148 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



L^T. 1©, 1891. 



POTOMAC RIVER FISHING. 



LAST week the Potomac was in good condition and 

 some fail* catches of black bass were made. Messrs. 

 CoDurn and Ottprbach spent several days at the club house 

 near the Gi'eat Falls and took thirty bass. Most of these 

 were fine ones. The boss laass of this excursion was cap- 

 turned by Master Harry Coburn. It weighed Sflbs., and 

 hooked itself while the jaarty were in Difficult Earn collect- 

 ing bait, the rods having been left in the boat with lines 

 in the water. Harry worked hard for his biggest fifsh and 

 landed him without assistance from the other members 

 of the party. The boy had taken oflf his breeches while 

 wading in catching bait, and when the Kentuckian on 

 the rod clicked out a merry warning that something had 

 started otf with the hook Harry grabbed his ti'ousers and 

 ran to the scene of action. He seemed to think that it 

 was necessary for him to have his knickerbocks on while 

 landing a fish , and after picking up the rod he succeeded in 

 getting one leg out of the way when wh-r-r went the reel, 

 and our young friend had to give his whole attention to 

 Mr. Bass. The fish was lauded after a good fight, during 

 the progress of which Harry is said to have presented a 

 very striiiing picture. 



Washington anglers are finding very good fishing in 

 the lower Potomac, near its mouth, where croakers and 

 silver perch (not white perch) are being taken in large 

 numbers, "Trout"' (weakflsh) are biting well at Point 

 Lookout. A friend caught six on the first tide he fished, 

 aggregating 131 bs. That was two weeks ago, and fishing 

 has been good since. 

 Several anglers from here are just about breaking a 

 • very suctcessful camjj on the Susquehanna near Havre de 

 Grace, Md. 



We all look forward -wath great expectations to Septem- 

 ber and October. Next month is rockfish month here, 

 and October, if the weather be favorable, is one of the 

 best black bass months. 



Mr. John Hyer relates some pleasant recollections of 

 excursions to the Little Falls of the Potomac with Uncle 

 Thad Norris in Equest of rockfish and striped bass, A 

 ishort time before Mr. Norris's death he came on to Wash- 

 ington and in company with Mr. Hyer spent a very suc- 

 cessful day at the Little Falls, So delighted was Mr. 

 Norris with the fine fish taken and his surroundings that, 

 after having partaken of a luncheon and settled back for 

 a rest, he exclaimed, "Now I am ready to die.'" At this 

 point Daniel Webster, and many other noted anelers, 

 have been successful in fishing for "rock," and even in 

 these later years the fishing is occasionally good. 



BONART. 



WASHINeXON, D. C, Aug, 39. 



JUNEBUG AND RAINBOW TROUT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I write this in a spirit of vengeance — my object being to 

 get even with some of your unmannerly correspondents 

 who so love to tantalize hard-working citizens with ac- 

 counts of phenomenal sport in regions to which they alone 

 seem privileged to peneti-ate. I am ungenerous enough 

 to hope that these unprincipled fellows of the backwoods 

 will tui-n green with envy when they read of the unsur- 

 passed fishing, and when I say unsurpassed I mean 

 nothing el^-e, that may be enjoyed at no great distance 

 from San Francisco. 



Even as the fishing was a revelation to me, I hope its 

 description may be a som-ce of envy to them. To those 

 who have the good sense never to indulge in extravagant 

 accounts of marvelous catches, I feel that I ought to 

 apologize, and perhaps the best apology will be to state 

 that this narrative is not intended for lhem, and that they 

 read it at their own risk. 



But before I begin I should like to interpolate a word of 

 advice. There may be some who, reading this account 

 of a remarkably successful outing, will erroneously fancy 

 that California is the long-sought Angler's El Dorado. 

 Such a belief would be a mistake. Undoubtedly the fish- 

 ing in some parts of om- State is superb, and so, on many 

 occasions, I have found it to be; but on the other hand, 

 there are streams enough in California which, owing to 

 persistent and reckless fishing, contain about as many trout 

 as the Charles Eiver, flowing tlu-ough Boston. The reader 

 of any angling or sporting paper should ever bear in mind 

 this fact, that the experiences are almost invariably ex- 

 ceptional, depending either on unusual luck or marked 

 skill. In the present instance our success on the Klamath 

 River was mainly the result of luck, depending (as will be 

 seen) absolutely on the co-operation of the Junebug. 

 Therefore let not the eager angler, who seeks the Kla- 

 math in August, when the Junebugs have all folded their 

 tents and silently stolen away, denounce me as an unfeel- 

 ing impostor, With an apology for this perhaps un- 

 necessary preface, I begin my truthful narrative. 



Last week my father asked' me to join Mm on a fishing 

 trip to the Klamath River. My father has an odd habit 

 of asking me to go fishing with him ; and I, strange to say, 

 have an equally odd habit of accepting every time he 

 asks. So we decided to leave San Francisco for the north 

 that very evening. In the meantime I consulted a map 

 of our State, and discovered that the Klamath is a stream 

 of considerable size which, rising in southern Oregon, 

 flows southward into the heart of the North California 

 Sierras and thence westerly into the Pacific. 



When I joined my father on the train, I found him 

 supplied with a storeful of angling requisites, (half for 

 me, half for himself) embracing everything from tiny 

 boxes full of shot to monstrous wading stockings and 

 awkward landing nets. Everything seemed on such a 

 vast scale, and so thoi'oughly out of harmony with my 

 ideas of trout fishing — gained somewhat inadequately 

 from stray casts over Massachusetts waters — that I could 

 not refrain from asking my paternal whether he had not 

 inadvertently procured the equipment of a whaling fleet; 

 whereupon he informed me that, unless his friends had 

 deceived him, we should need our strongest tackle, as the 

 trout of the Klamath were fierce, gamy fellows of the 

 "rainbow" variety, averaging no less than 21bs. While 

 the train struggled up the Sacramento Valley, we dis- 

 cussed the probability of the correctness of this infor- 

 mation. Neither of us was disposed to rely upon it, inas- 

 much as just such reliance in the reputed excellence of a 

 stream had more than once caused us bitter disappoint- 

 ment. Agreeing for safety's sake, to lower the average- 

 provisionally to lib. per fish, we retired for the night. 



By three in the afternoon of the following day we reached 

 the station called Ager, a tiny speck in the wilderness of 

 the Sierras, Here we and the paraphernalia left the train 



and were put upon the stage-coach which runs daily 

 between Ager and Klamath Hot Springs, ourdestina'ion. 

 The jolting drive over the hills was conventional enouffh, 

 until a sudden bend in the road disclosed the beautiful 

 valley of the Klamath and the river itself, fully SOyds. 

 broad, tumbled and seethed through it in a moat stirring 

 way, at least from the angler's standpoint. Elated by the 

 sight before us, my father and I shook hands, and I dare 

 say each of us thought the prospect warranted raising the 

 average to a pound and a half. Before suggesting such a 

 risky move, however, I determined to consult our driver, 

 and accordingly tapped him on the shoulder. 



"Dmiel," I inquired, "is that the Klamath?" 



"Yes, that's the river," answered Dan kindly. 



"How's the fishing?" 



"Oh," said Daniel, "I reckon you will soon get tired of 

 fishing that stream." My father and I exchanged a pain- 

 ful glance, and then I asked: "Is the fisliing so very 

 poor, then?" 



"Oh, bless you, no," Dan answered quickly, "the trouble 

 lies the other way. There's too many rainbows in that 

 stream; why the river is loaded to the banks. Only the 

 other day a man from town" — and here Daniel told us a 

 trouty tale, that I could scarcely restrain the impulse to 

 stop the stage and rig up then and there. Oaly my 

 father's better judgment served to keep us in our seats; 

 and as Dan ended his story, my father recommenced the 

 pumping process where I had left off. 



"Are the fish lar^re, Dan?" he asked, 



"Not so very, this season,'' returned the driver, "I 

 haven't seen any so far over six pounds, but then on the 

 other hand I don't remember any that went under two." 



At this point I again threatened to stampede, but the 

 pater's grip was upon me, and with a little coaxing I con- 

 sented to stay with the stage. The scenery failed to interest 

 us after that, we were too expectant even to appreciate a 

 good supper after a trip of twenty-four hours, but almost 

 as soon as we were lodged in a cosy cottage at the springs, 

 we retired in order to be up with the dawn. 



To teU the ti"uth the dawn was up and about a little 

 before us; but, considering that we had to adjust our 

 cumbrous tackle and apparel, we made a very fair second. 

 Together we trudged to the side of the river whose rush- 

 ing had played a part in our dreams during the night. We 

 had been advised to waste no time with artificial flies, 

 and now we were convinced of the soundness of that 

 advice. The river was far too deep and swift and tur- 

 bulent for the gayest professor or grizzly-king. So my 

 father decorated his line with shrimps, I festooned my 

 own with worms, and the fishing began, I had taken my 

 position upon a wooden platform which had been thi"0". n 

 out (evidently for the accommodation of ladies whose 

 casting powers are not equal to the demands of the Kla- 

 math) across the stream. It terminated abruptly some 

 thirty feet out. Here, at the end, I stood casting my line 

 up stream, watching it as it floated past, and withdraw- 

 ing it as the swift current carried it to the surface some 

 distance below. After five or six casts of this nature, I 

 began to wonder why one of the innumerable monsters 

 failed to connect. My father too, wore an anxious ex- 

 pression, and as he di-ew in his line for the fifth time, I 

 saw the shrimps upon it dangling intact. Just then a 

 guest from the hotel, a stalwart young fellow, emerged 

 from the brush and, rod in hand, joined me on the plat- 

 form. With a cheery "Good morning" to both of us, he 

 cast his line into the stream. He was fast to something 

 in an instant; something that seemed to be the embodi- 

 ment of life, for in spite of a protesting shriek of the 

 reel, the captive shot like a flash into midstream and then 

 jumped, for all the world like a big black bass, 4ft. into 

 the air. While I trembled with excitement, and my father 

 yelled like an Indian, that young man handled his frantic 

 fish with about as much interest as if he were fast to a 

 fingerling. Evidently the fishing had lost the charm of 

 novelty for him. Five minutes passed, and then I had 

 the pleasure of netting a magnificent prize. The trout, 

 utterly exhausted, (for while a "rainbow" has sufficient 

 strength to move a fin, he defies capture) was unhooked, 

 killed, and tossed to the bank, where my father picked 

 him up and hung him to his pocket 'scales. "Three 

 jjounds full," he said to the indilferent young man, who 

 was preparing for another cast. But I checked the latter 

 with a question. 



"Will you tell me," I asked "what bait you use? We 

 seem to liave no luck with shrimp or worm." 



"Neither is worth anything," he answered. "Even 

 salmon-ro9 is useless at present while the trout-fly hangs 

 on every bush." 



When I told him that I had never seen a trout-fly, 

 except an artificial one, he offered to show me millions, 

 and led the way to the bank. Directly in front of us 

 was a small oak shrub and, sure enough, it was alive 

 with the brownish, crawling insects which I instantly 

 made out to be June bugs. Not only that bush, but 

 every bush along either bank of the Klamath, was laden 

 with these so called "trout flies." So plentiful were they, 

 that often eight or ten of them clung to one tiny branch. 

 I emptied my bait box of the shrimps, and prepared to 

 take in a supply of bugs, which made not the least effort 

 to avoid capture ; but the young man advised me not to 

 go to any useless trouble, as it was mixch easier to pickup 

 a handful anywhere whenever needed. Nature, in fact, 

 had ptit a gigantic bait box (in the shape of her woods) 

 entirely at our disposal. 



We immediately took the young man's hint, and after 

 clearing our tackle of shrimps and worms, we substituted 

 "trout flies" and returned to our respective stations. 



Apparently the Junebug was irresistible. Within a 

 minute my father, the young man and I were busy with 

 strained rods and hissing lines. The young man w,as the 

 first to yield, his fish having by a sudden rush snapped 

 his lancewood tip. With a few emphatic remarks the 

 young man returned to the house, seemingly without the 

 least desire to see what became of us and our fish. 



Playing a fish in the Klamath is the hardest kind of 

 work, owing to the remarkable swiftness of the current. 

 With a fairly light rod, the angler has decidedly the 

 worst of the' contest during the first five minutes, as a 

 heavy rainbow trout, merely by setting his fins against 

 the stream, effectually resis'ts any attempt to draw him 

 up stream or to guide him in shore, AU that can be done 

 at first is to keep a steady strain on the fish; to attempt 

 any more would mean either a break in the rod or the loss 

 of a valuable casting Une, But gradually, as the fish be- 

 gins to tire, the current sweeps him to the surface, when 

 he is sure to leap into the air. On falling, he either re- 

 peats the leap or rushes wildly to and fro, exhausting 



himself in a desperate attempt to carry the sagging line 

 against the current. The careful angler will at this point 

 retrieve his hne sharply, and force his captive to turn 

 toward the bank, where the water is onmparatively dead. 

 Oqcb coaxi'd into this situation, the cjpture of the fish is 

 but a question of time. It took me six or seven minutes 

 to induce my first rainbow to leave the middle of the 

 stream, and only three more after that to Imd him. 

 When I triumphantly held my fi h up for nay fathers in- 

 spection, the latter w^s already fast to his second, having 

 landed his fij-st of 24lbs. in 5 minuees. My own weighed 

 exactly a pound more. 



I have never before seen fish take bait as the Klamath 

 rainbows took those "trout flies." Although the surface 

 of the stream was covered with btmohes of the struggling 

 insects, attesting the superabundance of fofid in the 

 water, the fish were either so fjlentiful or so voracious 

 that bites were never at a premium. All that was re- 

 quired to insure five minutes entertainment was to pick a 

 "trout fly" from a bush, put it on a hook and drop the 

 latter into the Klam th. 



Fortunately such fishing is very tiresome; and as, more- 

 over, the fish are so large and strong that fully half of 

 those hooked get away, there is little danger of an un- 

 sport-^tnanlike slaughter. At the close of my first day's 

 fishing I carefully examined my catch. I had twenty- 

 one fish weighing in the aggregate 51 lbs. Ten of these, 

 including my largest trout weighing 4f lbs., I bad left alive 

 in a large net provided by the proprietor of the Springs 

 for this purpose. These I turned in the stream as I did 

 not care to ship more than 2.51bs. to the city. 



On the folio whig day my father and I made an agree- 

 ment which, to the average sportsmen of the Eist, may 

 appear ridiculous. We decided to return to the water 

 every fish that failed to weigh Snbs.: and yet, when the 

 the day was over, we claimed almost a sackful. For- 

 tunately we were again able to return a number of these 

 to the stream. 



In this waj- we fished on, until the fierce pull of a three- 

 pounder became as familiar to us as the nibble of the 

 darting /o)?.ifmaZ2'.s. Then, as was natural, we tired of 

 the sport, and took to the neighboring brooks in search of 

 smaller fish. We returned to San Francisco in a fairly 

 exhausted state, but not too weary to regale every angler 

 of our acquaintance with accounts of the denizens of the 

 Klam; th. 



We shall remember that rushing stream imtil the day 

 we fish no more, not because of its wild, romantic beauty, 

 not because of its splendid fish, but ratlser bee luse Da,me 

 Nature, ever generous toward her chief admirer., the 

 angler, has caused to thrive there a curious living bait 

 which the rainbow trout (as if in defen-uce to her fore- 

 sight) have pledged themselves to swallow on sight. 



Summit L. Hecht. 



San Francisco, Cal. 



RAINBOW TROUT IN VERMONT. 



THE following letter is so clear an exhibit of the re- 

 sults of artificial introduction of a choice trout, even 

 though the undertaking was experimental and the condi- 

 tions apparently unfavorable, that we have obtaiupd per- 

 mission from Commissioner McDonald to make it public. 

 On the question of the six inch trout law we hope to 

 have the views of the Commissioner ere long: 



RuTLA>iD, Vt.. Aug. 18.— Co?. MurshoU McDonald, Woods 

 Holl, Mass : I am happy to be able to reply ro your inquiry 

 how the rainbow trout of Califoruia introduced into the 

 waters of this vicinity some years ago have bred and what 

 measure of success has attended that venture. 



In the late autumn of 1S83 a package contnioing 5,000 pgga 

 from that variety of trout was received at the expr^^ss office 

 at this place consigned to some person who could not, or 

 would not, pay the charges on them. The express agent 

 offered them to the late Judge Martin Y. Everts, who took 

 them, paid the charg^-s and placed them in the poods of Dr. 

 G. H. Barber, who was then in chai'ge of a small hatchery 

 near Rutland. The eggs hatched very successfully, the loss 

 being not over 3 per cent. At the proper time the fry were 

 taken from the hatching trough and placed in a series of 

 tanks, three in number, fed by a spring of pure cold w^tet- 

 dischars'ing probably 200 gallons per minute. The tanks 

 were each aoout 8 by 4tt.., and in them the water stood at a 

 depth ot about 4ft. The sides were of wood and the bottom 

 the natural earth found at the bottom of the excavation. 

 There was very little natur^il food in the water for tne trout, 

 and they were not rej£ularly or judiciously fed. In these 

 tanks they remained until about Ausrust, 18S5, when they 

 were placed in a strt-am which had formerly been a noted 

 trout stream, but which had been nearlv ruined by sawdust 

 and over fishing. In the meantime a very large number had 

 died from lack of proper food and other causes, ai d it is not 

 believed that over 3,500 ever got into the tree water. The 

 next year a few were taken in that stream, and one at least 

 in another stream 10 miles di.stant. but with a tree water 

 way connecting the two. Those taken that year w^re of the 

 average length of Sin. In each succeeding year since then 

 the catches of this variety have been more numerous, until, 

 at this time, it is estimated that one-third of all the trout 

 taken in what we may call the parent stream are of the new 

 variety, and almost all the very l^rge ces are rainbows. 

 This year many have been killed from l^lbs. to ;3i!i^ibs. in 

 weight. That not all the fish taken are of the original 

 stock is well proven by the fact that flngerlings are taken 

 also, showing that they have bn d and that they increase 

 rapidlv in waters in which our native trout no longer 

 thrives. The result of this venture has been such as to con- 

 vince me that this is the trout to breed for restocking 

 streams that have been run out by such causes as sawdust, 

 over fishing, decreased water supply by reason of the de- 

 struction ot forests, drainage of swamps, etc. 



They have certainly increased here very rapidly under 

 what are disadvantageous circumstances for the native 

 trout; they grow more rapidly than the natives, and to a 

 larger size; they are bold risers to tte fly, take ground bait 

 freely, and are vigorous fighters. On the other hand they 

 are not so handsome as the native trout, nor are they quite 

 so delicate in flavor. 1 have seen reports from various places 

 unfavorable to this variety of trout, the effort to plant them 

 not having been successtul. There are at Ifast three varie- 

 ties nf trout on the Pacific Slope all of which ar*^ classed as 

 "California trout'' by those who are not close observers It 

 may be that this particular trout has not been tried else- 

 where: here they have certainly bi^en a success, and I can see 

 no reason why they should not give equally good results in 

 other waters equally favorable. It should be borne in mind 

 that these are not the black-spotted trout of the Rocky 

 Mountains, nor are they the so-called Dolly Varden trout, 

 but they are the true rainbow trout. I very much regret 

 that it is not now possible to learn from what section of the 

 Pacific Coast these eggs came. 



I wish you would give me your opinion as to the value of 

 trout just 6in. in length as breeders. Mairy States, includ 

 ing "Vermont, have the so called ein. law. I am unable to 

 see any logical reason for the enactment of any law limiting 

 the size of a trcrut which may be basketed except this: every 



