March 16, 1895. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
209 
eyed fish displayed an unaccountable preference for the 
succulent little ants which floated on the lake. For an 
hour or more we contiuned to cast with much persever- 
ance, but neither of us succeeded in hooking one." 
My idea is when such conditions exist that fish are ris- 
ing to a certain fly and refuse the imitation of the fly, 
however closely it may be counterfeited, it is best to offer 
them something entirely different. To the human eye the 
artificial may be the counterpart in color and form of the 
natural, but the fly of feather and silk may lack the 
movement on the water of the natural fly, and with 
hundreds of the latter rising, the fish may easily detect 
the comparison, the single one which is a fraud. I say it 
may, and also it may be that the eye of the fish will de- 
tect what the human eye fails to see in color or form. 
Last season, fishing for onanauiche in the Grand Dis- 
charge, I found the water covered with a species of fly 
that has been closely imitated, and drawing the fraud 
through the foam where the onananiche were rolling and 
turniug their dorsals and caudals out of water, they 
simply ignored it, and the few fish I killed that day I 
killed on flies unlike anything on the water, even if they 
were not unlike anything on the face of the earth. 
The natural fly was rising in swarms, and became drag- 
gled and forlorn when caught in the foam patches cr 
'brew," and as they struggled to clear themselves, the 
onananiches would very quietly rise and pick them out of 
the foam. I never had seen the fly before, but recog- 
nized it at once as the original of an artificial, about 
which Mr. Chambers, of Quebec, had written me, and 
fortunately he had sent .me a fe*w sampler ; I say, fortu- 
nately, for I bought some of the flies by name in Quebec, 
and they turned out to be something else. Mr. Chambers' 
samples were excellent imitations of the natural, and 
when both were wet in the foam they looked very much 
alike, but the fish knew the difference. 
A May-fly, one of the smaller drakes, were also rising 
one day, and they were rising in clouds, although it was 
the very last of August, but not a fish could I aret on an 
imitation. I find by referring to my journal that my first 
onananiche was caught on a "Bee," a counterfeit of the 
bumble bee, and there was nothing remotely resembling 
it on the water. A companion, who was unfortunate in 
landing the onananiche that he hooked, turned back in 
disgust to Roberval to fish for trout in the Ouiatchou- 
aniche had fine sport, but caught nearly every fish on the 
Montreal fly. and. I mean the Montreal with gray-duck 
wings. Since I have been writing, I had a call from a 
gentleman who tells me that he has had an experience 
with the red ants exactly as I have quoted in this note. 
MAY FLY "LARY--E." 
Dr. Sanden, in thanking me for my note on the May fly, 
writes: "In thinking the matter over since my original 
query was made, I have an idea which I wish to submit 
to you, to know whether or not it has been tried, and if 
it has not, I think it will be a great deal easier to make 
the trial than as you suggested. 
"My idea is this: I know a stream near Plattsburgh, N. 
Y., which is full of the May fly, and they usually rise 
about the 10th of June. Would you think it practicable 
to gather a few thousand of these flies while in their shell, 
say the latter part of May, pack them as loosely as possi- 
ble in a damp moss and send them to the streams in 
Maine, to which I _ referred? They would probably be in 
the moss from thirty-six to forty-eight hours. It seems to 
me that quite a per cent, of them would go through all 
right, and if so, it ought to be an easy matter to get them 
started, if it is possible to do so in this stream." 
In the very article to which Dr. Sanden refers, I quoted 
Major Turle, who planted the larva? of the May fly in the 
spring, as Dr. Sanden proposes, and got rise of the fly the 
same year. There is no doubt in my mind that the plan 
proposed by Dr. Sanden can be carried out successfully on 
the lines he suggests, but there is a suspicion in my mind 
that the fly he mentions as found in the Plattsburgh 
stream may not be the May fly. This suspicion arises 
from the use of the expression, "Would you think it 
practicable to gather a few thousand of these flies while 
in their shells?" 
The larvee of the May fly has no shell, while the caddis 
fly has. The drakes (May flies) in the larvae state have a 
skin, which can scarcely be called a shell, unless the 
word is used in the sense that the covering is a shell be- 
cause it envelopes the larvae. The larvse bursts this pupa 
skin as it rises from the water, and is seemingly a perfect 
fly. The pupa skin of the May fly may be seen floating 
on the water in the proper season, and as I have pre- 
viously mentioned, they will be driven ashore by the 
wind and form windrows at the margin of the water. 
They are so gauzy as to be almost transparent. 
The caddis fly lias double wings like the May fly, but 
they are not upright like the latter. The edges of the 
wings fuzzy or fringe-like, and the fly has no antennae 
like the May fly. 
The larvae of the caddis as soon as they are hatched, 
construct a covering of sticks, small stones, shells, de- 
cayed wood, etc., the particles constituting the cases be- 
ing held together by a sticky substance given out by the 
larvae itself. 
The caddis is an excellent fish food, perhaps just as 
good as the May fly, and I have no doubt they can be 
transplanted as easily as the May fly. 
Of course, we get a rise of either much quicker (the 
same season) if the larva? is planted instead of the fly it- 
self. They should be planted in weeds or mud, or even in 
the sand. If Dr. Sanden should try the experiment, it is 
to be hoped that he will make known the result in Forest 
and Stream. A. N. Cheney. 
New York Hatchery Superintendents. 
At a meeting of the New York Fisli Commission last Tuesday 
this action was taken: 
Whereas, In the opinion of the Commissioners of Fisheries the 
office of Superintendent at the several State hatching stations or 
hatcheries, except that at Caledonia, which has under its control 
several diffeient stations, has been rendered unnecessary by the 
creation of the office of General Superintendent of fish hatcheries, 
therefore be it 
Resolved, That on and after March 15, 1895, such office of Super- 
intendent of hatching stations or hatcheries, except as before 
stated, be and hereby is abolished and the services of the several 
superintendents thereof dispensed with and the Commissioners in 
charge of 9uch stations are hereby authorized to employ a compe- 
tent person as foreman of each of |the several stations at a salary 
not to exceed $1,080 per year. 
SALMON CHATS-IV. 
We will now take for granted that our angler is on his 
first excursion to capture the salmon. His boat is good, 
not crankish; his guides should have experience to know 
where the fish should he, if not, better be without them. 
Above all, keep quiet. Rods, reel and lines should be of 
the best; as to flies, every angler has his fancy, and so 
has the salmon. The standard flies are the Jock Scott, 
Silver Dr. Duranger. As to sizes, large ones first; svnaller 
as water falls, and smaller still at low stage. The fishing 
ground should be of the best as well; no pool on the river 
is equally good at all stages of water, and if he has a pool 
of each, he is a very fortunate individual; and unless he 
buys a seat in the famed Restigouche Salmon Club, it is 
not procurable. We take for granted he has killed bass, 
trout, perhaps tarpon, and that he can cast 30 or 40 feet 
(not very much) fairly well. If he cannot do this he 
must practice casting, always remembering it is the rod 
that does it; strength is not wanted. The more of that 
element he uses the more he will look like the old fash- 
ioned flail on a barn floor. 
When learning to cast, never let out more line than 
you can make fall easily, lightly and gracefully on the 
water. In fact you must try to make the fly light on the 
water before* any other portion of your line. When by 
chance, or rather mischance, you make a nice cast, try 
to think how you made .it; follow up the motion if you 
can; do it again. A good salmon rod of say fifteen feet, is 
made purposely to cast a good long line, and it will do so 
with more ease than a short one. You must remember 
when casting, time must be given to extend your line on 
the back cast to straighten it out perfectly; if not, one of 
two things will happen, you whip your fly off, or the line 
comes down on the water half-way out in a bunch. If 
the novice can get out in tolerable shape 30 or 40 feet, 
he oan go ahead. I think I have caught more fish at that 
distance than at 60 or 70, and the closer the fish will rise 
to the angler, he is surer to hold. 
iWe presume you are fishing in a current strong enough 
to give your fly a good motion downwards. Some throw 
directly across at right angles. It may be necessary in 
some places. Better at a less angle, gradually following 
the motion of the fly with the point of the rod, as the 
current carries it around parallel. As it is coming round 
you give it a slight motion, with the point of the rod alter- 
nately rising and falling, thus opening and shutting the 
wing and hackle of the fly. Should a fish have been fol- 
lowing it round, now is the time he is apt to strike it. He 
may just show, or you may see the swirl on the water; he 
may show the whole body, perhaps his mouth open; he 
may rise a few feet below your fly and make a savage 
dash, or again may quietly take it, sinking to the bottom, 
and, you may imagine you have struck a rock. At this 
critical moment, beware of salmon fever, it is equally as 
bad as the buck fever. If you strike, its a very bad case, 
indeed; it means good-bye fish-hook and leader. There is 
not the slightest necessity in striking a ten-pound fish in 
this river, even when casting with a long line; never 
make it until you are sure nothing is on your hook. I 
have seen many a good tip broken by a half-pound trout; 
a Restigouche salmon from 16 to 35 lbs. is sure to do his 
own striking. Probably the fish came short, or perhaps 
jumped on your fly. Now, sir, it was not feeding time 
with this fellow; beware of the fever; don't jerk your fly 
away, draw it quietly towards you little by little, with a 
slight tremulous motion. "Ah, there he is again." An- 
other plunge and dash; again the hook fails to get a hold. 
Now,,don'tlet that fever strike you; quietly keep on, an- 
other 'slight draw or two, another plunge, and whiz goes 
the line and reel, and music sweetest ever the angler 
heard charms the ear. Now, sit down sir, collect your 
thoughts, while your men are whipping up the anchor; 
hands off reel and line and rods well up. We have him 
hooked, with the hope of landing him. Well, we may 
try, but the salmon has a voice in the matter, particu- 
larly as the hook may be in and most likely is somewhere 
in the body or shoulders; we know this, because if he 
wished to take it in his mouth there would have been no 
miss about it. Jno. Mowat. 
FLY-FISHING BY NIGHT. 
Edi or Forest and Stream: 
The recent inquiry of a correspondent as to the possi- 
bility of taking trout with a fly at night suggests an ex- 
perience of my own last May. I had been invited by a 
friend who is a member of a club controlling one of the 
finest preserved streams in Michigan, to join him in a 
few days fishing, and on our arrival at the club head- 
quarters, found a number of the wonted devotees with 
the usual assortment of stories as to the "luck," etc. 
Our first day's fishing in a still air under a bright sun 
was not especially productive of results, although the 
stream itself, almost as clear as the air, was swarming 
with large trout of the fontinalis and rainbow varieties. 
The stream, moreover, was full of food, and the fish were 
anparently graduates in a school which had left them lit- 
tle to learn of the wiles of the angler. Finding at supper 
time that we were not likely to deplete the supply of 
trout during our stay, he proposed that we try fishing in 
the evening, and accordingly, after we had finished our 
pipes, my friend put on each leader a single large fly 
(queen of the waters, if I remember correctly) and we 
took our way again to the stream. The night was cloudy 
and without a moon, and to an unaccustomed eye, it was 
difficult to do much more than distinguish between land 
and water. But my friend, as soon as he had reached the 
bank, began whipping in the middle of the stream, know- 
ring from his long familiarity with it, just where he 
would find a clear surface for his fly, and passing a short 
distance below him, I followed his example. In a very 
few casts he hooked a fair fish, and almost immediately 
after I was fast to another, both of which we landed. For 
the next hour we had varying success, a rise coming 
every few minutes, but 1 soon discovered that even with 
my friend, who is an expert of the first rank, more fish 
were lost than were brought to creel. But such 
fish as were actually secured were of good size, running 
from half a pound upward, and were of both brook and 
rainbow varieties. No attempt whatever was made at 
concealment; we simply got as close to the water as we 
could and cast out into the centre, guaging the length of 
line as best we might, and calculating the force and deli- 
cacy of the cast in the same manner. It occurred to me 
afterward that it was slightly inconsistent in us to ex- 
pect the trout to see the fly on the surface of the water 
under these conditions, and yet to be unable to discover 
our ungainly bulk upon the shore. 
It should be noted here that this fly-fishing by night 
was by no means an original idea with us. On the con- 
trary,' it is a rommon practice on the stream in question 
at certain seasons, and especially when the day-time 
fishing for any reason is poor. Only a night or two be- 
fore our arrival some enormous catches had been made 
by one or two of the members, in one case up to the 
twelve-pound limit. But the average fisherman who at- 
tempts it is very apt to come to grief, and get himself 
and his tackle into hopeless confusion. Yet there are two 
or three members of this club who are adepts at evening 
fishing, and who hardly ever fail to take a full basket in 
the hours between eight p. m. and midnight. 
Is it possible that these fish hear or feel the impact of 
the fly as it strikes the water, and that they do not see it 
at all, or only vaguely? The fact that so many of them 
that strike are only lightly hooked would seem to support 
this conclusion; and yet if that were true, why should a 
red and white fly prove, under such circumstances, more 
killing than any other? 
Grand Rapids, Mich. Hugh Howard. 
BOSTON AND MAINE. 
With appropriate ceremonies the emblematic codfish 
was removed from the old Representative Hall on Thurs- 
day, March 7, to its new position over the speaker's desk 
in the new hall. The emblem will be fastened by brass 
rods to the walL in a small panel directly under the name 
of "Webster" in the border, after it has gone through the 
hands of the retoucher. The exercises of removal were 
unique, if not burlesque. A history of the fish had been 
prepared by a committee, and it was read by them. The 
historv shows the ancient fish to commemorate a diplo- 
matic victory of John Adams, wherein Great Britain in 
1782 agreed that the fisheries of the Atlantic coast should 
be equally shared with the mother countiy. This oc- 
curred on the 19th of November, 178S, and less than six- 
teen months later John Rowe, a member from Boston, 
asked permission to hang the historic codfish in the 
Representatives' Chamber. It was designed, he said, to 
commemorate a diplomatic victory, as well as a material 
interest, of which Massachusetts is justly proud. 
In Maine, a bill to prohibit all fishing, except with arti- 
ficial flies, in B. Pond and Quimby Pond, has got through 
both branches of the Legislature and was in the hands of 
the Governor for his signature when a member asked that 
it be recalled the other day. He declared that the meas- 
ure had been smuggled through, or words to that effect; 
that no bill should" be suffered to pass that prohibited the 
citizens of Mame from fishing in any pond or lake in the 
State with either minnow or worm; that the fly was the 
"aesthetic lure , of the dandy sport," and that not one 
common citizen in 500 was skilled in its use. The measure 
is to be recalled. It will be remembered that B. Pond is 
the celebrated fishing resort of Ex-Governor Russell, of 
Massachusetts, with his friend John E. Thayer and 
others, and that this is the second or third time that the 
owners of the camps at that pond have asked the Maine 
Legislature to prevent all bait fishing there. Special,. 
Boston Notes. 
Boston, March 9. — A welcome visitor to Boston this 
week was Mr. William Soule, (familiarly known as 
Billy Soule) of Pleasant Island camps, Indian Rock, 
Maine. The few days of his visit was well taken up in 
renewing old acquaintances, all of whom were glad to 
talk over the prospects of the coming season with this 
well-informed gentleman. He reports the ice in the 
Rangeley Lakes fully three feet thick; one half of this is 
solid blue ice and the rest snow ice. The weather during 
the past winter throughout the Rangeley region has been 
steadily cold, no thaw occurring, and no rain since the 
early part of December last. Mr. Soule thinks the water 
in the lakes as low as he has seen it in fifteen years. The 
absence of rain during the winter, together with the 
great amount of water drawn out of the lakes by the 
Union Water Power Company, both have contributed to 
this effect. If the water coutinues low until the season 
opens, fishing ought to be excellent. 
During the past week I have talked with quite a 
number of Boston sportsmen who have recently returned 
from the South. All agree in saying harsh things about 
the weather, those from Florida being particularly severe 
about the cold they experienced in that usually palmy 
State. The effect of this cold weather on the tarpon- 
fishing was disastrous, causing the fish to go further 
South, seeking warmer water. While a few who left 
home for this fishing were successful in getting on a or 
two fish, the majority came back much disappointed. 
The other fishing, such as squteange and weakfish and 
channel bass has probably been up to the average of other 
years. A gentleman very devoted to this kind of fishing 
is Mr. Rabbeth (one of our finest rifle-shots at the Walnut 
Hill range) who is now in Florida enjoying the sport. 
Messrs. J. K. Soutner and S. A. Carleton, cf Boston, are 
also in that State black-bass fishing near Altamonte 
Springs. Mr. Souther is a great lover of this fishing in 
Florida waters, and has gone South each season for many 
years to enjoy it. Another gentleman devoted more to 
the gun than the rod has just returned from a shooting 
trip "on the Gulf coast, about 100 miles from Tampa. He 
reports the weather abominally cold, but had excellent 
quail shooting; saw a number of deer, and had fair fish- 
ing. While the cold was very disagreeable, it, no doubt, 
contributed largely to his success in quail shooting, as it 
kept the dogs tuned up to their best all the time. An- 
other party of nine just returned from a shooting trip to 
North Carolina report very poor luck indeed, and were 
quite disappointed with their trip. 
The Megantic Fish and Game Club held its annual 
election for officers at the Copley Square Hotel, Boston, 
last Thursday evening. The following named gentlemen, 
all of Boston, were elected for the coming year: Presi- 
dent, A. W. Rooinson; First Vice-President, W. C. Pres- 
cott; Second Vice-President, N. F. Tufts; Secretary and 
Treasurer. L. D. Chapman. Measures for the good of the 
club were discussed at the meeting, new boats ordered 
purchased, and the rate of board fixed the same as that 
of last year. Hackus. 
