AtTO. 8, 189fl.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
109 
LAKE TAHOE FISHING WAYS. 
BTAvrNQ long been an ardent reader of Fokbst and 
Stream. I think it only fair that I should endeavor to in- 
tt rest some of its readeara, as their articles have done 
much to contribute to my entertainment, 
I propose in this short article to give an account of the 
fiahmg to be had at Lake Tahoe and other adjoining 
streams and lakes. I am one of those fortunate individ- 
uals with whom it is a posaibility to lay aside bxisiness 
cares for two or three months and go away to some charm- 
ing spot in the great Sierra Nevada or Coast Range of 
California. 
About the first week of last June I packed together my 
rods and tackle, rifle and shotgun, with all accessories, 
and left my Sacramento Valley home for an outing at 
Lake Tahoe. The route was by the Central Pacific R. R. 
to Truckee, thence by stage to Tahoe City. We have a 
magnificent view, ever changing, as we ride along up the 
caflon of the Truckee River. The road follows the 
Truckee the whole length to its starting point, where it 
flows out of the famous lake. 
This river affords magnificent sport for the fly-flsher, 
and I must in some future article recount to you some 
experiences on the Truckee. 
We arrived at Tahoe City after a three hours' staging 
over aa fine a mountain road as one would desire. There 
we found the little steamer Tallac waiting at the wharf, 
ready to convey us to the Tallac House, situated almost 
at the extreme other end and necessitating a ride of 
twenty-five miles, which I anticipate with much pleasure 
as I look around me and observe the beautiful clear water, 
unruffled by wind and as smooth and shining as a mirror; 
and the snow-covered mountains which hem the lake in 
on all sides, clad in forests almost to the summit. Pres- 
ently the whistle blows, and we are off. I eagerly hang 
over the bow watching for fish — several of which are 
pointed out to me by an old resident — for the bottom can 
oe easily discerned in 100ft., so clear is the water, coming, 
as it does, direct from the melting snow. No wonder 
that innumerable trout thrive here unpolluted by drain- 
age or factories. At length the wharf of the Tallac House 
comes into view; soon we land and find the genial host, 
Melville Lawrence, who tells us that the fishing is first- 
class. 
The next morning I was up bright and early. On 
walking out onto the veranda of the little rustic hotel a 
sight greeted me which those who live cooped up in cities 
the year round never become familiar with. Here at an 
elevation of some 7,000ft. lay the magnificent sheet of 
water, surrounded by snow-covered mountains; the sun, 
rising in all its gorgeousness, sent its rays over the snow 
onto a sheet of glass, not a ripple disturbed the placid 
surface of the lake. Squirrels were chasing each other 
up among the branches of the huge pines; now and theu 
a hummingbird flitted past me; I could hear the quack 
of the mallard from the marsh close by, and an occasion- 
al call from the mountain back of the hotel told of the 
presence of grouse and mountain quail. 
Before recounting my first day's sport I wiU endeavor 
to describe the methods used at Lake Tahoe for catching 
fish. Trolling is almost the only means used, fish seldom 
if ever rising to a fly. The tackle mostly in vogue con- 
sists of a wire line made of eight or ten strands of very 
fine copper wire twisted together, which is very pliable 
and is from 100 to 300ft. in length. Attached to this are 
about 50 to 75ft, of heavy cotton or linen line; the whole, 
is wound on a large hand-made wooden reel. This con- 
stitutes the hand line. 
The spoon, which is attached to the wire by a ring and 
swivel, is very large, from 4 to 6in. long and from 2 to Sin. 
wide, with a dish of fin. The large end of the spoon is 
of course attached to the line to make it revolve. To the 
smaller end a long-snelled No. 8 or 4 Sproat or Carlisle 
hook is fastened by means of another ring and swivel, the 
spoon having a hole punched through it at either end to 
admit the ring. The length of the snell on the hook 
varies from 8 to 16in., as sometimes the fish seem to pre- 
fer the bait further away from the spoon. Sometimes 
a second hook is tied on halfway up the snell when a 
long snell is used. On this second hook a different bait 
may be used; on getting a strike it is not necessary to 
draw in the line at once to rebait, as the second bait af- 
fords an opportunity for the fish to bite again if not 
hooked the first time. The spoons are generally 
made of copper or brass. The color varies according to 
the season of the year. In early spring, say in AprU or 
May, a large nickel-plated spoon is used; later on a brass 
spoon is good; in the middle of summer an abalone shell, 
or a spoon one side nickel and the other copper, is largely 
used, while in tne fall a dull-colored spoon is most effect- 
ive, such as dull brass or copper. 
This is the only place in my experience of fishing where 
I have ever seen such fishing tackle. My fellow anglers 
naturally ask, "What is the use of such an outfit? Why 
use a wire line and such an enormous spoon?" When I 
tell you the nature of the fishing you may pardon the 
Tahoe fisherman for using such a murderous rig. The 
wire line does away with the use of a sinker, by its own 
weight sinking the bait to the required depth. The 
usual depth for trolling is from 50 to lOOft., and the best 
places for fishing are around reols and pot-holes, just on 
the edge of the very deep water. Now the water is so 
clear that one can easily see the bottom on a calm day in 
60 to 75ft. of water, so that in coming to a shallow all 
that is necessary to keep from catching on the rocky bottom 
is to increase the speed of the boat, thereby raising the 
spoon near the surface. This must be done probably 100 
times a day. With such a piece of lead as would be nec- 
essary to sink a line to the required depth, rowing 
faster would not raise it sufficiently to clear the shoals, 
and as a result numerous spoons and hooks would remain 
on the rocks. The wire line, as far as I know, does not 
seem to scare the fish more than a cotton or linen line 
would. When the boat is rowed at the right speed, the 
spoon has been found to sink to a depth equal to one-half 
the length of the line in the water. A knowledge of this 
is invaluable when fishing with perhaps 150ft. of line. 
The bait, which is strung on the hook, generally consists 
of a minnow, wood grub or angle worm. Minnows are 
used mostly. The spoon only serves as an attraction to 
the fish to bring them within striking distsmce of the min- 
now, although I often found that fish struck at the spoon 
and left teeth marks on it. 
The boats, of which there is a goodly number at Tallac, 
are built expressly for preserving the fish and minnows 
alive. For the most part flat-bottomed skiffs are used, 
with a large water tank in the center, admitting fresh 
water through auger holes in the bottom. This tank, 
which rises flush with the seats, has in it a small com- 
partment for minnows. The fish are placed in the tank 
and so kept alive until the fisherman returns home, when 
they are transferred to fish cars and kept alive until the 
steamer next day carries them away to friends less for- 
tunate than the sender. The mode of fishing which I 
have attempted to describe is almost the only means 
adopted to capture fish, outside of still-fishing with grubs 
and live minnows. 
Why wouldn't such an outfit catch maskelonge or baas 
in the Eastern lakes? Some of my brother anglers might 
express their opinion. If any desire to try it I will be 
pleased to furnish particulars as to its construction. 
Although I am a devoted fly-fisher myself, I was greatly 
interested in this style of luring the speckled beauties to 
an untimely end, especially as I afterward hit on a 
scheme which made it seem more sportsmanlike, I at- 
tached large upright guides to my heavy greenheart troll- 
ing rod, and wound 250ft. of wire line on my salmon reel, 
putting in a small swivel in the line about every 15ft. to 
prevent kinking, and used this to fish with. I found 
that I saved more fish than with a hand line, as a matter 
of course, and had much better sport. The line I used 
was about one-half the size of the hand line and ran 
through the guides very well. Undoubtedly the wire line 
is a good idea. 
After breakfast I found Dick, the boatman, awaiting 
me on the wharf with a complete outfit of lines and bait, 
and I caught a glimpse of a frying-pan and coffee-pot. 
We rowed out into the lake for about 500yds. and then 
Dick told me to get my lines ready. I baited the hook 
with a medium-sized minnow, running the barb through 
the mouth and bringing it out again near the tail, I 
tossed the spoon overboard and began to let the line run 
out slowly, until about 100ft, lay in the water. Dick 
called my attention to a perceptible line of demarcation 
in the water, on one side of the boat the bottom was just 
visible and the water had a green appearance, while on 
the other side the water was deep and very blue, "This 
is the best place to fish," said Dick, "just on the line 
between the blue and green water. The fish lie on that 
ridge, and if they are biting at all you always catch them 
just on the edge of these pot-holes." I took good stock of 
what Dick told me, as I recognized that I had no novice 
with me. 
As we were quietly rowing along, following the edge of 
the deep water, I got a strike, but the fish missed it. 
"She'll come back," said Dick, and sure enough the next 
minute I felt another tug, to which I replied by a slight 
movement in the opposite direction^ and I had hooked 
him fast. 
After three or four good runs in his efforts to disengage 
the hook, I commenced to haul in my fish, allowing the 
line to fall in coils in the bottom of the boat. I must 
here admit that this seems a clumsy way of fishing, but 
it is the method generally adopted. Dick produced a 
landing net as I brought my captive alongside the boat 
and skillfully dipped him up, placing him beyond escape. 
"A 3lb. silver trout," said Dick to the tickled angler, 
and sure enough he was — a perfect model of symmetry 
and resembling in color a fresh-run grilse, 
"These fish run in shoals," said Dick, "Put out two 
lines and take one in each hand, so that when we cross a 
shoal of them you will probably hook two." 
I took his advice, putting a fresh minnow on my first 
line, and let it out carefully to avoid any kinks in the 
wire, I hardly had out 50tt, when I felt a tug, I struck 
slightly; had him on sure enough, and pulling in slowly 
I landed a nice trout of l^lbs. of the rainbow variety. 
This heavy tackle kills a fish very quickly and gives him 
no quarter. 
After this we rowed on to a famous pot-hole, opposite 
Jimmy Walker's cabin, where the inlet from Cascade 
Lake flows into Lake Tahoe, bringing down lots of feed, 
I had both my lines out by this time and we trolled for 
five or ten minutes up and down this favorite lurking 
place for big fish without any result.' 
"Try a grub on one line," said Dick, and at the same 
time he produced a box of fine fat wood-grubs. I hauled 
in one line and substituted the minnow for a grub. With 
tais new bait we tried our luck over the same ground 
again. Just as we were opposite a large reef of rocks at 
the mouth of the creek I struck something. 
"I have fouled the bottom," said I. 
"No fear, there is a hundred feet of water here," Pres- 
ently that something commenced to move heavily and 
slowly away; I then realized that I was fast to a fish of no 
mean proportions, and began to haul in slowly, and then 
I moved rapidly, as the fish concluded to swim toward me, 
remembering the adage my father taught me: "Always 
keep a taut line on your fish," At last we caught sight of 
him about 30ft. away. He also seemed to wake up to the 
fact that a boat containing two determined fishermen 
was the cause of being jerked from his feeding ground so 
unceremoniously. With a twist of his tail he dashed 
away and began sounding, running out fully 80ft. of line 
without pausmg. This kind of performance was kept up 
for several minutes, until he showed signs of exhaustion. 
Taking advantage of this, I slowly drew him toward the 
boat. As he came within sight Dick exclaimed: "I'll 
never be able to get him in this netl" I plainly saw that 
the landing net was AyhoUy inadequate to land such a 
monster. 
"You'll have to gaff him," said I, Dick hunted around 
in the boat for his gaff, but to my chagrin found that he 
had neglected to bring it along. A.11 this time the fish 
was making frantic efforts to get a little slack line and 
throw his tail over it. 
I soon made up my mind what to do. Tiring him com- 
pletely out, I told Dick to pass his hand quietly along the 
side of the fish till he reached the gill cover, and then in- 
serting his fingers underneath, he lifted this monarch of 
the lake into the boat. 
"A 17-pounderl" said Dick, I produced a small pocket 
scale, and this magnificent specimen of a Mackinaw trout 
pulled down the spring until 16f lbs. were registered. To 
say that I was elated over my capture would be putting 
it very mildly. Dick said that to capture a fish of this 
size was no rare occurrence, especially in the spring and 
fall of the year, and he told how some years ago a fish 
had been caught weighing 29ilb8., and had been shipped 
as a present to Gen. Grant. Undoubtedly there are fish 
of enormous dimensions in this lake. 
We fished on imtU Dick suggested limch; then selecting 
a beautiful spot on the lake shore near the mouth of 
Emerald Bay we landed. Dick prepared two of the fi3h 
we had caught for lunch, and building a fire among the 
rocks cooked them to a turn. My brother anglers who 
have experienced eating a trout taken right out of the 
water know how good they taste. After lunch we took 
to the boat again and trolled toward home, landing on 
the wharf about 4 o'clock with twenty -three fine trout to 
my credit, which weighed just 79ilb3. Thus terminated 
my first day's fishing on Lake Tahoe, I hope in a future 
article to tell of other experiences, both with the finny 
tribe and with grouse and deer. Sierra.. 
CAIilFOBNIA. 
NEW ENGLAND NOTES. 
Boston, Aug. 1. — The salt-water fishermen are at it, 
and they seem to get a good deal of pleasure out of what 
Georges and Grand Bank fishermen consider the hardest 
of labor. As they make it, it is work and it is play. Mr. 
Mathew Luce keeps up his fishing at Cohasset and makes 
some big hauls in company with his boatman. 
Almost every day a little steamer or two goes off from 
Boston to the various fishing grounds at Nahant, Cohasset, 
Soituate and all along the South Shore. The boats are 
very well patronized. They furnish bait and tackle and 
generally offer prizes for the largest fish for a trip. Blue- 
fishing is also good off Hj^annis and Nantucket. Some- 
thing is also being done in that line in Buzzard's Bay, 
Mr. Walter Brown took eight good bluefiah in Buzzard's 
Bay one day last week. He went out from Mattapoisett. 
Off Edgertown and Katama some good sport is men- 
tioned. A Boston gentleman has just returned from 
Nantucket with a report of 300 blueflsh being taken to 
one boat at one trip. I do not ^ive his name for the good 
reason that I do not believe the story. Still it may be 
true, and if so, and the gentleman will explain through 
the Forest and Stream, I will always believe him here- 
after. 
There are very few reports from the trout and salmon 
flshermen. The Messrs. Crane, of Boston, had reached 
Round Mountain Lake when last heard from, and the 
letter stated that "the lake was alive with trout." They 
were just joining their rods on the day of their arrival to 
try the evening fishing. Since that letter the record is 
quiet. Reports from the New Brunswick and Canadian 
salmon rivers say that the fishing is poor, and sportsmen 
who have been there and had good luck suggest that the 
season is about over. One noted salmon fisherman sug- 
gests that the early run of the majority of salmon rivers 
is all that is "worth quarreling about." 
Great sport is mentioned on the Maine bass lakes and 
ponds. At Cobbosseecontee there are many Gardiner and 
Augusta flshermen. A couple of Boston gentlemen re- 
turned from that lake last week. They steyed but one 
day and took no bass. The weather was too hot, and 
there were "too many native fishermen." 
Most remarkable reports of game seen continue to come 
from Maine, Thirty deer seen in one day at Big Spencer 
Lake were none too many for a guide to write me about. 
But he signed no name to his postal card, except A Guide. 
Of course he wants me to believe the story and to publish 
it. They have caught a little fawn at the Middle Dam, 
and those who have seen it declare that it is doing well, 
is very tame, etc. It came down to the Rapid River, 
where Steve Morse and a Brooklyn gentleman were fish- 
ing, and was easily caught in the brush. A cow moose 
and her calf have frequently been seen in the same locality. 
Some boys fishing in Roxbury Pond, a few miles from 
Andover, were startled by a large bull moose suddenly 
appearing in the water the other day. Report says that 
the boys left their tackle and ran for home. Special. 
Boston, July 27,— Rev. W. H. AUbright and son, Man- 
ley, left Boston July 38 for club camp Big Moose, Adir- 
ondacks, on their annual vacation for the month of 
August. Being enthusiastic anglers in this noted region, 
an excellent report is expected. J. P. W. 
NEW JERSEY COAST FISHING. 
ASBURY Park, N. J., Aug, 1.— The sensation of the 
day 18 the arrest of Senator James A. Bradley by Fish 
Warden James F. Edge for having in his possession two 
sturgeon in violation of the law of March 23, 1895, which 
is prohibitive between June 30 and Dec. 1. At the hear- 
ing the Senator secured a non-suit on grounds that the 
law was inoperative until the States of Pennsylvania and 
Delaware shall have passed corresponding laws. The 
warden, however, takes a different view of the case, and 
asserts that the exemption clause pertains only to the 
waters which would by affected by the passage of such a 
law by the sister States, and inasmuch as they were taken 
in waters of the State other than those so affected the law 
is in full force and virtue, and has appealed the case to 
higher authorities. The outcome of the affair is looked 
forward to with great interest by all parties. An amus- 
ing feature is the fact that the Senator voted for the pas- 
sage of the bill and was enthusiastic in its support. 
Surf -fishing continues much the same as for the past 
three weeks. The rivers and bays, however, give good 
results and are liberally patronized. Sheepshead are in 
Barnegat Bay now, and may be taken if the proper course 
is pursued. The tackle needs be good and patience liber- 
ally exercised. There is perhaps no fish more uncertain 
in their feeding habits than the sheepshead. The neces- 
sary equipment is a stout rod and line and a 3-0 and 4-0 
Virginia hook secured to a good wire snood, with hard 
clam or gray mussel for bait; do not remove the meat 
from the shell, simply cracking and working the hook 
well in is all suflScient; the fish being superlatively sus- 
picious, this method is much more certain of success than 
when the clear bait is offered. When the bite is felt 
(which is never sharp), being a peculiar drawing motion, 
time must be given to allow the fish to work out the bait 
and gorge the hook, or else all will have to be gone over 
with, and here is where the novice will find the trying 
point. To strike at once means the loss of nine out of 
every ten fish, and when well hooked there is work for 
both man and tackle, as they are capable of the most 
determined resistance. I have had them thrust their 
iron-like jaws so deeply in the mud in their endeavor to 
disgorge the hook that even in 10 to 12ft. of water the 
surface would soon take on a muddy appearance. A 
landing net is a necessity. If possible bait the grounds 
for two or three days prior to fishing, as they are attracted 
thereby; besides they take the bait with a greater degree 
of confidence. But the capture ia worth all the pains 
taken and the fish is right royal when properly cooked 
and served, Leonard Huut, 
