May 26, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



395 



lunch (I had bad uo breakfast), I put my rod together 

 and affixed my reel. And then came a time of trouble 

 and a trial of patience. I had a little Fowler reel, carry- 

 ing 40yds. of line, to which I am very partial, owing to 

 its lightness and the rapidity with which it gathers line. 

 But alas! it has one bad fault. It retrieves the line 

 through a narrow, fixed slot, and the line piles up, then 

 falls over, giving it slack, and in this slack kinks will 

 form— and then — well, you know how it is yourself! The 

 more you try to get a kink out of a line the more it gets 

 in. I finally tried to take the reel apart, and then came 

 the old frosty winter of my discontent. 



The pesky tiling would not come apart, and after con- 

 signing it and its inventor many times to the realms of 

 Pluto, I gave up the job and returned its screws to then- 

 places and kept patiently at work until it finally started 

 off with a merry click, as if nothing ever had been the 

 matter with it. 



I attached a short leader with two flies, as the stream 

 is to small for more, and at 9 A. M. made my first cast. 



What a waste of golden moments that contumacious 

 reel has cost! I flattered myself before this occurrence 

 that I was too old a fisherman ever to be caught unpre- 

 pared when the fishing grounds were reached, yet here 

 had I, like the merest tyro, lost an hour and a half of the 

 best fishing of the day. For when the sun mounts the 

 sky there is no more filling under his fiery eyes until the 

 shadows of evening darkenthe gliding ripples. 



The point where I struck the stream was at the foot of 

 a rocky gorge in which were two beautiful pools. At the 

 head of the lower one was a fall of 6 or 7ft., and at the 

 upper, one of some 5ft. The water in each was all of 10ft. 

 deep, just the home for a fine trout. The second cast 

 brought a rise and I hooked a beauty. Great Scott ! see 

 him break water — half a pound if he's an ounce! And 

 here I stand, on a rocky shelf, with scarce room to turn 

 around, and no landing net. I never expected to get 

 such a large fish in this small stream, so did not bring 

 one with me. Well, he must be thoroughly tired out 

 before attempting to" land him. This is the only way out of 

 the difficulty. Up and down the pool he goes: now break- 

 ing water at the head, then at the foot: now boring down 

 to the bottom to rub his head against the gravel, followed 

 by another wild rush. At last, completely exhausted, he 

 turned belly up, and submitted quietly to be lifted by the 

 leader up to wdiere I was standing. But, alas! "there's 

 many a slip," etc., for when I reached down to put my 

 fingers into his gills he gave one last despairing kick, 

 unhooked himself, and went tumbling back down the 

 rocks into his native element. 



Of course I felt for a moment as if all joy had departed 

 out of this cold and unfeeling world, and that a poor 

 orphan had no chance anyhow. No doubt this was the 

 largest trout in the stream, and I "ne'ea would see his 

 like again." 



A few more casts aUS I hooked and landed a fair trout, 

 but he was not more than half as large as the one that 

 escaped. Then I Whipped away for fifteen or twenty 

 minutes without a rise, following slowly up the stream 

 until I came to a small x>ool with a fine ripple at its head. 

 At the first cast I hooked a magnificent fish, larger than 

 the ong I lost. What should I do? The banks on each 

 side were lined with thick brush, tbe tops of which bung- 

 over into the water, and if he once made a dash into the 

 entangling branches it would be good-bye trout. Taking 

 this all in at a glance, I took all the chances and gave him 

 a "'yank" that would ha ve done credit to the most excit- 

 able novice, and landed him 10ft. away among the brush. 

 He came down free from the hook, and there was an 

 instant's circus among the grass and dry leaves: then an 

 ominous splash — then silenc?. Mort a le Diable! What's 

 the matter now? An instant's examination revealed all 

 too plainly. There was a treacherous little rill trickling 

 down the bank, with just enough water in it to enable a 

 trout intent on business to make his way back into the 

 main stream. 



Then and th^re something broke loose. There was a 

 certain" angler about that time that caught hold of a stout 

 sapling that grew near by to steady himself, took a long 

 breath and !! !! - !!! but what's the use dilat- 

 ing upon the sad scene? — you all know how it is your- 

 selves. 



After a time "the clouds rolled by," and I went to fish- 

 ing again. I soon caught another fair-sized fish, and 

 from that until past noon I whipped and whipped with- 

 out a rise. Under California's sunny sky the middle of 

 the day is n. g. for fishing. 



Returning to the carriage, I ate some more lunch, filled 

 my pipe, and stretching myself under the shade of a 

 kingiy oak, proceeded to console myself with the care- 

 dispelling weed. And there 1 1 y and smoked and mused 

 three happy hours away, with the soft grass beneath and 

 the trembling leaves of the oak above, with orioles and 

 house-finches darting in and out of the dancing shadows, 

 the soft west wind whispering of the ocean whence it 

 came, and the fretful murmur of the little stream in my 

 ear as it chafed and complained in its boulder- strewn 

 channel. Ay, ay; surely it is true that "it is not all of 

 going a-fishing to catch fish." 



What time is it? Fom- o'clock, as I am a sinner! I 

 must be up and at it again, as at 5 P. M. I must start for 

 home, as I have mary a tussle in prospective with contu- 

 macious gates and misleading by-roads, before darkness 

 settles down. 



For half an horn- 1 whip the stream downward in vain. 

 Not one single rise rewarded my labor, barring one, and 

 that rise was made by myself, anl succeeded a very sud- 

 den fall on a' treacherous and slippery rock. Contrary to 

 a trout's custom I did not bite when I rose, it was when I 

 sat down that I bit — my tongue. 



Well, I must turn and retrace my steps. I have only 

 half an hour left and, I fear, no pro ject for any more 

 fish. Ten minutes mora pass and still no rise. Discour- 

 agement is fast settling down upon my spirits when 

 — ah! you beauty, I have you firmly fastened! I know 

 it by the natural intuition of an angler. Away 

 he rushes — up, out of the water he leaps — down 

 he bores, with his head scrubbing against the 

 bottom, then out again, his sides gleaming in the rays 

 of the setting sun and his head shaking like a bulldog ? s. 

 In fact he goes through all the antics of a wily trout. 

 If I lose h im , my heart will break sure, for I am certain 

 he will weigh a pound. The pool is a favorable one and 

 I give him all the play he desires. At last he comes gasp- 

 ing to the bank fairly conquered, and I lift him out, kill, 

 and lay him on a grassy spot to admire him. Oh, what 

 a shame to kill so gloriously beautiful a creature. See 



the iridescent colors playing on his sides. See the beauti- 

 fully swelling shoulders, lovely as a woman's bust, and 

 ( he shapely head and tail. Surely there is no more beau- 

 tiful nor hard -fighting flab, in creation than a California 

 rainbow trout. I slipped the hook of a pocket scale into 

 his gills and he pulled down ljlbs. exactly. 



Tins was joy enough for one day if I did not catch 

 another fish. From this on until my appointed time, and 

 I f ar a little later, I caught them as fast as I could save 

 then), and when I reeled up my line I had ten trout in my 

 basket that weighed six pounds in the aggregate. This 

 may seem to be a poor and tame day's sport to numerous 

 anglers, and many times under more favorable circum- 

 stances it would have been so to me, but coming as it did, 

 in such an unexpected time, and getting such large and 

 fine fish in such a tiny stream, gave the day's outing such 

 a surpassing zest and pleasure that I could not help try- 

 ing to share it with your many readers in part return for 

 the delight so often derived from your columns from the 

 pens of others. Perhaps, after my annual summer's out- 

 ing in the mountains, I can tell you stories of days of 

 greater success and far larger fish, but none, I am certain, 

 can I tell of more thorough enjoyment. Arefar. 



AnnurtN, GaJ„ May 17. 



THE ADIRONDACKS. 



THE weather throughout central New York is very 

 dry, and trout fishing in our numerous streams has 

 not therefore been as good as usual. But fishing in the 

 various lakes is unusually good. Many Syracusans have 

 gone to or are seeking the Adirondack^, where the best 

 fishing of the season will be realized during the next two 

 or three weeks. Few cities can boast of so many expert 

 anglers as Syracuse has, from chief -justices of the Court 

 of Appeals and bishops all the way down to the '^chalk- 

 line" fisherman in more humble pursuits. Justices'Ruger 

 and Andrews, of the Court of Appeals; Justices Vann 

 and Kennedy, of the Supreme Court, and Judge North- 

 rup, of the County Court, can aLl whip a stream in the 

 most expert manner. Bishop Ludden, of the See of Syra- 

 cuse, enjoys both fishing and hunting. The Rev. Dr. 

 Lockwood, Rector of St. Paul's Cathedral, spends his 

 vacation in the Adirondacks each year, and is well ac- 

 quainted with woodcraft. And so the list might be con- 

 siderably extended. D. 

 Syracuse, May 19. 



I am on my thirty-fifth annual spring trip. The trout- 

 big season opens here exceedingly favorable. Fly-fishing 

 has commenced, and also trolling, and a few well-known 

 old sportsmen are enjoying the waters. Woods. 

 Sahaxac Lake, May 16. 



"Piseco" sends us this note from an Adirondack guide 

 whom he indorses as A No. 1 : 



Blue Mountain Lake, May 12. — I think you miss it by 

 not coming to fish. The ice' went out of Blue Mountain 

 Lake May 8. Yesterday I caught 321bs. of brook trout, 

 weighing from 41b. to cjlbs. apiece, and sold them to Geo. 

 Tuncliff to-day. You could get here next Tuesday, May 

 17, and have two weeks of as good trout fishing as you 

 want. I will guide you for nothing if you don't have as 

 good time as any man can wish for. — Henry E. Taylor. 

 [No one knows better than "Piseco" that he "misses it," 

 but once in a wliile there are lions in the path that the 

 most enthusiastic angler in the world cannot pass to reach 

 the trout waters.] 



THE NIPISSING REGION. 



IT is about this time that the lover of the woods finds 

 that he has been working too hard, that he is getting 

 run down, etc. , and he explains to wife and family that 

 nothing but a trip to the North Woods, Moosehead Lake or 

 Nipissing will give the necessary rest and tone to his sys- 

 tem. And it is true enough that a little camp life in the 

 wilderness usually is of great benefit to those in need of 

 change and rest. For the last two years we have spent a 

 few weeks each summer at Trout Lake and vicinity 

 (Nipissing region), and while there may be more desira- 

 ble points, still it will be hard to find places where so 

 good fishing can be had so quickly and so easily. It takes 

 two nights to reach North Bay, the intervening day being 

 mostly spent in Montreal. The train reaches North Bay 

 about 9 o'clock A. M. and Trout Lake is but fom- and one- 

 half miles away with a passable road leading to it. It is 

 easy to get breakfast, buy provisions, etc., and reach Trout 

 Lake by noon. 



We had dinner at Jessup's and went into camp seven 

 miles down the lake at Big Camp Island. Trout Lake is 

 connected with Turtle Lake, and there are many smaller 

 lakes and ponds in the immediate vicinity which have 

 been fished very little or not at all. A splendid canoe 

 trip would be to go by rail to North Bay — Canadian 

 Pacific Railway— -thence to Trout and Turtle lakes, then 

 over a very short portage to Pine Lake, from here an 

 easy portage of perhaps a quarter of a mile takes you to 

 Talcon Lake, through this fine lake to its outlet the 

 Mattawa. River, which joins the Ottawa; thence down 

 the Ottawa to Pembroke or any point below, or even to 

 the St. Lawrence. In addition to good fishing and fine 

 scenery, this route is rich in historic interest, as Cham- 

 plain and his soldiers passed over it as long ago as 1615, 

 and for nearly a hundred years it was the regular route 

 of the voyageurs and trappers of the northwest, and its 

 rocky portages are well worn by the feet of thousands of 

 hardy men. The Hudson's Bay Company once had a post 

 on Trout Lake, the remains of which can still be seen. 

 Near it is a grave marked with a wooden cross and in- 

 closed with a fence of heavy timber. 



Though so easy of access this region is virtually a 

 wilderness, no one living on Trout Lake but R. B. Jessup, 

 the guide. The nearest post-office is North Bay. Among 

 the pleasant memories of last season is that of a day on 

 Lost River, the outlet of Turtle Lake. At the foot of 

 rapids and in pools we caught 37 fish, mostly bass, in 

 probably two hours' fishing, the total weight being 601bs., 

 running from fibs, to Bibs. We used live bait and "Cale- 

 donia minnows" with equal success. The water was 

 shallow and you could see the fish dash for the bait, some- 

 times from a long distance, and it was great sport. Had 

 we used heavy tackle we could have taken as many again 

 probably. We caught in the lake bass of 41bs. weight, 

 and the largest maskalonge weighed 281bs. On Balsam 

 Creek we caught 50 nice brook trout in an hour's fishing, 

 though none weighed over a pound. B, AND H. 



MAINE WATERS. 



THE trout season may now be considered to be fairly 

 begun in Maine waters, and yet the scores are still 

 not very satisfactory. Indeed up to the present time they 

 may be said to include no large fish of the class Salnio 

 fotdinalis. But this can hardly be considered strange, 

 from the standpoint of a veteran angler, who reinariced 

 yesterday that the seven-pounders aud above are rarely 

 taken previous to Decoration Day in the Rangeley waters. 

 Indeed the early fisliing could hardly be expected to turn 

 out very well this year, above all others, when the water 

 has been so remarkably high, roily and full of snow 

 water, My guide, who has had many years of experience 

 in the Maine lake regions, as well as his father before 

 him, is at our camp on Richardson Lake, where he has 

 been for the past ten days — finds the fishing to be poor, 

 and remarks m his last communication that there are 

 more fishermen than trout. He also says that the water 

 is the highest ever known, with still a plenty of snow in 

 the woods. However, this will all pass away in good 

 time, and there will be a limited run of good fishing. There 

 are reports of some very fair scores of trout trom the 

 brooks in Maine and New Hampshire, where the water 

 has gone down, and the chances are thaj Decoration Day 

 will add to these scores. It is worthy of note that the 

 trout scores of the early arrivals at Rangeley Lake are 

 sprinkled with landlocked salmon, all the results ot fish 

 propagation, since they are not native to the waters of 

 those lakes. The landlocked salmon fishing m the Sebago 

 and adjoining lakes has not yet been very satisfactory. 

 Commissioner Stilwell was there last weejf, en route to 

 visit the hatcheries of the Commission at Eads Falls, 

 where they were so successful in obtaining landlocked 

 salmon eggs last fall, from the fact that a weir and dam 

 were so constructed that not a breeding salmon could go 

 up the river without falling into the net of the State, to 

 be used for breeding purposes and then turned loose, 

 either to breed agaio or to fall a prey to the angler's hook. 

 The Commissioners were quartered at the club house near 

 the mouth of the Songo River. They fished a part of two 

 days, with the result of one fine salmon that weighed 81bs. 

 and a number of trout of very respectable size. There 

 were other sportsmen there, both ladies and gentlemen, 

 but the fishing was not very satisfactory, though some 

 fine salmon were caught. Still the number of fish was 

 not more than tour or five to a dozen anglers. Such fish- 

 ing is not satisfactory, especially to tnose who do not 

 land the fish. Commissioner Stilwell is of the opinion — 

 and Commissioner Stanley agrees with him — that the 

 stock of landlocked salmon is not one-fourth part what it 

 should be in those waters, where there is an abundanc eof 

 food and also an abundance of room. The trouble always 

 has been the destruction of the breeding salmon on the 

 spawning beds in the little streams which flow into these 

 lakes. 



Maine's quota of shad fry passed tln-ough Boston on 

 Sunday in the United States Government baby fisn car, 

 which car has already been described in Forest and 

 Stream. The car was destined for Augusta, where it was 

 to be met on Sunday night by the Fish Commissioners, who 

 were to be occupied for two or three days of this week in 

 putting the 2,700,000 shad fry into the Peno;scot and 

 Kennebec rivers. Tins looks like a pretty strong stroke 

 toward stocking those waters with shad. 



Still the salmon fishing at Bangor is not up to that of 

 last year. The result of Saturday's fishing — there were a 

 number of boats engaged — was the hooking of 12 salmon, 

 with the landing of only four. It is thougnt that the fish 

 which have the courage to rise to the fly through such 

 cold and roily vrater as has prevailed all the season so far 

 are especially gamy and hard to capture. The chances 

 are that there will yet be a number of days of good sal- 

 mon fishing at Bangor. Fish Commissioner Stanley is 

 expected here on Wednesday, and as he is an expert with 

 the fly-rod, using flies of his own tying, it is likely that he 

 will take a salmon or two. He has already been quite 

 successful at Weld Pond, I und.rstand;a tine sheet of 

 water that never contained a salmon till the Comroission- 

 ers put them there. Now the report says that m one day 

 this season over 150 were taken, weighing all the way 

 from one to eight pounds. There is something in an old 

 saying about the man who makes two spears of grass grow 

 whe e only one grew before, being a benefactor to his 

 fellow man, and suiely it would seem that a fish commis- 

 sion that had brought a pond up from a few scattering- 

 trout to the position of producing 150 noble salmon in one 

 day, it would seem that such a commission was worthy of 

 some credit. Special. 



Boston, May 24. — Editor Forest and Stream: Better 

 salmon fishing at Bangor yesterday; seventeen were taken. 

 There are nearly twenty noted sportsmen there. One 

 mill ion two hundred thousand of the shad fry go in the 

 Penobscot. * Special. 



A SHORT KEY 



TO THE TWELVE COMMONEST FAMILIES OF FISHES. 



1. Toothless; single dorsal of less than 10 rays Cypri- 



nidas— Minnows. 



2. Eight barbels about mouth. . . .Siluridse — Catfish. 



3. Toothless; dorsal of more than 10 rays Catosto- 



midas— Suckers. 



4. Dorsals 2; anaLl or 2 spines; size small Etheosto- 



rnidae — Darters. 



5. Adipose fin: body scaly; head smooth Salmonidse 



— Salmon. 



6. Four barbels in row, front of mouth Acipenserkhe 



— Sturgeon. 



7. Single dorsal 8 to 12 spines; anal 3 to 9. . . .Ichthelida? 

 — Sunfish. 



8. Dorsals 2; ventrals thoracic 1-5; anal 3 spines. . . . 

 Labracidse — Bass.* 



9. Dorsals 2; ventrals thoracic I-5;f anal 1 or 2 spines 

 . . . .Percidse — Perch. 



10. Ventrals thoracic; vent jugular, in front of ventrals 

 . . . .Aphredoderidae — Pirate perches. 



11. Lateral fine continuous (i. e., running up to last 

 scale and often on to the caudal fin): veitical tins bearing- 

 scales; dorsals 2, often connected, soft part most devel- 

 oped. . . .Scisenidee — Maigres or Drums. 



12. Cheeks mailed; body naked; eyes high up, near to- 

 gether Cottidae— Sculpins. ~ Syracuse. 



*Bo not confound the Labracidse with the bass of sportsmen. 

 The latter belongs to tne Ichthelidse. 

 +1-5 meanB u oue spine and live soft rays." 



