252 



FOREST AND " STREAM. 



[April 17, 1890. 



RANDOM CASTS, 



BEFORE putting your rod together lubricate the male 

 ferrules by rubbing them on the back of the neck 

 (if you have no better means at hand), sufficient oil will 

 adhere to overcome the annoyance of tight joints when 

 taking apart after the day's sport. 



Have vour trout and bait rods fitted to one independent 

 handle, bne end for the fly and the other for the bait. In 

 this way you can carry three rods in the space ordinarily 

 required for one. Put it in your grip. "When having it 

 made see that instead of plugs, which are so easily lost, 

 the ferrules are fitted with screw caps. 



The man who tells you that trout are not worth catch- 

 ing after you have killed your first salmon, either wil- 

 fully mis-states the facts or does not know any better. 

 Nothing can lessen the beauties of the trout for the true 

 angler, aiid as for the claims of the black bass, it is like 

 comparing the lily with the sunflower. 



For wading a stream, when rubber is not desirable, 

 either in the shape of boots or pants, there is nothing 

 better than a pair of canvas pants worn over woolen un- 

 derclothing. Being; light and strong and easily dried, 

 they can be used every day with comfort. Tie them 

 loosely around the ankles and over the tops of your shoes. 



By having the handle of your rod covered with cork 

 instead of cane, twine or rubber, you will avoid blisters 

 to the hand. You get a grip that is not liable to slip and 

 a material that is most pleasant to the touch. It only 

 needs to be once tried to be always appreciated. 



On the shore, fog and a wind off the sea will tan the 

 skin quicker than the sun. 



Fish that feed near or in the surf come closer in shore 

 at night. Big Reel. 



TROUTING IN THE BLUE RIDGE. 



IT is but a step from the old farmhouse to the meadows 

 below, through which runs with many a bend and 

 turn the swift trout stream. Along the banks the feath- 

 ery green willows are already in leaf, tall blackberry 

 bushes grow rank, bending far over the stream, as if to 

 screen the unwary trout from his enemy. The ground 

 along the banks of the brook is thickly carpeted with 

 wild strawberry plants, whose tender green shoots as yet 

 give no evidence of the coming crop of berries. A brill- 

 iant azure sky above us, the sheer precipice of White- 

 sides, one of the tallest peaks of the Blue Ridge, loom- 

 ing up on our right and the trout stream at our feet. 

 What more need the disciple of good old Izaak Walton 

 desire? 



But come, let us to work. The hook is soon baited 

 with a tempting earthworm; now select this shady spot 

 where the eddying brook forms a cove, such spots the 

 speckled beauties love. A gentle dropping of the line 

 and presently oh! joy, an almost imperceptible mincing 

 at the bait and lo, we bend forward and descry, easily 

 discernible in the Limpid waters, a fine trout biting vigor- 

 ously at the bait-covered hook. A sharp bite, a sudden 

 jerk' of the line and the luckless victim is thrown panting 

 and beating on the grass beside us. The examination 

 now begins. He is say 7in. long, of a delicate grayish 

 color and his sides and back are liberally speckled with 

 small red and golden stars. His fms are reddish and 

 slightly fan-shaped. Altogether this is a most satisfac- 

 tory specimen for a first attempt. Now make those stif- 

 fening jaws disgorge the hook and half-eaten bait. 

 Transfer our trophy to the fish basket, or to the more 

 commonly used forked willow twig. Rebait the hook, 

 another dexterous fling in the same pool, a moment's 

 suspense and another trout is gathered to his fathers. 

 Another still tempts Providence, perhaps in the same 

 pool: then in mid water the line in thrown; here a gentle 

 cautious bite is felt. We jerk the Line. Alas! for impa- 

 tience, we will never fatten off of that trout; he was not 

 well on the hook, and with a vigorous leap when in mid- 

 air, he cleaves the water and disappears forever from the 

 view of the discomfited fisherman. The next pool there 

 is no use to test, for, look carefully and you will see a 

 family of crayfish, whose greed will never allow the 

 trout to approach the bait they themselves so ardently 

 desire. 



Still further up the stream we go and here the trout 

 are plentiful: from sheltered pools, from under obstruct- 

 ing logs, from miniature bayous, they hasten to their 

 death. It is no uncommon thing to catch from thirty to 

 forty trout in a couple of hours' fishing, then back home 

 to enjoy a fish dinner. The slimy outer skin of the trout 

 (they have minute scales) is gotten rid of by passing them 

 through warm ashes and then scraping with a knife and 

 otherwise cleaning. Shortly after a buxom mountain 

 maiden places upon the table, brown and tempting, fried 

 trout. And here it maybe said that the trout are equally 

 good fried , broiled or boiled. They range in size from 4 or 

 5in. to 9, 10 and even 15in. The largest we know of was 

 caught near Highlands, Macon county, N. C, in a pond 

 belonging to Col. J. H. Alley, in Whitesides Cove. ~This 

 fish weighed 31bs. and was 14in. in length. The pond 

 trout, however, though larger, are seldom as finely flavored 

 as those caught in the brooks. The flesh of the trout 

 frequenting swift running water is usually of the true 

 salmon tint; those obtained in still water have generally 

 white flesh. The deep tint of the former is attributed to 

 superior exertions necessitated by the swiftness of the 

 water. 



Old fishermen assert that the trout bite best in the 

 morning, provided the moon has shone in the early part 

 of the night alone, as the trout have thus a short time to 

 feed by moonlight and are hungry by morning and will 

 greedily snap at the bait. Hence on the days following 

 nights when there has been no moonlight the trout are 

 caught in the greatest numbers. There is also a base 

 method in vogue among the more expert native fisher- 

 men of making a noose with a line of horse hair and 

 letting this noose float lightly down stream, the fish 

 coming up stream entangles his head and fins in the 

 noose and is thus caught by the dexterous tightening of 

 the noose and jerking from the water. The foregoing 

 account of mountain trout fishing is in pursuance of the 

 primitive but most successful methods practiced by the 

 country people and their occasional boarders, in that 



most secluded of mountain resorts, Highlands, Macon 

 county, N. C. , and its vicitity . 



To those lovers of nature and angling who find 1 'ser- 

 mons in stones, books (and trout) in the running brooks," 

 surely nothing could be more attractive than a month's 

 vacation in the early spring in these unfrequented by- 

 ways of western North Carolina, at an altitude of from 

 3,600 to 4,000ft., and a distance of thirty miles from the 

 nearest railroad, amid the grand scenery of the Blue 

 Ridge. M. Lee Menninger. 



Whitesidks Cove. N. O. 



AN EDITOR ANGLES. 



1U[~R. BRUCE HALDEMAN, who, with his father, has 

 ItX been spending the winter at Naples-on-the-Gulf, 

 Florida, enjoying the balmy breezes and catching tarpon, 

 writes the following letter about the fishing experiences 

 of the Hon. Henry Watterson, editor of the Courier- 

 Journal, who, it will be seen, can fish as well as he can 

 write stirring editorials on the tariff; 



"Speaking of sights upon the Naples Gulf brings to 

 mind the interesting spectacle afforded by one of Naples's 

 distinguished visitors last week. Hon. Henry Watterson, 

 who spent six or eight days here in company with his 

 wife, was meandering along the pier headed in the direc- 

 tion of the bathing beach, which he was evidently con- 

 templating with pleasant anticipations, Mr. Watterson 

 is an expert swimmer, and while here fairly reveled in 

 the water. 



" En passant, he observed me land a beautiful specimen 

 of the Spanish mackerel. The sight of the fish flopping 

 about on the dock seemed to cause his piscatorial instincts 

 to overcome, for the moment, his surf procLivities, and 

 lie requested that he be permitted a trial with my rod. 



"I handed him my rod and smilingly awaited results. 

 In a few moments he had a strike. It was a fine sea 

 trout, and it was landed in superb style. After baiting 

 up, ' out went his line again. A short interval and 

 another fish. This time it was a large cavalli, and, after 

 a lively contest, it looked as if the editor was about to 

 come off victorious. When within 3ft. of the landing, 

 however, the finny warrior gave a last successful twist 

 and plunged back into the salty safety. Mr. Watterson 

 had now become thoroughly interested, and his after- 

 noon bath passed, apparently, from his mind. Again he 

 baited his hook and cast it forth. A short wait, another 

 fierce tussle in the water, and a golden-tipped jack was 

 stretched out breathing heavily upon the dock. With 

 the flush of triumph and exertion upon his brow he cast 

 his bait and hook once more. He trolls his line slowly 

 along the dock. I turned and addressed a few words to 

 Mrs. Watterson, who had joined her husband. When I 

 next looked in the direction of the editorial angler I 

 beheld a picturesque sight. 



"Mr. Watterson was bent double,as if in profound obedi- 

 ance to his 'star-eyed goddess.' In reality, though, he was 

 tugging away with might and main on his rod. His Line 

 was taut as taut could be, and my stout little bamboo 

 had formed a semi-circle. Obviously something would 

 have to part, the fish from his briny element, the line or 

 pole from its integrity. I ran up to proffer my assistance. 



" 'My God,' gasped he, as I approached, 'He's a whale'?' 



"It was a sight fit for the gods. He was pulling away 

 for dear life when I looked down over the side of the pier 

 and saw that his hook had caught upon one of the piles 

 of the dock, and that Mr. Watterson was trying to uproot 

 one of the mainstays of Mr. Haldeman's handsome pier. 



" 'Hold on,' said L "your whale is anchored.'" 



Mr. Watterson returned home soon after the cyclone 

 swept away nearly one-half the City of Homes, but he 

 has found time to tell all his friends of his adventures in 

 Florida, and feels that barring his adventure with his 

 "whale" he is quite a fisherman, and is booming Naples- 

 on-the-Gulf to all his friends who have a piscatorial lean- 

 ing. C. A. D. 



Louisville, April 12. 



KENTUCKY METHODS. 



TWO rather remarkable fishing stories came to me the 

 other day from the intei 'ior of the State. Both are 

 vouched for by reliable parties and though they may 

 seem "fishy," they are nevertheless true. 



Mr. John C. Jenkins, of Bowling Green, has a farm on 

 the banks of the Green River, several miles from town, 

 and a part of it has been recently submerged by the 

 high water. He was down there a day or 'two since and 

 brings back a marvelous tale of catching fish with dogs. 



While out on the farm, inspecting the situation as the 

 back-water from the river had left it, he heard a vigor- 

 ous barking from his dogs some distance off. Presuming 

 they had treed a coon, he walked leisurely over and when 

 he had reached them found both standing at the edge of 

 a little lagoon of water, left when the river fell. They 

 were looking into the water and barking in a manner 

 which indicated that they had "treed" something. After 

 watching the actions of the dogs for a few moments and 

 gazing into the lagoon, Mr. Jenkins saw the tail of a large 

 fish protruding from the water. The situation was ex- 

 plained at a glance. The dogs had "treed" a fish in the 

 pond. He waded in and soon had the fish landed, but 

 not until after he had been splashed from head to foot. 

 It was a buffalo and weighed 361bs. Down the stream 

 some distance the dogs "treed" another, which also 

 proved to be a buffalo, weighing lGlbs. He returned 

 home with 431bs. of fish and hadn't been fishing either. 



This is the Gospel truth and is vouched for by Mr. 

 Jenkins, who is a good church-going Baptist and a man 

 who wouldn't be guilty of telling a fish yarn under any 

 circumstances. 



Another remarkable catch is that made by Mr. Austin 

 Doyle, an amateur fisherman of Cloverpcrt, Ky. He is 

 not a baseball player, but is proud to admit that he has 

 made the best catch of the season. This occurred March 

 31. He placed his line, containing twenty hooks, in the 

 Ohio River, just below the mouth of Clover Creek, bait- 

 ing each hook nicely with angle worms. The next 

 morning he f ound a shovelfish on every hook save the 

 last one, and strange as it may seem, there were two on 

 it. One was hooked in the mouth and the other by one 

 of its long fins. C. A. D. 



Louisville, April 7. 



Shad in Connecticut.— The first shad of th>? season 

 were taken in the second week of April, 



Observations on Ohio Fishes.— We have received 

 from Dr. James A. Henshall a copy of "Some Observa- 

 tions on Ohio Fishes," published in the Journal of the Cin- 

 cinnati Society of Natural History, January, 1890. In 

 this comprehensive little volume Dr. Henshall describes 

 the drainage systems of the Stats, reviews the literature 

 of its fishes, mentions the recent explorations made by 

 himself and Prof. Gilbert, and concludes with some in- 

 teresting facts concerning the food fishes. These relate 

 to their table qualities, size, food, spawning seasons and 

 present degree of abundance. The whitefish, owing to 

 fishcultural work, he finds to be increasing greatly in 

 numbers. It spawns in November, and the eggs hatch in 

 April. The lake trout spawns in October and the young 

 appear in February. The lake herring ( Coregonus artecli) 

 has increased so as to become a nuisance; it preys exten- 

 sively on the eggs of the whitefish. The brook trout 

 exists only in Castalia Springs creek, and its welfare is 

 looked after by a powerful angling club. The small- 

 mouthed black bass is so abundant that it needs only pro- 

 tection from seining and river pollution to continue 

 always plentiful. It spawns in southern Ohio in May and 

 Lake Erie and its tributaries in June and July, depending 

 on temperature. The eggs hatch in a week or two and 

 are carefully guarded by the parent fish. The calico bass 

 (Pomoxys sparoides) "receives well-merited praise as a food 

 fish. The pike-perch or wall-eyed pike is increasing in 

 the upper Ohio, Muskingum, Scioto and other large 

 streams, owing to the planting of fry by the Ohio 

 Fish Commission. Dr. Henshall mentions a mud catfish 

 taken in the Ohio, near Cincinnati, that weighed 1301bs. 

 Two large mirror carp were caught on a trot-line in Lit- 

 tle Miami River, with helgramite bait. The natural food 

 of the larger and valuable fishes was found abundant in 

 all unpolluted streams, but wherever refuse from fac- 

 tories, papermills, oil refineries and distilleries exists in 

 streams, all fish life is scarce or entirely absent. 



Spring Fishing.— Lansing, Mich.— Black bass are bit- 

 ing nicely. Chas. Downey was the first one to put a line 

 in the Grand River, and his success was so good it has 

 set the other sportsmen wild, and it is nothing now but 

 fish. The water is high, but when minnows can be had 

 the black bass have to suffer.— K., Jr. 



Short Lobsters Seized. — Four hundred and seventy- 

 two short lobsters were recently seized at Rockland. Maine, 

 by a fish and game warden. They were consigned to 

 New York. Only two of the lot were of the lawful size, 

 10 l in, long, and some were not more than Tin. 



NEW YORK FISH COMMISSION. 



THE eighteenth report of the Commissioners of Fisheries 

 of the State of New York, sent to the Legislature Feb, 

 10, 1890, is probably the most valuable one of its series. 

 We shall have occasion to refer to it more fully hereafter, 

 and will merely indicate the nature of its contents. The 

 report of the Commissioners occupies only seventeen pages, 

 and contains their recommendations with regard to the 

 service and a resume" of the work. Then follow the reports 

 of the superintendents of the five hatcheries, of the chief 

 game and fish protector, the operations of the shell fish de- 

 partment, Professor Dean's report on the waters examined 

 by him, tables showing the distribution of fish fry and eggs, 

 Mr. Mather's revised accouut of the Adirondack fishes, 

 amendments to the game and fish laws since the report of 

 1S89, and a reprint of the fish and game laws of the State in 

 full. There is so much of value in this publication that we 

 scarcely know where to end. The researches of Professor 

 Dean are especially interesting and important. The angler 

 will find it worth his while to look carefully into the notes 

 on his favorites among the game fishes. 



PLANTING LOBSTERS IN GALVESTON BAY.— The 

 TJ. S. Fish Commission sent 715 lobsters from Woods Holl, 

 Mass. , on March 29, in charge of Mr. J. F. Ellis, to be placed 

 in Galveston Bay, Texas. The trip was made in ten days by 

 steamer and on April 7 the lobsters were deposited in the 

 bay. Through unavoidable accidents a large number of the 

 consignment were lost during the voyage. 



lew §jj[ubUcztwn$. 



SLEEPING IN THE WOODS. 



IMAGINE your bed-chamber of odorous bark and your bed of 

 pungent boughs. Your couch made under murmuring trees 

 and witbin a few yards of the lazily moving water, whose motions 

 caress rather than cbale the shore. Stretched your full length on 

 such a couch, spread in such a place, the process of falling asleep 

 becomes an experience. You lie and watch yourself to observe 

 the gradual departure of your senses. Little by little you feel 

 yourself passing away. Slowly and easily as an ebbing tide you 

 begin to pass into the dim and insensible realm beyond the line of 

 feeling. At last a moment comes in which you know you are 

 passing over the very verge of consciousness. You are aware that 

 you are about to fall asleep. Your cheek but partially interprets 

 the cool pressure of the night winds; your ears drowsily surrender 

 the lingering murmur of beach and pine; your eyes droop their 

 lids little by little; your nose slightly senses the odor of the piny 

 air, as you mechanically draw it in; the chest falls as it passes as 

 mechanically out, and then— you are asleep. 



The hours pass, and still you sleep on. The body, in obedience 

 to Borne occult law of force within the insensible frame, still keeps 

 up its respirations; but you are somewhere— sleeping. At last the 

 pine above you, in the deep hush which precedes the coming of 

 dawn, stills its monotone, and silence weaves its airy web amid 

 the motionless stems. The water falls asleep. The loon's head is 

 uuder its spotted wing, and the owl becomes mute. The deer has 

 left the shore and lies curved in its mossy bed. The rats no 

 longer draff their tiny wake across the creek, and the frogs have 

 ceased their croaking. All is quiet. In the profound quiet, and 

 unconscious of it all, the sleeper sleeps. What sleep eucu sleeping 

 is! and what a ministry is being ministered unto mind and body 

 through the cool, pure air, pungentwith gummy odors and strong 

 with the smell of the sod and the root-laced mould of the under- 

 lying earth! (From Murray's "Lake Champlain and its Shore6." 

 De Wolfe, Fiske & Oo., Boston.) 



No Wondeh it is Popular.— The appointments of the famous 

 New York and Chicago Vestibule Limited, via the New York 

 Central and Hudson River Railroad, correspond in elegance and 

 luxury with those of a first-class family hotel. The convenience 

 of arriving at Grand Central Station, largest and finest passenger 

 station in America, and the only one in the city of New. York, is 

 another advantage enjoyed exclusively by patrons of the New 

 York Central. This great four-traok trunk line Is unsurpassed 

 for safety, comfort, and the speed of Its splendid, trains.— Adn, 



