FOREST AND STREAM. 



the Fish Laws of the United States and Canada, in the 

 "'Game Laws in BHef," 25 cents. In the "Booli of the 

 Game Laws " {full text), 50 cents. 



When jack and i went fishing. 



'Tis years ago since Jack and I 



Went fishing here together; 

 For I would go when Jack would go, 



In rain or pleasant weather. 



I'd often watch him when at school, 



And knew that he was wishing 

 He had his hooks, could drop his books, 



And go with me a-flshing. 



Sometimes we'd run away from school, 



But dad made little kicking 

 When he found us out, for he liked trout, 



Which saved us fi'om a licking. 



When looking back to those bright days 



It seems almost a dream, 

 And yet, in memory sweet, I hear 

 ■* The ripple of the stream, 



I scent the incense in the au- 



Of flowers, so gently springing 

 From mossy bank, and, iu the wood, 



1 hear the bluebirds singing. 



How plain I see Jack's old straw hat, 



His face so brown and freckled; 

 His string of fish— I only wish 



I had some, crimson speckled. 



_ But Jack has changed, and so have I, 



With the little brook of ours; 

 The trout are gone, the bluebird's song 

 All vanished, like the flowers. 



And though I'm old, 1 can't forget, 



I stUl keep hoping, wishing. 

 That Jack and I, before we die. 



May once again go fishing. 



Chas. Stuart Bilby. 



THE CHUNKY LITTLE BASS. 



I HAVE heard a great deal said and have read some- 

 thing about the gameness of this fish and the stubborn- 

 ness of that, bvit the chunkiest httle fellow I ever heard 

 of was a little white bass which was caught in White 

 Lake, Mich. , last summer. 



Tom and Bill (these names will answer just as well as 

 their baptismal ones) were out on the lake and had been 

 having lots of fun with white bass and had a good mess. 

 Bin was tired, had enough, 'svanted to go in, but Tom 

 wanted more. Bill was handhng the boat and fishing a 

 little in a careless, listless manner. He laid his rod down, 

 one-half of it outside of the boat, hook in the water, to 

 hand Tom "jiist one bait more." Something took Bill's 

 bait with a good strong pull and overboard went his rod. 

 Down, down it went in 20ft. of water, out of sight long 

 before either man made a move or could catch their 

 breath. 



Well, they dragged and dragged until their stock (lim- 

 ited) was exhausted. There Avas a $26 rig down there 

 somewhere, but down there they were obliged to let it 

 remain, as no amotmt of dragging or probing would 

 touch it. 



There probably have been fishermen in a better state of 

 mind than these two were in as they rowed toward the 

 landing. Bill was as sore as a bran new boil at having 

 lost his I'ig, while the sensitiveness of said boil'was not 

 mitigated any by the thought that he had been urging 

 Tom to go in for the last half hour. This, added to the 

 guying he got from Tom for not "having sense enough to 

 hang on to his rod," was enough to make any saint in the 

 calendar red hot, saying nothing about the uncalendared 

 ones. 



Nevertheless, after a good substantial dinner, a refresh- 

 ing nap and a grief -subduing smoke Bill rigged up another 

 outfit and the two started for the "mouth," three miles 

 away, for a fresh supph^ of bait, BiU with an imusual 

 amount of emphasis affirming that "He would not row 

 a single stroke and that smarty mighty have full swing; 

 he would stick to his I'od." 



An hour's rowing brought them to the life-saving 

 station, where more bait was obtained. Each fisherman 

 having hooked on a fresh bait they pushed out into the 

 channel through which Wliite Lake discharges into Lake 

 Michigan. Bill's hook had been in the water not more 

 than three minutes when he felt what he termed a 

 "snivelling sort of a bite," a cross between a small twig 

 and a little perch. But as the snivelling continued he 

 pulled up, when lo and behold, instead of havmg hooked 

 a fish, he had caught a fish line. Dropping his rod into 

 the bottom of the boat and firmly planting a No. 12 boot 

 on it, emphasizing that -with 1651bs. of himself, he care 

 fuUy, hand over hand, pulled up the captured line. 

 About 50ft. of the line was in the boat when Bill, with 

 a scream that fairly made the boat shiver, yelled 

 "Eureka!" Then with another screech, which made the 

 alarm bell in the station yard ring and brought every 

 member of the crew on to the pier in double-quick, he 

 hfted his lost rod and reel out of the water. 



There being yet life at the other end of the line, it was 

 carefully reeled in. At the end Bill found the cause of all 

 his trouble and anxiety in the shape of a httle white bass 

 which would probably weigh a pound or a pound and a 

 quarter, but as full of fight as Satan's wife. The gamy 

 little chunk had pulled from the spool a good hundred feet 

 of line, and then dragged the whole business three and a 

 half miles; and when caught was evidently on his way out 

 into the big lake, where he would have more sea room and 

 better water to enjoy it in. 



Tom said, ' 'Let's keep him as a curiosity and send him 

 to FOEEST AND STREAM'S museum." But Bill from the full- 

 ness of his joyful heart said, "No. He has behaved so 

 grittily, I am going to let him go in hopes he wUl repro- 

 duce his kind extensively." 



The hook was very carefully removed and the fish gently 

 slid into the water, with many expressions of good will 

 hopes that his little lark was satisfactory to him and that 

 he would multiply and his whole race prosper. A. W . 

 GBA^^D E^tDs, Mich. 



EVOLUTION OF THE TROLLING SPOON. 



There has been some discussion recently in the columns 

 of FOBEST AKD Stbeam in regard to the inventor of the 

 trolling spoon now so commonly used for the capture of 

 game fish. Priority Of invention has been claimed for 

 several, but the name of the originator of this kind of lure 

 rema,ins to be mentioned. In the exhibit now being pre- 

 pared for the World's Fan- by the J. T. Buel Company, of 

 Whitehall, N. Y . , m.ay be seen the germ that resulted in 

 the modern spoon bait. It is an old broken-handled brass 

 spoon, corroded with age, to which an antiquated style of 

 hook has been soldered. With it the late JuUo T. Buel 

 caught fish more than sixty years ago, and it is an incon- 

 trovertible fact that his was the first patent ever granted in 

 this country for trolling spoons and spinning baits, and 

 that he was the first to engage in their manufacture. A 

 brief accoimt of the life of the i^ioneer of this style of fish- 

 ing may not be iminteresting. 



Juho T. Buel was born in Averment in 1812 in close 

 proximity to the famous Lake Bomosene and ma,ny of the 

 finest trout streams in that State, and he early famihar- 

 ized liimself with the habits of fish. Standing one day on 

 the bank of a stream he tlurew some small white pebbles 

 into it and noticed that trout would rise to them. This 

 fact suggested to the lad that game fish would take any 

 bright moving object. He tried the experiment with bits 

 of tin and found the fish eager to strike thorn. He then 

 soldered a hook upon a piece of bright tin, and after twist- 

 ing it so that it would revolve when drawn through the 

 water, caught a fine bunch of fish. It was not until he 

 reached the age of eighteen, liowever, that he made the 

 first "spoon bait," as the article became known later. 

 While eating his hmch on the lake on day he accidentally 



JULIO T. BUEL, 



di'opped a teaspoon overboard, and as it sank he noticed 

 that it made peculiar twists and turns through the water, 

 and was suddenly struck by a large fish before it reached 

 the bottom. The boy was filled with a new idea. Might 

 not a common spoon with a liook soldered to it proA^e more 

 killing than all bis former inventions? He was not long 

 in getting an old brass tablespoon, and, after polishing the 

 convex side of the bowl, he soldered a hook upon the small 

 end of it and tied the line to the broken handle. 



Young Buel's first efforts in Lake Bomosene with this 

 rude construction was a reA'elation to all the fishermen in 

 that county. The size and quantity of fish he took from 

 the depths of the lake had never before been approached. 

 In fact, many of the old residents thereabouts continue 

 to use Avhat is known as "Buel's spoon" in its original 

 shape, and will not beheve that any improvement can be 

 made in it. 



But Buel was not contented until he could perfect the 

 finest details of construction for strength and wear, and 

 devise little niceties of distinction for fish of different 



THE FIRST SPOON BAIT. 



habits. This seemed so important to him that he spent 

 hours and hours lying perfectly still watching their 

 habits. No item of detail escaped his notice because he 

 found that failure often resulted from the slightest defect. 

 Sometimes it was a faulty hook; sometimes it was the 

 shank of a fiy spoon, and sometimes it was mere appeai'- 

 ance tliat failed to lure the wily fish. One by one he 

 studied out these details, sparing no pains or expense. He 

 had bright pohshed treble hooks made to his own order 

 because the black japanning in common use could hide a 

 flaw that might cause failure at a critical moment. Ex- 

 perience has proved the wisdom of Buel's bright hooks. 

 Black japan treble hooks were not only driven out of the 

 market, but bright polished ones became known to all 

 fishermen throughout the land as "Buel hooks." 



He bought the finest steel piano wire costing from $1 to 

 $2 a pound, to use in the place of the cheaper and weaker 

 brass wire, and this was plated by him to prevent rusting. 

 Even the swivels in common use were not good enough 

 for him. They were easilj^ made of soft w^ire, but he 

 had them made of hard wire, as being less liable to bend 

 and stop the revolution of the bait. And when it came 

 to the selection of feathers for the flies, those of Avaterfowl 

 alone were used, which, being adapted to the Avater would 

 not lose their shape Avhen submerged. No material was 

 too good or too expensive if it only answered exactly the 

 purpose he had in view. He selected pure silver for his 

 artificial lures as being nearest the color of the live fisb's 

 belly. Instead of electro-plating he used a more diu-able 

 rolled plate, and CA^en this Avas burnished instead of being 

 polished in the usual way, because burnLshing hardened 

 the surface and made it more durable. Little things in 

 themselves, but together necessary for the perfection at 

 which he aimed, they have made his name a synonym 

 among fishermen for excellent and honest work, and it is 

 worth noting that these details to-day are faithfuUy fol- 

 lowed in the manufacture of everything bearing his name. 



In about 1854 he removed to Whitehall, N, Y., and en- 



gaged in tlie f m'rier business, but this location was so 

 tempting to a true fisherman that more of his tune was 

 given to fishing and deAdsing attractive lures with which 

 to catch fish than to the manufacture of hats. Only six 

 miles aAvay was Lake George, SAvarming with trout of 

 enormous size, while Lake Champlain, in the Adcinity of 

 Whitehall, was a famous feeding gToimd for muskal- 

 longe, bass and pike, Avhile less than a day's journey 

 Avould take him into the heart of the Adirondack wilder- 

 ness. He made long trips to the Adirondacks. the lakes 

 and rivers where these different species liA^ed, in order to 

 thoroughly test his latest doA-ices. When satisfied with 

 the working of one, he woifld secure a patent upon it, lay 

 it away, and go to work upon a new one. 



La,ke George, on account of the great clearness of the 

 water, was one of the best places to test them, for he . 

 could see the motions of the bait at a great depth, as it 

 was drawn past him by another person. 



It was in Lake George that Buel first caught fish by deep 

 trolling. He used some 200ft. of line, a half-poimd 

 sinker, a long fine steel leader, and one of his silver speci- 

 mens that imitated a wounded fish when draAvn through 

 the water. With this tackle he would take large trout 

 from the bottom of the lake in deepest Avater. For a long 

 time Buel used to say that he had no idea of making the 

 manufactiire of trolling baits a business, but the sports- 

 men he met on these trips through the Adii-ondacks and 

 elscAvhere, as Avell as his neighbors, Avhom he fully sup- 

 plied with his spoons, soon spread the reputation of his 

 dcA-ices for taking fish, and orders and requests poured in 

 upon him from every part of the country. The result 

 Avas that the manufactm-e of trolling baits Avas begun by 

 him at Whitehall, N. Y., in 1848, and since that time the 

 great bulk of fishmg lures Avldcli haA^e delighted the hearts 

 of all scientific fishermen, have come from that place. 



Spoon Bait. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



IFrom a Staff Correspondent.] 

 Illinois Fish Commission. 



Chicago, 111., March 31.— Governor Jolm P. Altgeld's 

 recommendation for the abolishment of the State Fish 

 Commission came up in the Senate yesterday and was re- 

 ferred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary. The judi- 

 ciousness of the judiciary is not yet determined, but the. 

 commission is likely to stay where ifc is. 



Fly-Fishing for Bass. 

 W. H, Graves of Detroit, and Mr. L. M. RusseUf of 

 Sackson, Mich. , were in Chicago this week. Mr. Graves 

 is an old bass fisherman on the St. Clair Flats gi'ounds, 

 and has also a good knowledge of other Michigan Avaters. 

 He told me that the Grand River, at or not far froia 

 Grand Ledge, Mich,, was about as good a Avater for fly- 

 fishing for black bass as any he knew. He also spoke 

 very highly of the Hm-on River, Avhich floAvs in the oppo- 

 site direction, or to the east. The Grand empties into 

 Lake Michigan, just across the lake from us here. Mr. 

 Graves tells me that fishing on the Flats is not thought 

 sportsmanlike until after the spawning season, AveU on 

 through June, at least. I wish as good fishing morals 

 prevailed through all tliis section. 



At the Fair. 



Mr. S. A. Hones, manager of the Osgood Portable Boat 

 Co., of Battle Creek, .Mich., spent some time this week at 

 the World's Fair grounds, arranging for the extensive ex- 

 hibit Avhich his firm will have in the anglers' pavilion of 

 the Fisheries building. 



Oapt. Collins now has his hands about ftill in looking 

 after the exhibits avMcJi are piling into his departments 

 at the Fisheries. The Norway space is now well filled 

 with odd-looking boats, and a\ ith divers preserved, pickled, 

 or bottled fishes of wild and impressive contour. Some- 

 body has in a lot of beautiful birch bark canoes. Some- 

 body else has some mounted salmon and lake trout. In- 

 deed, there is much of interest in every corner down there 

 now. 



Last Tuesday the sun came out warm and the ice in the 

 lagoon moved out, leaving the part near the Eskimo 

 village open. Two or three of tliese odd folks improved 

 the occasion and salUed out in their long and narroAV skin 

 kayaks, Avhich they i^addled Avith a pole a trifle flattened 

 at each end. They handled then- tipsy craft AAntli great 

 ease, and one hardy Corinthian had a passenger on tlae 

 deck behind him. The passenger lay out at full length 

 on the deck, with his head against the coclcpit and hisi 

 toes trailing in the water behind. His position Avouldi 

 have made the ordinary citizen a tiifle appreheiisiA'e, but. 

 the passenger seemed to enjoy the sunshine Avhich beat 

 down on liis sealskin back. 



Easily Done. 

 One high in authority Avrites thus: 



"For fear that you might not recognize it, I thought I'd 

 point out to you that in the 'Cotton Fishing House,' of 

 March 23, Forest and Stream had a piscatorio-historico- 

 expositiono-news beat of the first quality," 



Of course it had. Forest and Stream does those things 

 right along, does it often and does it easil)^ If Forest 

 AND Stream's competitors were not so horribly easj^ to 

 beat in a journalistic way, it might be more worth Avhile 

 to occasionally call attention to such succulent scoops. 

 As it is, there isn't anything much for a pace-maker, 

 these days. E. HOUSH. 



175 Monroe Street, Chicago. 



Alaska Fly-Fishing. 



Portland, Ore,, March 28, — The statement has been 

 manv times published, and is generally accepted as true, - 

 that 'there is no fish in Alaska that will take the fly.- 

 Some time ago I took occasion to dispute the assertion in 

 the columns of Forest and Stream, and was happy to 

 have so good an angler as "Podgers" come to my support.. 



Now I have additional evidence. To-day I had a long: 

 talk with Mr, A, B, Ford, a heavy cannery-man of that, 

 far-away country. He told me that he luttl seen not only- 

 trout but salmon taken Avith the fly at Yes Bay, near his 

 home. For cumulative testimony he referred nje to Lieu- 

 tenant Emmons, in chai'ge of the Alaska ex I libit at the 

 World's Fair; Carl Spuhn, pi'esident Alask.'i Packing Co,, 

 Concord Building, Portland, Ore. , and Paymaster Webster, 

 of Seattle. Waslnngton. Is it not about time tliat people 

 should quit talking such nonsense as that no (ish in Alaska 

 will take the fly? S. H. Greene. 



