May 19, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



477 



Mr, Murdock called out, "Doctor, you have left your 

 boots," "I know it," he replied, "and if you can find 

 any fool who wants to use them let him have them, but 

 never reveal to him the name of the fool who bought 

 them." 



Those boots might properly be called the grandfather 

 of tbe present legging. 



T did not meet any bod v after that who had rubber boot 

 on tbe brain until in 18G4. In that year Col. V. was the 

 United States Quartermaster of the Eastern Department, 

 and a large contract was about to be given out for certain 

 hardware for the army. Mr. J. and Mr. M. were com- 

 petitor? for this contract and agreed to pool the contract if 

 either was successful. For the purpose of getting on 

 good terms with the Colonel they proposed a trip to the 

 Rondout for a few days' sport in trout fishing. None of 

 the party had ever caught a trout and they relied upon 

 Mr. C , of New York, to provide an outfit; and again the 

 lubber boot was an essential feature, but this time a boot 

 which reached only about half way from the knee to the 

 hip. 



I was enjoying my usual spring trip when the whole 

 party arrived about "two o'clock one morning in June at 

 Divid B- Smith's, where I was staying. It consisted of 

 Colonel V., who rejoiced in a weight of 3i0lbs.; Mr. M., 

 who weighed about 240lbs.; and Mr. J., who was the 

 light-weight of the party. Supposing that they were 

 going far beyond the bounds of civilization, they had 

 brought with them an extra conveyance containing two 

 barrels and several boxes filled with bread, hams, tongues 

 and other articles of a solid or fluid nature, and all for a 

 three days' trip! 



As a business adventure it was a marked success, but 

 as a fishing trip a dismal failure. The Culonel never left 

 his room, largely for the reason tbat the tonics which 

 were furnished to strengthen him were bestowed too 

 frequently and with too lavish a hand. Immediately 

 upon their arrival Mr. M was detailed to administer to 

 the wants of the Colonel, and Mr. J. was detailed for the 

 purpose of supplying the table -with fish. 



As he started out on the first morning he very freely 

 expressed his contempt for those who were too penurious 

 to expend the meagre sum of |5 for a pair of rubber boots. 

 We both went up the stream, and I gave him the best 

 ground, going further up the stream myself. Toward 

 evening I had filled my 18-pound creel and was on my 

 way home, when I overtook Mr. J., who was limping and 

 had one of his boots in his hand. As I joined bim I casu- 

 ally inquired as to his success, and he curtly replied, 

 "Two irout and a blister on my heel as big as a copper 

 cent," coupled with an anathema on the boots. 



As we sat enjoying our cigars after our trout supper, 

 Mr. J, asked us when we expected to go out the next 

 morning, and when we replipd about 8 or 9 o'clock, he 

 informed us with an air of superiority that if we knew 

 anything about trout fishing we would go out before sun- 

 rise; and he proposed to demonstrate the correctness of 

 his remark by going out the next morning at the break of 

 day. 



Eirly on the next morning he sallied forth, attired in 

 his best broadcloth Buit and again arrayed in his rubber 

 boots, to fish a deep pool just below a dam situated a few 

 rods above the house. 



The water had flowed over the whole length of the 

 dam during the previous night upon an apron 10 or 13ft. 

 wide, composed of hemlock slabs laid with the round side 

 up. It was dangerous footing even for hob-nails. The 

 man in charge of the sawmill just below had started the 

 wheel while it was yet dark and drawn the water down 

 bo that the slabs were bare. 



Out upon this apron Mr. J. crept and began to cast his 

 fly, but the wily trout would not be enticed. In his eag- 

 erness to get a rise he crept further and further out upon 

 the apron, when suddenly he uttered an agon zing shriek, 

 which brought every one in the house out of bed and to 

 the windows. 



If the slabs had been human they could not have done 

 finer work. In an instant the rubber boots had flown 

 out in front of our hero, and down he came on tbe end 

 of a light slab, which acting like a spring board, sent 

 him up about a foot, ended him half over, and sent him 

 he'td first into the pool beneath, which was 10ft. deep. 



The miller rushed to the rescue with a log hook and 

 fished him out. 



After breakfast he announced that his trout fishing 

 waB done, and he kindly offered to lend his boots to his 

 frhmd for a day's sport while he stayed home and dried 

 out, and acting as nurse to the Colonel; but Mr. M. 

 wisely suggested that he deemed it safer for the whole 

 party to fish thereafter from a boat, and proposed trying 

 a pond for pike on their way home. 



We had not forgotten the two rebukes Mr. J. had given 

 us, and so — just for our information and not in the spirit 

 of retaliation at all — could not refrain from asking him 

 if h« had seen any trout leap out of the water before he 

 leaped into it, and he— but his words were too unholy for 

 repetition. 



As the party started for home that morning some one 

 cautioned Mr. J. not to forget to take his rubber boots, 

 but the kind reminder brought forth imprecations so loud 

 and deep that even the sun hid its face behind a cloud 

 for shame. 



Nearly thirty years have passed since then, and out of 

 the rubbsr boot during these years the light and comfort- 

 able stocking or legging has been evolved, a child of the 

 third generation. V. C. 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 



Small-Mouthed Red-Eyed Gray Bass. 



Saginaw, Mich.. May 12 —I have a letter to-day from 

 my friend in St. Paul, inclosing one from C. J. C. Bed- 

 man, of Alexandria, Minn. I believe Lake Ida is the 

 lake he has reference to. He has offered $5 for a 5 pound 

 gray bass and hopes to have one soon to send to you. 

 The weather is very cold and the ice is just out of the 

 lake, so I imagine we are on the right track, and one of 

 these days will be able to locate this at present but little 

 known fi-b, the small-mouthed red-eyed gray bass. — W. 

 B. Meeshon. 



Catskill Mountain Trout. 



Hunter, May 6. — I got up at 4:30 A. M. Monday, and 

 went with H. B. to Shanty Hollow and fished half way 

 down to the old bridge. We got halt' a dozen apiece, and 

 had them for our breakfast. Everybody fished for two 

 days,— Scott. 



BOSTON FISHING PARTIES. 



BOSTON, May 14.— The trout fishing season is in full 

 force, and yet there are no reports of good catches 

 from the Maine lakes up to the present writing. I have 

 arrangements with several good fishermen for immediate 

 news of the landing of big trout or of even fair success. 

 But up to the present time these sources of information 

 are silent. This is nothing more than was to have been 

 expected, however; nothing more than what is the fate 

 of every season. Boston sportsmen get excited, even 

 before the ice is out of the trout lakes, and they rush 

 away as soon as the lakes are clear; but the big trout are 

 taken later. Some of the early fishermen were hoping 

 for landlocked salmon from Rangeley Lake proper, but 

 that lake played the slow game this year and did not clear 

 of ice till the other l^kes of the Androscoggin chain had 

 been clear five days ; the real dates of the ice going out 

 being on the 5th for Mooselucmaguntic and Richardson, 

 while Eangeley did not clear till the 10th. Moosehead 

 cleared on the 6th, though this lake is usually a couple of 

 days or more ahead of the R mgeleys. The later leaving 

 of the ice has doubtless prevented the landlocked salmon 

 from coming to the lure in Rangeley Lake, for there are 

 several good fishermen there who would be very likely to 

 take them were it possible. Neither are there any reports 

 of big brook trout taken yet. But there are numerous 

 complaints of the very low water in the best trout lakes. 

 Moosehead Lake is very low. A letter from the lumber 

 trade says that the lake is so low that the logs have not 

 yet been brought across. Many of the spring fishermen 

 to that lake are aware of the meaning of this, for they 

 have many times witnessed the moving of the great rafts 

 of logs. 



But in spite of the low water the parties continue to fit 

 out for Moosehead. The Wright party will go this week 

 — it was to leave on Tuesday. It is made up of a good 

 representation of the celebrated Commodore Club, which 

 owns the elegant club house at Moose Lake, in Hartland, 

 Me. The names are John G. Wright, of the wool trade; 

 E. A. Adams, of the Red Star Line of steamers; W. V. 

 Kellen, well known in the legal profession as a reporter 

 of decisions; G. W. Hastings, of Lambert Bros., in the 

 glass trade; F. S. Sherburne, also in the glass trade: C. 

 H. Souther, president of the New Eogland Dredging Co ; 

 and H. M. Stephenson, a well known architect, and better 

 known for the Boston buildings he has designed. Mr. 

 Stephenson's name comes last on the list, but it is by no 

 means the least among the fishermen who know him. 

 He has several times been with the Harrv Moore party to 

 Moosehead and other fishing resorts. For this trip he 

 has drawn a very happy sketch of the Wright party, en 

 route for the trout waters of Moosehead. Mr. Wright 

 appears in the lead with fish and rod over shoulder — an 

 excellent character sketch, and I wish I could reproduce 

 it here. He is followed by bis train of rod-bearers, 

 marching straight to conquest. But this party does not 

 make a long stay at Moosehead, There are other attrac- 

 tions in Maine. They are to get back to the Commodore 

 Club about Friday, where they are to be met by a party 

 of fifteen or twenty of their fellow club members. 



Another happy party of long-time friends at the 

 Rangeley Lakes* will leave Boston about tbe 26th. They 

 are senior fishermen generally, and men of standing in 

 the Hub. standing which they have well earned. Col. 

 Hoiace T. Rockwell may be termed the leader of the 

 party, of the printing firm of Rockwell &Churchell. Col. 

 Rockwell has visited the Rangeleys almost every season 

 for many years. Mr. Henry Priest, of Priest, Page & 

 Co., is also a member of this party, and he is a senior 

 fisherman a*; the same lakes. Col. E. B. Haskell and Mr. 

 C. H. Andrews, both senior proprietors of the Boston 

 Herald, are in the party, and they go to their own camp, 

 Alerton Lodge, on the Mooselucmaguntic. These men 

 have well earned an extended fishing trip to as good fish- 

 ing as the country affords, for to their energy in former 

 years the founding of the present very prosperous exist- 

 ence of the Boston Herald is due. Mr. Edward TJ. Curtis 

 will also be one of this party. He was formerly city 

 clerk of the Hub, I believe, but be is at present better 

 known as a chosen delegate to the Republican National 

 C anvention at Minneapolis in June. With Col. Rockwell 

 he will start for the lakes some days earlier than the rest 

 of the party, for the reason that he must be in the Flour 

 City in season to help make a candidate for President. 

 Mr. John A. Lowell has for many years been a member 

 of this same fishing party, and hopes to be with his 

 fellows this year, though circumstances may prevent. 



May 16.— A special this morning from Mr. H. A. Pres- 

 cott, of the Mooselucmaguntic Hause, at Haines Land- 

 ing, Me., says that Mr. J. L. Harberger, of Boston, has 

 just taken two trout, tbe smallest weighing 41bs. and the 

 largest 6ilbs. This is Mr. Harberger's first trip to the 

 Rangeley Lakes and he will be greatly pleased. The 

 same special also Fays that Mr. and Mrs* N. N. Thayer, 

 of Boston, caught 8 good trout on Friday, some of them 

 large ones. These people are always fortunate. Mr. 

 Thayer has visited Mooselucmaguntic many times. 



There is to be a very noted party at the New Oxford 

 Club camp, at B Pond, in the course of a few days. B 

 Pond is up in tbe mountains some distance from the 

 old Oxford Club camp, which was situated near the 

 Pond-in- the-River some distance below the Middle Dam, 

 Richardson Like. The new camp was built last winter 

 by Mr. Bayard Thayer, the proprietor of Birch Lodge, at 

 the head of Richardson Lake. His Excellency, Gover- 

 nor Russell, with the others of the Thayer party at Birch 

 Lodge last year, went to B Pond fishing, and so pleased 

 were they with the surroundings that Mr. Thayer 

 decided to build a camp there. The party that is to 

 start for that camp this week is composed of Gov. Win. 

 E. Russell, Col. Jihn Thayer, Mr. Bayard Thayer, Hon. 

 John Simptins, Mr. J. Otis Wetherbee, Col. Francis Pea- 

 body, and probably Mr. Herbert Leeds and Edwin H. 

 Abbott. 



Mr. Irwin Davis, of Boston, has started on a fishing 

 trip to the west branch of the Ppnobscot, in Maine. He 

 has a favorite fishing ground there. Mr. Henry Dennison, 

 of the Dennison Tag Co., and Mr. Frank Kennedy, of 

 cracker baking fame, with quite a party, are about start- 

 ing for the home of the Dobsis Club on a fishing trip for 

 landlocked salmon. 



It is the fate of all parties to dwindle down to a few at 

 about the time of starting, and the L. Dana Chapman 

 party is no exception to the rule. . They start for Blemis 

 Camps, Mooselucmaguntic Lake, on Saturday, but the 

 party will consist of only Mr. and Mrs. Chapman and Mr. 



and Mrs. L. C. Dizer. After all, four of the right sort 

 make about the best party in the world. The Wadsworth 

 party, formerly the Eugene Clapp party, has also 

 dwindled to Mr, Wadsworth and Mr. Haskins. They go 

 the last of this week to Haines Landing. Mr. Paine, who 

 was to go with them, with quite a party of friends, got 

 tired of waiting and is already at the fishing grounds. 



Special. 



TARPON OF THE BRAZOS. 



THE inspiring sight of an 80lb. "Silver King," lying in 

 the office of the Hotel Velaseo to-day, prompts me 

 to let brother sportsmen throughout this broad land know 

 of our existence, and the quantity and variety of sport to 

 be had at our very doorsteps. The surest way to verify 

 my wish is, of course, to resort to the interesting pages of 

 Forest and Stream. 



The tarpon was caught yesterday in a net by two fisher- 

 men in Oyster Creek, fully five miles from the place 

 where that stream empties into the Gulf of Mexico. 

 They report having had considerable work in landing 

 him, but his struggles for freedom only succeeded in en- 

 meshing him beyond hope of escape, and he was hauled 

 ashore, and is now in the hands of our local taxidermist 

 being prepared for exhibition. 



Although the old inhabitants here report that the 

 "Silver King" has not, in the past, put in an appearance 

 here before June, this is the second capture this month. 

 The first one was secured in a novel and rather extra- 

 ordinary manner. A party was fishing off the wharf 

 with a hand line, and was both surprised and alarmed at 

 getting a tremendous bite, and seeing his line madly tear- 

 ing up and down the waters of the Brazos. While he 

 was holding on with might and main, the steamer Justine 

 came along and, strange to say, her propeller caught the 

 tarpon a whack on the head that finished him, and he 

 was drawn to terra firma lifeless. 



Next month the real sport will commence, as it is then 

 that the fish will arrive by the hundred, and our local 

 talent will again try their luck, although in the past not 

 a single one has been landed through the medium of a 

 rod and line, notwithstanding "bites" by the score. This 

 state of affairs can be accounted for by the fact that the 

 proper tackle has not been used, and the experience of 

 the past may produce better results this season. Our 

 anglers here cannot understand how it is that people fish 

 for an entire day in Florida without hooking one, while 

 the darkies along the jetties here, after catfish, have time 

 and time again been jerked into the water by a tarpon 

 catching their hand lines. 



To give an idea of the topography of this place I will 

 state the Brazos River empties into the Gulf of Mexico 

 through a channel 560ft. wide. At either side are jetties 

 of rock extending into the Gulf a distance of 5,400ft., and 

 it i3 between those jetties that the tarpon congregate in 

 such numbers, presumably coming into the river to feed. 

 Readers can readily understand that in a contracted dis- 

 tance, limited to 560ft. in width, the chances of hooking 

 a fish are much greater than in the open Gulf, especially 

 as the mouth of the river is a regular thoroughfare for 

 the passage of fish in and out. As this port has only just 

 been opened up, the absence of steamers in the past, and 

 the consequesnt quiet of the waters, has no doubt been a 

 means of causing large fish to seek this inlet, and 

 anglers who may be in quest of a fruitful spot in which 

 to try their potential skill, can rest assured that at no 

 other place South or West will their efforts meet with as 

 much success. 



Besides the tarpon the waters here are thronged with 

 fine redfish or channel bass, many specimens weighing 30 

 to 401bs. having been caught already. 



Leaving the salt-water part of the business, we will 

 now adjourn to the lakes, of which there are six within a 

 radius of five miles. The black bass fishing in all those 

 lakes is the finest imaginable, and as we now have a club 

 here, consisting of the most prominent citizens: with the 

 lakes posted and taken care of, this sport will last for 

 nearly all time to come. The writer cast a fly over one of 

 the lakes recently for two hours and with a result of 15 

 bass ranging from 14 to 4lbs. each. The fly used was a 

 grizzly-king, and I have at all times found it a killer here. 

 The question may arise how it happens that such a sport- 

 ing Arcadia should be absolutely unknown to the 

 outside world, but it is only within the last ninety days 

 that a railroad has entered this section, only then being 

 assured that a deep water harbor had been obtained at the 

 mouth of the Brazos. 



Should any reader be desirous of learning more of this 

 favored region, and will communicate with the writer by 

 letter, it will be a pleasure to give all necessary particu- 

 lars. Later on I hope to be able to give you an account 

 of my campaign against the "King of the Deep," and trust 

 to conquer his Majesty in a "fair field and no favor." 



"VEtiASCO, Texas, May 8. M. P. M, 



Virginia Beach Fishing. 



Mr, Thos. J. Murrey has just returned to Washington 

 from Virginia Beach, where he had gone to chum for 

 bluefish. Unfortunately there were no accommodations 

 for anglers in the way of boats and guides, it being too 

 early in the season. Not too early for the fish, as bluefish 

 and black-spotted salt-water trout were there in great 

 abundance, besides other choice g«me species, but for the 

 fishermen, who were not ready. The nets are reaping a 

 righ harvest and the railroad facilities are inadequate to 

 carry away the fish so captured. Tons and tons of fish 

 are allowed to remain in the trap nets until they can be 

 transported. Mr. Murrey says about fifty varieties of 

 fishes were observed by him, and that early as the season 

 is it was the greatest sight he has ever witnessed. Vir- 

 ginia Beach, he thinks, is one of the finest spots on the 

 Atlantic coast for fishing, and if anglers will but put 

 their minds to it, suitable arrangements can be made by 

 which these fine fishing grounds will be easy to reach. 

 Of course railroad and steamboat facilities via Norfolk 

 are ample now. Good guides are badly needed. Striped 

 bass had just commenced running May 14. 



Cortland County Trout. 



Geneva, N. Y. — Charles S. Brown, a veteran fisherman 

 of Geneva, on May 2 caught in Preble Brook, Cortland 

 county, 35 fine trout, 20 of which weighed 22Jlbs., 15 

 weighed 71bs., the 35 weighed 29ilbs. The three largest 

 as follows: lib. 12oz., lib. lLVoz., lib. 9oz. We think 

 jthis a good record catch, — S. 



