Oct. 6, 1892.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



80 



tain, trees and Tariegated vines, around and above, the 

 glinting rays glancing over the forest and hillsides, im- 

 parted to all the landscape those swiftly-changing, ever- 

 varying light^s and shades only seen at eventide, while 

 over all nature brooded that peculiar silence which ever 

 ushers in the coming night. The whole scene was one 

 of solemn, silent peace and beauty, the only sign of visi- 

 ble life being that graceful form which slowly moved 

 among the lilies. Verily, it is afar from the haunts of 

 men, in the wildwood, that man's nature is most deeply 

 stirred and he himself drawn closer to his Creator. 



Harry Hudson. 



A SUMMER ON NAG'S HEAD. 



BY REV. THOMAS WXON, JR. 



If there is such a thing as a sportsman's paradise on 

 earth, I had the good fortune to spend the summer there. 

 From a friend in North Carolina I had heard much of 

 Nag's Head and its surroundings, as a place ideal to spend 

 a summer, I determined to try it. On the 11th of July 

 we left New York by the Cape Charles route, and in 

 twelve hours we were in Norfolk. From there we had a 

 short ride of forty miles over the Norfolk & Southern 

 Railroad to Elizabeth City. Here we took the little 

 steamer Clarence, and crossing the Albemarle Sound, a 

 distance of forty miles, landed at Nag's Head, in twenty- 

 two hours from New York. 



Nag's Head ia situated on the narrow sandbar of which. 

 Cape Hatteras is the outer promontory. This sandbar 

 begins at the Virginia line and runs along the entire coast 

 of North Carolina nearly to Wilmington. There are parts 

 of this Cape Hatteras sand strip that are ten and fifteen 

 miles in width, covered with dense forests, that have 

 grown on the mountains of sand. Other parts of it are 

 very narrow, tapering down to the inlets, and a part of it 

 is marsh. Behind this long bar of sand, extending for 

 hundreds of miles, are piled the waters of the three great 

 sounds, the Pamlico, the Albemarle and Currituck. The 

 Cape Hatteras strip is broken here and there by inlets 

 very shallow and dangerous, in fact, impossible of navi- 

 gation except by small fishing boats. Through these 

 narrow and shallow inlets the tide pours in from the sea 

 at flood, and the waters of the sound, filled bv the great 

 rivers, rush out at ebb. The sandbar is only a half mile 

 in width at Nag's Head where the hotel is built. The 

 building is pituated in the water of the sound. The surf 

 on the other side is reached by tramway from the pier. 



Opposite the hotel is Roanoke Island, famous as the 

 birthplace of the first white child born on American soil. 

 Virginia Dare, from whom the county of Dare received 

 its name. Id was here that Sir "Walter Raleigh's colonists 

 made their landing. 



This region of North Carolina is wild beyond descrip- 

 tion. It is in almost as primitive a state as when the first 

 colonists pressed its soil. The only diflierence is in the ab- 

 sence of the Indian. Game and fish are just as plentiful 

 to-day as when the white man first pitched his tent on its 

 sands. The population is exceedingly sparse. The dis- 

 tances are magnificent. Tlie way of locomotion is by 

 boat. The mail is carried by a sail boat. Nearly every 

 man in the county of Dare owns a boat or has one at his 

 command. There is no such formation of waters any- 

 where on the American continent as that found behind 

 this narrow bar of sand that holds back the Atlantic. 

 With a naphtha launch drawing 18in. of water, one may 

 start from Nag's Head and travel a thousand miles in 

 perfectly safe waters that average four feet in depth. 

 The great difficulty in these waters is to keep ofl: the 

 shoals. The channels are very narrow, the expanse of 

 waters inunense. 



I had heard much of the fishing, and as that is my par- 

 ticular weakness I went there to make a thorough test of 

 all the wild stories I had heard. I confess I was skeptical. 

 I was somewhat reassured, however, by Mr. Catling, the 

 manager of the Nag's Head Hotel Comf)any, declaring to 

 me on my arrival that the board for myself and family 

 should not cost me a cent through the whole summer if I 

 was not perfectly satisfied with the fishing and if all he 

 said I did. not find to be more than true. 



The next day after our arrival we tried the fishing in 

 front of the hotel in the Albemarle Sound. We had six 

 hooks at work on our little boat. We caught over two 

 hundred fish that morning. They were fish that ranged 

 from a half pound in weight to a pound. They told us it 

 was not a good day for fishing. I felt, however, satisfied 

 with the first experience. The varieties of fish usually 

 taken on the grounds near the hotel are : 



First, the croakers, which are omnipresent. They are 

 everywhere and bite at all times. And the croaker is in 

 these waters a respectable fidh. He is shaped something 

 like the trout, has a large mouth and is exceedingly 

 game when taken with the reel. He fights with greater 

 vigor even than the trout (weakfish) when first captured. 

 He is called a croaker because of the peculiar cry he 

 utters when brought to the surface. He can be heard 

 for 200jds. He is not misnamed. His usual weight in 

 these waters is from i to 21 bs. 



The spot is the most delicious table fish which we 

 caught. He averages Ub. in weight, is very fat, and on 

 the side of his fore fins he has a black spot.' The spot is 

 exceedingly gamy for his weight. 



The pigfish is of the same size and general character as 

 the spot, a most delicious fish for the table. He derives 

 his name from the peculiar grunt which he utters when 

 taken from the water, which is a perfect imitation of a 

 pig. 



The sheepshead is also caught, and we took them weigh- 

 ing from 1 to 6lbs. 



When there has not been much rain and the water in 

 the sound is salty, there is said to be very fine trout fish- 

 ing in the waters of the sound immediately in front of 

 the hotel. We did not find, however, during our stay 

 any good trout fishing in these grounds. By trout, of 

 course, I mean the sea trout or weakfish, as it is called in 

 the North. 



These were the principal kinds of fish which we found 

 during July and August. Of course during the early 

 spring here is the great shad fishing ground, the greatest 

 shad fishing ground in fact in America, in the spring 

 and fall in these waters also are taken the most magnifi- 

 cent striped bass weighing from 10 to 80 and lOOlbs. 



On the opposite side of the hotel from the sound sweeps 

 the ocean. There you take the bluefish, shark and drum. 

 The bluefish and the drum are the principal fish for 

 which one ventures. The bluefish are discovered here 



by the action of the gulls. When a school of bluefish 

 approach the shore, invariably they are accompanied by 

 a flock of gulls, which are helping themselves to the 

 small fish as they leap out of the water. The drum caught 

 here weigh from 10 to 50 and lOOlbs. Near the hotel, 

 only two miles up the beach in fact, are a number of 

 fresh- water lakes, which are literally full of chub and all 

 varieties of fresh-water perch. I tried the fresh-water 

 fishing two days, and one day we caught forty chub, 

 averaging one pound a piece, and the other dav about 

 thirty. ["Chub" is the local name for black bass.] 



The shooting I found unexcelled. We killed every 

 variety of snipe in abundance, willet and curlew, heron 

 and gulls, ap long as we cared to shoot. In the winter 

 season this is a wonderful hunting ground. The shallow 

 waters of these sounds are crowded with ducks and geese. 

 Currituck Sound is famous as a winter hunting ground. 

 Theje are many New Yorkers who have their club houses 

 built along the shores of Currituck and Pamlico sounds. 

 Dt^er and bear are also found by the more venturous 

 sportsmen. 



My own personal experience in fishing found its climax 

 in the trips which we took to the inlets. From Nag's 

 Head it is an easy sail down the sound to the Oregorv In- 

 let. Here we go in search of the trout as he comes in 

 from the sea with the flood tide. 



The first day we reached the Oregon Inlet was a day 

 long to be remembered. We anchored nea,r a little point 

 of marsh, at which two currents came together from the 

 inlet, which had been divided bv a sandbar. Here we 



A string of 25 weakQah, welyihliig 70 t>s., caujilu ia fiU wJtiutes by Rev. and 

 Mr-S. Tins. Uixoii, Jr., at Naij's Head, N. C, Au^. 29. 



anchored in about six feet of water, made ready our lines 

 and floats and began work. I have read of fishing, I 

 have heard of fishing, I have dreamed of fishing — I have 

 never in my life fished, really fished, before that day. 

 They began to bite from the minute our hooks touched 

 the water, and for four hours they bit as fast as our 

 hooks could be baited. There were five of us in the boat, 

 and we caught and landed in the boat over 800 spots and 

 trout in those four hours. Of this number about 725 

 were spots. We landed about 775 trout; averaging l-Jlbs. 

 a piece during the four hours. Oar boatman said that 

 we made that day the finest catch of spots that he had 

 known for years. The water seemed absolutely alive 

 with fish. The trout bit somewhat lazily. They would 

 follow our bait to the top of the water and play around it 

 as it came out. They seemed to be in search of live bait, 

 while we were using cut fish. The next day we returned 

 to the Oregon Inlet to the same ground with four boats, 

 and on that day caught over 300 trout. The boats were 

 anchored within 25 or 30ft. of each other. 



On the last day on which we went to the inlet we only 

 reached the ground in time for about fifty minutes" fish- 

 ing; but it was the greatest fifty minutes' fishing that I 

 ever had on this earth. The water was literally alive with 

 trout— magnificent fellows. They were hungry. They 

 bit as though they meant to tear hook and line and reel to 

 pieces, and they did it. In those fifty minutes I lost six 

 books and broke a new bamboo rod. In those fifty 

 minutes my wife and I landed twenty-five magnificent 

 trout, the picture of which accompanies this sketch. We 

 lost of course many, which we did not land through the 

 weakness principally of the catgut leaders, which were 

 only three-ply and were not sufficiently strong for the fish 

 we were handling. 



On this day's experience I had demonstrated for me two 

 facts beyond any question. 



First, that the only hook that should be used in fishing 

 for trout is the pearl weakfish squid hook. I had on my 

 line, on this day, for the first time those hooks. Above 

 the squid hook I had the ordinary New York trout hook. 

 I invariably caught the large troixton the squid hook, and 

 the small one on the plain hook. I found, as a fact, that 

 the large trout would only bite at the pearl squid. The 

 reason of it is very simple. When this hook is attached 

 to the line with the swivel, the action of the tide causes 

 it to revolve and it flashes in the water like the sides of a 

 minnow. Trout that weigh over Slbs. are looking for live 



bait. They pass by your ordinary hook, however well 

 baited. I caught several trout on this trip weighing over 

 3lbs. Invariably they bit the pearl squid. I had fished 

 on the same ground for two weeks with the ordinary 

 hook and had never landed a trout weighing more than 

 2^1b8., but on this day the largest one caught measured 

 3ft. in length and tipped the scales at exactly olbs. This 

 fish is seen in the accompanying photograph on the end 

 of the string. He made a magaificent fight. 



It was in landing this fish that I also demonstrated for 

 myself the merits of the automatic reel, I had bought 

 one with fear and trembling and many misgivings about 

 its pretensions. I will never use any other. " It is eTery- 

 thing that its manufacturers claim and more. Its action 

 is simply superb. The man who invented it is a philan- 

 thropist. It is impossible for any fish, however swift, to 

 get an inch of slack when hooked on that reel. When 

 this magnificent trout, weighing Gibs., snatched my hook, 

 he went witch such force that my boatman cried to me 

 in warning that I had caught a shark. I told him I 

 thought not. I knew from the action of the fish, his 

 motion was so swift, that it could not be a shark. He ran 

 without stopping, save to snatch the line, as he ran for at 

 least one hundred feet, going to as deep water as he could 

 find. I saw that he would strip the reel if I allowed him 

 to go further, and I lowered the brake. He continued to 

 Btrip the reel, dragging the brake as though there was 

 nothing in his way. He ran with the drag for 85ft. 

 further perhaps, when I seized the line and stopped 

 him, raising the brake at once lest he should start toward 

 the boat. I began to force him in. I forced him in 50 or 

 75 ft., and he again made a break and went nearly to the 

 limit of the line. I again forced him in, and he bolted 

 out a third time. I then brought him in, and standing 

 up on the edge of the boat I gave him a very careful 

 •swing and landed him in the bottom. So delicately was 

 he hooked, that no sooner had he touched the boat than 

 the hook immediately dropped from his mouth. With 

 any other reel than the automatic, which made an inch 

 of slack impossible, I should have lost this magnificent 

 fish, and would only have had the pleasure of dreaming 

 of what might have been. I suppose during the month 

 of August I landed a thousand fish with this reel, losing 

 fewer than with any reel 1 ever used. 



If any man desires to leave civilization as a memory, 

 and find man heart to heart in his native independence, 

 and nature in all her virgin wildness and beauty, let him 

 go to the sound waters of North Carolina. It is unknown, 

 unexplored, untouched, in its immense possibilities. 



Along this wild sandbar, that extends the length of 

 the State, every seven miles are found the United States 

 Life Saving Stations. To these stations the wandering 

 tiaherman or huntsman is ever welcome. When you 

 anchor near one of them the captain comes down with 

 his cart and bids you welcome. He abides with you, he 

 talks with you, he helps you fish, he catches bait for 

 you, he will catch clams and oysters for you, he will pro- 

 vide. He will persuade you to stay longer, and you can 

 lodge with him as many nights as you please and it will 

 not cost you a cent. These stations, many of them, are 

 on desolate islands, on which there is not a human habi- 

 tation, save at the station itself, and all around stretches 

 the wild waste of storm-swept sands and the roaring 

 surf. Here civilization seems like a nightmare, and life 

 in a great, steaming, filthy city comes back to one as the 

 memory of a night of half fever and half delirium. 



As I talked with those simple, generous fishermen, I' 

 thought to myself, after all, this is life. Here life is 

 worth living. I left Nag's Head like a child sent back 

 to its hard, unwelcome task. I felt like resigning my 

 work and building a cabin in the sandhills and spending 

 nay life there. The people are kind and generous and 

 poor, but they are independent to the last degree. They 

 are lords of creation. If you should tell one of them 

 that he overcharged you for his boat the chances are 

 that he would throw the money in your face, turn on his 

 heel and never speak to you again. They do not over- 

 charge you. You practically make your own terms. A 

 more delightful place for any man to spend a summer I 

 cannot imagine. The fly and the mosquito are unknown 

 objects at Nag's Head. 



This is not a hotel proprietor's yarn. It is a literal fact 

 to which I bear cheerful testimony, having tried itthrough 

 the months of July and August. 



The finest trout fishing of the whole year is the latter 

 part of September and the early part of October. I write 

 this with the hope that some happier man than I, with 

 fewer cares, can go down and take up the good work 

 where I left off. 



There is no such thing as failing to catch fish in these 

 waters any day, with any wind or any tide. You may 

 not catch one variety, but you will catch another. We 

 never went fishing this summer without catching fish, 

 and without catching more fish than could be brought 

 home in an ordinary New York fisherman's basket. My 

 fiihing bai^ket was of no earthly use to me, so far as car- 

 rying fish home was concerned. Nor is it possible to ex- 

 haust the fidh in these waters. The natural formation of 

 the sounds and inlets is such that the fishing is always 

 good. It has been the same for a hundred years; it will 

 be the same a hundred years from to-day perhaps. The 

 inlet is verv narrow, the channel much narrower, and 

 for twelve miles along Roanoke Island all you have to do 

 is to anchor your boat in that channel and any day, with 

 any wind or tide, you are certain to catch something. 

 This channel is only about 150 to 250ft. in width and 

 twelve miles long. 



If I am alive when another summer dawns my address 

 wilt be Nag's Head, Dare county, N. C. 



This whole region can be easily reached by addressing 

 Tom Crank, CoUington, Dare county, N. C. Tom keeps 

 an open house. He charges you $1 a day for board and 

 boat. Give him ten days' notice any time and he will 

 meet you at Elizabeth City, N, C, with his sloop and 

 take you down. 

 New Yobk City; 



Mastigouche Caribou, 



A MEMBER of the Mastigouche (Canada) Club writes: 

 I believe there must be a good many caribou on and 

 about the property we have under lease froin the Govern- 

 ment, as during my fishing trips from one lake to another 

 I have seen their tracks about some of the lakes as 

 plenty as if a drove of cattle had been over the ground. 

 Of course, half a dozen animals could make a great many 

 tracks if they remained in the vicinity any length of 

 time, - A. 



