348 
[May 3, 1902. 
landlocked salmon at Hartland Lake, Me., weighing 5 
pouaig. This catch is remarkable when it is noted that 
that lake was a pickerel pond a few years ago, and that 
the first salmon were put in there only seven years ago. 
This demonstrates Commissioner Stanley's theory that 
landlocked salmon, in favorable weather, should make 
about a pound a year. Mr. Davidson's salmon was taken 
on the Wild Goose Club side of the lake, while the mem- 
bers of the Commodore Club, on the other side, are glad 
that there are so large fish in the lake, but possibly would 
rather have had this one taken on their side. 
Boston, April 28. — At this writing the ice has not left 
Moosehead, though expected to go at any hour. It is not 
usual for the ice to hang in Moosehead longer than in 
the Rangeleys, which lakes were all clear Friday. Fishing 
is legal in Moosehead as soon as the ice goes out, al- 
though not so in the Rangeleys altogether. It is a curious 
fact that an error has been made in regard to fishing in 
the waters of Oxford county, Me. In former Maine game 
law compilations it is stated that the season for fishing 
in Oxford and Franklin counties begins May 1, but a 
e«py of Oarleton's latest Digest or Revision, Edition of 
iQfti — there was no session of the Legislature that year — 
haslthis paragraph: 
"Section 3. The open time for fishing in all the lakes 
in Oxford county shall begin as soon as the ice is out of 
said ia*kes in the spring, instead of on the first day of 
May. as how provided by law." 
In ^Franklin county the open season does not begin till 
the first Jay of May, according to the same revision. 
Hence the condition of the Rangeley Lakes is decidedly 
complicated. Richardson Lake is wholly in Oxford coun- 
ty; and Umbagog, of course, being further west. The 
Upper Dam is in Oxford county, and the Birches, as well 
as Pleasant Island, while Haines' Landing, Bemis and the 
whole of Rangeley Lake are in Franklin county. This 
makes another instance of the careless drawing of the 
Maine fish and game laws. The same revision, by Mr. 
Carleton, says that Mill Brook and Metalic Brook, flow- 
ing into Richardson Lake, are in Franklin county, when 
they are most decidedly in Oxford county. 
Massachusetts anglers who cannot get away for long 
trips do get some pretty good fishing near home. Frank 
Stewart made a trip last Thursday to some stream in the 
vicinity of Sudbury or Concord, and brought home a 
handsome creel of twenty-four trout. His friends say 
that the string weighed 28 pounds — "bv the scales on a 
perch he caught." At least, they were good ones, and 
the boys are all crazy to find out where he got them. 
Good reports continue to come in concerning the fishing 
in the New Hampshire lakes. Mr. Sleeper, of Boston, is 
back from a successful fishing trip to Newfound Lake, 
with some good salmon to his credit. At Lake Winni- 
squam, Laconia, some excellent catches of trout and sal- 
mon have been made during the first two weeks of the 
open -season, although cold weather and cold winds have 
prevailed. Up to the present time more salmon have 
been taken from Winnisquam than for the entire season 
of 1001. At a meeting of the Belknap County Fish and 
Game League, held 'at Laconia last week, it was voted to 
petition the State Fish and Game Commissioners to close 
the trolling season on Lake Winnipesaukee and Winni- 
squam for landlocked salmon and lake trout June 15. 
There will be a rush for the Rangeleys this week. 
Messrs. W. D. Brackett, W. P. Clark, Rufus Brown and 
S. Henry Emery will be the first to start for the Upper 
Dam. . They would have started the day after the ice 
went out, in fact, but for the impression* that the whole 
of the Rangeley waters are closed till May 1, as ex- 
plained to the contrary above. Mr. C. P. Stevens, Mr. 
F. H. Stevens and Mr. William Lee will be among the 
earliest at Richardson Lake, at Mr. Stevens' camp, at the 
Narrows. John Leviseur and a friend from Boston will 
open the season May 1 at the Birches. On the same day 
Charles E ; Harrison, of Providence, with a party of two 
friends, will be on hand at the same resort. Mr. Prentice 
Cummings, of Boston, a long-time annual visitor to 
Bemis, is expected there May 1. E. W. Boyer, of Water- 
ville; W. A. Wade, of New York, and Henry P. Cox, of 
Portland, are booked for the same day. A large delega- 
tion of Lewiston and Auburn, Me., fishermen are to be 
at Bemis the first days of the season. 
April 29. — Moosehead is clear. The Bangor salmon pool 
is affording better sport this year than last. A dispatch 
from that city to-day says that over thirty salmon have 
been taken thus far this season, a number far in excess 
for any other season. Miss Jennie Sullivan, the first 
woman to land a salmon at the pool this year, and who 
secured the first salmon last year, caught a 22-pound 
fish last week. Green Lake continues to be one of the 
most popular fishing spots near Bangor, and salmon were 
taken there every day last week, Special. 
The American ^Ambassador iFl^A 
At the annual meeting of the Fly Fishers' Club, in 
London, the other day, the American Ambassador pre- 
sided, and one of the pleasant incidents of the occasion 
was the presentation to Mr. Choate of a salmon fly 
named the "American Ambassador," ingeniously devised 
by Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
From the Gazette we take the report of Mr. Choate's 
very felicitous speech and those of Messrs. Marston 
and Senior and Gribble. Following toasts to the King 
and President Roosevelt, the chairman, Ambassador 
Choate, said: 
Gentlemen, it is my privilege now to propose to you 
the most important toast of the evening — "The Fly 
Fishers' Club" — (cheers) — or "Your noble, selves" — a 
sentiment nearer and dearer to your hearts than any 
other can possibly be. In doing so, I must be allowed to 
pp«fa,ee my remarks with a word of apology, I am 
afraTd that you will have a great grudge against Lord 
Denbigh, who, unfortunately, is not here to-night, but 
who is directly responsible for the predicament in which 
both you and I find ourselves — a body of distinguished 
experts presided over by one who is no expert at all. 
(Laughter.) He began fishing for me some months ago, 
when I was enjoying myself in my native country on the 
other side of the Atlantic, entirely guiltless of such an 
indiscretion as this. (Renewed laughter.) He cast about 
me on all sides all sorts of alluring and seductive flies — 
(laughter) — but I refused to rise to any of them. (Con- 
tinued laughter.) But with that patience and persever- 
ance so characteristic of the craft he kept on fishing. 
Nothing would satisfy him until he had accomplished the 
object that seemed to be so near to his heart. He fished 
with a most won kiful astuteness and skill, because he 
had not the least idea whether he would find me on the 
Connecticut, the Hudson, the Potomac, or the James, as 
I was moving freely to and fro across them all. (Laugh- 
ter.) At last, in an unwary moment; I yielded to his 
seductions. I took the fly and swallowed the hook, and 
after many a struggle he landed me safely. What an 
unexampled achievement for a fly fisher was that — stand- 
ing here in London, at the very threshold of your club, 
with an elongated rod and line, angling for and capturing 
a strange fish of from thirteen to fourteen stone — (laugh- 
ter) playing with him through three thousand miles of 
water — (laughter) — and landing him at last safely on the 
banks of the Thames for your entertainment. (Continued 
laughter.) And a very sorry entertainment I am afraid 
you will find it. ("No.") I have heard the old story of 
Washington throwing a sovereign across the Atlantic, 
but I never heard of such a haul as that by any angler, 
professional or amateur. Speaking as only a fish could 
speak, as soon as I quite recovered my breath, I pro- 
tested to him that I did not belong to your tabernacle — 
(loud laughter) — but I found him as cunning and wily 
in the management of tabernacles as he was with the rod 
and line — (laughter) — for he said, "I shall keep the door 
of this tabernacle open until you come in." (Laughter.) 
"There is nothing that Americans like so much as the 
open door." (Laughter.) He went on to say that from 
his experience in the management of all kinds of taber- 
nacles, if the people on the inside would only hold the 
door open wide enough and long enough those who still 
lingered on the outside would be sure to come in sooner 
or later, and in I came. (Laughter.) 
Although not an expert, I cannot disavow the posses- 
sion of some of the qualities which go to the creation of 
an expert. I have heard that the true foundation of the 
angler's art and skill is, first, patience, and, secondly, 
veracity in telling the story of his achievements. (Laugh- 
ter.) Well, if a long life spent in the practice of law, with 
a brief supplement of diplomacy, has not qualified me in 
both patience and veracity, how could I possibly hope 
to attain either? (Laughter.) Now, I have this skill, 
that I can stand and cast my fly and fish all day without 
catching anything but such rises! such nibbles! such bites! 
I believe that is regarded as the supreme felicity of the 
fly fisher. (Laughter.) The fish, if they come, add a 
little to the pleasure, but, after all, they are merely an 
incident. (Laughter.) You get, without them, that 
charming contact with nature, the sun and air, earth, 
sky. and water, and everything that contributes to the 
health, appetite and digestion of man, and so, perhaps. 
I share with some of those who sit before me — I will not 
say the majority, but with some of them — this faculty of 
being ready to fish, but not able to reap all the possible 
rewards. (Laughter.) , But those fish that we did not 
catch are always the best there were. (Laughter.) They 
beat the record of all the salmon, the trout, the gray- 
ling, and the bass that ever have been landed upon dry 
ground. The fish that we did not catch — there is no 
limit to their number, their size, their weight, their meas- 
ure, or their color. (Laughter.) Yes, gentlemen, the 
fish that we did not catch are like the speeches which 
after-dinner orators make on their way home in the cab, 
or even when they have got safely to bed— "(laughter) — 
they are a good deal better than anv speeches we really 
have ever made or heard; so that the author of the old 
proverb, whoever he was — I hope it was not Solomon- 
was not so wise after all, when he said that there are as 
good fish in the sea and the rivers as ever were caught. 
He made a mistake. He should have accepted an 
amendment, and said there are always better fish in the 
sea and the rivers than ever were caught. (Laughter.) 
Well. I will tell you briefly the three inducements that 
Lord Denbigh held out to me when exercising the 
wiles and charms of his persuasion to induce me to stand 
here to-night. He said, in the first place, what I have 
already realized, that I should find myself in the company 
of the jolliest and healthiest set of men in Great Britain 
— ("hear, hear," and laughter) — assembled once in the 
year, reposing from their great labors_ — (laughter) — 
meeting for the purpose of mutual admiration and mutual 
glorification, to tell fish stories, to sing and drink toasts 
till the small hours, and forget all the cares of life, oast, 
present and future. (Laughter.) And when I look down 
upon this sea of faces, all so ruddy and contented — shall 
I say self-satisfied? — and when I look over this delight- 
ful programme, interspersed with songs, recitals, and 
stories, with here and there a speech, I know that Lord 
Denbigh was not mistaken. I know that I have fallen 
among true disciples of the gentle, divine, and skilled 
angler who said, in words of which you reflect the spirit 
here to-night: 
Man's life is but vain, for 'tis subject to pain 
And sorrow and short as a bubble; 
'Tis a hodge-podge of business and money and care, 
And care and money and trouble. 
But we'll talce no care when the weather is fair, 
Nor will we vex now though it rain, 
We'll banish all sorrow and sing till to-morrow. 
And angle and angle again. 
This spirit of the angler, happy in the passing hour, is 
as old as the pastime of fishing. Who can doubt that the 
Persian poet was a fisherman, and that it was at an 
anglers' dinner he sang: 
Ah! fill the cup! what boots it to repeat. 
How time is slipping underneath our feet? 
Unborn to-morrow and dead yesterday. 
Why fret about them, if to-day be sweet? 
The next inducement Lord Denbigh threw out was that 
it was intended as a compliment, through me, to the fly 
fishers of America— "a great, growing, and glorious com- 
pany of sportsmen." (Applause.) Well, this was the 
first time I had heard that fish or fishing of any kind 
could be made a bond of union between »ny two 
countries in the world. (Laughter.) Since we became 
an independent nation the fisheries have been a fish bone 
of contention between our two nations, and, even before 
we were born as a nation, between us and the French. 
The fisheries question never would stay settled. We 
have had negotiations, protocols, treaties, arbitrations 
and awards about them, and still they remain open ques- 
tions. In fact, the diplomatists of the two countries 
might well think their occupation gone if no fishing 
question remained to be settled. And now the fly fishers 
would dispose of them all at once. Lord Denbigh's idea 
is thai in inducing me to come here he can get the fly 
fishers of the two continents to intertwine their rods and 
lines across the sea, and so promote the union of the 
two great peoples. (Applause.) 
Let me say a serious word about the fly fishers of 
America, and, generally, about the sportsmen of Amer- 
ica. A stranger has to be in England some years before 
he can fully realize the influence of sport of all kinds 
upon the life and welfare of the people, how deeply and 
powerfully it affects all their domestic and social life, 
their legislation, their jurisprudence, their industries, and 
their business of every kind. On our side of the ocean, 
until recent years, we had but very little sport of any sort. 
Our Puritan fathers were not quite so bad as Macaulay's 
Puritan who prohibited bear-baiting, not because of the 
pain it gave to the bear, but because of the pleasure it 
gave to the spectators; but they were a sober, a serious, 
a hard-working, and a self-denying people, and for the 
first two centuries almost no kind of sport was culti- 
vated among them. Our ancestors took life quite too 
seriously to mingle work and play in your good old Eng- 
lish way. But I am happy to say, and you will be happy 
to hear, that sports of all kinds in the last fifty years have 
been advancing by leaps and bounds throughout Amer- 
ica — {applause) — and that they are beginning to have, 
and in a still greater measure are bound to have in the 
future, an immense effect upon the life, happiness, and 
welfare of the people. Before long you may find the fly 
fishers of America not unworthy rivals. I will not, how- 
ever, claim that our American fish can even rival in 
astuteness and cunning the inhabitants of your old Eng- 
lish waters that have been fished for so many ages. That 
would, at any rate, take "centuries of civilization" and 
of that higher education which your fish have received 
at the hands of yourselves and your fathers. 
Lord Denbigh threw out one more inducement. He 
said that the members of the Fly Fishers' Club, although 
they think they know everything about fishing, especially 
fly fishing, are beginning to look across the Atlantic for 
light and leading on this interesting subject, and, per- 
haps (he said), I should be able to give some idea of 
what is going on on our side of the water for the pro- 
motion of the fishing industry, including fly fishing and 
the other branches of the sport, as well as in the direc- „ 
tion of the substantial feeding of mankind. Well, gen- 
tlemen, it is too late now, at this point of my address, to 
enter into that. I should have opened with this if I had 
wanted to .give you these statistics. (Laughter.) I am 
afraid that they would not be very good bait at this part 
of the voyage. But let me say very briefly that much is 
being done on our side of the water toward the breeding, 
hatching, transportation, distribution, and the care of 
these fish to which you are so devoted. Our republican 
people do not object so very much to spending public 
money for so glorious an object — ("hear, hear") — and we 
have in most of the forty-five States a Fishery Commis- 
sion maintained at the public expense and paid for by 
general taxation. (Applause.) Above them all, but act- 
ing in harmony with them, is the United States Fishery 
Commission, maintained by the Federal Government at 
an expense of something like £100,000 a year. ("Hear, 
hear.") These, acting in harmony, do a vast deal of 
good work. The United States Fishery Commission 
alone has established twenty-five stations, scattered all 
along from the Atlantic to the Pacific, for the hatching, 
preservation, and distribution of fish, from which' they 
send forth to every part of the United States, to this 
country, and to other countries which call for them, trout, 
rainbow, golden," brook, lake, black, spotted, steelhead, 
Scotch sea, and Loch Leven. The methods of distribu- 
tion of these fish by almost countless millions are of a 
unique and almost perfect kind. The Commission owns 
a considerable number of full sized cars adapted to the 
purpose, with tanks and every other apparatus necessary 
for the preservation of *the lives of the fish. They are 
moved by the railroad companies, many of them free 
of cost, so much are these companies interested in this 
pursuit — ("hear, hear") — and these cars last year traveled 
138.000 miles. No doubt you think we are always doing 
everything on a big scale in America, but it is the fact 
that in 1899 they distributed through forty-five States and 
four territories 46,000,000 salmon (eggs and fish), 13,000,- 
000 trout, 4,600,000 grayling, and 385,000,000 perch. Be- 
side the 100,000,000 distributed by cars, 955,000,000 were 
planted by detaehed messengers, so that a great deal is 
being done in the way of restocking old rivers and in 
other directions. I have read that in the good old 
Colonial days the rivers of Massachusetts swarmed with 
salmon to such an extent that it was necessary to pass 
a law for the protection of apprentices, enacting that they 
should not be fed on salmon more than three days in 
the week. (Laughter.) Moreover, fish are now trans- 
ported into rivers, streams, and lakes which were utterly 
guiltless of any such varieties before. The interesting 
experiment is also indulged in of tagging salmon, show- 
ing the date and place, when and where they were put in, 
and when they are taken out — two, three, or five years 
afterward, their travels and habits in the meantime are 
partly accounted for. There is such a thing, too, as an 
accidental planting. Bozeman Creek, in Montana, was 
found to be full of the finest steelhead trout, resulting 
from a can of fry having been accidentally upset into the 
creek a few years before by the jolting of a wagon. I 
should exhaust your patience if I went into any further 
details. ("No, no.") These statistics, dull as they are, 
are all matter of record, and these various commissions 
are producing a literature for the instruction of fisher- 
men throughout the world, which, I am sure, will be of 
immense value; and if in the library of the Fly Fishers' 
Club there should be found some vacant places which 
some of these books specially adapted to your use could 
fill, I should be most happy to be made the medium of 
seeking for then? in the various States,, (Applause.) 
