to i-ubbers for wading, 

 we have compromised and do not wade at all, hence 

 "Piseco" and I fished from a boat. The result of this boat 

 fishing was a plentiful yield of httle fishes termed chubs, 

 dace and shiners in the vernacular, terms which like 

 charity, cover a multitude, not only of sins, but fishes. 

 A faithful whipping of some two miles of still water 

 brought us but three trout which we considered fit to take 

 home, and these three would hardly equal a pound in 

 weight. The fingerlings which rose to our flies were 

 returned. 



In the morning we climbed the monntain at the back 

 of the house to Wilmurt Lake which nestles on the moun- 

 tain top. and after an hour's hard work had succeeded in 

 lifting oiu-selves some 850 feet above the creek below, 

 when we found that a drizzling rain had set in, and 

 rubber coats were brought forth from the creel before the 

 rods were put together. It was evident that a cold north- 

 easterly storm had set in, and some one has said; 



Wlien the wind is in the north 



The skillful fisher goes not forth; 

 When the v/ind is in the east 



It's good for neither man nor beast. 



and as this storm came from between the two points om 

 plain duty Avas to go across the lake to the lodge and stay 

 there; aa^c did not do om- duty, Ave cast our flies around 

 the lake and took some very fine trout, but AAdiether this 

 was AA'orse for the trout or for the adage is an open ques- 

 tion. At noon I introduced the Captain to Catherine, the 

 colored cook at the lodge; the fact that I had never met 

 Catherine before did not at all interfere A\nth this cere- 

 monious performance, nor did the dusky Catherine ap- 

 pear to realize that there was any informality in the 

 proceedings. 



We fished the lake three days in rubber coats in weather 

 Avhich varied from a pelting rain, which I cannot distin- 

 g-uish from a Scotch mist, into what might be called a 

 drizzle. At times a fog hmig upon the mountain tops and 

 again it hung upon us. Being in company Avith a naval 



officer who is supposed to be familiar with this sort of 

 thing, I asked him if he had a fog horn. He said he had, 

 and I took one. vVfter that the fog lifted a little; the cur- 

 tain did not seem to be up before it was rung doAvn again, 

 and with these variations the same scenes were enacted 

 over again day after day, but, Like Mark Taplej', we were 

 always jolly. The Li-ou"t rose fairly, however, and during 

 this time AA'ckdled all tliat we and our boatmen needed at 

 the lodge, and sent down some to the Mountain Home 

 b»loAv. HoAv many did Ave kill'? We do not know; Ave did 

 not count them any more than we counted how many 

 times Ave smoked that afternoon, or how many times tlie 

 fog lifted, and we enjoyed the scenery. Trout should 

 not be reduced to mathematics, although there are per- 

 sons who like to do it. Men liaA^e measured Niagara in 

 order to knoAV h(nv much pleasure they may have enjoyed 

 Avhile looking at it, and men have ct)imted hoAv many fish 

 they have taken in a Aveek and have Aveighed them; but 

 when I look at Niagara there are no thanks for the man 

 who tells how many feet and how many inches it is from 

 the crest of the falls to the foam below. And one who has 

 his mind on mathematics when fishing may possibly 

 enjoy fishing, but I never enjoy mathematics. The fish 

 taken were not weighed. Some of them vA'ould probably 

 have tipped the scales at a ptauid, but none were killed 

 which weighed less than three ounces. 



It is the fashion here about Wilmurt Lake to use larger 

 hooks than either Captain Beardslee or myself ai'c accus- 

 tomed to cast for trout of from one to tAvo pounds, and 

 while Mrs. Stimson dresses her broAATi-hackles upon Nos. 

 1, 2 or 3 sproat hooks, which are very killuig, I prefer a 6 

 to 8 when expecting fish of from | to lib, in Aveight, but 

 a 9 to 11 for smaller, A brown-hackle seems to be the 

 favoiite fly Avith most anglers hi Wilmurt Lake, and 

 "Piseco" and I kept a sort of a running record of om- 

 catches, and we found that on these waters, in this east- 

 erly drizzle with a leaden sky overhead, the most killing 

 flies were the coachman, the professor, the royal-coach- 

 man, the Parmacliene-belle and the oak-fly. 



The time for leaving approached and found us on the 

 lake, each in his boat Avith his boatman; Ave rowed up ui 

 the dnection of "Piseco," and on rounding a point saw 

 him get a good stiike; it was soon eAddent that otir sea- 

 faring frieiid had hold of somethuig which made his reel 

 sing, and that he was highly elated thereat. I suggested 

 mildly that he haul his sheet aft and lay her up close to 

 the wind, but he replied "avast there," whatever that 

 means. The run of the fish Avas soon checked and the 

 Captain began to reel in; the strain bent his supple rod in 

 a beautiful arch, Avhile Avith his right hand on AA^hat in a 

 moment of excitement he might have called the caj)stan, 

 he reeled in sloAvly. The fish approached the surface 

 imtil I could see that it was a huge one, A sudden leap 

 in the air, the rod straightened, and the fish Avas gone. 

 The snell had parted at tire head of the fly Avhere it prob- 

 ably had been slightly chafed by some previous capture, 

 I imagined that the Captain 'would use all of those 

 naughty nautical terms, such as, "avast there," "splice 

 the main brace," etc., but he did not; his eyelids drooped, 

 and he merely said, "Let us go home." 



"Captain," said I, "that fish Aveighed fully 41bs." He 

 glanced in my direction, and said in a wavering tone of 

 A'oice, "He Aveighed 5flbs,, but I want to go home." 



Fred Mather, 



TROUT EAT TROUT. 



I RECENTLY Aisited friends where there is a magnificent 

 ever-flowing spring of clear, cold, soft water, Avhich 

 forms a small pond or pool some 25ft. in diameter, densely 

 shaded hj a large, low-branching beech tree, thus forming 

 a most delightful retreat for the family and visitors dur- 

 ing the hot hom-s of our heated summer days. So charm- 

 ing is the place that a portion of the pool and bank has 

 been floored and comfortable seats arranged thereon, and 

 from the number of names and dates recorded Avith a 

 knife in the smooth bark of the trunk and wide-spreading 

 arms of the grand old beech, it is quite certain that visit- 

 ors haA^e not been like "angels' visits," 



While enjoying the quiet and coolness of this lovely re- 

 treat, I was greatly interested in the movements and 

 habits of a dozen or two of brook trout, from eight to 

 twelve inches in length, that have their home in the pool. 

 A sUght moA'^ement on my part, and like a flash they fled 

 to the cover of the Avooden floor whereon I was standing. 

 But if no noise was made they would soon make their 

 appearance one by one, till all were in the open water; 

 and woe to any insect that touched the surface. 



So much by way of inti-oduction. Trout have inhabited 

 this pool for many years, and some have grown to nearly 

 double the size of any there at present. But there are no 

 fingerlings nor fish of any other kind. These trout must 

 have been bred in this place, and if so, then many others 

 must have been spaAvned Avith them. But if trout do not 

 eat trout, where are the remainder of the spawn? 



Now for a fact that came under my observation while 

 watching the habits of these particular trout, and I Avill 

 leave the further discussion of the question to those who 

 may have made trout life a study. While sitting, with 

 others, on the platform, a violent splashing was heard in 

 the water beneath, and soon the cause of the commotion 

 Avas discovered by the appearance of two trout in a death 

 struggle ; one, having seized the other atliAvart and just 

 back of the gills, M^as persistently holding his grip, while 

 the otlier was doing his best to escape it. After several 

 violent struggles, in the open Avater, both passed again out 

 of sight under the floor and the commotion ceased, so that 

 the result of the contest was not known . The captor was 

 from 10 to 12in. long, and the victim not less than six or 

 seven, and my impression is that the latter escaped, for 

 it would have been impossible for the captor to have 

 gorged him as he held him when last seen. J. H. D. 

 PouGHKEEPsrE, N, Y,, July 19. 



[It is AA-ell knoAvn among trout culturists that when big 

 trout are short of rations they take to gobbling up little 

 trout ; and when once this cannibalistic habit is by dire 

 necessity acquired, it sticks, even in the midst of plenty. 

 When trout once discover how delicious trout are, they 

 Avill never turn from their evil ways.] 



Sea Fishing. — If any of your friends want fUtn and big 

 flsh, either drum in the surf or 1,000 good-sized blackfish 

 a day, Anglesea, N. J, , is the place. Accessible from 

 Philadelphia via West Jersey R, R,, 9 A, M., 4P. M., 

 everyday. Week's Hotel, Anglesea, from $1.50 to |2a 

 day, and plenty of luck.— J,. M. S. 



