410 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec, 12, 1889. 



AN OPEN LETTER. 



0. H, Ames, Esq.: 



Dear Sir— Through the kindness of au angling friend, 

 I now and then see a copy of Forest and Stream, which 

 I greatly enjoy in my retired home. But in the issue of 

 Nov. 21 1 was painfully shocked to come upon the severe, 

 and, I think I mavadd totally unfounded, strictures which 

 vou pass upon the lamily to which I have the honor to 

 belong. In their behalf, and " By Way of Protest," I re- 

 spectfully address you this open remonstrance. I might, 

 it is true* have communicated with you privately, but as 

 your aspersions were made publicly, it is not out of place, 

 ! think, to choose the same vehicle of reply. 



You say " he " (referring to our family in general) " is 

 no friend of mine," " is only better than a pickerel." and 

 you call us "coarse " and " beastly." 



As to the first charge, it is a matter which I, for one, 

 greatly regret and deplore, but which, I can assure you, 

 is no 'fault of ours. Though we are personally unac- 

 quainted, yet I have heard of you often, and more particu- 

 larly from a certain young relative of mine, who once, in 

 the heedlessness of youth , mistook an invitation addressed 

 by you to Salmo Fontinalis, as meant for himself, and to 

 this day he is never tired of extolling the gentle courtesy 

 with which you received the unbidden guest, the tender- 

 ness which you showed in endeavoring not to inflict un- 

 necessary pain while rescuing him from the false posi- 

 tion in which he had placed himself, the patience which 

 enabled you to bear undisturbed his petulant "kicking" 

 when he discovered his mistake, and the pains you took 

 to restore him safely to the school of which he was a 

 member. In short. I am well acquainted \v T ith your re- 

 putation as a genuine angler, which I have found to in- 

 clude most of the virtues and few of the vices which are 

 the lot of humanity, and knowing you to be such, I ex- 

 press the sentiment of all the connection, in regretting 

 the lack of personal friendship between us. So you are 

 wrong in saying, "he is no friend of mine." Had you 

 written, "I am no friend to him," your meaning would 

 doubtless have been more clearly expressed, since, on our 

 side of the house, there are none but friendly feelings 

 toward you, and, as I have already intimated, it is a 

 matter of genuine regret with us, that those feelings are 

 not reciprocated. 



But to your second charge — "only better than a Pick- 

 erel!" My dear sir, what have we ever done to you that 

 you shonld rank us thus low in the scale of animated 

 nature ? I appeal to all who know both families, if the 

 charge is not totally unfounded and unjust? There 

 never was a Pickerel yet who was not a tyrant, a bully, 

 a coward and a thief — qualities which no one has ever 

 imputed to us. Do not Jordan, Garlick, Thad Norris, Dr. 

 Heushall. ''Kingfisher," "Wawayanda" and a host of 

 others bear witness to our conjugal fidelity, our zeal and 

 assiduity as pai-ents, our pluck and gameness, and our 

 fair, equal, straight-forward style of fighting ? Did you 

 ever know a Bass to "sulk," as every Pickerel will, and 

 even as royalty, in the person of Salmo Salar himself, 

 sometimes does ? Did you ever know a bass to yield him- 

 self abjectly at the first prick of the steel, and then, when 

 he thought his captor's attention was momentarily di- 

 verted, meanly endeavor to escape, as a craven Pickei'el 

 will? "Only better than a Pickerel !" That misbegotten 

 progeny of a water snake and an alligator, that slimy, 

 speckled, slab-sided cousin of the shark, and foster 

 brother of the eel ! Take back the charge, my dear sir, 

 and acknowledge that you spoke in haste, as did David, 

 after he had been listening to the tales of some members 

 of the "Galilee and Gennesaret Fishing Club." 



You say we are "coarse." If by this you refer to out- 

 looks, I will admit that we ha ve not the personal come- 

 liness of the Salmo family, and yet— with modesty let 

 me say it — there have been some good judges, such as 

 Maurice Thourpson, Myrou Read, Jay Beebe and others, 

 who have not found us wanting in elements of beauty. 

 After all, it is simply a question of taste, as to whether 

 one prefers the siimness of shape and the pink and gold 

 prettiness of the Salmo family or the greater embonpoint 

 and the green and bronze blazonry of the Basses, 



But if "coarse" refers to our manners or customs, I 

 respectfully, but firmly, deny the allegation, and defy 

 the alligator. That our tastes are refined can be proven 

 by the care which you and your brother anglers exercise 

 in finding suitable viands to set before us whenever, in 

 homely phrase, you ask us "to take a bite" with you. 

 You acknowledge we are cleanly, else why be so careful 

 that the meats — whether minnow, frog, grasshopper or 

 cricket— shall not be tainted with even a suspicion of 

 staleness. You recognize our fastidiousness, else why 

 the great variety you so generously provide to tempt our 

 appetite, ransacking earth and air and water for tid-bits 

 to tempt our appetite— offering us May-flies in August 

 and soft (rubber) crayfish in October? * You realize that 

 we are aesthetic, else why the splendors of the scarlet-ibis, 

 the royal-coachman, the Seth-Green, the Cheney, the 

 oriole and others? 



Again, if by "coarse" you refer to our gastronomic 

 qualities, may I ask if you ever tried one of us, fresh 

 from cool water, with the accompaniments of abed of 

 glowing hard wood coals, a clean gridiron, a hot plate, 

 and a dash of lemon juice? Have you not perhaps mal- 

 treated us by allowing us to die slowly in the bottom of 

 a boat, kicked around for hours in the hot sun, and then, 

 when our subtle evanescent flavor had all exhaled, added 

 insult to injury, by simmering ouv poor remains in a 

 greasy skillet, with — I shudder to mention it— more or 

 less lukewarm malodorous bacon fat? 



Lastly, you call us "beastly." The only beast with 

 whom we are acquainted is the one you skinned in that 

 self -same article, the bass hog, and you certainly can not 

 mean that we resemble him. That would be ""the most 

 unkindest cut of all," and I cannot think you would be 

 so cruel as to bring such a heavy charge as that against 

 us. 



May it not be, my friend, that your acquaintance with 

 us has been confined mostly to that branch of the family 

 who reside in the South, especially Florida, and whom 

 the hot sun and sluggish waters of that country have 

 caused to deteriorate from the normal type? Sure am I, 

 that if you will visit certain localities I could name, such 

 as Lost Lake in Minnesota, the North Fork in Ohio, or 

 Metawasset in Canada, you would find there certain 

 relatives of mine, whose pluck and vigor would fill your 

 soul with delight, and as you saw their bronze armor 

 glittering in the air, as the silvery drops fell from their 

 6ides like a shower of pearls, or as you took breath after 

 the last fierce rally and relaxed the tension of your ach- 



ing rod arm, you would frankly acknowledge, in the 

 words of the great historiographer of our family, Dr. 

 Henshall, to whom I lift my operculum in friendly greet- 

 ing, that "inch for inch, and pound for pound, the Black 

 Bass is the peer of any fish that swims," 



With assurances of the highest respect and esteem, and 

 the hope that I have disabused your mind of some errone- 

 ous impressions concerning a family who would feel 

 themselves honored by the friendship of so genuine an 

 angler and so worthy a gentleman, 

 I am, 



Yours very truly, 



MlCROPTERUS DOLOMIEU. 



P. S. — My present address is The Riffles, Crystal Brook 

 county, State of Coldwater. where, if you are pleased to 

 drop me a line, I shall be glad to give it my prompt atten- 

 tion. 



TROUT AND GAME IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



WE are indebted to Mr. Jones, of New York, for 

 recent and valuable information about the fish 

 and game of one of the wildest and most picturesque 

 regions within our borders. Mr. Jones penetrated the 

 wilderness on business connected with the utilization of 

 the forests, and came away at the close of his mission 

 with the most lively impressions also of the glories of the 

 moTintain streams. He found brook trput unusually 

 abundant and easily caught in Gandy Creek, a tributary 

 of Dry Fork, which empties into Cheat River, in Ran- 

 dolph county, West Virgina. The nearest railroad station 

 is Hendricks, on the West Virginia Central, and this is 

 forty miles distant from the lumber camp on Gandy 

 Creek. Wagons and horses are to be had at Hendricks. 

 Horses are usually hired by the initiated for $3.50 per 

 week. 



The Randolph (W. Va.) Boom Company own the An- 

 derson tract, comprising about 60,000 acres of unbroken 

 forest, and this tract contains many things calculated to 

 arouse the enthusiasm of the sportsman and the student 

 of animated nature. We are assured that gentlemen 

 who brave the fatigue of the tramp through the wilder- 

 ness will meet a hearty welcome at the camp of the com- 

 pany above mentioned. 



Gandy Creek, at the ordinary stage of the water, is 

 about 40ft. wide and 2-Jft. deep. It is about thirty miles 

 from the lumber camp to the source of the stream. The 

 creek is very crooked and moderately rapid. The bottom 

 is made up of slate, boulders and sand. Wading is every- 

 where easy. The largest brook trout caught by Mr. Jones 

 were 13in. long, and he never failed to get at least one 

 about a foot long every time he went fishing. The average 

 size of the trout, however, was 6 to Sin. Artificial flies 

 of various kinds were tried faithfully, but without suc- 

 cess. These trout crave worms, and will touch nothing 

 else, unless the anglers experience differs altogether 

 from that of our informant. 



Brook trout are not the only attraction in the Gandy 

 Creek Valley. Wild turkey, bear, deer and ruffed grouse 

 abound here. By traveling a half mile from the lumber 

 camp, the sportsman can reach open country, suitable for 

 grazing and overrun with quail. Raccoons are very 

 plentiful. The people are peculiar and interesting to the 

 ethnologist. 



In order to reach the camp one must penetrate nearly 

 ten miles of unbroken forest. Spruce is the prevailing 

 timber associated with hemlock, white pine, beech, ash, 

 walnut and wild cherry. The last grows so large that 

 certain trees cannot be encircled by three men with their 

 hands joined. 



The Dry Fork contains a fish locally known as "sal- 

 mon." The species grows to a length of from 12 to 20in. 

 and is caught plentifully at the dams below Hendricks. 

 We suppose this fish to be the wall-eyed pike (Stizoste- 

 dintii vitreum), 



Mr. Jones is very much in love with the fine scenery of 

 this locality, and we are prepared, from personal* ac- 

 quaintance with similar mountainous portions of West 

 Virginia, to fully appreciate his enthusiasm. We spend 

 a lot of money and waste a deal of time, in attempting to 

 reach remote localities with far less of interest to recom- 

 mend them, than this wild region in West Virginia, so 

 near at hand, so beautiful to look upon, and so full of 

 creatures dear to the heart of the lover of nature. Be- 

 sides the animals we have named, there is a great wealth 

 of birds of beautiful plumage. Thousands of acres of 

 deadened trees near the camp attract an endless number 

 and variety of woodpeckers and other birds. There must 

 be, also, many species of beetles and butterflies. A few 

 gentlemen from Pittsburg visit this angler's paradise, but 

 there is room for many more and we trust that the fame 

 of Gandy Creek will go abroad. 



BLACK BASS IN BAKER'S POND. 



BAKER'S POND, in the vicinity of Wellesley, Mass., 

 is a favorite body of water for anglers, although its 

 bass for the most part are unusuaDy small. Some of us 

 who are interested in the fishing, have introduced full 

 grown shiners, hoping that they will multiply and im- 

 prove the size of the black bass. One day last fall, in 

 company with a friend, I tried the water in several parts 

 of the pond and caught next to nothing. Finally we 

 started homeward and arrived at a shallow place where 

 the water was about 2ft. deep and full of weeds, lily pads 

 and sunken trees. In sheer desperation I cast in with a 

 live frog, not expecting to get a strike. The bait bad 

 scarcely touched the water, when a bass took it and I 

 landed him. My companion had the same experience. 

 In a very brief time we caught seven bass of fair size, 

 weighing from lib. to lilbs. , after which we could get 

 no more and our success elsewhere during the day was 

 not worth mentioning. I discovered by a mere chance, 

 that there were bass in the deeper water near our shal- 

 low fishing spot. Upon throwing out a live frog it dis- 

 appeared very suddenly after a few lively struggles. We 

 then made preparations for casting in a rather primitive 

 fashion, made necessary by circumstances. The line 

 was extenned to its full length on the grass behind us, 

 and we then threw the frogs as far out as possible. The 

 bait was hooked through the body under the backbone. 

 The frogs never remained long kicking in the water, be- 

 fore they were in the jaws of the bass. These fish seem 

 to run into shallow places of the kind described, in small 

 schools, and at certain times they will bite until the last 

 one is hooked. My brother caught 13 one day in a brief 

 time, in a locality such as I have mentioned, 

 Washington, D. a S. F. Denton. 



ANGLING NOTES. 



1%/TR. J. C. HERBERT, of New York city, an enthusi- 

 _LtJL astic fly-fisherman, and well known to anglers 

 who frequent the Chateaugay Lakes, has just returned 

 from a crip to the Pacific coast. Though on business, he 

 managed to put in a few days with the trout and salmon 

 in the waters near Seattle. 



He relates that while stopping at a ranch some sixty 

 miles up the Snoqualmie River, he had a little spare time 

 and made up his mind to try the fishing, though assured 

 it was too late to use the fly. An Indian was called in 

 who was supposed to be an authority and questioned as 

 to the chances. George replied with a shake of his head, 

 "Him too late; maybe you try salmon egg, you catch 

 him." 



"But, George, if thev will take salmon spawn, why not 

 flies ?" 



With a discouraging shake of the head the Siwash only 

 answered, "Well, you try him." So they did. George 

 led the way to a dilapidated wet and muddy dugout, 

 which be called his canoe. Mr. Herbert had to seat him- 

 self on the bottom of the boat near the bow (there were 

 no seats), while, a young friend, who wished to see the 

 fun, took his position in the center. At first they did 

 not meet with much success, but after a while the 

 Siwash suggested casting inshore instead of in the deep 

 pools, and almost immediately he hooked a trout which 

 was soon killed. He caught quite a number, and was 

 about to quit well satisfied, when a big one took the 

 hand fly. Mr. Herbert says he has taken very many 

 trout, but he never saw such antics before, jumping, run- 

 ning, sulking and every other trick to get rid of the fly 

 were tried in quick succession. After half an hour's 

 fight the Indian put him ashore on a sandbar, where he 

 thought he could land the fish, for he had no net. He 

 handed his rod to his friend, thinking to wade in and 

 throw the fish on the beach, but no sooner had he taken 

 a step into the water than away started the trout with 

 100ft. of line, to go through the whole performance 

 again. Finally George threw the fish ashore, using his 

 broad-brimmed cowboy hat as a scoop, and killed him, 

 Siwash fashion, by pounding his head with a stone. 



It was a superb specimen of the black-spotted trout 

 (Salmo piirpuratus), measuring 22in. in length, and 

 when weighed several hours later turned the scales at 

 4ilbs. The fly was a coachman dressed on a No. 6 sproat. 

 George said, "Him much big," and at the ranch they told 

 him it was the largest specimen they had ever seen taken 

 out of the river. 



Mr. Clarence M. Roof, of this city, who owns several 

 miles of the west branch of the Neversink, states that 

 while visiting Ms stream this summer he saw a salmon 

 that was certainly over 24in. long. He learned upon in- 

 vestigation that some eight or ten years ago the Fish 

 Commission had placed salmon in the Delaware River, 

 but that this was the second instance only of one being 

 seen in the Neversink. 



A gentleman recently returning from the West over 

 the Northern Pacific Railroad, was told by a fellow pas- 

 senger that last season, while fishing on the Columbia 

 River, he had the good fortune to kill several California 

 salmon on the flv one afternoon. This was the only time 

 during an experience of several seasons that he had been 

 successful in taking salmon with the artificial fly, though 

 he had tried time and again. 



SMELTS AT PLYMOUTH. 



ONE noon I found myself in old Plymouth, Mass. I 

 always make it a point to find out about the fishing 

 when I am in a fish country, and I soon learned that 

 smelts were very plenty. Business would^keep me in 

 Plymouth until Monday noon, so I determined to have a 

 "good square meal" of fresh fried fish. For a fellow that 

 knows how fresh fish taste, the article under that name 

 found in the markets has no charms. I had no time to 

 fish, so the only tackle I took was my pocket-book. 



The first fisherman I came to was a very diminutive 

 gentleman of color. I could not understand why he 

 caught his hook on the logs under the wharf at every 

 cast, until I looked over and saw that it was his ambition 

 to hook on to a tin can lodged there. I walked to the end 

 of the wharf where some boys were fishing; but they 

 were not catching anything. I was about to turn away, 

 when a boy in a dory laid down his rod to bail his boat. 

 Now, I thought, he will have a bite if there is a fish in the 

 harbor. Sure enough, no sooner had he dipped up his 

 first bailer full than down went his tip. He grabbed his 

 rod and pulled in a smelt about three inches long. I 

 waited until I was satisfied that this was the only fish in 

 the harbor, and then walked away. This day, for some 

 reason, was an off day for the smelt, so I had to content 

 myself with stories about them. A man who runs a fish 

 market told me he had done a rushing business until 

 people had learned that in each smelt was a worm about 

 an inch long. 



People tell me that every night after half past six the 

 wharves are crowded with men and boys, fishing, every- 

 body catching all they wanted. A gentleman caught a 

 smelt 13in. long, and thinking he had beat the record, 

 offered $5 for one that would measure 14in. This fish 

 was caught and the gentleman offered $10 for one loin, 

 long. One this length was taksm; and I could not learn 

 that the gentleman had offered any more prizes. 

 Bhockton, Mass., Nov. 19. DARBY. 



BRASS FERULES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Some time ago one of your correspondents, in giving 

 advice about the loosening of fishing rod ferules, made 

 the curious statement that if a piece of brass be heated 

 and at once plunged into cold water it would become 

 hardened after the manner of steel treated in the same 

 way. I have been waiting for somebody (including the 

 editor) to contradict such a very simply absurd assertion. 

 As a matter of fact a hot piece of brass plunged into cold 

 water at once becomes softer than copper. Inclosed here- 

 with you will find some brass wire that I have just 

 treated to your correspondent's "hardening" process on 

 one-half its length. You can test the matter with your 

 finger and thumb. After doing so heat the hard end red 

 hot on a gas jet, then plunge it in a glass of water and 

 note the result. Thomas Clapham. 



Roslyn, Dec. 6. 



