BO 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. is, i8g8. 
a profound mystery to .me, and is yet, how Ormes ever 
managed to keep in that road. 
When we came to the old roofless hnnbermen's shanty 
at the side of the road, a couple of miles from the State 
line, we stopped in the opening- where the darkness was 
a little less dense, to rest the tired horses and hold a 
consultation' as to the advisability of keeping on or camp- 
ing out till morning. As it had clouded up everywhere 
overhead and got darker, if anything, and we had the 
very worst part of the road yet ahead of us — from the 
State line out to the lake — we decided to camp for. the 
rest of the night, and a feeling and smell of rain in the 
air hastened the conclusion. 
I fished a piece of caudle out of the provision box, and 
lighting it, we explored around the old shanty till we 
found some pieces of boards, which L split up with the 
axe, and soon had a fire going. We gathered wood 
enough to make a roaring big fire that cast a good light 
for several* yards around. Ormes cut some tent poles 
in the neighboring bushes, and we soon had the little 
tent pitched on a level, grassy spot just back of the 
fire.- Then with a part of a bale of hay well shaken, the 
rubber piano cover, the mattress, blankets and the big 
comfort, we made a bed "good enough for the Joneses," 
and Camp Ormes was ready for the expected rain. 
By this time the horses had cooled off and had to be 
watered and fed, but where the water was to come from 
I couldn't quite make out. Ormes got a bucket from the 
wagon — he ahvays has one along — and with the remark, 
"There's a lake back there a piece in the woods," disap- 
peared in the darkness behind the shanty and soon came 
back, noiselessly as the flight of an owl, with a bucket 
of fairly good water, from which I took a drink myself, 
but it was as "stump Avater" compared with the spring 
water I had been used to for the past week; still, it was 
water,- and I was powerful dry. The ease with which 
Ormes found his waA'- to the lake was to me another 
kink in his "woods larnin', " but he said he had been 
there before and couldn't very well miss it. Pfowever, 
after all, it seemed to me that he must have owl eyes, to 
make his way through the woods when it was so pitch 
dark that he couldn't see the end of his nose; besides, 
the blackness must have been more intense after he got 
out of the firelight behind and be3'ond the old shanty. 
But some persons can see better in the dark than 
others, and Ormes is one of 'em. 
With the horses taken care of, our work for the night 
was about done. Last, we stowed the hay and some 
other things under the wagon, the oats and messbox in 
the tent, replenished the fire and turned in. Ten min- 
utes or so after it began to rain — a steady, straight-down 
rain — and in ten minutes more the soothing patter on the 
canvas and in the surrounding woods had put me to 
sleep and the fire out, and I kncAv no more till morning. 
We were awake at daylight to find it still raining steadily, 
the dripping woods musical with a melancholj' melody, 
and the outlook about as dismal as it well could be. We 
put on our slickers and got out, to be greeted with a 
dejected whinny from the drenched and disconsolate- 
looking horses; but they were soon livened up with 
some oats, and while they munched them contentedlj^ 
Ormes and I packed the canvas bag, loaded the things 
into the w-agon, and with the Avet tent spread over in 
such a Avay that it Avould shed most of the rain, were 
"ready to tackle "that road" again. We had intended to 
build a fire and brcAV a pot of coflFee and fry some bacon, 
but it Avas raining too hard to get a fire going without a 
good deal of trouble and loss of time, so Ave ate a slice 
of raAv "side meat" and some crackers, and made believe 
that we had ordered quail an toast from an imaginary 
waiter, and it quieted the craving of the inner man just 
the same. 
When the horses had finished their oats Ave "up anchor" 
(hitched up) and got under way — this may be taken 
partly in a nautical sense, as a good part of the road Avas 
tinder Avater — and went boAvling, or rather bumping, 
along in fairly good humor, albeit the rain Avas coming 
down in a steady fashion that threatened to hold on till 
Ave reached camp, if not all day. 
The road was bad enough even bj' daylight, and we 
were glad Ave had passed a comfortable night in the tent 
instead of groping our way blindly along it the past 
night, in the dark and rain. To anj'' one Avho has been 
oA^er the road from the State line out to the lake, after 
a good, long rain, a description of it would be of little 
interest; to anj^ who haA'e not been over it, a descrip- 
tion that Avould do it justice would be impossible, unless 
a new set of adjectives and "cuss Avords" could be in- 
vented to fit the requirements of the case; and j^et it is 
a fairly good road in dry Aveather. So I will pass over 
the episodes and details of our "voyage" from our night 
camp to the lake, and say only tliat we got there Avithout 
losing any of our cargo and in good spirits, because 
it stopped raining Avhen we were within half a mile or so 
of the lake. 
But — "great airth and seas!" as Uncle Lisha would 
say — here Ave are nearly back to camp, and I haA^e for- 
gotten to tell how many trout I caught. In answer to the 
universal query that one runs against when caught with 
a fishpole on his person— "How many did ye ketch?"— 1 
Avill say that while I was on the stream I took out of it 
107 trout that would not fall beloAV the legal limit of 6in. 
in length, and a good many of them Avere over that, be- 
sides, probably fifty or sixty more of 3 ana 4in. that I 
returned to the water, to sAvell the count of some trout 
hog that Avill fish the stream next year, mayhap before 
the season opens. 
I ate trout early 'and late, at every meal, till toAvard 
the last I have a notion that some spots were 
"a-sproutin' " along my lateral line, and T "felt kinder 
skeery and wary, like' an old trout, so to speak. My 
trout tooth got its "satisfy," but at this AA^riting it is a 
trifle in evidence again, and from now on it Avill keep 
"a-pesterin' of roe" ntore or less till I get on a trout 
stream next year— unless I have it pulled out, and I ain 
afraid to chance that kind of a 'remedy, for the roots of 
the old thing reach clear to the heart, and are still 
"a-groAvin', " metaphorically speaking. 
When the horses were put aAvay in the little log stable 
near the landing, we transferred our cargo to a boat 
left for us, and pulled up and across the bay to "Stagg's 
dock," in front of the camp, arnVing thei-e some time 
rjfter 8 o'clock in the morning. 
C'^ss went on over to the resort, and I climbed the 
bank, to be met with a frigid stare from the boys (a set- 
up job on me, for the occasion, as I learned shortly), but 
they thawed oitt when the}' learned I had brought some 
salt pork and a few other delicacies from tOAvn that they 
were much in need of. They had run out of two or three 
of the camp necessaries, chargeable to the improvidence 
and utter worthlessness of the "ncAV coon" whom old 
Mack had sent in his place for the trip — ^but who didn't 
fill it — and they were a trifle out o' sorts in consequence; 
but the supplies I brought out, notably the contents of a 
mysteriously bound box, expressed from Cincinnati by 
old Temp to the Colonel, put them all in good spirits 
again, and I reckon it was largely due to that box that 
I escaped a court-martial, or hanging to the first handy 
limb, for not bringing them some trout. 
A good-sized breakfast made me forget all about the 
discomforts of the trip over "that road," and Frank 
Cannon and I set about planning for a trip over to 
Pappoose Lake next day after bass, and mayhap a 
maskinonjc or two. 
"Old Hickory's troutin' trip" to the Little Presque 
Isle River was a realized dream, to be stored away 
among other reminiscences, but it will abide in memory 
as one of the "pleasant episodes o' life," as old Sam 
would say, for I spent nearly a week there in perfect 
peace and content, and happy "clean through." 
And now, Bre'r Doc, if you can find any entertain- 
ment in the foregoing prosy details of a trip in which 
there Avas little to interest any one but the subscriber, 
I will be more than satisfied; however, I am afraid my 
gregarious proclivities haA^e recei\'ed a serious backset, 
for next year the "sperrit" will no doubt move me to me- 
ander ofl^ miles from the main camp and make another 
Camp of ye Lone ' Kingfisher. 
Fishing Up and Down the Potomac. 
Trout near Washington. 
Daniel Webster w-as a trout fisher, and probably 
used the fly.; at any rate, a friend of his told of being 
awakened once b)^ Webster, who Avas standing bj' his 
bedside, and Avho proceeded to go through the panto- 
mime of casting, striking, playing and landing his fish. 
Not a Avord was spoken, and he left the room. The 
narrator added that day Avas devoted to fishing. 
Webster manifested the importance he attached to the 
recreation, as well as his faith in restrictive legislation, 
when he said: "It has so happened that all the public 
services that I have rendered in the Avorld in my day 
and generation haA^e been connected Avith the general 
Government. I think I ought to make an exception — I 
was ten days a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, 
and X turned my thoughts to the search of some good 
object in which I could be useful in that position, and 
after much reflection I introduced a bill Avhich, with 
the consent of both houses of the Legislature, passed 
into a law, and is noAV a law of the State, which enacts 
that no man in the State shall catch trout in any manner 
other than in the old way, with an ordinary hook and 
line." _ ^ 
Of course, most of his trout fishing was done among 
the granue hills of NeAV England, but he was not obliged 
to entire4y deny himself indulgence in his favorite 
pastime while in Washington, and legend has it that he 
made many trips to Difficult Run, a small stream which 
empties into the Potomac from the Virginia side a few 
miles from Georgetown, and at that time full of brook 
trout. His host on these occasions is said to have been 
Mr. Powell, avIio lived in that Aacinit}', and Avhose de- 
scendants still live in this, and his wonderful baskets 
haA'e lost nothing in these many years in size or num- 
ber. Mr. Charles Lanman, giving some of his personal 
reminiscences of Web.ster, with an account of numerous 
of their excursions, incidentally mentions having sent to 
Mr. Webster, for a breakfast he Avas giving some friends, 
two dozen trout, which he (Lanman) had taken in Diffi- 
cult Run, "onl}' fifteen miles from the metropolis." 
It was reached then by driving; over the Aqueduct or 
chain bridge it is not a long ride. The easier way now is 
over the Washington and Ohio Railroad toward Round 
Hill, Avhich crosses Difficult Run a few miles beyond 
Vienna. 
The run is well named, as there are portions of its 
length even uoav that in their summer foliage are as im- 
penetrable as a jungle, and the heat and mosquitoes, on 
one of our trips rather late in the season, we found as 
irritating as in a cypress SAvamp. 
One need not now risk the discomforts of a trip along 
its banks for trout, for they are no longer to be found 
here. The clearing away of the forests since Webster's 
times has let the sun down to the lands on either side, 
and the water becomes so heated in midsummer that the 
trout no longer bide; besides the heat, the cultivation 
of the soil in its valley muddies the stream Avith every 
shower, and for most of the year it is not attractive. It 
is said that local sawmills along its course in former 
years had something to do with the destruction of the 
trout, but these could be easily replaced if the water 
was any longer fit. 
Into Difficult numerous small tributaries empty, and 
these have mostly some natlA'e trout near their head- 
waters, where cool springs and shade a-plenty keep the 
water low enough to satisfy these little arctic aristo- 
crats. 
Piney Branch, one of these small streams, runs past 
Vienna and reaches Difficult below, but near the railroad. 
It was Avithin tAvo or three years a sure card for a brace 
or two. New owners who object to strolling anglers have 
purposely destroyed the haunts and holes where the 
trout hid, that there might be no attraction for the 
vagrant rod. ■ 
Strange Avhat a red rag it is to some people, and how 
unjustifiable their prejudice! Two places an angler 
avoids if he can : Where there are no fish, and vyhere he 
thinks he is regarded as a trespasser. His one efi^ort is to 
get as far away as possible from people— the fishing is 
generally better — and he enjoys best, Avith a congenial 
chum, that day spent in the depths of the woods, Avith 
only blue sky and green trees and a crystal stream, with 
a hungry horde, for other companionship. Of course, 
under such discouraging methods most of the trout dis- 
appeared from Piney Branch, but one of the Difficult 
land oAvners said there had been a fcAV left, but that re- 
cently a tomato cannery had been erected up the Branch, 
the refuse of Avhich Avas thrown into the stream, "and 
now," he moaned, "my cows Avon't even drink the 
water." This is only mentioned as an aAvful example, 
]:>y way of warning, of the swift retribution which is 
liable to OA^ertake those unhappy, inhospitable creatures 
whose hearts are hardened against the gentle angler. 
Little Difficult and Wolf runs, which reach Difficult 
above the railroad crossing, also have occasional trout, 
and are pleasant enough fishing, but the gem of the lot 
is Snake Den Run. This is an ideal trout stream, look- 
ing much like a New England brook, with its stony bed 
and green coverts, though with much less fall than most 
of the latter, as it is this side even of the foothills of the 
Blue Ridge. 
Colvin Run, the most considerable of the series of 
tributaries to Difficult, has furnished the larger catches, 
and ought next A^ear to give good sport. A resident on 
its upper waters procured 500 rainbow trout from the 
Fish Commission for a priA-ate pond which he had 
constructed; but the sappers and miners of dikes, the 
muskrats or crawfish, tapped it soon afterward, and all 
the trout found their way into Colvin Run. These will 
be three years old come next spring. Then, last year, 
at the solicitation of Mr. Jesse Middleton, 500 more rain- 
bow trout (yearlings) Avere placed in this run, so it Avill 
afford additional interest next season, as a test both of its 
water and the Western trout. As these sometimes thrive 
in water of 82 degrees, they may be able to survive the 
heat of the waters of l3ifficult Run, and again stock this 
once famous stream. 
A couple of anglers from Baltimore come down to 
this little network of runs very early and very late each 
season for a day's fishing; and two or three from Wash- 
ington generally manage to get a day here in the spring. 
Native speckled trout ' (Sah'elinus fontinalis), or char, 
as Ave are told Ave must call them noAv, have been taken 
here in late years of I3in. A double brace of this length 
were caught in one day here not manj' years ago, but 
this is the modern record for this locality, and other 
days and other anglers never came near it, though fair 
creels up to ten and a half were not uncommon. 
But only an enthusiast wants to make the trip. It 
means a long tramp an^ clelicate, careful work, and 
strikes far apart, 
A A^eteran angler has been knoAvn to so far succumb to 
the very hard Avork and a prematurely sultry spring after- 
noon that a liberal application of cold water was neces- 
sary to restore him. 
When one has to have recourse to such heroic meas- 
ures as applications of cold Avater to an angler, it may 
be guessed how desperate the situation, hoAV complete 
the exhaustion. 
Further up the line a dozen miles is Leesburg, and 
near this has been for a good Avhile a priA^ate preserve 
called Harrison's. It is fed from a mammoth spring, and 
large rainbow trout thrive in the short and sharply de- 
scending stream to the Potomac. A couple of years ago 
a spring freshet flooded its banks, and after it had sub- 
sided, dead trout aboA^e 3lbs. in weight were found in 
an adjoining cornfield over Avhich the flood had poured. 
President Cleveland was a visitor to this preserA^e once or 
twice, and good catches were reported. The place, how- 
ever, has been recently purchased by a New York gentle- 
man, it is said, for a tl^oroughbre'd stock farm, and he 
may not care for trout. 
As it is private, it is of little interest to the general 
angler, except for the comfort of knowing titat trout Avill 
thrive and grow above 3lbs. so close to Washington. 
Henry Talbott. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
The Bullhead and the Miller's Thumb. 
The folloAA'ing is translated from Bulletin de Peche et 
de Pisciculture Batique — Paris, September, 1897: 
"We, in France, entertain scarcely any doubt that this 
poor little, despised fish (the btfllhead) forms a large 
part of the fish food supply of Americans, and that in 
certain parts of the L'nited States it is so abundant that 
it is considered as injurious. Our confrere in New York, 
Forest and Stream, in its number of Aug. 21, 1897, and 
under the signature of Mr. A. N. Cheney, gives to the 
subject some interesting details. 
"In 1895 there were consumed in the State of NeAV York 
alone 200,ooolbs. of bullheads, which Avere caught in the 
State, and four times as many taken outside of the State. 
Imagine hoAv large a number of these little fish had to be 
caught to make a total of i.ooo.ooolbs. They are so nu- 
merous in all the streams that they are caught in large 
quantities bj'' even the most primitiA'e means, but es- 
pecially Avith hook and line. In France, on the other 
hand, bullheads are very rarely caught with a line, but in 
America that is the method of self-destruction which 
they seem to prefer. They seize a line to Avhich are at- 
tached several hooks baited Avith a morsel of meat, and 
Avith such eagerness that four, five and even seven are 
caught at one time. 
"Mr. Cheney cites a remarkable example of the bull- 
head's greed. During a fishing tour which he made to 
one of the Adirondack lakes, in northern Ncav York, 
he ran out of bait It thereupon occurred to one of the 
fishermen Avith him to bait the hook with a tiny bit of 
sponge which ser\-ed for the purpose of bailing the boat. 
At once the bullheads seized upon this novel kind of 
food, AA'hich surely could not have been appetizing, with 
as much apparent pleasure as if the hook had been cov- 
ered Avith a Avorm or bit of meat, and the sport con- 
tinued, all the time attended with the same good luck, 
and with that economical sort of bait, so that it was no 
longer necessary to freshly bait the hook after each 
catch." 
When I got thus far I turned to Forest and Stream 
of Aug. 21, to see if I had actually said anything of the 
sort, or anything that could be tortured into such a 
statement in a free translation, for that is more than 
Hank Wilson Avould declare as truth — Avhen beyond the 
influence of a camp-fire. I find that I simply related 
Hank's experiment of putting a piece of sponge on Com- 
modore Witherbee's hook, but no bullheads were taken 
on it. 
