70 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tJULY 22, 1899. 
Boston Fishermen. 
Boston^ July 15. — Great fishing continues to be noted 
at Lake Dunmore, Salisbury, Vt. Mr. E. D. Thayer, a 
noted fisherman at that lake, writes his friend in Boston, 
Mr. E. C. Stevens, that he has just been at the lake for a 
day's trip, and beaten' the record this year, at least. He 
caught a pickerel that weighed ijlbs. and i2oz,, also a 
bass of 61bs., four weighing over 4lbs. each and three of 
3lbs. each. A nuniber of small fish were also taken. 
Seven small pickerel were also talcen that day by the 
same fisherman — from aj^lbs. up to pj^lbs. The writer 
of the letter doubtless considers a pickerel of 93/2lbs. a 
small one beside one of lalbs. and 120Z., but in Boston a 
pickei-el of 2i^lbs. is a good-sized one! Seventeen fish 
of both species were the result of the trip. Mr. Thayer 
also writes that Mr. Handy, another friend, he "only took 
out for ballast," Mr. H. catching only five of the fish. The 
bass were quick biters and very gamy. 
Mr. Stevens, Mr. Tausig and Mr. Nickerson, of Bos- 
ton, left for Lake Dunmore on a fishing trip Friday. 
Smelt are used for pickerel bait on that lake. They are 
taken up from the Boston fish markets. But on the day 
of the big catch of Mr. Thayer, noted above, sutlers were 
used, since smelts were not to be had. Mr. Stevens and 
Mr. Tausig expect good fishing and some large pickerel, 
as they have supplied themselves with the best bait and 
rigging possible. They hope to go without any serious 
losses, and they have a reason for feeling in that way. 
A year ago, on the same kind of a trip, they changed 
their clothes before riding over to the lake, Mr., Tausig 
putting his diamond studs and other' valuables into his 
hand bag, together with his reel, lines and other tackle. 
On reaching the lake the bag could not be found, nor 
could any trace of it be found afterward. While fishing 
at the lake the other day Mr. Stevens noticed a reel in 
the hands of another fisherman. He asked to see it, which 
request was readily granted. At once he recognized it as 
one he had presented to Mr. Tausig over a year ago, and 
one that was in the lost bag. He put a detective on to the 
matter, and the other day got a letter stating that the bag 
had been recovered, with all the valuables. The finder, or 
thief, had sold the reel only, and to the fisherman in 
whose hands Mr. Stevens had seen it. 
In some sections of the country the people are some- 
times proud of their fishing guests. Such is the case 
with the people of Chandler's Mills, Me., according to a 
letter- shown me yesterday. Chandler's Mills is sixteen 
miles from Waterville, on the shores of Great Pond, which 
is becoming noted for its bass and perch fishing. The 
noted guests expected are Grover Cleveland and Joseph 
Jefferson, and they are likely to be there this week. 
Mr. Jefferson's son is alrady there, and his glowing re- 
ports have doubtless drawn his distinguished father and 
the ex-President. 
July 17. — Most of the Boston trout fishermen are now 
at home, the spring trips having come to an end. The 
hotels and the fishing camps are now genei-ally left to the 
vacationists and the summer boarders, who indulge in a 
little fishing now and then. At the Upper Dam, Me.. 
there is the usual summer vacancy, the veteran angler, T. 
B. Stewart, of New York, who has been joined by his 
wife and son, being about the last on the ground. At 
the Middle Dam there are still a few anglers left. A 
few fishermen have gone on trips to the Seven Ponds, into 
the Dead River region and up to the Megantic preserve. 
They go for fly-fishing altogether. Mr. L. Dana Chap- 
man, secretary and treasurer of the Megantic Club, is 
back from a flying trip to that preserve, where he did a 
good deal of tramping and but little fishing. His object 
was to se& how matters concerning the camps, ast well 
as fish and game, were looking. He is pleased with the 
increase in deer, and better pleased with the fact that 
there are more partridges than last year. The season has 
been very dry, and hence favorable to the chicks. He also 
considers that the winter was more favorable to the win- 
tering of the old birds. Mr. E. C. Stevens, Mr. Felix 
Tausig and Mr. J. F. Nickerson, of Boston, left for Lake 
Dunmore, Salisbury. Vt., on Friday, determined to take 
some of those big pickerel. Saturday morning Mr. 
Stevens telephoned me that they had taken some good 
fish that morning. 
Late reports sa.y that the fishing holds out well at New- 
found Lake, New Hampshire. At Haines Landing, 
Mooselucmaguntic Lake, Me., they are taking a good 
many small trout on the fly, and the same is true at 
Bemis, lower end of the same lake. Landlocked salmon, 
pickerel and bass fishmg is still reported to be good at 
Lake Webb, Weld, Me. At Moosehead Lake the summer 
boarder reigns in,stead of the angler. 
Upper. Dam fishermen are inclined to think that the 
recent order of the Maine Commissioners closing the pool 
to all fi.shing from "sunset to sunrise" after Aug. i is 
unjust, as well as likely to lead to complications. In the 
first place they say that from "sunset to dark" is the 
best time in the day for fishing, and they believe that they 
should not be deprived of the privelege. Then the term 
"sunset" is altogether too indefinite, and no two fisher- 
men will think alike about it. They believe that if such a 
ruling is to prevail at all a definite time of day for the 
fishing to begin and to cease should be noted in the order 
for each day from the beginning of the order till the legal 
close season begins, Oct. i. On the other hand, the Com- 
missioners have issued the order, simply as noted, from 
"sunset to sunrise." They are also reported as saying 
that it would be a good idea to close the pool altogether 
after the fish begin to come into the pool late in the sea- 
son, since they come up there for spawning. But those 
interested say that this would kill the Upper Dam hotel 
interest in the fall and be a great hardship to Landlord 
Chadwick, who has always been very popular with the 
fishermen. 
Several readers of the Forest and Stream wish me 
to sa^f that they are glad that Mr. J. S. Seymour came 
out last week and explained what he did with the 701 
trout taken in one day at the meadow grounds. Seven 
Pond region. They say that they are glad that he put 
them back, so manj'- of them. They say: "We really 
wanted to know what became of the fish," But at least 
one of those interested is puzzling his brains over the 
figures of the question. "Seven hundred and one trout 
In a day, How many hours did he fish? Did his arm 
ache when the task was done? What did he catch so 
many for, anyway?" 
The salmon fishermen are also returning. Generally 
the fishing has been rather poor, the water being low 
from unusually dry and hot weather. Still, .some good 
catches are mentioned. Mr, Herbert. Dumaresq and 
Mr. Lemuel Howe, of Boston, have been having good 
sport at Mr. Dumaresq's camp on the Restigouche. They 
caught in one day three large salmon weighing from 
34 to 4oIbs. Two of the salmon were among the largest 
ever taken in that region. The fish were hooked nearly 
an hour before they could be landed. Special. 
Potomac Notes. 
Washington, D. C. — Since last report, published July i, 
we have learned of a number of scores made during the 
last week of June and first week of July. Some fine sport 
was enjoyed over the glorious Fourth. 
Mr. HooA'^er fished the Potomac from the Shenandoah 
to Washington, and made so large a catch that his friends 
advised him to stock the various streams around the 
city in which bass are not now found. 
Mr. Cameron, fishing the river around the mouth of 
the Monocacy, caught forty-eight bass. 
Several members of the Blue Ridge Rod and Gun Club, 
so snugly housed at Harper's Ferry, have had good early 
summer fishing. 
The Washington Anglers' Club, headquarters just be- 
low the Great Falls, has had some of its boss fishermen 
members on the river regularly since the opening of the 
season, and good catches have been made by them. 
Messrs. Coburn, Harper, Demonet, Fry, Hunter, Egloff 
and other members have been taking bass from i to 5lbs. 
weight in strings of three to a dozen. 
Wirt Tassin, of the National Museum, one of our short 
hour enthusiasts, has been enjoying himself by hunting 
out bass and crappie after oflice hours. A few days ago 
Mr. Tassin surprised himself by taking four bass near 
the foot of the Little Falls; and another hour's out- 
ing was spent fly-fishing in the Little River, when he 
succeeded in catching a few crappie on brown hackle. Mr. 
Tassin will soon take a week or two off for camping and 
fishing along the Potomac above the Great Falls. With a 
boat and tackle for angling, a blanket for sleeping and a 
few cooking utensils, this gende angler will have plenty of 
genuine sport and recreation. 
One of our best anglers had a queer lot of lack recently. 
He fished three daj-s, going up river so as to make a good 
strike, and caught one fish each day (i-pounders). He 
still wonders why. 
Monocacy. 
We made a flying trip to Western Maryland a few days 
since, and got two things, a few scores and an invitation 
to be up next clear water to go fishing. 
Frank Wilson, of Union Bridge, captured eighteen 
bass, the largest, a 4%-pounder, in rather a novel man- 
ner. Frank's leader was not strong enough for a fish of 
that size and parted. William Stockney, swimming near 
by, had come up to see Frank struggle with the fish. When 
the leader gave way Stockney made a dive for the bass, 
which had been worked into a small cove where the 
water was shallow and full of grasses; the boy failing 
to handle the fish readily, Wilson went in, clothes and 
all. and secured the prize, along with 3ft. of leader. 
Jesse Reisler, Bill Ftirry and Bob Ayres caught twenty- 
six bass on June 29. They ran leather small. 
There is some fishing at times in tributaries of the 
Monocacy, in Pipe Creek, for instance, but these streams 
are very uncertain as to condition, The banks are so soft 
and muddy that cows going into them for watei", or for 
the purpose of washing the flies off their tortured hides, 
stir up the mud and becloud the water so that the bass 
will not bite. B. 
More Fish Stories. 
Mk. 'r.\LiiOTr's rt-miniscences in the last number of 
Forest and Stream recall to mind some singular ex- 
periences of my boyhood which may not be uninteresting 
to your readers. 
When quite a small boy I was fishing once in Carter's 
Run in Fauquier county, Virginia, and had quite a string 
of sun-perch. To keep them fresh I would put them in 
the water, and once, after moving to a new spot, I threw 
the string of fish over the bank and fastened the end to a 
willow. I noticed that the bank was of clay and was 
honeycombed with holes. When a short time afterward I 
untied the string and attempted to pull up the fish I fotmd 
that they were fast. Thinking ihey were twisted around 
a root I rolled my sleeve to my shoulder, l;iy down on 
the bank and thrust ray arm deep into the water. With 
some difficulty I pulled them loose and brought them 
up, when to my horror I found I held a snake in my 
hand and within a few inches of my face. . He had 
coiled around my string of fish and was appropriating 
them to his own use. I fished no more that evening, and 
to this day I feel the cold shivers run down, my back when 
I remember how that snake f&lt. 
On another occasion four of us one evening after school 
went to seine Moore's Creek, a small and shallow stream 
near Charlottesville. We had dragged with varying suc- 
cess about a half-mile, when a sudden' be'nd of the stream 
brought us to a hole of more than usual depth and 
promise. We quickly strung out the seine, surrounded the 
hole and brought up among a lot of fish a bird about the 
size of a summer duck. Turning the net over it we 
climbed out on the bank to examine our prize. It was a 
loon which doubtless dived when it saw us coming. We 
took it home and kept it for quite a while confined in a 
chicken coop. His beak was hard, long and pointed; he 
was pugnacious, and when he took hold, like the proverbial 
turtle, would hold on "till it thundered." 
A few years ago I was at Traveler's Repose, an inn on 
the Greenbrier River, in West Virginia, just at the foot of 
the "Big Alleghany," enjoying a few days' trout fishing. 
It is an ideal spot for a sportsman, more than a day's 
journey from the nearest railroad, the best section of the 
east for bear, deer, turkey and pheasant, with the grandest 
mountain scenery and the clear cold streams which trout 
love, I was talking to Mr. Peter V'eager, an old resident 
of that section, about an iilb, trout which I had seen dis- 
played in the window of a Boston sporting goods establish- 
ment, labeled "Brook Trout from Maine," and expressed 
doubt as to whether it was really a brook trout. Mr. 
Yeager said that in olden times he had known 26in. trout 
to be caught in the Greenbrier ; that his father caught one 
about that size, and on cleaning it they found a young 
rabbit in his maw, and another very large one was caught 
which had swallowed a little pheasant. That fall, while 
hunting partridges on the Hardware River a flock arose, 
evidently a late hatch, and too small to shoot. We held 
up otir guns and let the birds go. One of them flew across 
the river, and striking liis wing against a weed, fell down 
into the water and went floating and struggling down 
the stream. If a big trout had been lying under the bank 
he would certainly have taken him in out of the wet. This 
incident strengthened my faith in the fish story. 
Samuel B. Woods. 
''The Kingfishers.'' 
Port Clinton, O— Editor Forest and Stream: I wrote 
you a few weeks ago requesting the name and address of 
one of the Kangfishers, of Cincinnati, O. A few days 
later I received a letter signed J. M. Hickman (Old 
Hickory), which gave me the desired information, and 
I am pleased to say I have met three of the crowd, viz., 
J. M. Hickman, Col. Culbertson and Mr. Temple, and a 
more congenial lot of veteran anglers would be very hard 
to find. 
Old Hickory, the originator of the Kingfishers, informs 
me that he has spent his vacation under canvas for more 
than twenty-seven years, and is just as enthusiastic as 
ever, in spite of his years. 
Col. Culbertson has also-be^n an angler for years, and 
has "wet his lines" in almost every stream and lake of im- 
portance from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, as well as a 
number in Canada, one of which is the famous Nepigon. 
He speiids his winters in Florida, and his reminiscences 
of hunting and fishing in the South are very interesting 
and entertaining. 
The Colonel entertained Old Hickory and me at his 
bachelor quarters on Race street, and during the evening 
the question of provisioning the camp was freely dis- 
cussed—more particularly the "buying of the ham." 
There seems to be a difference of opinion between the 
Colonel and Old Hickory regarding this necessarv article, 
where it should be purchased— whether at Cincinnati or 
of the natives in the backwoods. The Colonel says Cin 
cinnati. Hickory says backwoods. It was also hinted to 
me that by purchasing them in the backwoods it gives 
Hickory an opportunity to visit among the ladies, and that 
on numerous occasions he has been known to steal away 
for hours in quest of "ham and buttermilk." 
There is a very interesting relic among the Colonel's 
belongings in the way of a camp chair which has been his 
constant companion for perhaps thirty-five years. On every 
inch of the wood surface is carved the name of some 
favorite camp. There are some, however, which arp 
represented by a circle with a dot in the center, the mean 
ing of which will be instantly recognized should this meet 
the eye of any of the Kingfishers. This magic circle is 
defined as "Omea" in the language of their craft, and is a 
polite way of saying "cuss words" in the presence of 
ladies. 
The "old boys" wiU start on their annual outing on 
July 18. Their destination will be northern Michigan, 
aitd as Old Hickory has promised a write-up of the 
trip I shall anxiously await its coming in dear old 
Forest and Stream. Wah-Wah. 
Pacific Salmon and the Fly* 
New York, July 12. — Editor Forest and Stream: Ac- 
cept my mite of evidence on the question as to whether 
or not Pacjfie salmon can be or. have been taken with a 
fly. • 
In August, 1889, in company with Mr. Henry P. Wehs, 
the well-known angler and author, I fished for Pacific 
salmon in Klakamas Creek, a tributary of the Columbia, 
at a point about eight miles from Portland, Ore. Here 
there is situated a hatchery whose Aveir when closed cuts 
off the further progress up .stream of salmon ascending to 
the spawning beds. At the foot of this weir were from 
forty to fifty large Chinook salmon, averaging at least 
3olbs; weight, and although we cast with care and pa- 
tience, using a variety of killing salmon flies, no rise re- 
warded our effort. I may say that Mr. Wells has never 
been quite satisfied with the experiment, as the sun shone 
intensely bright and the fish were not fresh-run, and a 
good deal knocked about by their journeying. 
Above the weir, however, the "steel-head" salmon were 
more accommodating. We took about a dozen on the 
fly, weighing in the neighborhood of 81bs. apiece. Can 
Mr. Kipling's "Chinook" have been a "steel-head"? If 
so, he consumed an unnecessary number of minutes in 
landing the .Bahadner. Henry C. Beadleston. 
Staten Island Fishing, 
GiFFORDS, Great Kills, S. I., N. Y., July 13.— The weak- 
fish have again begun to bite. Last week, and the week 
previou-s but few fish were' caught, but some good catches 
have been brought in this week. Mr. Harrison and Mr. 
Buchanan caught twenty-two weakfish yesterday, and 
Mr. Barth and Mr. Conover took three weakfish and four 
bluefish. On Tuesday Miss Devlin and Miss O'Malley, two 
enthusiastic and plucky young fisherwomen of this place, 
who go out by themselves and who take the fish from the 
hooks with their own hands, brought in a nice mess of 
weakfish and a few fluke. All these parties left from Mrs. 
M. J. Collins' hotel. Weakfishing should improve steadily 
now. The bluefish are beginning to bite, and there is 
plenty of sport in sight for the fishermen. 
Antoinette. 
Michigan Trowt. 
Portage Lake, Mich.— The trout are now rising to the 
fly and good baskets are the order of the day. 
Gc N. Gleasom. 
