Sept. 5, 1889-1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



127 



the stream, and at the further side of the Avoods rose the 

 rocky ridge that reached nearly down to the camp at the 

 lake side. In front, back and off up the gulch to the left, 

 rocks, rocks, rocks; rough, smooth, rugged, ragged, rent 

 and riven, with hemlock, pine and cedar, hushes, bal- 

 sams and quaking aspens to soften the hardness of the 

 picture — truly the Rocky Mountains in miniature. 



After a half hour spent in an "absorbing interest" in 

 the wild scene. I took my way down the road and back 

 to the house where I had left my rod, with a half-fledged 

 notion that the Bible version of the creation of Mother 

 Earth in six days smacked somewhat of a fish story, or 

 that Moses must have mislaid some of his statistics when 

 rounding up the first chapter of Genesis. But the handi- 

 work of the Lord is beyond the ken of man, and old Sam 

 makes it out that, "We must read the great book o' 

 natur', each accordin' to his gifts.*' 



Back to the stream I fished along to the forks and on 

 down to a fall a quarter of a mile or more above the 

 camp, floundering through brush that would have puz- 

 zled a bird to get through, climbing over rocks and fallen 

 trees and logs, without getting a bite or seeing anything 

 in the shape of a fish except a few small minnows that 

 doubtless came from the lake back in the hills. 



Peering over the ledge straight clown into a shallow 

 basin scooped out of the solid rock 20ft. below, one side 

 of which was a vertical wall as high as the top of the 

 fall, I no longer wondered at the absence of trout above, 

 for no fish could have surmounted the thin sheet of 

 water that ended in scattering drops in the pool beneath, 

 without the aid of a good pair of wings. 



Picking my way with difficulty down over great masses 

 of ragged rock to the stream across from the wall, I tried 

 the basin — nowhere more than a few feet wide— carefully 

 for a trout, but it seemed that there were none in it. and 

 I went on down the wild glen disappointed, for it was a 

 very likely looking place for one of the elders of the tribe 

 to make his abode. A few rods below the big fall I came 

 to another smaller one of a couple of feet where the 

 shallow water slid over a smooth flat rock and fell into a 

 pool 8 or 10ft. across, but not over a foot and a half deep 

 in any spot. On the further side a great stone of several 

 tons weight hung out over the stream, hiding the bottom 

 for 2 or 3ft. underneath, and near this I cautiously 

 dropped the baited hook. Instantly two trout darted 

 from under the rock, one about lOin. long, and the other 

 fully 6in. longer, but the smaller one was the quicker, 

 and as his jaws closed over the squirming worm a dex- 

 trous motion of the wrist fastened the hook, and after a 

 very brief and very sharp struggle he was "histed" bodily 

 from the water and swung out, jerking and twisting over 

 the bank, and just then the score was settled for a barked 

 shin in clambering down around the upper fall. String- 

 ing him on a forked twig and securing it in the edge of 

 the water a rod above the little fall, the bait was adjusted 

 with extra care on the. hook and again quietly dropped, 

 with one of old Sam's "curves of expectancy" in my spine, 

 in the pool near the big rock. But the struggles of the 

 smaller one had evidently frightened the big fellow, and 

 the most artful "bobbings" and "twitchings" of the Ken- 

 tucky worm with a pedigree failed to inveigle him from 

 his retreat under the stone, and I backed away from the 

 stream and sat down on a flat rock to ruminate for 

 half an hour on the "reasoning powers of an old trout," 

 and give him time to get over his scare. 



Then I crossed the brook and dropped the bait in from 

 behind the rock, without showing anything past it but 

 the tip of the rod, the shortened line and the baited hook; 

 but it was of no avail; he had made up his mind that the 

 writhing worm in front of him had something to do with 

 the violent and unaccountable capers of his mate a short 

 time before, and his astonishing and unexplained flight 

 from the pool of their choice, and nothing, even a frisky 

 black cricket I caught and impaled on the hook, nor the 

 brilliant anal fin of his partner made to spin in the most 

 enticing and bewildering manner past the rock, would 

 lure him from his hiding so long as the recent mysterious 

 catastrophe was fresh in his mind; and I left the place 

 with my one trout and a lament, resolved to go back 

 another day and have it out with the cunning old patri- 

 arch if it took from early dawn to gathering darkness, 

 but something kept turning up to prevent a return to the 

 stream, and for anything known to the contrary he is 

 there yet alone in his glory, the sole occupant of "the 

 big boulder pool." 



When I emerged from the bushes an hour later near 

 the camp, six more had found their way on to the forked 

 twig, rather a meager showing for a "famous" trout 

 stream; but I was satisfied, and this goes a good way in 

 the matter of a day's sport, albeit the day had not been 

 one unmixed with some backsets. I had caught seven 

 good trout, came back with a pocket full o' rocks in the 

 shape of specimens, and had greatly enjoyed the wild 

 and rugged scenery. I had also missed looking in the 

 mine shaft, lost a section of cuticle from my right shin, 

 and been outgeneraled by the big trout— these are back- 

 sets. Yet withal it was a day to be remembered as one 

 of the xueasant "episodes" of the trip, and I went to sleep 

 that night in a serene frame of mind and full of good 

 will to men. 



The next morning I took another maskinonje, which 

 acted as a soothing salve to the poor bass fishing we were 

 having. The J edge and I had started for a cruise up 

 around the head of the lake to show the boys how to 

 catch bass, the Jedge tacking on the proviso as we left 

 the dock, "if we have luck," and with a bucket of min- 

 nows and some fresh frogs caught at the farm a couple 

 of days before, we hoped to make our boast good with a 

 string that would be the envy of the camp, but, "the 

 best laid schemes o' men and mice, etc." 



When only about 300yds. from the dock, and before we 

 were fairly settled in our seats after the hooks had been 

 baited and run out astern, a noisy break in the water and 

 a violent jerk at the line brouglit the skipper to his feet 

 with the old rod in hand and "blood in his eye," waiting 

 for the fish to get a good taste of the bait before gorging 

 it. As it was only a small shiner not over 2|in. long, 

 with no sinker on the line, the signs meant bass, but the 

 reel turned so slowly as the line ran off that the Jedge 

 said, "snake." 



However, when the strike was made, a surge that 

 doubled the rod settled the question as to bass, and when 

 a moment later a splendid maskinonje went in the air a 

 bundled feet astern with a leap that made our blood tin- 

 gle, the Jedge quickly took the oars with a "whoop" 

 that brought the boys out on the dock to see what had 

 broken loose, and then the boat was headed out into the 



lake a few rods to give us a chance for a fair tussel in 

 more open water. 



But the fight proved a tame affair and a disappoint- 

 ment, and not to be compared with the game battle made 

 by Knots's big pickerel two days before. This fellow 

 must have been the poltroon of the tribe, or suffering 

 from a bad fit of indigestion (for lack of something to 

 digest, as we found out when Louis dressed him), for the 

 tight did not last five minutes. A couple of sharp, short 

 rushes after he fell back in the water, just to save the 

 reputation of the family a," it seemed, ended the spiritless 

 struggle, and he was pulled alongside like a piece of 

 driftwood, where the Jedge sank the gaff in his back 

 and lifted bim in the boat. It was the feeblest exhibition 

 of "game" that had ever come under our notice, and to 

 strike a maskinonje, big or little, and land him without a 

 desperate avd prolonged fight, was something we could'nt 

 understand. The almost total lack of fighting qualities 

 displayed by this one was a mystery, but we settled it 

 the best way we could by charging it up to weakness 

 from long fasting, as evidenced by the thorough empty- 

 ness of his "innards" when opened. 



The Jedge fastened a stringer to his jaw and swung 

 him over the side of the boat, remarking in his easy, dry 

 way, "It's a wonder he had. the nerve to tackle that 

 sickly little shiner." 



As the gaff had about killed him, and not caring to 

 tow a dead weight, we pulled back to the dock to relieve 

 the suspense of the boys, who, having seen the Jedge lift 

 him in the boat, were, we well knew, "a sufferin' in their 

 minds" to know his size and weight. 



He had the length and frame of a 2olb. fish, but when 

 put on the scale his "royal lankuess" only pulled the in - 

 dicator down to 151bs., whereat old Sam was moved to 

 explain, "From the looks an' gineral thinness o' that 

 feller, the pearch an' sunfish crop didn't hit in his neck 

 o' woods this season I reckon." Kingfisher. 



ON THE OSAGE. 



ATRIP of less than 150 miles west by south of St. 

 Louis, and one finds himself in the forest primeval. 

 There are no towering pines and hemlocks, but there are 

 some mighty tall pecans and huge spreading oaks. At 

 the junction of the Anglaise with the Osage River, in 

 Missouri, Izaak, Jr., Mrs. Izaak, Jr., and the Kid — for 

 there is now a Kid — located for a week's outing. And 

 they got it. In fact, they got several outings as well as 

 several innings. This was due to fleas. The primary 

 object of our trip was fishing, but more time was spent 

 in hunting the aforesaid nimble jumpers. The fish in the 

 Osage may not be free biters, but the same can not be 

 said of the flea that inhabits its banks. It is a very free 

 biter, both by night and day. Its industry in that line is 

 enormous. And it is a great jumper. It will jump ten 

 feet into space, and then, like the boomerang, will return 

 to the place from which it started without any inter- 

 mediate landing. But to my narrative. 



It was about 4 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon when 

 we reached our destination and were kindly welcomed 

 by our excellent hostess, Mrs. B., who soon had a meal in 

 readiness whose excellence was a surprise in this wild 

 region of hills and forests, far from towns and railroads. 

 But eating was of small account when there was fishing 

 ahead, and Izaak, Jr., soon had his tackle in trim, and 

 hurried down to the junction of the rivers a few hundred 

 yards away. The Osage is here about 200yds. wide, 

 while the Anglaise is about 50yds. The outlook was not 

 very satisfactory, for instead of finding clear water the 

 Osage was quite muddy, and the smaller stream but little 

 better. But there were fish there sure enough, for I 

 could see them breaking water, and occasionally one 

 would make a big splash. I was soon on a big log by the 

 bank, and with a Seth-Green fly on my line, I began the 

 testing of the waters. After a few casts I felt a vicious 

 pull, but the strike proved an empty one, A few more 

 casts and the line went out as if it was attached to the 

 drive-wheel of a locomotive. There was a slacking up, 

 then a start, and now I give a yank and feel that some- 

 thing is on the hook, but it was a most peculiar feeling; 

 felt as if a puppy had hold of the line and was shaking 

 it. I reeled in my line, and when the critter got to shal- 

 low water it just made things squirm, hut in a moment 

 more I had it on the bank, and what do you suppose it 

 was? An alligator gar, by the great horn spoons of mud ! 

 What in thunder was this tinclad reptile of past geologi- 

 cal ages doing up here in the Osage River to spoil my 

 fishing"? said I to myself. For I knew where this mons- 

 ter frequents all civilized fish would desert. But I tried 

 again, and in a few minutes more had another tinclad 

 squirming about on the bank. To fish longer in such a 

 spot was no use, and as it was getting dark I went back 

 to the house, and soon to bed to drown in sleep my great 

 disgust. 



I had not slept long when I was partly aroused by Mrs. 

 Izaak, Jr., yelling out, "I've got a bite; get up and light 

 the lamp." "Pull up your line," I shouted, for in my 

 half-awake condition i, of course, had fish in my mind; 

 "you don't need any lamp to pull up your line." But a 

 vigorous reply thoroughly awoke me to the awful fact 

 that the bite was the bite of a flea. The lamp was lit , the 

 search begun. Picture it yourself; Izaak, Jr., in his robe 

 de nuit, holding the light, 'Mrs. Izaak doing the searching, 

 and the Kid assisting by vigorous kicks and yells. But I 

 will not enlarge, for you've all been there yourselves. A 

 Kodak camera could only do justice to the* scene. 



The next morning I determined upon getting some live 

 bait, and accompanied by Boss, I set out over the hills for 

 a small creek where minnows did abound. Boss was the 

 name of a twelve-year-old lad who earned this distinction 

 by bossing everything with which he had to do. But we 

 got along splendidly, secured our bait, and then struck 

 across the country to the Anglaise River some two miles 

 above its junction with the Osage. The water here was 

 quite clear, there was a fair current, and deep pools gave 

 promise of the gamy bass. With a live minnow 1 again 

 began operations, and soon felt a nip. On reeling in I 

 found the minnow snipped in two as by a pair of scissors. 

 "Helen Blazes," I exclaimed, "more garfish." And it 

 was even so. After a few more trials I caught one of the 

 hideous things, and at once started down stream for a 

 more likely spot. I soon found it in a pool below an 

 eddy, and there near the top of the water lay a big bass, 

 at least he looked big to my longing eyes. I gmitly 

 dropped a minnow in front of his nose, but he would 

 know it not. Then I tried a nice little frog with the 

 same result, but before I could tempt him with a craw- 



fish he turned tail and sailed away down the river. I 

 fished the pool some more and rook a small bass and a 

 channel cat, and this was all I got on my journey down 

 the stream. 



f* But that big bass was still on my mind, and the day 

 after Boss and myself took the boat for a fish up stream, 

 as far as we could go. On the way up to where was my 

 big fish a few channel cat were caught, and when I 

 arrived at the pool I intended the bass should be mine. I 

 had no doubt he was hiding behind a big log which lay 

 in the middle of the stream. With crawfish for bait I 

 made several casts up and down, and finally over the log 

 in the middle of the creek. Sure enough, out rushed 

 Mr. Bass, and, with a swirl, he took the bait: a sharp 

 strike and he was firmly hooked, and was soon safely 

 landed. Its weight was a little over 2lbs. , and it was the 

 onlv decent sized fish that I took. 



The fact is, there was no fish to take, and beyond 

 buffalo fish, channel cat and gar-pike. I do not believe 

 that fish are at all abundant in these waters. The State 

 of Missouri could well afford to offer a premium for every 

 gar-pike destroyed, for they are rapidly driving out all 

 resnectable fishes. 



But the country at this spot mu«t offer fine sport to the 

 hunter during the fall months. Squirrels are abundant, 

 quails are plentiful, turkevs are fairly numerous, and 

 deer are still found in sufficient numbers to afford good 

 sport. But I saw no partridges, nor did I hear their 

 drumming, though the country is admirably fitted for 

 these birds. The natives say that they are found, but 

 they certainly are very scarce. 



Some idea of the backwardness of this section may be 

 inferred when I state that there is not a radroad in the 

 county, and but few bridges. The roads wind up and 

 down, backward and forward, over the hills and valleys, 

 and are marked by blazed trees. A guide is needed to 

 go any distance. If you want to go to a point south of 

 you, you generally start in a northern direction, and to 

 reach an eastern point you take a westerly bearing. 

 Stock of all kinds roam at large through the forests, and 

 the tingle of bells is heard on every hand. It is a pioneer 

 country, with the exception that the pioneers are old 

 settlers who have made but little progress since they put 

 up their rude log huts many years ago. 



One can scarcely believe that within 150 miles of St. 

 Louis there is a section of country of so primitive a 

 nature. Most of the houses are simply rude huts of but 

 one room, and the chinks in the walls by no means are 

 well filled. There is but little furniture, only home-made 

 benches and tables. Glass for windows is unknown in 

 most of the houses, the small peep holes being closed 

 with boards when necessary. Some attempt is made at 

 raising crops, but the weeds get the start for lack of cul- 

 tivation. As might be expected the people are in har- 

 mony with such surroundings. Emigrating from North 

 Carolina and Tennessee, one still hears the "we'uns" and 

 "you'uns" of the poor whites of the South, and they have 

 not discarded the shiftless ways of their ancestors. They 

 all use tobacco, big and little, male and female, and cuss 

 words are an integral part of their language, which, of 

 course, is a dialect curious to the stranger. Thus a sack 

 or bag is a "poke;" and, by the way, everything is car- 

 ried in pokes on horseback, which is the standard of loco- 

 motion in this section. A man who lives in a house with 

 two rooms is said to have "two houses." If there are six 

 rooms he has "six houses." The natives are distrustful 

 of strangers, and though civil enough are hard to get in- 

 formation from. They have great curiosity, and my lit- 

 tle No. 22 Winchester, and split-bamboo "pole with a 

 wheel on it," were great wonders to them. An old lady 

 who lived on the opposite bank of the Osage said to Boss: 

 "You've got a little gun over there that just goes 'piftv 

 I'd like to see that little gun." Although Izaak, Jr,. wore 

 a jeans shirt and a pair of old pants with the regulation 

 pants, he was still looked upon as a city chap, probably 

 on account of his rod and gun. 



It must not be inferred from these remarks that there 

 are no progressive people in this section, for there are a 

 number of really thrifty men who have good houses and 

 farms, and live in comparative luxury. They certainly 

 deserve credit for the way they have, risen above their 

 surroundings; and with the advent of a railroad they 

 would then reap the full value of their industry. 



But our week's outing is at an end, and pleasant enough 

 it was, even if the fishing was not good. But a true 

 angler al ways has a good time, fish or no fish. I can not 

 close without extending thanks to our hosts, Mr. and Mrs. 

 B., and their two promising boys, for their many kind- 

 nesses to us. They are former St. Louisians, and the 

 husband came to this wild region a number of years ago 

 to regain his broken-down health, and his wife, with 

 heroic devotion, has endured the inconveniences of a 

 frontier life to gain this desired end. 



And now back in the city are the Kid, Mrs. Izaak, Jr., 

 and the Lone Fisherman, Izaak, Jr. 



St. Louis, Missouri. 



Fall, River, Mass. — Bluefishing in Mount Hope Bay 

 and Seconnet River has been a failure, as has also the 

 soup and tautog thus far. The tautog are plentiful in 

 Narragansett Bay, however, and are running nearly 

 a month earlier than usual. Word was sent here and to 

 Providence that there were bluefish between Patience 

 and Providence islands, and the boats that got there that 

 day (July 19) did well. But inside of ten hours there were 

 seven poray steamers on the grounds, and the bluefish 

 went the way of the menhaden, which is (like " that of 

 the transgressor") hard. I counted nearly forty fish 

 weirs within a distance of six miles on the left hand side 

 of Seconnet River. Is it any wonder we can't catch fish ? 



— COHANNET. 



Providence, R. I. — My experience with trout and bass 

 this summer, and the reports from reliable sources, indi- 

 cate good luck all around. The beautiful Falmouth and 

 Middleboro lakes, in Massachusetts, are yielding more 

 large bass to the eager sportsman than ever before. Both 

 the fish and the number caught are large. All the season 

 nearly the trout brooks were overflowed, but in spite of 

 that setback there have been numbers of fine fish brought 

 in to be admired by those who stayed at home waiting 

 for the brook to get back to its original channel.— Cohan- 

 net. 



Seines, Nets of every description. American Net & Twine Co. t 

 Mfrs., 34 Commercial et., Boston, or 199 Fuiton st„ N. Y.— A.dv. 



