388 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Mav 20, iSgg. 
A Homily on Angling. 
BY CHARLES HALLOCK. 
Washington, May i. — ^The angling season is back- 
ward this spring like the budding, the plowing, and tb** 
planting ; and in the high latitude of natural trout streams 
where these Avinsome fish do most lurk, disport and use. 
from Maine to Wisconsin, the laxes are still ice-bound, 
and snowbanks linger in the deeper shadows of the for- 
ests. It is even so on the Brule, in the superlative domain 
of Winnebou-jou, that eminent angler's patron, where the 
St. Paul Club has been wont to open camp each year on 
May I. And Fred Mather, the author of "Men I Have 
Fished With," writes from there tliat patches of snow 
remain where the harbinger blossoms of the trailing 
arbutus are beginning to show in the birch woods. Fred 
has just entered upon the administration of Cedar Island 
Lodge, where Mr. Henry Clay Pierce, of St, Louis, has 
most extensive trout preserves and propagating works, 
with no end of such home and scenic attractions as un- 
* limited wealth can procure. At different times I have 
been his guest, as well as the guest of the hospitable 
Winneboujou. 
Just where the stream divides, the drooping birches 
drop the larval parasites which breed in their branches 
among the hungry' trout which gather in the rough waters 
of the spring rise to catch the flotsam of the current, and 
many a 2-pounder, yea, a 4-pounder. has been captured, 
secundum arfeni, at the confluence of the reunited 
waters. And up and down the river^ for miles above 
and below Cedar Island, the stream flows in alternate 
pools and rapids, beside which the rustic cottages and 
aesthetic club houses have been located, with here and 
there a hostelry for the public. All the trout fishing in 
the Brule is done from boats, and each of the various 
river craft must have its skilled boatman to pole it up 
the rapids, to hold it on the riffles, and to shoot the 
falls, just as is done on the salmon river, Restigouche, in 
Canada ; as well as to make noon camp and broil a mess 
of fish as the guides do among the Thousand Islands of 
the St. Lawrence in midsummer. 
It is a knackful accomplishment to pole a skiff or bark 
canoe up a rapid stream, requiring not strength so much 
as dexterity and a knowledge of the stream's ever chang- 
ing moods and caprices; for if -the current but catches the 
bow in sHghtest deflection from the line of direction, 
she swings broadside round, and is swept ruthlessly back 
to quiet water, only to essay the ascent again. Under 
such stress, a novice in a canoe will be apt to lose his 
head and upset; for such a craft is tottcrish at best, and 
one must learn to get and keep his balance, like a tight- 
rope dancer, or a pupil at a riding school. All the same, 
there is a sighth- lass of fourteen, city bred, and daughter 
of a self-exiled valetudinarian living, just below tlie 
Morthern Pacific Railroad crossing, who learned in two 
yiears' time to 'rival the most dexterous of the local 
aborigines who guide for Winneboujou. I have seen her 
put a 15ft. loaded canoe up the stifl^est rapids on the 
river, to the irrepressible admiration of newcomers, who 
(Tpuld not comprehend by what knack or magic so slight 
a person could accomplish such a feat, any more than 
they could realize, unfil they learned by what dexterous 
turn of the wrist an expert angler fastens to a darting 
trout. 
And this reminds me that there are always at every 
angling resort lots of fellows who come to the river side 
in the full-fledged belief that they are gifted, and discover 
at first effort that they are practically hor.s du combat, 
and that even a little child can lead them. 
No young rooster ever had his comb cut with such 
compunction of abasenient and' inconsequence ! Helpless 
but reliant upon the hope set forth before them, the wise 
among them are fain to intrust their lives, and the for- 
tunes of the day to this self-taught maid in short .skirts 
who deftb^ plies the push-pole; and when thej' return to 
the landing at sundown with a goodly mess of average 
trout, more, indeed, than they ever stood godfather to be- 
fore, they feel that Lhey have undergone an experience as 
noA^el and instructive as it was exhilarating. 
There are several ladies in the Winneboujoti Club who 
are deft with the paddle and rod, of whom the three 
daughters of ex-Mayor C, D. O'Brien, of St. Paul, are 
noted. His home crew of eight oars and a coxswain con- 
stitute the most striking summer feature at White Bear 
Lake, when it turns out for a sturdj^ pull over the regula- 
tion course; all to the manor born. 
Now if I might add a word by way of homily, I would 
assert that it is easy enough always to discover an ex- 
perienced angler without looking into his mouth. Some 
pretenders may have the written code at their tongue's 
end, whereby they daze and overawe the unsophisticated 
neophyte; but they never c;ui deceive a veteran. An 
expert can read them offhand. He can detect their de- 
ficiencies and shortcomings the instant they enter for 
competition. All of us can tell a horseman at sight by the 
way he approaches an animal to take the rein or put fool 
in the stirrup. So it is with him who handles rod or 
paddle. An apparent!}' insignificant movement will gix'e 
him away. Likewise with the man who takes up a gun 
or axe, billiard cue, foil, or Indian club; who steps into 
a carriage or boat, or enters a drawing room. Ignorance 
cannot be disguised. It is the companion of awkward- 
ness.'and the two go always hand in hand. 
Assitredly, bookish wisdom and finical acquirements do 
not make the fisherman. An angler with superfine tackle 
and toggery may astonish the callow by his professional 
make-up, but unless he luiderstands the habits of the 
fish and the character of the water he fishes, he will make 
but a poor fist of his angling, and a good deal more is 
included in a knowledge of habits than consists in the 
mere superficial understanding of what fish eat, how they 
abide and v\'^hat will attract them best or bring them most 
surely to creel. If it be true of forest haunts of game, it 
equally true of the brooks, that too much beating about 
the bush defeats its ends. The silent hunter or angler 
and quiet methods, secure the goodlier results. A tyro's 
fantastic manipulation of the rod will scare more fish than 
wifl f>rirsffi while his frequent changing of flieSj in* 
volving disconcerting body movements, will only lessen 
his chances of filling his creel. 
There is a closer analogy between hunting and fishing 
than many people affect to believe. I am always sur- 
prised when I do not perceive a sportsman of repute ex- 
ercise the same caution in approaching the denizens of 
rivers as the fauna of the forests. The ostrich with his 
head in the sand is not more foolish than the man who 
fancies that the fish cannot see him because he cannot 
see them. A practiced eye will detect a motionless fish 
or a glancing flash in the stream where one who is un- 
accustomed will fail to discover it after it is plainly 
pointed out. One should approach an eligible part of 
the stream with unvarying discretion, even though it ap- 
pears to be barren. Hundreds of so called anglers ruin 
their chances at the outset by the clumsy manner in which 
they approach the timid creatures which they propose to 
entice and lay hands on. If market gunners behaved in 
likte manner, utterly ignoring the first principles of 
"drawing on game" which bird dogs practice so well, our 
city epicures would get no woodcock or canvasback ducks. 
If opinionated tyros only knew by what great painstak- 
ing fish baskets are sometimes filled, they would discover 
that they have something yet to learn iii order to attain 
the acme of high art. For ^ example, the inevitable 
farmer's boy of the epigram will crawl on his belly for 
20yds. in order to get a big trout from under the banks, 
and ten to one he will yank him out. Herein he develops 
several attributes of a true angler. He is familiar with 
fish haunts and habits, and he exercises caution and 
patience, without which success would be impossible. It 
is by the application of these qualities that tlie tow string 
is able to di.scount the silk line and reel. Books cannot 
impart the practical information which that lad possesses. 
I once met a party on the Nepigon in August, who had 
been fishing all the choice places along shore where fish 
abound earlier in the season, and had taken none. I 
took them in a canoe "to a riff in raid-stream, where a 
small i.sland divided the current, and they caught a bag 
full. You see a man may be a prize winner at a fly-casting 
tournament, and yet have no "luck" on 'the streams, be- 
cause he doesn't know their changing moods and tenses. 
It is not my purpose to discuss low grade and high 
grade angling in these desultory lines. Of course, a 
masterly cast with a fly will pick up fish which a gob and 
wattle cannot reach. We all understand that; and we 
have long beeii 'familiar with the logic which, from 
the days of Saladin and Ccenr de Leon prefer dexterity 
to brute force. I am simply trying to show where those 
who attempt to practice high grade angling are deficient 
and fail, and that many who talk by the book are but 
bunglers in the art. One chief reason vvhy manj^ come 
short is because they don't keep their . eyes on their 
work. 1 do not believe thcit a short-sighted individual 
can catch as many fish as one who has perfect vision. He 
nnist miss a gEjeat many fish that ri.se. A flA^-fisherman in 
particular should keep his eye on the water. It should 
follow with constant vigilance the vagaries of his flics. 
He .shoifld take up his line as seldom as possible; be sure 
always to strike the in.stant ho thinks he detects a gleam. 
I have trout fishing especially in mind while T write. It 
is sui generis, whatever may be said of fly-fishing in its 
general application to fish of other sorts. With respect 
to salmon, the rule of striking at sight does not apply at 
all; quite the reverse being the practice; the same with 
black bass. The motion of a trout is often quicker than 
the glance of the human eye, and unless the angler is on 
the alert the trout will have seen and investigated the 
lure before a contemptuous flap of his tail has tnade the 
angler aware that he has come and gone. Often an up- 
ward lift of the rod tip will hook a fish whose presence 
was not suspected at all. the barb fastening to its tail, 
side, or gill. Such incidents as these give rise to the 
s])eculation that trout knock flies into their mouths with 
their tails. 
Books are filled with high art methods and systems of 
manipulating artificial Ries, all of the impressionist style 
of dictation, just as we have in metaphysics the higher 
criticism and the higher law. hut the teachings are exo- 
genous and heretical, and the strict constructionist of the 
old schooLwitl ealch the niosf fish. 
One object of wnding a stream (presuming the banks 
are as practicable for casting as the beid) is to avoid ob- 
servation. A man in full A^iew on the bank will empty a 
pool in a jift'y. Every trout Avill take to its lair. Proper 
wading is the most deliberate operation imaginable. A 
good Avader will scarcely roil the Avater in a mill-tail. He 
will often pick up a score of fish Avithout moA'ing more 
than a couple of rods. The fish will so little heed him 
that they Avill sometimes play about his feet. I have 
often Avaded throitgh. a school collected in a long reach 
of Avater Avaist deep on a midsummer day Avhen the sun 
was bright, and picked out now and then a fish ; and 
then getting on the banks well back out of sight, and 
returning to the head of the pool, fished it through a 
second time with tolerable success. Wading also enables 
the angler to cover Avater Avhich he could not otherwise 
reach, and it permits him to fish with a short line, say, 
30ft. from reel to tail fly, Long distance casts are a 
mistake, because the line is not then in such complete 
control, and the energy of the efl'ort to deliver it .scares 
the fish. I seldom attempt an inordinate cast except 
Avlien fishing with minutest flies on calm, broad water. 
Under such conditions only is the ability to deliver a long 
line an enviable qualification. A slight riffle on the 
surface is worth loyds. of distance. 
1 liere is a great difference between stre(im fishing and 
pond fishing. From a boat a long line is the proper 
thing. A 30yd. cast of line evenly laid out at a fly- 
casting tournament is an exquisite nerformance, but the 
accomplishment is seldom of practical use in angling, ex- 
cept for salmon. The essence of the art called gentle is 
to know how to find the trout first and then to present the 
lure as natural^ as possible Avithout exciting suspicion. 
Perhaps, after all, the stage of Avater, the time of day. and 
the season of the year, are not considered as much as they 
should be? If one fails at one hour, let him try another 
part of the day. In August only the early morning and the 
dusk of evening are likely to yield satisfactory results. 
I remember once an amusing incident at Seaman's 
Pond in RidgcAvood, Long Island, where a visitor was 
permitted to fish for the Jiver-fed trout which were in the 
habit of rushing en tmsse after what Avas thrown In at 
feeding FOtil thp.y fairly made the water boil. The 
figure of a man on the bank had no terrors for therfi 
then, tnough they Avere a little shy on off hours, and of 
course our ambitious angler took a fine trout at the very 
first cast. If he had had a "trot line" carrying a score 
of hooks, he Avould have taken A fish oil eA'ery ohe. 
After playing him Avell to creel, so as to enjoy the sus- 
pense AVhich contributes so much to the enjoyment of 
sport, he cast again, expecting a repetition of the previous 
rush, but nary rush ensued. A fingerling or two broke 
gingerly at his tail fly, but the most persistent persuasion 
faued to fasten another trout. 
Hace fahttla docet that dead failures are possible in the 
best stocked waters, and that the shoemaker is worthy 
of his last ; or Avords to that effect, 
Trout on Broadhead Creek. 
I AM a plain, blunt man Avho loves my country, and 
iny friend. I have reached that period in" life when, like 
Cicero, I love to recall the pleasures of a well-spent life, 
and if there is any part of my life I would willingly omit, 
it is the several years I .spent in reasonably close contact 
Avith the "scurvy politicians who pretend to see the 
things they see not." 
I seldom get beyond bait fishing — the red Avorm or the 
shining minnow. I do not pretend to be an artist in fish. 
Fred Mather is! But even he comes to the fescue of a 
bait-fisherman when occasion offers. 
When the May stm began "to shed her amber light 
the iievA'-leaA'ed woods and laAvns betAveen," my blood 
was alive with the inspiration to be derived from a few 
days of "the contemplative man's amusement" in far-off 
Monroe. Nothing but flounders were biting at Anglesea, 
N. J., though the dogwood tree was in blossom. But one 
morning I found a letter on my table from Price Bros, 
of the Spruce Cabin Inn, up in Monroe county, Pa., say- 
ing, "Come at once; trout galore." 
I took the noon train that day for Canadensis, Pa., the 
station Avhere the fisherman gets off for the Spruce 
Cabin, a telegram having told my old friends, Price Bros., 
that I "was on the Aving." But I must tell you, how I 
found this beautiful spot twenty-four years ago, that has 
been, so near rny heart ever since. 
William King, a nephew of Judge Edward Kiiig, i*resi- 
dent Judge of the Philadelphia Comtnon Pleas, first intro- 
duced me to the trout of Monroe county. The amiable 
Judge King left a handsome estate to William, his neph- 
ew, Avho was a brilliant and brave naval officer, and a 
member of the old Philadelphia Club at Thirteenth and 
Walnut streets. William King understood as much about 
spending litis estate as the historic Judge kneAV about 
saving it, 
William King, something of a satlfist, kiighed at ttlV 
$5 lance— now pole— and noticed that t carried no miller 
nor Jock Scott flies, but was voluminouslv funny at my 
tin bait-box. 
"Will you fish, Colonel. Avith the red Avorra?" said the 
naval SAvell. 
"Certainly." I replied, "and I Avill beat you tAVo to one," 
"No you Avon't," said Lieutenant Commander King, 
"not for a $25 dinner at the Philadelphia Club." 
"Done," I replied. "We begin to-morrow at 8 K. M., 
each man have an attendant; fishing to last for six hours." 
King Avas to try the fly and I Avas to try the Worm— tio 
minnows allowed. The naval ofiicer's rig from stem to 
stern Avas .something beautiful to behold. Induditig rod 
and reel, dress, and a long book of every known fly, pre- 
pared by Keider, of Philadelphia, his outfit must have 
cost $250. 
I said to Milton Price, then only eight years old. "Can I 
beat this fish dude?" 
"Yes." he said, "I'll get the worms to-llight; I know 
the holes where the trout live, and AVe'lll just Avax' the 
shirt off of him." 
This encouraged me someAvhat, but the: case looked 
ommous. I Avas up by light, and with mv good-natured 
and confident friend breakfasted at 7 A' M, on trout, 
coffee, buckwheat cakes and maple molasses. 
King had secured a strong-limbed country boy. and Ave 
Avere oft' on time. Only one pole for each party, and one 
line to be used. I was litnited to Broadhead Creek, Stony 
Run and Goose Pond Run. and King Avas to go up Broad- 
head Creek, then to Mill Creek and Buck H:ill. 
■ This Avas the great piscatorial day of my life. Mil- 
ton Price kncAv every pond Avhere the fontinalis disported 
and every laurel bush that grcAV on the side of the pond 
Avhere the lusty trout did dAvell, 
We improved the time. When 1 Avas sure of a good 
spot I Avaded in up to my neck, and Avas sure of some re- 
turn. I haa an ordinary summer suit on. and I knew 
King Avould not spoil his $60 Wanamaker suit after all the 
trout in Monroe countj'. 
When tired out I would lie under the flowering 
rhododendrum (laurel) bushes and let Milton Price 
catch all that Avas left. I slipped over stones, fell OA-er the 
roots, caught one trout that weighed 2lbs.. and at 1:30 
P. M., little Milton said. "Colonel, \ve Avill stop noAA^, 
Ave'A'e got that dude beat." And Ave stopped, rested long 
enough^ to get our breath and started back to the Spruce 
Cabin farm. We had a royal bunch of trout, strung on a 
crooked sticMc. just forty-three in number. 
When Ave reached the hotel we were Avet. tired and 
hungr3% and up came Lieutenant William King of the 
U. S. Navy. He had tAvo trout as long as your finger 
for his six hotirs' work ! He sighed as he took one glance 
at our healthy string, and a'ied, "Peccavi. I've 'lost iaY 
bet. boys." 
He swore young Martin Price on his aflidavit, iiow a 
lusty grown man, that Ave tAvo had caught the forty-three 
trout, and expressed himself satisfied. 
The next A\-eek he put up the dinner, and no one who 
has not dined at- the Philadelphia Club can fullA'' com- 
prehend the comfort of that memorable dinner. Perhaps 
that experience, and limited opportunities to catch trout, 
have kept me a bait fisherman ever since. Deep-sea fish- 
ing has been my successful hobby. 
Nature has done a great deal for Monroe county. In 
October and November this is the greatest county ii:| 
Pennsylvania for grouse. A laAv has been passed pro- 
hibiting the selling of grouse in the State, and this help.s 
phe shooting immensely. 
The main .stream for |ood fishiu| is Breadhead's Cr«?^H, 
