10 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[Jan. 7, 1893. 



out by. Wh\le thus engaged one of our party pointed 

 to the top of a large oak, and there upon a limb were 

 three raccoons baskiDg in the sun. 



Whether or not that animal will kill the rabbit I do not 

 know, but I have reason to believe if they have an oppor- 

 tunity they will kill domestic fowls. A'few years since 

 some animal several nights in succession entered the hen 

 house of an acquaintance and killed some of his choice 

 domestic fowls. Hearing a disturbance in the evening 

 among his fowls, he rushed out and saw an animal fleeing 

 which in the darkness he took to be a lynx. He set a trap 

 for the animal, and the next night caught a very large 

 raccoon. He was not trou bled after that. H. L. 



km m\d ffipqr fishing. 



Angling Talks. By George Dawson. Price 50 cents. Fly- 

 Rods and Fly-Tackle. By H. P. Wells. Price $2.50. Fly- 

 Fishing and Fly-Making for Trout. By J. H. Keene. 

 Price $1.50. American Angler's Book. By Thad. Norris. 

 Price $5.50. 



The full tests of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Book o1 

 the, Game Laws. 



fellows had either eaten the little ones or driven them 

 from the pool. But our arguments were cut short by 

 Mike, who undertook to cross the rapid above. Bang, he 

 went down into the pool as a matter of course, and on we 

 went down the creek. We found fewer riffles and more 

 deep holes than we expected, but had good sport with the 

 medium-sized trout. 



Billy wanted to get back to camp early in order to make 

 a table and some stools. He always finds some excuse 

 for hanging around camp. Truly, I sometimes get very 

 angry with him, but, as little good comes of my kicking, 

 I have learned to let him do about as he pleases and I do 

 the same. Now here we were starting home just as the 

 sun was sinking behind the mountains, and 1 was mad. 

 The trout were just beginning to yawn after their mid- 

 day dreams and were brushing up for their suppers. 



As we sauntered along the trail the music of the rapid 

 by the bluff struck my ear, and I at once declared my 

 intention to give that pool another trial, Billy reminded 

 me that a fool never learns from experience and went on 

 to camp. Down through the vine maples and ferns I 

 went all the same, and reaching the pool sat down to 

 reason about it. The sun's rays no longer glanced upon 

 its placid surface, and the shadows of the bluff gave it an 

 air of mellow mystery. Hearing a suggestive smacking 

 sound I glanced over to the side next the bluff and at 

 once became aware that the trout were utilizing the tiny 

 springs, and that the insects incidentally washed into the 

 stream by them were snatched up by the trout as they 

 fell. Here was the solution of the mystery, and right 

 here permit me to admonish my brother anglers never to 

 pass by a spring, it matters not how small, that trickles 

 from a bluff into the stream, without dropping your flies 

 close in next the bluff where the spring empties in. No 

 matter how small the spring; even if it should be but a 

 discernible thread of liquid silver, give it at least one 

 trial. In a trout country it is a safe two to one bet that 

 the biggest trout in that bend of the creek has his home 

 right where he can see every ant, bug or worm that wig- 

 gles vainly down that little current. 



I immediately replaced my light leader with a heavier 

 one, attached to which were a No. 4 royal-coach for 

 stretcher and No (5 red-spinner and professor for dropper. 

 1 cast so that my fl ies struck the bluff and roiled care- 

 lessly down into the pool. 



Fish are just as excitable as we are. Anything differ- 

 ing from the ordinary affects them even more than we 

 are affected by unusual happenings, and they act on the 

 impulse. My flies had scarcely touched the water when 

 a great big fellow went clear out of water and down 

 again with a loud splash that startled me. In his anxiety 

 to swallow the whole business at one gulp he had sprung 

 clear over the leader; but gathering himself he turned 

 quickly and seized the spinner. My reel buzzed like a 

 rattlesnake; a quick turn of my wrist firmly fastened 

 him and the fun commenced. Whew! how he did fight, 

 Out of the water he went shaking that fly as a terrier 

 would shake a rat. 



One would think his conduct would scare every other 

 fish out of the pool, but imagine my surprise when I 

 observed another trout of about the same size hot in pur- 

 suit of my victim. But it turned out that he was not so 

 much after my trout as he was after the royal-coachman 

 that dangled merrily after him— and he got it. But his 

 ideas of heautiful flies were at once modified, and he 

 strove in vain to eject the beauty with a stinger he had 

 so greedily snatched. It was too late. He was there to 

 stay, and here I had another balky team. I regretted 

 having hooked the second fish, for one 2-pounder was 

 enough for any light tackle. But I couldn't unhitch 

 either of them, and so let them fight it out. 



My landing net was in camp, as I had not anticipated 

 any particular need of it. The best way to find big fish 

 is to leave your landing net at home, on the same princi- 

 ple that a deer will stand in the trail and stare at you 

 when your Winchester is twenty miles away, I suppose. 



Tug, yank, pull, you pretty leopards of the pool, your 

 hours are numbered! for you there are no more trick- 

 ling springs or mossy rocks; no more pretty flies, no more 

 proud rises or graceful curves. Like all other life, yourB 

 must end in death. The bright sun, the myriad rainbows 

 of your deep home, the crystal jewels above and below 

 you are no more for your eyes. 



To land both safely was a long, tedious task. They 

 were beauties, but too long for my creel. I could not 

 even bend tbem in; so I was forced to string them, as, 

 when a boy, I used to string suckers. And I strung 

 eleven more from the same pool; some larger, some 

 smaller; none weighing less than a pound and a half, none 

 weighing more than 31bs. They were all fighters to the 

 backbone, and and one peculiarity of theirs seemed to be 

 to rush and spring clear out of water, seizing a fly in their 

 descent. 



I have fished with the fly for many years, but in all my 

 life I was never kept more busy for an hour with my rod 

 and reel than in capturing that baker's dozen of big fel- 

 lows. S. H. Greene. 



Portland, Oregon. 



Christmas Pike- Perch.— Fish Commissioner W. I* 

 Powell, of Harrisburg, Pa. , surprised us greatly the other 

 day with information of the capture of several pike-perch 

 in the Juniata River about Christmas. Mr. Jacob 

 Haehnlen was the happy fisherman and he took the fish 

 by trolling with lampreys. The bait, we assume, was the 

 blind larva of the lamprey, which passes the early period 

 of its existence buried in the mud, usually at or near the 

 mouths of small creeks. The pike-perch is active in win- 

 ter and in some localities, notably Saginaw Bay. Mich,, 

 it is speared through the ice, a decoy fim being used to 

 lure the prey within reach. The name of the pike-perch 

 in that bay is pickerel. 



Shad. — The first shad of the season appear from year 

 to year in the Washington, D. C, , market on January 1st, 

 On Saturday, the 2d, quite a number were on sale and 

 brought from 50 cents to one dollar apiece. The best 

 shad seen were shipped from New Berlin, Fia., near 

 the mouth of the St. John's River, but the majority of 

 the fish came from Savannah, Ga. 



The *'ibst Fort M_vers Tarpon.— Fort Myers. Fla., 

 Jan. 2. - [Special to Forml and. Stream] : First tarpon 

 was caught here to day by Besante Gravlelle. Others 

 were hooked and lost. The ri ver is full of them and they 

 bite well,— Louis A. Hendry. 



Chenango and Otsego Game Laws.— Norwich. N, Y., 

 Dec. 31.— The Chenango County Board of Supervisors 

 has amended the game law as foilows: "Sec. 1. The law- 

 ful season for killing partridge (ruffed grouse), squirrels 

 and woodcock within the county of Chenango shall be 

 only from sunrise on the first day of October until sunset 

 on the 31st of December in each year hereafter. Whoever 

 shall kill or hunt any partridge (ruffed grouse), or 

 squirrels, or woodcock at any other time than during the 

 specified lawful season aforesaid shall forfeit a penalty 

 of $25 for each partridge, squirrel, or woodcock killed , 

 and whoever shall have in his possession of any 

 such game out of season shall forfeit $25 for each bird or 

 squirrel." The board of supervisors of the adjoining 

 county of Otsego had passed an act at the session for 1890 

 prohibiting the taking of brook trout from any of the 

 waters of the county, except during the months of May, 

 June, July and August in each year. At the recent ses- 

 sion of the board the law of 1890 was so far amended as 

 to permit the taking of trout during the month of April 

 in the waters of the towns of Unadilla, Oneonta, Mary- 

 land and Worcester. Another act prohibits the taking of 

 any trout, perch, pickerel, or bass from the waters of 

 Wharton Creek, in the town of Pittsfield, between Jan. 1 

 and April 1. Another law specially applicable to the 

 town of Unadilla prohibits the killing in that town for a 

 period of three years of any partridge (ruffed grouse), or 

 pheasant or woodcock, or for the. carrying of any such 

 birds out of the town, under the maximum penalty for 

 each offense of two months' imprisonment in the county 

 jail, or a fine of $100, or both. 



Michigan Shooting.— Saginaw, Mich., Dec. 20 —Our 

 .- hooting season is over; it ended the 15th. Game Warden 

 Ostrander has been .'Hound after the game dealers with a 

 sharp stick, and made them dispose of (or get out of sight, 

 at any rate) all game after the eighth day limit expired. 

 Quail has been very plentiful around Saginaw this year. 

 In any directum you might go you were hure to run 

 across them. We have so much underbrush here, ami so 

 many dense thickets, that it makes it very difficult shoot- 

 ing, for the little roosters pitch for the* thickest cover 

 when they are first flushed. It seems now as if we were 

 going to have another open winter; and if so, this country 

 will be literally alive with them another year. Ruffed 

 grouse, however, are very scarce. — W. B. Mershon. 



Virginia Coast Shooting —Norfolk, Va.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream : Any of your many readers desiring 

 to obtain for the present and future for themselves the 

 best duck, goose, swan and bay bird shooting to be bad 

 anywhere in the South, will do well to write me at once. 

 They can come and inspect the grounds for themselves ; 

 they will not be asked to take any steps in the dark. — J. 

 B. White, 



1. Sleep in 54' Bays.— Sprinqeield, Mass., Nov. 28. 

 —Editor Forest and Stream: I wa" glad to see the few 

 words about sleeping bags, by Mr, Stark, in your issue of 

 Nov. 19, as I have given the subject some thought, with 

 the intention of making one for my own use. I wish 

 others would give their experience with them. I am in 

 doubt as to the best material for the bag, whether to use 

 sheep or lamb skin, quilted eiderdown or wool blanket- 

 ing, and for the covering waterproof canvas or enameled 

 cloth. No doubt the skin of the reindeer is the warmest 

 material in proportion to its weight, but it can hardly be 

 obtained here. I should also be glad of some hints on 

 making a knapsack or packing straps. I do not find 

 such things in the sporting catalogues.— W. GL 



2. To Tell the Time with the Sim aud a 

 Compass.— Washington, D. C— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: From the article "How to Tell the Point of 

 Compass with a Knife and Watch," previously appearing 

 in your columns, I derived the following formula, which 

 I send for the benefit of some of your readers who are not 

 accustomed to carry watches on their hunting tours. 

 Hold the compass in such a position that the needle points 

 to N. The next thing is to find the sun (if the day is 

 cloudy, a thin splinter placed on. and perpendicular to 

 the thumb nail, will cast a shadow on the nail, from 

 which the direction of the sun can be easily found). Im- 

 agine a line drawn from the center of the compass to the 

 sun. This line will represent the hour hand of a watch. 

 If the time is between 6 A. M. and 6 P. M., a point on the 

 rim of the compass, placed at a distance from S., equal to 

 the distance between S. and the point H., where the im- 

 aginary hour hand cuts the rim, but on the opposite side of 

 S., will be the position of the figure 12. By dividing the rim 

 into twelve equal parts, beginning at the right of 12 and 

 numbering each part 1, 2, 3, etc., the time will be shown 

 by the hour hand, which will point to the number (or 

 between two numbers) corresponding to the true time. 

 If the time is between 6 P. M. and 6 A. M., then N. in- 

 stead of S. must be equi-distant from H. and 12. By a 

 little practice one can b D come so adept in the application 

 of this formula, that he can calculate to within five 

 minutes of the true time.— A. F. Hodes. 



If your shooting friend does not. rend Forest and Stream 

 why not give him a charming present mid do a little missionary 

 ■work at the same time by mliseribing to the paper for Mm, It 

 will gim him 'pleasure fifty-two times a, year. Do you realize 

 that this year $4 will buy you 16(54 of these big pages, and ail 

 of ihem devoted to wholesome, manly sport. 



TROUTING IN THE CASCADES.-1V. 



THE MOLALLA COUNTRY. 



WE were up bright and early and had breakfast, and 

 I was off to the stream, Billy preferring to potter 

 around camp until the afternoon. I concluded to fish up 

 stream toward the mouth of Canyon Creek. 



Up and down creek fishing both have their adherents. 

 Some anglers will not fish up stream, while others will 

 not fish down. AH fly-fishermen are cranks. Much may 

 be said in favor of either method. For the up-creeks it 

 is truthfully claimed that the fish lying head up stream 

 (as they do when at rest) cannot see the fisherman so 

 readily and therefore less caution is necessary ; the fly 

 coming with the current it appears more natural to the 

 fish and, further, the strike brings the fly toward the fish 

 instead of taking it from him. 



For the down-creeks it is truthfully asserted that the 

 swift-running water always keeps your line taut, you 

 can retrieve better and the fish will "often hook himself 

 instead of ejecting the fly, as he frequently does when 

 the line is slack. Neither plan has much advantage over 

 the other so far aa I am able to di-cover. As for myself 

 I fish either up or down, as the circumstances make most 

 convenient. 



This morning I fished up. Starting opposite camp I 

 fished for nearly a mile, then, turning, fished back over 

 the same water. Coming back the "fish seemed to be 

 about as numerous as when I went tip, 



1 was whipping a beautiful pool with nothing to relieve 

 the loneliness except Mike, who was wrestling around in 

 the bru&h, showing up now and then simply to keep 

 track of me, when out of the brush at my side stepped a 

 nondescript sort of an individual with lone hair and the 

 conventional wide- brimmed faded hat, His advent was 

 so sudden and unexpected that it startled me a little, but, 

 perceiving that he was a human being, I exchanged 

 salutations with him and went on fishing. 



He too was fishing, but with primitive tackle and 

 worms for bail, lie paused, intently watched the artifi- 

 cial flies playing on the water and finally propounded 

 the usual inquiry, "What is them things you got tharV" 

 While I wan explaining a fine fellow seized the royal and 

 after a good fight fell in my basket. My new acquaint- 

 ance had watched the rush of the trout, the strike and 

 the performance clear through with open mouth and 

 now approached modestly to have a better look at the 

 "tarnal things." 



I always like to meet such good fellows and always try 

 to be friendly and entertaining, so I sat down on a rock 

 and proceeded to enter into details for his edification. 

 He examined each fly on the leader carefully and listened 

 patiently to my explanations, finally expressing himself 

 simply and honestly with, "Well, I deolar." Of course 

 this did not admit or deny anything I had said, but it 

 manifested bis appreciation of my efforts. It is pleasant 

 to meet such people, especially in such lonely out of the 

 way places, and 1 always carry a lot of second-rate flies 

 and fair leaders for their special benefit, on the same 

 principle that Stanley takes colored beads and old mus- 

 kets to Africa with him. 



Then I asked the young fellow about himself; where he 

 lived, how long he had lived there and about his knowl- 

 edge of the country. I had found a prize. He and his 

 brother had a cabin up Canyon Creek, had lived there 

 "quite a spell," had hunted b'ar, cougar, elk, deer and 

 wildcats and he didn't mind tryin' a few of them red and 

 white bugs of mine. I prepared a leader with its three 

 flies and tied it upon the end of his line, explaining that 

 he must keep the fl-es moving on the water as if they 

 were struggling, half drowned, to reach the shore. 



He experimented then and there and showed a natural 

 aptitude for the business (fly-fishermen, like poet 1 ?, are 

 born) and I had the pleasure of seeing him hook and land 

 a beauty within a minute. That settled it, and awav he 

 went, lost to sight in a twinkling as he had appeared, 

 like an apparition. But I observed that the worm box 

 was left ignominiously sitting on a rock. I dumped the 

 ■ worms into the creek and proceeded on down toward 

 camp carelessly and noisily, as I had been taught that 

 the expert fly caster had little advantage over the tyro 

 on this creek. The trout were so reckless that several 

 times I saw them pass between my legs while I was stand- 

 ing in the water. My friend had undoubtedly gone back 

 up the creek, for presently I heard Mike barking a hun- 

 dred yards or so above me in a way that would indicate 

 that he had struck either the apparition or a bear. 1 re- 

 turned to camp satisfied with my forenoon's work. For- 

 tunately we had brought a keg with us, and as we had 

 more trout than ourselves, Halls and Moodys combined 

 could use we proceeded to salt them down. The Indian 

 plan of smoke curing them is the better way, however. 

 Their method in this country is to drive four stakes into 

 the ground as corner posts for a wicker of small hazels 

 laid horizontally some three feet from the ground upon 

 which the cleaned and salted trout are spread and occa- 

 sionally turned while a slow fire of hard wood burns un- 

 derneath. 



Early in the afternoon Billy and I started out, intend- 

 ing to try some of the deep holes we had passed coming 

 up, below any part of the creek yet fished bvus. Coming 

 to a deep, still pool nestling back in the side of a bluff, 

 down whose moss-covered side tiny streams of water 

 trickled from a dozen miniature springs, and just below 

 a mad rapid that angrily buried itself in the hidden 

 depths, we thought we had found the home of the big 

 fellows, and proceeded to try conclusions with them. Our 

 efforts were in vain. Not a trout responded, Billy sug- 

 gested that there must be something wrong with the 

 bottom. On the contrary, I. thought, the bottom was all 

 right but that the big trout were hiding from the tun's 

 rays, away down. The fact that not even a little fellow 

 acknowledged our efforts only convinced me that the big 



