434 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[June 21, 1888, 



gram, Ernest Adlung, Henry Isler, Andrew Dickson, Edwin 

 Douslas, John Royhan, John M r < Mullen, John Clarice, Philip 

 iolan. Chas. Hinuian, John J, Sinnott, L. O. Obert, John Butler, 

 Lawrence I). Burns, Gluts. P. Sc hell, Jakob Gietz, Henry Borne- 

 inann, Alverc Kurapf, James Norris, iiudolph de Watteville, F. 

 Llewellyn, J. W. Orabe, M. Retner. John Shears, (ion. Roraback, 

 Richard Gould, Aaron Bisdcll. Albert Btubner, Julius Kuehn, 

 Florance Saunders. Jas. Muldoon, Francis MeQuad, Ohas. Para- 

 ilis, Edwin S. Bosrart, Ed. A. Collins, Jas. F. Walsh, Aug. Steiger, 

 Fred. Moller, Ohr. F. Laws, Ch. J. Pfleger, 1. Zwczig, Fr. Heyl, 

 Jos. BriLTTifill, Kdw. Clarke, Carl Farh\ 10. Hoin, Jas. Mahouoy, 

 Buck, F. G. Kretschiner, Frank Hoezler, Victor Fleury, Rich 

 Fisher, Jos. Kuhlmann, Jos. Bergcv, Fred. Woorster, John Wil- 

 son, oani'I Foster. Alfred Maillot, Henry Merritt, 8. Romy, A. 

 StoHs, S.iorl Herrington, Wm. <!onninKton, Geo. Bowen, Chas. 

 C. Schwiize, John W. Gaffney. Julius Huber, Alex. Bakely, Emil 

 Melcliior. fclenrv Piper, Erling R. Lithnian, Euiile Reliiseliing, 

 Otlo Senn. Wm. 'Rowbntliam, Frank Roos, Chas. Schmidt, Thorn- 

 feoliDnwell, Xa vier 1'i'cy, Louis Lerity, Wm. Walsh, Dietrich 

 Siic-lil inp:, Kmih- Kruse, Jos. ITafncr, Frank Austin, Emile Coti- 

 ono.x, Daril. McCarthy, II. Mimott,. John J. Butler, Alfonso Vogt- 

 mann, Frank Sicxehick, Patrick C.jndon, Chas. ((rant Lane, Geo. 

 L. Weber, Jr., J6f. Weber, Wm. Chester, Elisha S. Lockwood, 

 Geo. Kutnpi, Isaac ^Iarston, Henry Goodmau, John Scowerof t, 

 aSios. Plews, Jas. Ward, Wm. Mann, Antoine Kumpf, Geo. 

 Chapman, E. Mills, B. Martin, Ch. lsnory, Tridow Arnaiz, 

 Fred Orthmann, Chas. Gross, Jos. Buckley, Jas. D. La- 

 mond, Max Sohuppe, Nathaniel Smith, John H. Goseh, 

 Bosgar Burhard, John Dean, John W. Thompson. Louis Lipp, 

 Jas, Stodart, Fred llcrikcl. Nu holaus Hofmann, Francis Kiston, 

 furl Edward Gersdorf, Carl Ahrend, William Rainforth, August 

 Lenk, A. T. Adams, B. Rvan, A. Heiger, James Scarry, Samuel 

 Bnshneli, William Nixon, James W. M. Barron, M. B. Hart, F. 

 M. North, Noble Elliott, Martin Vogel, Philip Farmer, Edward A. 

 Hopkins, Samuel Insull, John H. Hngcrman, Edward H. Walker, 

 J. Hock, August L. Wilsey, Henry Hewitt, Geo. E. Young, Chas. 

 Ullrich, Geo. Reimer, Walter A. Blundell, John Kling, A. H. 

 chamberlain, Chas. H. Osborn, N. H. Robins, Frederick Weil, 

 W, H. Hainden, George W. Tarr, James Gasson, Geo. W. Smith, 

 Daniel Christian, Adolf Werres, Henry Ryder, Geo. Brand, John 

 Piunell, William Marmion, Jcj-emiab Ryan, A. J. K at z, J. War- 

 den, Henry Davey, John Gunn, Geo, W. Scott, Robt. Freeman. 



R. B. Capen, Geo. W. Martin, Wm. P. Whitehouse, J. Man- 

 chester Haynes. S. J. Cliadbournc, S. J. Gallagher, Thos. Clark, 

 B. F. Harris, N. A. Luce, I. N. Wadsworth, L. B. Hill, L. Stogler, 

 H. M. Spraarue, S. A. Russell, E. S. Turner, Joseph Fassett, S. W. 

 Mathews, Ceo. E. Mi not. J. R. Miliken. D. W. Pettingill, H. M- 

 Heath, J. F. Pierce, W. S. Badger. P. O. Yickery. Geo. E. Weeks, 

 Chas.E. Nash, J. O. Webster, Daniel Whitehouse, C. O. Tibbetts, 

 O. A. Tuell. 



H. D. McCaffrey, J. H. Mackliu, F. E. Hamilton, J. D. Higgins, 

 J. B. Poucher, John A. Barry, Fred D. Wheeler, Elisha B. Powell. 



fan nnd ilwer 



TO A FISHERMAN. 



A HOOK, 

 A book, 

 A shady nook. 

 A wish, 

 A fish, 



A sudden swish— 

 A sigh. But why ? 

 Next day a lie. 



CAPE BRETON TROUT WATERS. 



THE following description of some of the Cape Breton 

 angling streams is taken from a letter written to 

 Jas. Campbell, Esq.. to whom we are indebted, for his 

 courtesy in sending it for publication: 



The river is about thirty miles in length and empties 

 into Mi i a Eay, am arm of the Atlantic. Its waters are 

 dark colored and.:' sluggish, and throughout a great part 

 of its length more or less brackish, owing to a certain 

 amount of admixture which occurs when the tidal waters 

 corne in from the bay. Of the natural beauties of this 

 noble stream, of the wild, precipitous and majestic though 

 narrow gateway through which it enters the sea, of its 

 calm, cosy caves and nooks, and of its magnificent 

 stretches andlakeiike expansions connected by inexpress- 

 ibly e'nobairthag "narrows," I shall say nothing further 

 than to venture the opinion, based on pretty wide obser- 

 vation, that they are simply unsurpassed. Sport in 

 abundance is here open to the votary of both the gun and 

 roil, but it is of the latter that T shall speak at present. 



A great number of streams, large and Binall, are trib- 

 utary to the Mira, and they all afford more or less reward 

 to the angler. The Mira may be fished for trout of all 

 kinds at many points (of easy access from Sydney) along 

 its entire course, from the time the ice leaves it early in 

 May tiil well on in the season. As I have already said, 

 trout in great numbers may be taken in all the tribu- 

 taries, however small they may be, but as might be ex- 

 pected, it is to tire larger branches that the sportsmen 

 in nsl repair would he sock the larger fish. These branches 

 :)ie as follows: Black Brook, KandalPs Marsh, Trout 

 Brook and Salmon River. 



Black Brook, so called, is in reality a river, having its 

 origin in a chain of lakes from which it makes its way 

 through meadow and wood to the Mira, which it enters a 

 short distance above its mouth. The fishing here is free 

 and the trout are of large size, running from one to five 

 and even six poutids. The best season for this stream is 

 after the heavy July rains. The water is port wine color. 

 Flies, (1) brown hackle, (2) red with brown and mottled 

 tuTkey wing, (3) same as last, with blue mixed in with 

 the brown. Sometimes I have taken fine fish, when the 

 water is high, with gaudy salmon flies of various kinds. 

 The fishing' here ends late in the month of September, 

 when the fish have ascended to a point known as "The 

 Meadows," seven miles from Sydney. 



Randall's Marsh is a narrow but deep brook on the south 

 side of Albert Bridge. As I have not fished this stream 

 of late years, nor indeed so far as I am aware has any one 

 else, I can only say that in former years it contained fine 

 large gamy trout. 



Trout Brook is a fine stream with many deep pools. 

 Season, from first week of June. Flies: (1) red fly, (2) 

 red dun, (3; red spinner, (4) great red spinner, (5) coch-y- 

 bonddu, (6) the soldier's palmer (- (7) partridge hackle. 

 Shovdd the sportsman be fortunate enough to strike a 

 good run of fish here, I don't know any place in the 

 Provinces where a more en,jo3 r able forenoon or afternoon 

 may be had. On the occasion of my last visit but one to 

 this stream, I took from two pools in about two hours 

 one hundred and twenty pounds of magnificent fish; my 

 smallest being one pound, two being well over five 

 pounds and several over four. The water in this stream 

 is lighter in color than Black Brook, and some wariness 

 is necessary on the part of the angler. 



Salmon River. My personal acquaintance with this 

 place is limited, but I know that excellent trout frequent 



its waters, and I am quite sure that were it not for the 

 proximity of other trout streams which afforded me all 

 the sport required, I should be able now to recommend 

 this place. I know of few prettier spots, and I am sure 

 that large fish have been and may be taken there. For 

 the reason first named I am unable to specify flies, but in 

 general I should recommend any of those mentioned as 

 killing in the other streams. I have quite made up my 

 mind to avail myself of the first favorable opportunity 

 that offers to practice the gentle art at Salmon River. 



Shortly after the disappearance of the ice from our 

 coasts salmon in great numbers and of the finest quality 

 and size ascend the Mira. They are taken in nets by the 

 inhabitants of the settlement and find a ready sale in 

 Sydney and other places. It has long been axiomatic 

 among our sportsmen that "salmon will not take the fly 

 in tidal or brackish waters," and I believe it: nevertheless 

 my belief has not been too strong to prevent my making 

 the attempt, which I have done most faithfully time and 

 again, but without result. This well known character- 

 istic of the salmon explains the futility of salmon fly- 

 fishing in the Mira. On one occasion while fishing at 

 Albert Bridge early in the season, a gentleman of my 

 acquaintance who was also profoundly engaged in the 

 enjoyment known only to the angler, suddenly "struck" 

 a fish which he landed without much difficulty, but it 

 proved, much to his disgust, to be a "spent" salmon, a 

 fish that, as is well known, will connive at anything — 

 being in point of fact the meanest of the species. 



In former years salmon were to be had in numbers in 

 all the principal branches of the Mira, and an attempt is 

 now being made to restock them from the Government 

 fish hatchery at Sydney. If success follows this effort, 

 and there is every reason to believe it will, these streams 

 will soon teem with these prince of fishes. The only 

 branch of the Mira in which salmon are found in quanti- 

 ties is the Salmon River, before mentioned. This stream 

 is fresh, and it has always seemed unaccountable to me 

 that no systematic attempt has ever been made to take 

 salmon out of it with the fly. That it can be accom- 

 plished I have not the shadow of a doubt: it possesses all 

 the requisites, such as fresh, pure water, etc. , even to the 

 salmon themselves. Why then has it no reputation as a 

 salmon river? I am constrained to believe, simply be- 

 cause it has not been tried. True, a few sportsmen may 

 ha ve made desultory visits (probably at the wrong season), 

 and meeting with no success, jumped at an adverse con- 

 clusion; but I think it may safely be said that there are 

 salmon in this river for the first sportsman who seeks 

 them, with due regard to the conditions and contingen- 

 cies which attend investigations of this kind on a river 

 before unknown. 



The sportsman in Cape Breton should be provided with 

 two rods and tackle to correspond. One should be very 

 light and about twelve feet in length, and the other 

 should be stiffish and about fourteen feet long. The 

 latter will be useful in long reaches against the wind, and 

 also in keeping a hooked fish near the surface, when to 

 allow him to run would be to lose him among the snags 

 (roots, branches of trees, etc.) which are so plentiful on 

 the bottoms of many streams. For wading I am opposed 

 to water-proof stockings, long boots and similar para- 

 phernalia. I prefer stout, comfortably-fitting walking 

 lace boots with double-ribbed Cape Breton wool stockings 

 and loose knickerbockers. I always cany a change set 

 and when I have finished my sport I change my clothes. 

 I believe that by this plan the risks of cold and rheuma- 

 tism are minimized. 



I have thus given you a few hastily written and ramb- 

 ling notes on the fishing in and about the Mira. This 

 letter simply contains a few hints; it does not pretend to 

 be even a vacle nteeum; the stranger will therefore need 

 further information, which can always be had, above all 

 he must carefully observe and comply with certain con- 

 ditions, such as suitability of season, etc., without which 

 his outing, so far as fish are concerned, will result in 

 failure. Wm. McKenzie McLeod. 



THE FIRST SALMON'S SILVER SHEEN. 



^l^HE account given by your correspondent "M.,' ! in a 

 1 late number of your paper, of his experience on the 

 Cascapedia, and the capture of his first salmon touched 

 me in a tender spot and set me to looking over my score 

 book, which contains a vast amount of memoranda which 

 are to me very interesting. Each page and each entry 

 calls up scenes and recollections of purest pleasures, and 

 the brightest of all is the one that records the capture of 

 my first salmon; and I am tempted to write you an 

 account of that trip. 



It was in February, 1881, that I received a letter 

 from a good friend asking me to be his companion for 

 ten days on one of the finest salmon rivers on the conti- 

 nent, the freedom of which had been tendered him by 

 the Dominion government. That I accepted goes without 

 saying, and one of the early days of June found us in 

 Montreal, where we stopped over one day to buy the 

 necessary supplies for our fortnight of camp fife. We 

 had made a careful estimate of our necessities, and 

 armed with the memorandum sought out Crawford. 

 Now, Crawford is a wily man and accustomed to deal 

 with anglers who come to him with carefully prepared 

 lists of things, which they have made up their minds 

 they want; and before we fairly knew it he had us 

 seated in his private office looking over his list, having 

 summarily put ours to one side. The result was that our 

 bill when presented was about three times as much as we 

 had anticipated, and the goods when packed filled seven- 

 teen packages large and small. The Grand Trunk Rail- 

 road people, however, are kind to anglers and very little 

 argument was necessary to persuade the baggage agent 

 that it was all personal baggage, under lOOlbs. in weight 

 and. limited in value to fifty dollars; and 10 o'clock P. M. 

 found us in the sleeper en route for our fishing ground. 

 The afternoon of the second day brought us to our desti- 

 nation so far as the railroad was concerned, although we 

 had sixty miles of canoeing before we could reach our 

 own river. We had estimated that three canoes would 

 carry us and all our impedimenta, but thanks to Craw- 

 ford and his wonderful catalogue we found that seven 

 were necessary, and with that number we started up the 

 river at noon on June 13. Three days of easy poling 

 brought us to our destination and on the 17th we were 

 ready to open our campaign in earnest. 



My friend was an old salmon angler, I a novice; and 

 I wished him to take the best pool, but he insisted that 

 everything should be decided by lot, and the luck of a 



beginner was mine. I drew the best pool. The morn- 

 ing fishing brought nothing to either of us. In the after- 

 noon I had gone to my pool, and anchoring near its head 

 fished it very carefully for half its length without a rise, 

 when my friend, having fished his water over without 

 result, came down to see how I was getting along. Even- 

 ing was coming on, and, as I should not have time to fish 

 the whole of my water over, he, at my solicitation, 

 anchored some distance below me and commenced to 

 cast. Hardly had he got fairly at work before he raised 

 and fastened a fish, which was gaffed after twenty min- 

 utes of sharp work. This was the first salmon I had ever 

 seen killed, and the lesson, as I learned it, was of the 

 greatest value to me very soon afterward, for hardly was 

 the fish safe before I saw a grea.t "bulge" on the water 

 just where my fly was floating. With the instinct of a 

 trout fisherman I struck at once, and so savagely that had 

 the fish taken the fly I should have assuredly thrown him 

 over my head or broken my tackle. As quick as lightning 

 I cast again, but the warning cry of mycanoemen, "take 

 it away from him," prevailed, and I recovered my line 

 and sat down to "rest him" for the regulation five min- 

 utes, 



At last, with the consent of the tyrant in the stern of 

 my canoe, I stood up and cast again; this time there was no 

 bulge nor other sign, but to my surprise, without warn- 

 ing of any kind, my rod bent nearly double and the line 

 began to run out as the reel played the quickest march I 

 had ever heard. I had seen no fish, and for a moment 

 was at a loss to know what had happened; but no one can 

 be long in doubt under such circumstances, and it quickly 

 dawned upon me that I was fast to my first salmon. 



Thirty -five minutes of give and take fighting elapsed 

 before that fish was safe in the canoe, but at last I had 

 him; 271bs. he weighed on honest scales, and killed with- 

 out the least help or advice after he was struck. "Ah!" 

 thought I, as I lay back in the canoe and admired him, 

 "you are worth all you cost, if I never get another." 



I have killed many salmon since that day, but have 

 never seen just such a fish and never shall, for was he not 

 my first? Two days of fishing over some eighteen miles 

 of river yielded for me twelve fish averaging 23^1bs. ; 

 while my friend, who took a smaller number, took larger 

 fish, his take averaging a pound more. Salmo. 



Rutland, Vt. 



BILLY. 



BILLY is naturally shy and retiring in his disposition. 

 Solitude offers him time and opportunity amply 

 sufficient to speculate, cogitate and ruminate concerning 

 all the little schemes and dreams of his young life. I 

 might add parenthetically that anything that ends in 

 "ate," or is near to "ate," Billy watches with deep solici- 

 tude, yes, and even covets for his inside pocket. When 

 Cash broached the subject of a few days visit to the 

 Adirondacks, Billy's head swelled and throbbed with 

 visions of delight. Leaving Cash and me to kill the 

 trout, he would wander listlessly under the firs and bal- 

 sams, and over the waves of moss that softly but clearly 

 direct the down-flow of the brook. With his back to 

 care and time, he would sink into the hum and play of 

 nature. See those shadows sporting with each other ! 

 Scampering around the scarred base of some woodpeck- 

 ered log, they hesitate before the hot sides of a huge 

 rock glistering in the sun ; then fanned on by the nod- 

 ding branches, they fly across a needly level only to tum- 

 ble headlong into the brook, which laughs as"it tosses 

 then bruised outlines against its pebbly bottom. Breath- 

 less now, they rest under that overhanging bank and cool 

 the heads of two or three big trout, sleepy after one of 

 those spring suppers that are so apt to prove a little too 

 hearty and rich. 



"But, perhaps, this is not the kind of place we are go- 

 ing to try," says Billy, supposing that we had followed 

 him all along in Ms visions, "and then, too, I am no fish- 

 erman. I never caught a half a dozen in my life." 



"Well, it is time you should learn, and I know just 

 where we can catch all we want," boasted (and I thought 

 at the time — lied) Cash. 



Billy pondered a moment and we saw that the inevita- 

 ble was coining. "Say, I did catch a big one once, when 

 visiting my cousin in"— "That's all correct, sweet Wil- 

 liam; save that till we start our first camp-fire; it will 

 sound more truthful then." 



Well, it all ended in our going; and Decoration Day 

 morning found us at Lowe's, at the State Dam, near Ma- 

 lone, N. Y. I must give a short description, by Billy, of 

 Malone before making my first cast. "Mai one consists 

 of one house situated on the main street just a few steps 

 from the depot. The house contained, I suppose, the usual 

 number of rooms on each floor, but I am not positive as 

 to this. I only remember one distinctly — the dining 

 room. Almost all dining rooms are made too large; the 

 servant seems to consume hours before reaching the man 

 who has traveled all night. This was not the case with 

 Malone. Everything — and how all-embracing is that 

 word when applied to a breakfast just on the edge of the 

 woods — was within reach." Words failed Billy here 

 sooner than his appetite did there. During our three 

 days' fishing, whenever the trout forgot Billy's end of 

 the boat, and they did sometimes, and Billy was given a 

 moment or two in which to cogitate — no, ruminate is 

 better — how his eye woidd brighten, his brow uncloud, 

 his lips unfasten with that unmistakable "m'nap" of 

 gustatory delight and "boys that beefsteak, those rolls 

 and eggs." That's as far as he ever would get. He 

 could not spare even the description of all those delica- 

 cies. The taste was still too sweet to lose. 



Our guides were "three and all different," as the proud 

 father said in describing his triplets. Adam came first, 

 and very properly, too, for his name left no doubt as to 

 the blue blood that flowed in his veins, and his fame as a 

 caster of flies and a reeler of yarns made him eminently 

 desirable for one end of a boat. He paddled Cash with 

 one hand, whipped about flies of his own deceptive make 

 with the other, all the time unwinding a string of varie- ( 

 gated reminiscences that even opened the mouths of the 

 trout in astonishment. A sudden pause in the story, a 

 quick and accurate cast, the fly seated firmly in the 

 fish's mouth, and Adam would reel the trout and his , 

 tale to an end. Adam had manufactured himself a deer- 

 skin coat, soft and comfortable ordinarily, but once wet 

 it tightened and became as lubricous as an eel. Lester 

 had charge of Billy. He also wore a coat a trifle out of 

 the ordinary run. Made out of a piece of discarded tent- 

 ing, striped in green and red, and cut with more freedom 

 than cloth, it gave Lester a decidedly brigandish air 



