FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 14, 18918. 



TROUTING IN THE CASCADES.-V. 



THE MOLALLA COUNTRY. 



IT was now nearly dark and I must get to camp. Mike 

 had tired of the sport and quietly slipped away alone, 

 unnoticed by me, and gone to camp. His arrival at 

 camp seems to have been taken, by my wife, as the an- 

 nouncement of my horrible fate. She had already com- 

 menced to fret over my non-arrival. Women are such 

 peculiar, unreasonable creatures. I "must know that 

 supper would be cold" and all that, and now as if to 

 make certainty sure, here was the dog, come home alone; 

 a thing he had never done before. That did settle it. Of 

 course the cougars must have scared the dog terribly as 

 they tore the quivering flesh from my bones, or he never 

 would have left me so. Hall and liis family, Billy, my 

 wife, Mike and Hall's dog all started down the trail in 

 search of my remains. My wife's notions would, un- 

 doubtedly, have been amusing to the Halls had she not 

 been so distressed, 



I heard them hallooing before I left the creek but 

 thought nothing of it, and besides I was thoroughly in- 

 fatuated with my job ard had no time to give trivial 

 matters proper consideration. But seizing my creel 

 which, with my coat and vest had been laid aside at the 

 commencement of the fun and without stopping to un- 

 joint my pole I gathered up my trappings and fish and 

 hurried out as fast as possible, fully appreciating at last 

 that T was late. I had just nicely got out and into the 

 trail when I met the procession. It was really amusing, 

 to listen to the arguments and "I told you sos" of the 

 relief party which, without the presence of Hall, could 

 have all been driven out of the country by an old squaw 

 armed with a hazel. It was a fine crowd to go rescuing 

 a fellow from the fangs of a pack of hungry cougars. 

 Still, as Hall said, "the sight of 'em would skeer the 

 devil." Billy relieved me of part of my burden— the 

 thirteen big fellows, of course. He could hardly believe 

 his eyes, and when I told him that I got them out of the 

 mysterious r>ool by the bluff he seemed half disposed to 

 doubt it. But Billy knows how to appreciate a good 

 thing and rebuked himself for not staying with me. He 

 is a philosophical sort of fellow after all. 



While I was eating my supper, which was not so very 

 cold, Billy cleaned and salted the trout and stirred the 

 fire. The Hall family again added to the cheerfulness of 

 our camp by their presence. It was a delightful night. 

 Out in the forest the owls were wooing their big-eyed 

 sweethearts, while the crickets and the tree frogs sang 

 their sad refrains. The stars twinkled merrily through 

 the clear mountain. The long tongues of the crackling 

 fire licked and cauterized the near foliage, while the 

 sparks played hide and seek among the leaves above. 



While the women talked of bonnets and styles, and 

 Billy and Hall were trying, as usual, to outlie'each other, 

 I leaned lazily back against a stump, mentally rehearsing 

 the events by the twilight pool in the curls of smoke that 

 wreathed above me. Were it not for the pipe we would 

 lose half the pleasure of our retrospective fishing by the 

 camp-fire. Judge Cheney pleasingly expresses the 

 thought (in which we all concur) when he wrote, "The 

 fish in the pipe smoke has been as active as the fish in the 

 water and afforded as fine play. My reel has clicked as 

 merrily in the half dream as on the rod in the long ago." 



No doubt excessive smoking is injurious. Doubtless 

 the horrors of nicotian poison have not been half told, 

 and all that; but suppose "the old woman' '(as Billy affec- 

 tionately calls his old sugar bowl of a pipe) was taken 

 away from him, and it should be decreed that he must 

 do penance for the remainder of his days by total absti- 

 nence, how many brilliant thoughts, sparkling ideas and 

 dazzling whoppers might be lost to the world? As Bob 

 Barr used to say, "Smoking may be a bad habit, but all 

 I've got to say about it is that there's a darned sight of 

 solid comfort about it." To the best of my recollection, I 

 have never known an ardent angler who was not an 

 ardent smoker also. There may be exceptions to the rule, 

 but they are rare. The pipe and the rod are as insepara- 

 ble as the Siamese twins. "He that doth not smoke 

 ref useth himself the softest consolation, next to that which 

 comes from heaven." Bulwer-Lytton must have been 

 an ardent angler, for nothing short of the inspiration 

 engendered by the fly-rod could have prompted these 

 words. Lying listlessly by the camp-fire, when night has 

 hushed the toiling world, dreamily gazing into the blue 

 smoke that rolls up to mix forever with the elements, we 

 see and feel and live again the pleasures of the past. 

 The writhing waves, the curling wreaths of sensitive 

 smoke fretted by the petulant air, are but ghostly pools 

 and spectral eddies in which phantom fishes play. Sweet, 

 dissolving visions frescoed on memory's walls, never to 

 be effaced while life shall last. 



"Good evenin'," said a voice behind me. I started as 

 if lightning had struck my stump. There in the gloom 

 stood the apparition I had seen that morning. "Good 

 evenin','" repeated the apparition. 1 arose and shook his 

 hand cordially and asked him to take a stool, but his 

 modesty was equal to his other merits and he half de- 

 clined. Whether the sight of so many women discon- 

 certed him or the pressure of business matters forbade, I 

 do not know, but I think it was simple bashfulness. HaE, 

 with the grace of a Digger Indian, undertook the job of 

 introducing us. I informed him that so far as I was con- 

 cerned it was entirely unnecessary, as I already had the 

 pleasure of an acquaintance with the young gentleman. 

 Hall proceeded: "Mr. Bill, this is Frank; Mr. Robinson, 

 this is Mr. Green's woman." Then followed familiar 

 salutations between Frank and the various members of 

 the Hall family; all except pretty Amy, who on Frank's 

 appearance suddenly became deeply interested with the 

 tucks in her apron. Human nature never shows off to so 

 good an advantage as in the forest wilds. Benny, the 

 kid, was happy, and lost no time in letting us know that 

 he and our visitor were on very familiar terms. En- 

 couraged by our hearty reception and careless manners, 

 Frank sat down. I knew that he came to see me and I 

 felt interested in knowing what he had in the fern- 

 covered basket on his arm, but theught I would let him 

 explain at his own pleasure. The merry-go-easy camp 

 soon made Frank as much at home as any of us, and by 

 the time Billy had told two or three of his most bald- 

 headed stories and given an exhibition of a war dance he 

 had once witnessed among the Brule Sioux up in Dakota, 

 Frank threw off all reserve and made known his errand. 

 He thought as how we mout be kind o' tired of feesh and 

 had brought down a hunk of "mountain beef." 



Mountain beef?" said I interrogatively. "Well, that I 



is very kind of you, Mr. Robinson, for we are all cloyed 

 on trout, but I was not aware that cattle ranged above 

 here.'' 



"Well, no, they don't exactly," said Frank. 



"Ah! I see, you probably mean mutton," said I. 



"No, not exactly that either," said Frank. 



Here Hall chipped in, to save further cross examina- 

 tion, with, "All the same it is better than bar meat." 



I relapsed into silence and decided not to press the in- 

 vestigation further, but took the basket into the tent to 

 relieve it of its contents. Frank followed me in, and 

 when I called his attention to the resemblance the meat 

 bore to venison, he significantly rebuked me with the 

 information that it was close season now, and if the city 

 fellers thought he was killin' deer they might make it 

 tropical for him, but he never openly admitted anything. 

 However, he incidentally mentioned that while he never 

 killed deer just for their skins there was a salt-lick close 

 to his shanty, and deer tracks were as thick as huckle- 

 berries around there. If I didn't want to eat it maybe 

 the dog would "take keer of it." I could not find it in 

 my heart to insult his homely joy at being able to do me 

 a kindness. It was his way of manifesting his apprecia- 

 tion of the flies I had given him, and so I laid the "moun- 

 tain beef" away with a mental reservation and took the 

 matter under advisement. 



"Them flies was fine," broke in Frank, "partic'ly them 

 ones with white wings and a red streak around the 

 body." 



Evidently be was "dead stuck" on the royal-coachman. 

 He would not ask for any, but significantly mentioned 

 the sorrowful fact that after he had caught quite a lot, a 

 "big un" took his best fly clean off. I got out my fly- 

 book, and he fairly devoured the feathery pages as I 

 turned the leaves. But when I got to the royals he 

 slapj>ed his knee, and with more force than elegance de- 

 clared that "them's the fellers for the big uns," and I 

 guess he was right. How would I like to ;take a fish on 

 Canyon Creek to-morrow? Well, I wonder! It was just 

 what I had dreamed about ever since standing in Moody's 

 yard that first evening of our arrival I had looked up 

 into its dark abode. But I did not know how to get there, 

 and besides Billy had absolutely refused to accompany 

 me on any such wild goose expedition. 



"Well," said Frank, "you have been good to me, and 

 if you have no objections I will meet you at sunrise to- 

 morrow and show you a cut off that strikes Canyon just 

 below Skunk-cabbage." 



I had cast my bred upon the water and it was return- 

 ing sooner than usual. So Frank, stealing a glance at 

 Amy, bade the camp good night and disappeared in the 

 darkness. I wondered if the two bright eyes that followed 

 him into the gloomy forest made the old deer trail plainer. 



"Frank is a darnation good fellow even if he won't 

 work," said Hall. 



"I don't suppose he'd lie or steal," rejoined Mrs. Hall, 

 "but I have got my opinion of a skukum young feller 

 like him that won't do nothin' but run wild through the 

 mountains huntin' and fishin'." And then as a left- 

 handed admonition for Amy's benefit she added: "Tbe 

 gal wot gits him will be drivin' her ducks to a poor 

 market." Benny giggled, Amy blushed and the other 

 girls laughed merrily. Hall knew when to close the ar- 

 guments and so with another "Good night" all round we 

 three were left to ourselves by the smouldering camp-fire. 



"Billy," said I, "come along to-morrow and see Canyon 

 Creek." 



"Well," he replied, "if you haven't enough considera- 

 tion for your wife to look after her welfare out in such a 

 place as this, I have." 



That settled it. Propriety is a big word in Billy's 

 dictionary, and, although my wife and Hall's girls would 

 be together all day whether Billy staid in camp or not, 

 propriety and Billy's comfort required his presence in 

 camp. Maybe, too, Elsie Hall's blue eyes had something 

 to do with the old bachelor's chivalric ideas. My experi- 

 ence in camp with bachelors warns me that if I expect 

 any good of them, never to pitch camp in the neighbor- 

 hood of pretty country girls. However, I had well known 

 he would not go and only asked him through courtesy. 



Portland, Oregon, S. H. GREENE. 



THE SIX-INCH TROUT LAW. 



AS you have opened up this question and asked for re- 

 marks, I will narrate the effect of this limit in the 

 experience of one fisherman. Years since I made fre- 

 quent trips to the streams about Red field, N. Y., well 

 known to trout fishermen from Rome, Syracuse, Oswego 

 and Watertown. The catch was nearly always satisfac- 

 tory, giving enough trout to eat while there and some to 

 present to a few friends upon returning. The enjoyment 

 of those days, when there was no consckms wrong com- 

 mitted, stays in remembrance and always will. There 

 was then a 5 inch limit, or it was upon that supposition 

 that fishermen acted. The smaller trout were delicious 

 to eat and prized by friends, while among them were 

 some fine-sized fellows, taken in favored pools, to set off 

 the catch. The fishing was preferably on riffs, during 

 the delightful days of May and June, and in early seasons 

 the latter part of April; and to those that know those 

 clear streams, so different from the dark waters of the 

 Adirondacks, no further laudation is necessary. Upon 

 the advent of the 6-inch law a new problem was pre- 

 sented, which, with a conscientious endeavor to keep 

 within the limit, I proceeded to work out. The first trip 

 curtailed former enjoyment, and soon thereafter, having 

 sized up the whole matter by actual tally and measure- 

 ment, I saw all my pleasure dispelled, and in disgust 

 quit. The 6-inch law was prohibitory. Trout there were 

 beyond 6in., but nine out of ten were under, and the 

 result at night was always a few in the basket to scantily 

 serve out the host's table, none for friends, and dreams to 

 haunt the fisherman of victims maimed and dead strung 

 along the day's pathway. I appeal to all fishermen 

 familiar with those streams if the proportion mentioned 

 is not correct, taken on riffs in May and June. I do not 

 know how large a trout should be at any certain age, but 

 I infer from my experience that a 6 inch limit makes a 

 season's difference in growth above 5in», and takes a trout 

 over one season, and off the riffles. 



The Redfield riffs are now and always have been held 

 by trout under 6in., and I give these as* the proportionate 

 sizes to be caught there— 5in, limit, three-fourths or 

 upward of the catch, 5*in. limit, one-haif the catch, 

 6m., one-tenth. Why trout of 6in. and upward do not 

 frequent the riffa I do not know, but as to that locality it 



is true. It is this fishing, standing in the stream in the 

 shade of the tall maples, or amid the alders along the 

 meadow bank, that the writer loves best, and it is the 

 loss of this he charges to the 6in. law. Through all the 

 region from Rome and Camden, northward, the same 

 conditions hold good, and a man intending to visit any 

 of those streams is, in his intent, guilty of one of two 

 things before he takes his rod from the case, he is either 

 to become a butcher or a breaker of the law. Please say 

 some one whether either is good? If use only justifies 

 killing what apology can be offered by any fair-minded 

 man for the slaughter of a mass of victims which can- 

 not be made use of under the law? If no man sustaining 

 a 6in. limit can go on these streams and justify his day's 

 work he must conclude it is prohibitory and quit, and 

 then he can think over the law and his position. For 

 myself I now make long trips to tbe Adirondacks. at 

 quite an expense, and even there must avoid small 

 streams and shallow waters. I must fish from a boat 

 paddled by a high-priced man, and thereafter go home 

 poor in pocket and, too often, poor in basket. When the 

 Adirondacks fail, or the law is made 12in., I suppose I 

 will haunt the backwoods of Canada or burn the rod. 



Now let me ask why such care should be taken to pre- 

 serve a large limit or to make a season very short? 

 Should a season be unusually early, and beautiful days 

 and prime conditions come in April, why smother the 

 longing in nature to go abroad and enjoy them to the 

 full? A winter of ice and chill is behind us and the 

 calendar does not he— spring has come. Who can be- 

 grudge the catch of a fisherman when ice and snow 

 banks line the stream, should the season be very late? 

 Why this dread of April when as a rule none can be 

 then caught? Why say wait, when the season may not 

 wait and thus vex and annoy our comforts? Why not 

 follow the season which may permit fishing in April and 

 may not by May 1? To what I would ask are our State 

 hatcheries equal? If we fished down to 5|in, and included 

 also April would their poor backs be broken? If our re- 

 liance is to be upon them in the future can they not add 

 an extra dollar and give us one extra fraction of an inch 

 or an extra week or two? Protester No. 1. 



FROST-FISH. 



IF any one should consult a standard ichthyological 

 work to find what a frost-fish is, it would be found 

 that itis another name for thetomcod, specifically known 

 as Gadus tomcod, and that is all that would be found 

 about the frost-fish. If a less scientific work is consulted 

 it will be found that "the Atlantic tomcod is only in the 

 western Atlantic, ranging from New York, at the south, 

 to Cape Sable, at the north. It is ordinarily known as 

 the tomcod, but in the Bay of Fundy and in various 

 places south of Cape Cod it is called 'frost-fish,' owing to 

 the fact that it becomes most abundant in the early part 

 of winter, when it approaches the shore, and even ascends 

 the rivers and creeks, for the purpose of spawning." 

 This, however, does not describe the fish which is meant 

 by the caption of this article, yet it is about all that the 

 text books have to say about a fish with the common name 

 of frost-fish. 



Anglers who have visited the waters of the Adirondack 

 region have heard, probably, of a fish which is found in 

 some of the lakes, and which is called a frost-fish. If they 

 have seen the fish they must have observed that it was 

 very unlike the codfish, to which family the tomcod 

 belongs; must have known that its habitat indicates that 

 it is not a salt-water fish; that its adipose fin proclaims 

 that it belongs to the salmon family, and that its general 

 appearance indicates that it is a whitefish. And that is 

 what it is, although the books have seemed to overlook it. 



Acting upon this suggestion another reference to the 

 books discloses the fact that while the ichthyological 

 authorities are silent concerning any member of the 

 whitefish family that is called a frost-fish, Goode's 

 "American Fishes" says: "Coregonus hoyi occurs in 

 Lakes Michigan and Ontario in deep water ; the lakes of 

 Western New York (particularly Geneva Lake), where it 

 sometimes dies in great numbers. It is known as 'frost- 

 fish' in some parts of New York." This, however, is not 

 the fish that we are seeking, because Coregonus hoyi is 

 the Lake Michigan cisco or lake mooneye, and it has a 

 large eye and a large mouth, while our frost-fish has a 

 small eye and a small mouth. Turning to the reports of the 

 Fish Commissioners of the State of New York, we find in 

 1880 and 1881 this: "It has been claimed that the 

 smelt is the same as the frost-fish found in some of 

 the waters of the Northern Wilderness. It is true the 

 anatomical structure and general appearance are the 

 same, although those who have observed closely will hold 

 that the smelt excels in symmetry of form. The frost- 

 fish is somewhat firmer in texture than the smelt, and is 

 the equal of the latter in flavor. Give any of the old 

 guides or fishermen of the Moose River chain his choice 

 between a trout and a frost-fish, and the chances are 

 nine out of ten that he will choose the frost-fish. * * * 

 The fro3t-fish take their name from their habit of run- 

 ning from deep water in the frosty months of autumn to 

 cast their spawn. This is the only reason they are ever 

 caught or seen by the fishermen. The only time the fish 

 run is at night." 



That is the fish we are searching for, and we know its 

 habits to be as described, but this description does not 

 tell all we wish to know. Another and later report says: 

 "The adult frost-fish are very plentiful, more so perhaps 

 than any other fish in the Adirondack country. As a 

 food fish they are valuable. Their habits are not unlike 

 those of the smelt, which they resemble when in the 

 water. They are a very quick as well as a shy fish, and 

 I have yet to see the first frost-fish swimming in a lake." 

 Still another report has this to say: "It is only in the 

 spawning season that these fish (frost-fish) can be taken, 

 and, therefore, every one is trying to outdo his neighbor 

 in capturing them. It will soon be the same old query : 

 'What has become of the frost-fish?' " A still later re- 

 port has this contribution on the subject: "This finely 

 flavored fish is found only in lakes with the lake trout. 

 They inhabit the deep, cold water in summer, and derive 

 their name 'fro3t-fish' from the fact that they come into 

 shallow water and streams to spawn the first few frosty 

 nights in November. This is the only time they are 

 caught during the year." 



All this evidence will be of use before this article is 

 finished; still, we do not know as yet what tbe frost-fish 

 really is, and might not be able to identify it by its com- 

 mon name in waters other than those of the Adirondack 



