164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AtTG. 24, 1895. 



follow the deer, and then destroy a great many of them, 

 doubtless preying upon them at night by springing from 

 the trees. They move with death-like stillness, even 

 when jumping from tree to tree. Mr. Hardy found him- 

 self uncomfortably near one one day as he was crawling 

 up under some underbrush toward the "rimrock," as the 

 guides term the borders of the canons. There was snow 

 on the "rimrock," and the beast actually slid along it and 

 jumped into the canon without the slightest noise. 



Mr. Edward E. Hardy put the skin and pictures on ex- 

 hibition in order that the public might get a glance at 

 what he is greatly delighted with himself. It is alto- 

 gether probable that he would be willing that the photo- 

 graphs should be reproduced in Forest and Stream. 



Special. 



FOUR-OUNCE ROD AND SALMON. 



"We, Louis Durand and Louis Gravelle, the two canoe- 

 men, had fished all the morning for salmon, and not a 

 rise, although we saw a great many fish. 



. Returning to the little house, the highest station on the 

 river, I took a 4oz. rod and commenced to cast, or rather 

 try to cast, from the shore for trout, while the men went 

 to prepare luncheon. 



The river here is some 6ft. or more deep at the foot 

 of the bank, which goes straight dowD to the water with- 

 out a slope. 



After a time I saw a salmon, and, as my fly touched the 

 water, in an instant he rose and took it. 



The little patch of clear water where I was fishing was 

 bordered on either side by a perfect maze of fallen trees 

 and roots, and all about me was a dense thicket of bushes 

 some feet higher than my head— about the very worst 

 place to play a salmon as well could be imagined. 



I had on a very small brown-hackle fly, tied with slen- 

 der single gut, fine leader and only 50ft. of line, with the 

 smallest of reels. 



The rod at once bent double, with tip in the water, 

 though the fish only swirled slowly around in a circle of 

 a few feet. 



There being so little resistance in the rod it seemed to 

 me the fish did not realize the situation. 



Af tef a minute or two, however, he made a swift short 

 run out into the stream, taking nearly all my line (carry- 

 ing my rod well into the water, the tiny reel shrieking 

 and sputtering as certainly it never had before), jumped 

 high in air, and then gently came back to his first posi- 

 tion, while I proceeded to get my line in on the tinkling 

 little reel as best I could. 



The fish rested a couple of minutes or so, and then made 

 another short rush, jumped, and came back as before. 



If it had gone either to the right or left even a few 

 feet, the leader would have been instantly parted by the 

 fallen trees. 



All this time I was shouting to the men to come to my 

 aid. 



They heard at last and running to the canoe came 

 swiftly down in it to me. 



I got in somehow, and we succeeded in gently swaying 

 the fish gradually out into the stream. 



It is needless to say how often the entire rod was in the 

 water, and in addition my arm up to the shoulder, and 

 how many times, as the men were straining every nerve 

 following the flying fish, I saw the line almost gone. 



The rod being too short to swing around the ends of the 

 canoe, when the fish would start to run under it for the 

 other side the men often lifted the line quickly in their 

 hands and passed it around, but several times this was 

 impossible, and the rod went under the canoe. 



After three-quarters of an hour Louis Durand, in a for- 

 tunate moment, as the fish was passing his end, dropped 

 his paddle and drove the gaff in 2in. from the tail, and the 

 salmon was in the canoe. 



It weighed ll£lbs. 



The head guide, who has been on the river after salmon 

 for thirty years, said, had he not seen the fish killed, he 

 would have thought it under the circumstances impos- 

 sible. 



There being no chance when the fish took the fly to 

 follow or even move from where I stood, and the usual 

 run being several times the length of my line, this, with 

 the exceeding dainty rod and reel, made an experience 

 rather remarkable for good luck, as the handling had to 

 be done so delicately that the ordinary salmon rod seemed 

 by comparison a perfect tower of strength. R. G. M. 



Fishing is an Art. 



Arkville, Delaware county, N. Y., Aug. 16.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Dry Brook is in better condition. 

 This year the spring floods were so much more seve»e 

 than formerly that whole sections of farms were wiped 

 out, enormous trees dragged out by the rootB, rushed 

 down the torrent against bridges, taking them along, 

 sweeping barns and outhouses from the banks and mak- 

 ing landscape entirely new for the prowling painter and 

 fisher. 



A week or so later, when the water had subsided suffi- 

 ciently, I went up for a day and came back at sunset con- 

 vinced that the "keepable" trout had also been washed 

 down, for although I caught fully thirty, all were under 

 size and were thrown back. I believe the small ones es- 

 cape the rush of water by swimming up the numerous 

 binnacles that border the stream. But now I have a 

 softer tale to unfold. The larger ones are working up 

 again and two miles above this point I have taken half- 

 pounders galore, rarely coming in with fewer than 

 fifteen in about four hours' wading, astonishing the new 

 tackle fishermen who had condemned Dry Brook with 

 disgust. Naturally, when their eyes returned to their 

 normal size and position they would appear in gorgeous 

 outfit, disappear for a day and appear again, damp, 

 tired and hungry, with few or no fish. They now 

 accuse me of having a private preserve or of buying them 

 from the Aborigines, and although none of them have 

 seen me go out the lesson is lost on them. They fish in 

 herds. 



Yesterday, in a blazing sun, I landed seven in little over 

 an hour, the aggregate weight being about 3lbs. They 

 would not rise to the fly, so I tried the grasshopper. Bat 

 I am not giving it away up here. Selfish? Perhaps. I 

 distribute my catch at the table invariably, rarely eating 

 more than one of the smaller ones myself. My enjoy- 

 ment is in getting them and being alone in nature's 

 original atmosphere. Hunger does not trouble me, and 

 here is a good hint for those of your readers who get up 



too early for breakfast and cannot find anything cold. I 

 always have a piece of chocolate with me. It is amazing 

 what a small bit is required to deaden the sense of hun- 

 ger. And a pipe tastes just as good after it as after a 

 meal. 



Not long ago I made rather a curious catch. I had 

 come to a bend where, below some willows, I knew was 

 a nice pool. I made two or three preliminary casts in the 

 air to get the length of line, when, on the last one, I was 

 surprised by a vigorous strike and tremendous squeaking. 

 Drawing back, I saw I had caught by the wing a wagtail, 

 who had darted for the tail fly or had been hooked in 

 passing. I let him go, more frightened than hurt, but he 

 spoiled the pool, I have had some very good night fish- 

 ing with coachmen and gray drake. The white miller 

 seems not to attract. 



I have also had some magnificent bass fishing about 

 eighteen miles from here. I fought one for twenty min- 

 utes that I will swear weighed 51bs., but alas! I didn't get 

 him to scales. The fool boy who rowed became excited 

 and upset the boat in about 30ft. of water, and he couldn't 

 swim. I had my hands full for a while, and I haven't 

 done cussing him yet. Mr. J. Cheever Goodwin will be 

 up to-morrow and we will try them again. 



Should the results pan out interestingly, you shall hear 

 of them. H. M. Rosenberg. 



Nepigon Trout. 



Port Arthur, Ont., Aug. 10.— Fishing on the Nepigon 

 River has been very good since July 1. The first to go up 

 the Nepigon were two gentlemen from eastern Ontario; 

 they started fishing about June 15; alter three days' fish- 

 ing they returned; the water was too high in the river. 

 They brought down some thirty speckled trout, the largest 

 about Gibs,, the smallest about l^lbs.; average 2ilbs. each. 



July 14 another party, consisting of Mr. M. Clarke, 

 of St. Paul, and Mr. J. R. Dougherty, of St. Louis, 

 went up the Nepigon and returned July 31, after 

 seventeen days' fine fishing. The largest fish was 

 caught by Mr. M. Clarke, and weighed 6ilbs. ; this fish 

 was caught with a minnow. In two hours one evening 

 these gentlemen caught with two rods fourteen fish that 

 weighed 721bs. The trout they did not require were re- 

 turned to the water. They preserved the largest speci- 

 mens to take home with them, and were delighted with 

 their trip. Mr. M. Clarke bought three Esquimalt dogs 

 from the Indians at Lake Nepigon, which he sent to his 

 home in St. Paul. • 



About July 19 another party, consisting of John A. Lea 

 and E. P. Gates, of Independence; Judge T. A. Gill and 

 C. O. Teichner, of Kansas City, went up for twelve days' 

 fishing. They returned on July 31. They had a fine 

 time. Mr. C. O. Teichner caught the largest trout, 6 Jibs., 

 with fly. Mr. E. P. Gates caught a double, the leading 

 fish weighed 2ilbs. and the trailer 5ilbs. ; the two weigh- 

 ing 7flbs. His largest fish weighed 4, 4i, 4£, 4f , 5, 5£, 5£, 

 5f , 6 and 6Jlbs. each. He only got two fish that weighed 

 less than 41bs. Mr. John A. Lea caught twenty-seven 

 doubles, largest doubles were 4| and 5flbs. each. He 

 caught several doubles of 5, 6 ana 71bs. J udge T. A. Gill 

 caught about twenty doubles. He did not stay through 

 the trip. These gentlemen used split bamboo rods of 6, 7 

 and 8oz. each. 



On Aug. 5 a party consisting of Prof. Delas Fall and 

 Prof. R. Clyde Ford, with ten students from Albion Col- 

 lege, Albion, Mich., went up the Nepigon River fishing. 

 They intend to go as far north as the Albany River on a 

 scientific expedition. They will be gone about one month. 

 They will furnish me with notes of interest on their re- 

 turn. J, E. N. 



Those Leaping Bass Again. 



Boston, Aug. 14.— Editor Forest and Stream: Having 

 read with much interest the articles oh "Leaping Bass" 

 may I venture a word or two? 



I have usually found in my own experience that lower- 

 ing the tip, or giving slack line for a leaping bass, was to 

 lose my fish. 



Do they shake their heads? most certainly, and often 

 with open mouth, if one may believe the evidence 

 of his eyes. Also a bass lightly hooked, or if hooked in 

 lips or mouth, leaps freely; while if the bait is gorged and 

 hook bedded in the soft gullet the fish rarely does more 

 than roll up to the surface, preferring to bore down into 

 deep water. If a leaping fish is hooked my experience is 

 that it is safest to give plenty of time and keep a taut line, 

 with rod near the surface of the water and bearing well 

 away from the fish when he comes up for a leap; while if 

 it is a fish that heads for the bottom the best way is to 

 force the fight and get him netted as quickly as possible 

 before the hook stretches and tears out of the tough but 

 yielding gullet. I have never seen a bass leap more than 

 about 2ft. in height above the water. Also I only speak 

 of the small-mouth bass, having never taken a "large- 

 mouth." Henry J. Thayer. 



New Yoke, Aug. 12.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Sir: — I have been reading the dispute going on in your 

 paper for some time on bass jumping and cannot resist 

 making a few comments. 1 am not acquainted with the 

 gentlemen who are disputing with one another, and, 

 although they may be experts on the life and habits of 

 the bass, I do not agree with them on some points. 



Some say that the bass does not jump out of the water 

 when hooked, others say that he only gets to the surface, 

 and others that he jumps only about a foot. 



Now, although I am not an expert, I have caught quite 

 a number of bass and have never known one to fail to 

 come entirely out of the water. I have caught them with 

 a rod and drop line, and they always come out. 



Let me tell you what I have seen a bass do. About two 

 weeks ago I was fishing from the shore of a lake about 

 thirty miles from New York City, and, as nothing was 

 biting, I got out about 25 ft. of line and laid my rod on the 

 ground. I was walking around, when I noticed a bass 

 jump fully 2£ft. out of the water, about 60ft. or so from 

 shore. "When I got hold of my rod I found he was fast. 

 Now how do those gentlemen who claim a bass does not 

 jump out of the water account for ehis? The bass had 

 run out about 40ft. of line, and had hooked himself and 

 had then taken his jump. 



He was not helped by the spring of the rod, as it was a 

 very light fly rod and was lying on the ground at the time- 

 also the line was very light and No. 7 hooks, single gut! 

 The bass weighed slightly over 3 Jibs. -W. H. D. 



NOTES FROM FISHING WATERS. 



. Correspondents are invited to send us notes of fish, fishermen, fish- 

 ing conditions and fishing facts, so that they may reach this office 

 on a Monday. M 



Mr. W. B. Young, of this city, has shown us a photo- 

 graph of a string of bass taken by him on Spirit Lake, 

 Iowa, June 10 last. Mr. Young fished eight hours, and 

 m that time took 33 black bass, weighing 75lbs., the 

 largest two of 61bs. each. He caught them with frogs, 

 casting with a 7ioz. Kosmic rod, and landed them with- 

 out a landing-net. The oarsman was Royal Weed. 



Mr. Leonard Hulit, of Asbury Park, N. J., sends us a 

 photograph of a morning catch of 62 handsome weakfish, 

 at Barnegat, by A. J. Taylor, Dr. De Voursney and him- 

 self. These three men are of the get-up-at-3-o'clock-in- 

 the-morning-to-go-fishing tribe of anglers. 



Mr. G. C. Howe, of the Windsor Hotel, Rouse's Point, 

 Lake Champlain, sends us a photograph of a string of black 

 bass taken there recently, thirty-seven fish to three rods. 

 Mr. Howe estimates that there are 37,000 more fish in the 

 same spot waiting to be hooked. 



Clayton, N. Y., Aug. 15.— Following up their great 

 success angling, Mr. W. R. Farrington yesterday captured 

 an 111b. wall-eyed pike; and Mrs. W. R. Farrington a 121b. 

 pickerel. Most assuredly the name of Farrington here is 

 getting to be synonymous with large fish. Every day sees 

 this couple with a fine catch of finny beauties. J. G. F. 



Three Lakes, Wis., Aug. 16.— Mr. C. B. Slade and Miss 

 F. Slade, of Chicago, caught 320 black bass at Butternut 

 Lake last week, largest 5ilbs.; also lunge fishing is good. 



• Ch as. French. 



A Copper Eye for Gimp Snells. 



Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y, Aug. 12.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: Walking down Broadway a few days ago 

 and stopping at Benedict Bros.', keepers of the city time, 

 to get the correct number of seconds from the window 

 near Cortlandt street without stopping more than a min- 

 ute, my old angling friend, Mr. F. P. Benedict, beckoned 

 to come inside. When not designing new things in jew- 

 elry, collar buttons and kindred things, he amuses him- 

 self by devising bait kettles and angling appliances, so 

 something new was expected. His latest was a copper 

 eye for gimp snells, primarily designed for heavier work, 

 such as dead-eyes on wire cables, but the application to 

 gimp raised the question as to the strength of the eye, 

 and to show this Mr. Benedict took a piece of gimp some 

 7in. long and slipped a tube of fine soft copper fin. long 

 over one end. It was very loose, and bending it into an 

 eye with a pair of small pliers asked me to pull on it, and 

 a very hard pull broke the gimp, while the copper never 

 stirred. 



I thought this worth writing about and have advised 

 Mr. Benedict to let some tackle dealer put it on the mar- 

 ket. Inclosed you will find the broken gimp as described, 

 and will note that the eye last put on was imperfectly 

 cloa ed. Fred. Mather. 



St. Lawrence River Fishing. 



Clayton, Thousand Islands, N. Y, Aug. 14.— Mrs. W. 

 R. Farrington, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , now a guest at 

 Hubbard House of Clayton, yesterday hooked and landed 

 the largest fish brought into town this season, viz., a 371b. 

 muskallonge, measuring 4ft. 4in. from tip to tip. The 

 fish was an extremely game one and gave Mrs. Farring- 

 ton splendid sport and plenty to do for just one hour and 

 five minutes from the time of hooking till landed into the 

 skiff. A week ago, as reported in your columns, Mr. W. 

 R. Farrington landed a 33ilb. muskallonge, and last Sep- 

 teinDer Mrs. W. R. F. took one which weighed 401bs. 

 (which was also recorded in Forest and Stream), so that 

 this lady's and gentleman's reputation as expert and for- 

 tunate anglers is most fully established. Since their 

 arrival at the river two weeks ago, their daily average 

 catches of black bass and pickerel have been excellent. 



Another party quartered at the Hubbard House, con- 

 sisting of five, yesterday brought in 210 black bass, taken 

 in seven hours' fishing. j, F. 



The Saginaw Crowd. 



East Saginaw, Mich.— The carW. B. Mershon left here 

 July 1 with Mr. C. M. Crawford and family, of Hagers- 

 town, Md., for a trip to Yellowstone Park and the Pacific 

 Coast. They are expected to arrive in Chicago on the 

 10th. They report having had a delightful time, no acci- 

 dents and everything moving along splendidly. The Sagi- 

 naw crowd are now planning for another pilgrimage to 

 somewhere in the far West early in October. 



Mershon. 



Mussels for Fish Ponds-as Scavengers. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In my letter published in your number of July 13 atten- 

 tion was invited to the fact that I had been a witness to the 

 capture of a considerable number of fresh-water mussels on 

 hsh hooks. Late in the month named, the same trot line 

 supporting about 175 hooks, was placed on the bottom of the 

 Potomac River. The line remained in 20ft. of water over 

 night. When it was lifted I stood on shore watching, and 

 counted until nearly forty mussels were boated. To some of 

 the hooks again two specimens were firmly clasped, the 

 usual catch being one. Additional specimens were taken 

 into the boat after my attention was withdrawn. 



From my letters you are to understand that the fresh- 

 water mussel, unlike the oyster, does not bide his time with 

 open mouth and "bated breath" for the chance harvest of 

 food borne on the ebbing or flowing current, but is given to 

 business-like locomotion. That this habit is marked and of 

 practical utility to the mussel is suggested by the fact that 

 there was scarcely a hook that was blank. 



Almost everyone knows that mussels have power to move 

 about, but it may not be generally realized that the travel is 

 a veritable browsing expedition, aimed at the picking up of 

 the day's ration. I confess that the habit was unsuspected 

 by me, and its announcement to others has been ia the na- 

 ture of a novelty. 



ti^i 11 ?!? the ODser v£itions were made it has occurred to me 

 that the nomadic habit of the mussel may pertain to a num- 

 ber of species, and that it may be profitably taken advantage 



