Aire. 18, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



69 



been dozing forty winks in my old armchair? Papa, you 

 enorcd! Oh, no," you must be mistaken. Well, boys, this 

 is a sort of a dream that was not all a dream. I can see 

 the Catskills ard 'Sopus Island and the fisliing grounds 

 from my window; and many a long year ago I went on just 

 such a fishing expedition as I have written about, and I 

 have thus written because I want to see our boys grow up 

 fond of outdoor sports and pastimes, hardy, strong, cour- 

 ageous, able to stand "wear and tear," and stand it cheer- 

 fully, thanking God for being in this lovely world and 

 for the capacity of its enjoyment, loving the woods and 

 waters and all things therein, loving truth and courtesy 

 and manliness, and despising mean people and mean 

 ways. Mark the man who treats dumb beasts cruelly; he 

 will do the same by you if you fall into Ms power. No 

 Sandford and Merton, angelic youths, too good for this 

 world altogether, but good", honest boys. 



I was "bow oar" in the boat that went after perch, and 

 the "stroke oar" is even now fishing up on the Eesti- 

 goucbe; and only last week (you see, he never forgets his 

 younger brother) he sent me two salmon, 25-pounders, 

 delicious fish they were. And though we have fished 

 many waters and caught many different kinds of fish, I 

 doubt whether we ever enjoyed anything in the fishing 

 line more than the first time we went for white perch in 

 the waters of the dear old Hudson. Capt. Clayton. 



RESORTS FOR WASHINGTON ANGLERS. 



' Editor Forest and Stream: 



The National Capital is credited with 150,000 cr more 

 inhabitants. Among these one can find scarcely more 

 than a "corporal's guard" who have seen or even eaten a 

 brook trout. This, added to the fact that all — save such 

 as retain State domiciles— are disfranchised American 

 citizens, makes a desert of our Eden. 



And what is worse, if we would angle for trout we 

 must journe to the far away mountain streams of Penn- 

 sylvania, western Maryland and West Virginia, follow- 

 ing thus the example of our Chief Magistrate; but, let it 

 be known, that as trout have not yet differentiated bene- 

 dicts from bachelors, the latter do not need to follow the 

 President's example further, and add a wife to the other 

 expenses of the trip. 



The case is far different as to black bass, which may be 

 caught at our very doors, so to speak; for a walk of four 

 miles up the Potomac will bring one to bass fishing 

 grounds— the broad water above Little Falls. The fishing 

 improves as we ascend the river. Seneca and Point of 

 Rocks are famous resorts. Harper's Ferry (where the 

 Shenandoah joins its waters with the Potomac) is further 

 on and but fifty miles from the city. Some distance be- 

 yond the Ferry a club, known as the Woodmont, and 

 composed of gentlemen from Washington, has purchased 

 a tract of land and built a club house. There the bass 

 fishing is excellent, and last year, President Cleveland 

 and some members of his cabinet, availing themselves of 

 the invitation of the club, spent some days there with 

 successful result. 



The Shenandoah and other large tributaries of the 

 Upper Potomac also afford most excellent bass fishing. 

 Among them, Goose Creek, a very beautiful stream, de- 

 spite its unromantic and uneuphonious name, is probably 

 the most celebrated. It joins the Potomac at Edwards 

 Ferry, or Ball's Bluff, sadly celebrated for a bloody dis- 

 aster to the Union troops, under Gen. Stone, early in the 

 war. There is good fishing almost from the mouth of 

 the creek to Lenz's mills, where the best catches are 

 made. Last year Messrs. Chadwick and Laird, two suc- 

 cessful and locally well known fishermen, caught seventy- 

 five bass in about twelve hours, and all the largest were 

 exhibited in a re taurant window on Pennsylvania 

 avenue. Messrs. Gardner, Redrnond and a friend also 

 caught sixty-five in part of one afterncon and two hours 

 of the following morning. In each case the water was 

 just clearing after having been muddy several days. 

 This has been, however, an "off year," owing to the late 

 spring and much rain; and hence so good catches have 

 not been made. Yet Mr. Chadwick and a friend caught 

 fifty-six fine bass on July 4 and 5, in the Susquehanna, 

 near Port Deposit, some forty-five miles beyond Balti- 

 more. Perch and rock (striped bass) fishing is also good 

 at the same place, but generally we do not need to go so 

 far. Both kinds (but no large specimens) may now be 

 caught off the Navy Yard bridge and Arsenal Point, 

 which are within city limits. Rock may in fact be founci 

 from the Little Falls— the limit of the tide — to the mouth 

 of the river, a stretch of about 120 miles. 



Four miles below the city the small stream called Four 

 Mile Run empties into the Potomac on the Virginia side. 

 For half a mile from its mouth it is very broad. Boats 

 and mimiows being always obtainable, and the place 

 being very easily accessible by railroad, it is naturally 

 more frequented than any other fishing resort in this 

 j vicinity. It also affords excellent shooting at various 

 ( seasons. Some actors (among them Geo. Denham, well 

 I 1 nown as support of John E. Owens, Joe Jefferson, Mary 

 f Anderson and other stars, and Walter Allen, the popular 

 buffo i f the Emma Abbott Opera Company) have erected 

 a comfortable club house, and provided themselves with 

 boats and all the other accessories and necessaries of a 

 good fishing and hunting outfit. Here they can "lie off" 

 as umeseiwedly as if in the wilderness, and yet reach the 

 city on fifteen minutes' notice. Here resi "!.es Jesse M., 

 who has been previously noticed in Foeest and Stream 

 as the only fisherman known to Washington annals who 

 never fails to fish (or hunt) e~ery day, rain or shine, with- 

 out, however, neglecting his professional duties in the 

 city. Rockfish, perch, chub, sunfish, catfish (one caught 

 by J. M. weighed 5 Jibs.) and occasionally a black bass and 

 carp are caught here. So far as I have heard, black bass 

 are not found at any point further down the river; but 

 their place is supplied by tailors (the young or "southern" 

 bluefish), and sheepshead, drum, spot and crocus are 

 caught at places near the mouth of the river, especially 

 at Piney Point, a popular resort for Washingtonians. 



At Bay Ridge, about thirty miles away on Chesapeake 

 Bay, spots may be caught in plenty. They and their first 

 cousins, the crocus, are esteemed the kings of the pan fish 

 of this locality. "Shedder," or soft crab and worms are 

 the bait they prefer. An expert bass or even perch fisher- 

 man does not usually succeed in catching many spots, on 

 first trial, and is often compelled to Bee himself eclipsed 

 by some "chump" who doesn't know a Henshall rod from 

 a walking stick. He finally leams to use no float, a very 

 small hook, a very heavy sinker (on the extreme end of 

 the line), and to hold the line taut and jerk instantly 



when the fish bite. I know of no fish more difficult to 

 catch save the blackfish or tautogs that live around the 

 rocks at Nantasket Beach, Mass. They are genuine ex- 

 perts; while only 200yds. from shore the same kind of 

 jish can be caught with comparative ease. So it seems 

 the shore-huggers have learned by experience to bite the 

 "off side" of a hook. Fly-fishing has not been much 

 practiced in this vicinity. The following, quoted (with- 

 out permission) from a recent letter to a friend by one of 

 the two pioneers in fly-fishing here — Mr. G. A. Brandt, 

 an intelligent gentleman connected with the War Depart- 

 ment—may prove of general interest and profit, although 

 having for the most a local application: 



"There is not to my knowledge any book in existence 

 which contains the information you desire, nor do I think 

 you require anything except what experience teaches you 

 is the best. I believe I nave read everything worth read- 

 ing concerning fly-fishing, and my conclusion from per- 

 sonal experience as well as the opinions of master anglers, 

 such as Thad Norris, is that there are about fifty times as 

 many flies as are necessary for practical purposes. One 

 eminent angler (whose name I cannot now recall) used to 

 say that he found four flies sufficient for his purposes, 

 and I think he was not far from right; on the other hand, 

 some dilletanti have a different fly for each day in the 

 year. 



"As regards fly-flshing hereabouts I believe John Hyer, 

 an examiner in the Patent Office 'and myself were "the 

 pioneers. The field is yet comparatively a new one; in 

 fact I know, personally, no one except yourself who 

 habitually devotes himself to the fascinating pastime. I 

 have many flies, but those I generally use are a 'yellow- 

 sally,' ibis (only occasionally, in cloudy days and in dis- 

 colored water), black-gnat, coachman (red body), and 

 the white-moth or mi.ler (about sundown or at dusk)." 



Potomac. 



Washington, D. 0. 



SOMETHING ABOUT A PORCUPINE* 



AT 5 o'clock Wednesday morning, June 8, 1887, Mack 

 and I found ourselves approaching Mackinaw City, 

 Mich. The sun was shining bright across Lake Huron, 

 bidding us fair day. Steamers and sailing vessels were 

 seen in every direction. Off to the right a few miles was 

 the island of Mackinac, and to the left we could see away 

 across Lake Michigan. The train stops, the porter calls 

 out "twenty minutes for breakfast," and. we step off the 

 Wagner. "Just look at that woman, Mack; she's got a 

 grip", four bundles, a bandbox and a bird cage. That 

 means a three months' visit." After our breakfast of 

 lake trout, strawberries and coffee, we get aboard the 

 ferry for Point St. Ignace, where we arrive in half an 

 hour. Nearly all the natives call this place "The Point" 

 and the tourists pronounce it Saint Ignace, with the 

 accent on the ace. We found our Racine sailboat, which 

 had been waiting for us several days, and in a short time 

 our traps were aboard and we were pulling out of the 

 harbor toward the north. A stiff breeze was blowing and 

 we kept pretty close to shore in case of a spill. At 5 P. 

 M. we arrived at Gros Point. The wind had been blow- 

 ing strong all the afternoon, but now it had reached a 

 point not much short of a gale. Carp River was still four 

 miles away and we wanted to reach there that night if 

 possible; but after a hard pull of two miles we gave it up 

 and went to shore and made camp. Two as tired and 

 hungry fellows as ever were sat down to bacon, potatoes, 

 onions, bread and butter and coffee, and pronovmced it 

 the best meal they had ever eaten. By morning the wind 

 had abated some, and we were up early preparing to 

 move on. The view here is across St. Martin's Bay. To 

 the south the humpbacked island of Mackinac could be 

 seen in the distance. Directly east is St. Martin's Point, 

 ten miles away, and in the mouth of the bay lie the beau- 

 tiful St. Martin Man-Is. After a hearty breakfast, we 

 started up the bay and landed at the mouth of Carp River 

 at 8 o'clock. We wanted to try the fishing before setting 

 up our tent, so we got our tackle rea dy at once and started 

 up the river. Arriving at the rapids we found that some 

 men were running logs, and we tried casting for an hour 

 without getting a rise. This discouraged us very much, 

 and. we wished we had gone where we knew we could at 

 least get enough trout to eat. I was not willing to give 

 up until we had tried again, so at noon, when the men 

 were at dinner and the logs stopped running, I went to 

 the rapids and in half an hour succeeded in landing five 

 very fine trout. I walked back to the boat much elated, 

 and Mack was as much pleased as I was to see trout once 

 more. The five weighed 31bs. 



Dinner was the next thing in order, and we lost no 

 time in getting the trout cooked. We were as hungry as 

 wolves and devoured all the fish. In the evening we had 

 a couple of hours' fly-fishing, taking twenty trout each. 

 We gave Mrs. Tripp a mess of trout and m return she 

 gave us a pan of milk, The rapids near the mouth of the 

 river are called Big Rapids, and. extend about half a mile 

 in length. Two miles up are the Little Rapids, of about 

 the same length. Ten miles further on is the dam, and 

 for two miles below the dam the river is a succession of 

 rapids and pools. The river can be waded at any of these 

 places mentioned. There are no snags, roots nor over- 

 hanging trees to bother the fly-fisherman, and, best of all, 

 the river is full of trout. In the rapids the bed of the 

 river is very rocky and the water shallow, but there are 

 miles of deep, slack water, affording fine protection to 

 trout in winter. On the morning of the 10th one of the 

 men came down from the dam with a team, and he told 

 such glowing accounts of the fishing up the river that we 

 concluded to go back with him. By 8 o'clock we were on 

 the road, and of all the roads I ever saw this was the 

 worst. We laughed a good deal at the horrible jolting 

 and got considerable fun out of the ride. Arriving at the 

 dam at 10:30, we soon had the tent up and were ready for 

 business. The dam proper is about 200ft. across, and the 

 sluice is 25ft. wide. Slash boards are set across the sluice 

 every morning at 6 o'clock and remain until the follow- 

 ing morning at 4 o'clock, when they are knocked out and 

 the "flood is on." The head of the water gained is 12ft., 

 and when it is let off the river below rises 6ft. in three 

 minutes. In two hours the river is down to its natural 

 stage and the slash boards are put in again. During the 

 flood the men work the logs over the rapids to the mouth 

 of the river, where the logs are boomed and towed to the 

 mill at St. Ignace. Nearly all the land fronting on this 

 river is owned by the Mackinaw Lumber Company, and 

 men and teams are employed the year round m getting 



*But more about fishing. 



out logs. Mr. John O'Malley is superintendent and Mr. 

 Tripp has charge of the farm and boarding house. The 

 company keep two men here to watch the dam, John 

 Boynton and William McCune. They are nice young fel- 

 lows and attend strictly to their duties. In three weeks 

 we never heard either of them swear, which is rather 

 singular for this country. 



For the first few days we fished at the dam, and such 

 fishing we had never had before. Just below the dam is 

 a deep hole about oOf t. across, and this was fairly alive 

 with trout, and big ones too. We saw several that would 

 weigh from 2 to 31bs. each. Half-pounders were common 

 and we took one-pounders every day. The two largest 

 we caught weighed l^lbs. and 2ilbs. We began with a 

 gang of three flieB, but got into so much trouble trying to 

 land triples that we used only two flies. It was almost 

 impossible to clrop a flv anywhere in the river without 

 getting a rise. We could not tell what they liked best, 

 for they seemed always on the alert and eagerly took 

 whatever we gave them. When we got tired of fisliing 

 around the dam we could wander down the river a mile 

 or two for a change. There were many beautiful places 

 along the river, and we visited them day after day, never 

 becoming tired of gazing on the rushing waters and cir- 

 cling pools. This stream is as pretty as the famous Jordan , 

 Boyne or Boardman rivers, and has more and larger trout 

 than all three put together. A number of gentlemen 

 came here to fish during our stay, but they rarely tried 

 the rapids, preferring to stand on the floor of the dam and 

 "yank" them out with a short pole. It made me flinch 

 fairly to see the trout sailing through the air and strike 

 the bridge of the dam with force enough to kill a cow. 

 Perhaps it was as merciful as my way of killing them, 

 but it did not seem so. We estimated that three thousand 

 trout were taken from the pool below the dam while we 

 were camped here. We did not get to fish above the dam 

 as the river was full of logs for seven miles, but John said 

 it was fine fishing when the logs were out. 



One morning as Billy stepped outdoors, he saw a bear 

 only a few yards away, but Before he could get the gun 

 the bear was gone. We scarcely believed him until 

 he took us to where the bear had gone through a 

 gully, but there were the tracks in the clay as plain as 

 could be and we were convinced. The tracks were nearly 

 round and measured over six inches across. We had 

 several pet porcupines that came around the camp at all 

 times of the day. Billy told us that these curious little 

 animals would go a mile out of their way for a chance 

 to climb an axe handle, so we left our axe convenient 

 and waited developments. Sure enough every porcu- 

 pine that came around would climb that axe handle. It 

 was a comical sight and the performance amused us 

 greatly. 



Three of our party arrived on the 21st, Harry, Frank 

 and Harvey. The boys brought letters from home and a 

 newspaper, the first we had seen for two weeks. For the 

 next few days we did not see much of the sun and it 

 rained considerably, but we put in the time very well and 

 would have enjoyed ourselves completely if it had not 

 been for the mosquitoes. In rainy weather the mosqui- 

 toes were pretty thick and we had to use the "dope" 

 freely to get any peace. On the 26th we pulled up stakes, 

 and with many regrets left this beautiful place where we 

 had spent so many happy hours. Arriving at the mouth 

 of the river at three o'clock, we set up our tent and put 

 in the rest of the day in visiting the Tripp family and 

 picking strawberries. The next day we tried the lower 

 rapids again with good success. The trout seemed to be 

 more plenty than ever, and there was no need to take 

 small ones, and all under half a pound were dropped back 

 into the river. Fifteen of the largest we ciught that day 

 weighed 121bs. They made a pretty string and Harvey 

 and I held them up and had their pictures taken. We 

 broke camp in the evening, putting our traps in the boats, 

 and at 9 P. M. took a "bee line" for St. Martin's Point, li 

 miles across the bay. The moon was shining and we had 

 a delightful row of it, landing at the Point at 12 o'clock. 

 We built a fire and soon had coffee and lunch ready, and 

 none of us will soon forget our midnight supper at St. Mar- 

 tin's Point. After resting a couple of hours we pulled out 

 going directly east to Point Brulee, which we passed at 

 4:30 A. M. and at 6 o'clock landed on the north side of 

 Marquette Island. Our tent was put up on a bench of 

 the hill about 20ft. above the lake, and after breakfast we 

 all took a few hours' sleep. 



The Cheneaux (The Snows) are a group of several hund- 

 red islands, Marquette Island is the largest, comprising 

 about five thousand acres of land, and they range all the 

 way down to the size of a big girl's hat. Among these 

 islands, "in the narrow deep channels and winding bays," 

 we had been told that black bass were abundant. On the 

 map all the good places were marked "The home of the 

 gamy black bass," "The best bass fishing in the State," 

 etc. * And the book said that "bass, perch, muskalonge, 

 Mackinaw trout, pickerel and pike, of the largest and 

 most gamy varieties, fairly swarm in every direction." 

 So we thought all we had to do was to row to these placeB 

 and haul them in. But we went to the "home of the 

 gamy black bass" and he wasn't in, and we went to the 

 neighbors and he wasn't there. We fished in all the 

 "elegant" places for miles, we tried all kinds of bait, but 

 did not get a bass in five days' fishing. Notwithstanding 

 our poor luck with the bass we were very well contented. 

 We had a splendid camping place, and when we were 

 not eating, sleeping or trying for the "gamy," we passed 

 the time in picking berries, examining Indian graves and 

 taking in the beauties of the landscape. Frank had 

 brought a camera and negative plates with him and ob- 

 tained a number of fine pictures of our several camps and 

 scenery along the route. 



On Friday, July I, we packed up our traps, and at 4 

 P. M. boarded the steamer Golden Eagle, bound for St. 

 Ignace. The captain and steward were jolly fellows, 

 and we had a pleasant voyage, arriving at St. Ignace at 

 7 P. M. All of the party, except myself, stopped at 

 Mackinac to spend a few days, intendi ng to take a steamer 

 there for Detroit. I reached Mackinaw City, by ferry, 

 at 10 P. M. and took the Michigan Central train for the 

 south. I stopped over Simday with my family, who 

 were at Huronia Beach, and met the rest of the party in 

 Detroit on the 4th, arriving home the same night at 11 

 P. M. Our trip had been a pleasant one and we all voted 

 to go again. Jack. 



Columbus, O., Aug. 9. 



See the new advertisement of Uptnegrove & McLellan, Valpa- 

 I raiso, Ind.— Adv. 



