March 28, 1903.J 
FOREST AND S^j ^EAM, 
247 
Spring: in Quebec. 
Montreal, Quebec, March 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Robins and blackbirds were reported to have 
been seen here yesterday the i8th. Stanstead. 
Game and Fish Bills at Albany. 
special Correspondence of Forest akH- Stream. 
Albany, March 21. — ^Flsh and game bills continue to be pro- 
gressed rapidly through both houses of the Legislature.^ The 
Senate and Assembly committees at present are reporting out 
a very considerable proportion of the measures intrusted to their 
care. But few public hearings on pending bills have been held, 
however. 
No great surprise was caused by the action of the Senate in 
reconsidering its adverse action on Senator Elon R. Brown's 
spring shooting bill, and passing it without amendment. Some 
powerful influences are back of it, and despite the strong oppo- 
sition directed against the meastire from various quarters, its 
sponsors expect to get it through the Assembly with votes to 
spare. 
The status of fish and game bills before the Legislature, other 
than those still reposing in committee, is as follows: 
The Senate has passed the following bills: 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 344, relating ta the dlose season 
for quail. 
Senator Armstrong's, P. Nos 351^ relative to spearing fish in 
Seneca Lake. 
Senator Brackett's, P. No. 604, relative to catching perch in 
Saratoga Lake and Lake Lonely. 
Assemblyman Bridgeman's, P, No. 526, relative to spearing fish 
In creeks in Otsego and Orleans counties. 
Assemblyman Doughty's, P. No. 693, relative to the taking of 
pheasants. 
Assemblyman Fowler's, P. No. 545, for the protection of fish in 
Chautauqua Lake. 
Assemblyman McNair's, P. No. 620, in relation to the close 
season for squirrels. 
Assemblyman Denison's, P. No. 728, relative to tlie cteSfe season 
for wild deer. 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 692, relative to the destruction of 
illegal devices. 
Senator Goodsell's, P. No. 693, relative to fishing through the 
ice with tip-ups in Orange and Rockland counties. 
The Senate has recommitted Senator AUds' bill, P. No. 633, 
relative to wild birds. 
The Senate reconsidered its vote defeating Senator Brown's 
spring shooting bill, P. No. 648, and passed it, 28—14. 
The Senate advanced the followirig bills to third reading this 
week ; 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 432, in relation to grouse and 
woodcock. 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 350, relative to the powers of 
game protectors. 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 699, relative to the close season 
for grouse in the counties of Ulster, Sullivan and Greene, 
Senator Armstrong's, P. No. 697, relative to the sale of venison. 
Senator Townsend's bill, P, No. 698, relative to deer, was 
amended in general orders in the Senate, upon his motion, so as 
to provide that no person shall take more than one deer in an 
open season. 
The Assembly this week transacted the following business: 
Assemblyman Whitney's bill, P. No. 1243, relative to taking 
perch in Saratoga Lake and Lake Lonely, passed the Assembly. 
The Assembly advanced these bills to third reading: 
Assemblyman Hubbs', P. No. 1304, relative to the transporta- 
tion of fish. 
Assemblyman Nichols', P. No. 813, relative to taking wood- 
cock. 
Senator W. L. Brown's, P. No. 438, in relation to fires to clear 
lands. 
The Assembly committees on fisheries and game reported favor- 
ably the following bills: 
Assemblyman Robinson's, P. No. 1370, relative to fishing in 
Hemlock Lake. 
Assemblyman Moran's, P. No. 1324, relative to fishing for non- 
game fish in Cayuga Lake. 
Assemblyman Stevens', P. No. 1326, relative to laying out 
private parks. 
Assemblyman Cowan's, P. No. 1299, relative to the close season 
for mink, skunk, muskrat and foxes in Delaware county. 
Senator Townsend's, P. No. 392, relative to the protection of 
black bears. 
Senator Bailey's, P. No. 621, relating to the powers of super- 
visors in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. 
Proprietors of fishing: resorts will find it profttable to advertise 
tfaero m Forest and Streau. 
Jottings of a Fly-Fisher,— IL 
The season of igoo was a particularly good one, and 
the average size of the fish taken was really remarkable. 
However, the long drouth of that year, lasting from 
June until late in the fall, was very disastrous, many of 
the tributary brooks dried up entirely, and great numbers 
of small fish were destroj'ed. In the large streams the 
big fish had a hard time of it. The extreme low water 
laid bare their retreats and they were poached in every 
conceivable manner^ shot, snared, speared, etc. 
The year 1901 began well; we had much rain and the 
spring was a late one. The fishing was not as good as the 
previous season, but better than was expected. The hot 
\v-eek early in July put a stop to fishing, but for a short 
time great numbers of fish collected at the mouths of 
cold brooks. In several cases I heard that advantage of 
this was taken to destroy the large fish by dynamiting 
or otherwise. I know of one or two convictions, but the 
penalty imposed was not in proportion to the offense 
committed. For instance, the fine was $50 in one instance, 
when hundreds of fish were killed and served to summer 
boarders. 
I am an admirer of the rainbow trout {irideus), and 
believe this fish to be nearer the true salmon in its quali- 
ties than any other trout we have. I cannot understand 
the low opinion of tliis fine trout I have heard expressed 
by many persons. It rises freely at the fly, leaps from the 
water again _ and again, and rushes desperately down 
stream. This last peculiarity makes it in large waters 
one of the most difficult fish to land I laiow of. Rain- 
bows like to lie in streamy water several "feet in depth, 
and if there are heavy rapids below you are pretty sure to 
have to follow one of any size to the end of them. I 
am sure that this fish would be a great success in the 
lower -waters of our large trout streams, such as the 
Beaverkill, Neversink, etc., as it can thrive in much 
warmer water than any other trout. It is a great favorite 
in Germany, and has been successfully introduced into 
some of the rivers in New Zealand. In the former coun- 
try it is considered commercially, but in the latter is 
spoken of as exhibiting all the sport-giving qualities I 
have mentioned, rising at the fly, leaping from the water, 
etc. Six pounds is a weight often reached, while in Ger- 
many specimens of over thirteen pounds are recorded. 
In this country I have reati of one being tak?n iji a 
lake (I think in British Columbia) weighing twenty- 
three and a half pounds. A gentleman in Denver, Col, 
holds the record there, with a rainbow of twelve and one- 
quarter pounds, taken with artificial fly. The fishing in 
rivers in that State has been greatly injured by the newer 
methods of refining ore, the refuse from the cyanide 
process killing the fish. With modern fishculture there 
is no reason why we should not have good sport in all 
our old _ well known streams, frequent restocking with 
fry, or if possible yearlings, making up for any drain 
upon them, at least by fair fishing. If a stream is heavily 
fished a fair proportion of the trout will soon become 
sufficiently educated to save them from the wiles of most 
anglers, enough to leave many breeding fish after the 
season for angling is past. I fear, however, that in a few 
years very little water will be free to the public. 
More farms are "posted" every year, and miles of the 
best waters are leased from the owners, or a strip of land 
on both banks is purchased by clubs or individuals, some- 
times for a trifling sum in cash. It is claimed that waters 
stocked by the State cannot be closed, but this probably 
has no more foundation than the statement made years 
ago that the public could not be excluded from any flow- 
ing water that had been used for logging. I for one 
would feel like a poacher if fishing posted water without 
a permit. Personally I care little for fishing strictly pre- 
served water, or for fishing anywhere where trout are so 
numerous and easily taken that they are undervalued. 
In 1885 Tim Pond, in Maine, was so crowded with 
small trout of one-fourth to three-fourths of a pound 
that anyone could take them, and my anticipated pleasure 
was almost annihilated on arriving by finding that the 
camp^ keeper had been obliged to bury 75 pounds that 
morning. To take large fish when they are shy is the 
acme of sport. A day now and then on preserved waters 
crowded with fish eager for your flies is a pleasant 
novelty, but for real sport give us free water where the 
trout are critical, hard to please, and highly valued 
when caught. Fish are not necessarily scarce in such 
a stream, they may be numerous and even large, but have 
learned through much temptation to take good care of 
their precious skins. 
I know of one preserve that is managed on very gener- 
ous principles. Bait-fishing is strictly prohibited, but any 
fly-fisherman asking permission for a day on the water is 
never refused. The fishing has greatly improved since 
this club controlled the water, though few fish have been 
turned in. The stoppage of bait-fishing in the space of 
a year or two increased the number and raised the aver- 
age size of the fish. Small trout will take a worm all 
day long, and nearly every day, and few recover after 
having a good sized bait hook in their throats. Bait-fish- 
ing for trout may be made a scientific and enjoyable 
amusement, but we have only a few fish that will rise 
to the artificial fly,_ while there are many good game fish 
for which bait-fishing is the only practical and satisfac- 
tory method. I know of several most expert bait-fishers 
who have made this sacrifice for the benefit of the brother- 
hood of anglers at large. One of these gentlemen is 
really a marvel. He can cast a long line with wonderful 
accuracy, never breaking his worm, and dropping it like 
a feather almost in the exact spot he wishes. The sacri- 
fice in his case is really very great, but has been perse- 
vered in for several years. 
The enormous increase in the number of anglers in 
recent years has made it necessary that all true sports- 
men should consider the interests of others as well as 
their own. On a good sized stream one may fish after 
several fly-fishers without much diminution of sport. I 
have waited half an hour after nine had passed and then 
had a very fair day. One or two worm fishers can spoil 
the sport of many, and this is so generally recognized 
, that in fishing with bait-fishing friends they have in- 
A'ariably asked me to precede them, saying that they lost 
nothing by following me, but that I would fishing after 
them. 
I wish that attention could be attracted to the introduc- 
tion of the European grayling into some of our streams. 
They are said to drop down into the lower portion of 
trout streams, and as rainbow trout do the same, we 
might have fine fishing from, say, the first of August until 
very cold weather, where now there is nothing except 
wind fish and suckers. Grayling and rainbows are both 
sprmg spawners, and are in highest condition in the fall ' 
of the year. My impression is that only the large rainbow 
trout spawn, as I have never seen any signs of it in the 
ntonth of May except in fish over a pound in weight. 
Fish of fifteen inches and over were often thin, and the 
vent was conspicuous, while those of smaller size were in 
first rate condition, plump and hard, and as silvery as 
possible. The mouth of the rainbow would seem to indi- 
cate that it is not a cannibal, but a large female in the 
New York Aquarium was very savage. She injured her 
companion, and when I saw her had been placed in the 
tank with the_ salmon. She was of a restless, shrewish 
disposition, evidently. 
It has always annoyed me to hear our beautiful native 
brook trout spoken of as a char. In olden times this fish 
was knewn to scientists as "Salmo fontinalis"— "The sal- 
mon of the fountain;" a most appropriate name it would 
seem for a fish inhabiting only the coldest and purest 
streams in the country. It was then put in a sub-genus 
and given a new mme—SalveUnus—heca.usQ, I am told, 
it has th€ same teeth on the vomer as the European char. 
The habits of the latter fish are utterly and entirely dif- 
ferent; they live only in very deep lakes and are rarely 
t5ken_ except in nets when they seek shallow water to 
deposit their spawn. A few are sometimes taken by sink- 
ing a bright fly and moving it very slowly. I know 
nothing of the fish except from brief mention in books 
read years ago, but I believe I state the case correctly 
when I assert that the European char have few habits in 
common with our speckled trout, and that it is slandering 
that sportive game fish to call him a char. Even in I^ake 
Superior and the Maine lakes our brook trout only seek 
the depths when the surface water is overheated in the 
m,onths of July and August. 
Of late I have been giving more attention to the 
feathers of our game birds, as I do not believe that Amer- 
ican fly tyers have made the most of their resources in 
furs and feathers. Men who have the habit of observa- 
tion have frequently called my attention to the similarity 
in the coloring of certain birds md insects. It has been 
called mimicry in nature, and it may be of great service 
in imitating some of the flies which form the favorite 
food of the trout. An insect diet has proved to be the 
most nourishing, and quickly brings the fish into condi- 
tion. I have read somewhere that the experiment was 
tried of feeding the trout in three small pools at a fish 
hatchery with flies, larvae, maggots, etc., and with worms 
and minnows. Thomas Tod Stoddard was the authority 
for this experiment, I believe. The trout fed on the first 
developed much more rapidly than the other two. Min- 
nows came next and worms last. It is said that worms 
scour the trout, having a laxative effect, but I know 
nothing about fishculture except through a few visits to 
hatcheries years ago when methods were comparatively 
primitive. 
Flies without wings are often very killing, and some 
that I have tj-ied with a soft feather twisted in front of 
the cock's hackle have done good work. I got the idea 
first from a fly that was sent to me from England. The 
stems of these soft feathers are often very stiff and hard 
to manage, but the long fibres are not particularly ob- 
jectionable, as in practice the flies hook just as well as 
those dressed with small cock's hackles. They are not 
pretty, but give an impression of life in the water. If 
anglers generally would take a little more interest in the 
construction of their flies they could assist the fly tyer 
materially by making practical suggestions that would 
lead to decided improvements in many of the flies in 
use. 
The common practice of naming flies after persons has 
become something like a nuisance. The fly lists are 
growing, growing, and much unnecessary duplication of 
colors is the result. A list of lake and sea trout flies 
came to me recently in which the names indicate the 
materials of which the flies are made and the colors in 
the body. "Mallard and yellow," "Mallard and green," 
"Mallard and gold," etc. This may answer pretty well 
for fancy flies, and if we ever have a good natural history 
of the flies born of the water, the difficulty might be ob- 
viated. Imitations of the flies described would probably 
have to be tied in more than one shade of color — say light 
and dark yellow duns, and so on — and the fancy flies 
could be named after the materials composing them. 
These are only tentative suggestions, and are probably 
without practical value. Lists will continue to expand, 
as few anglers are indifferent to the compliment of having 
a killing fly named for them. 
Anglers are patient, hopefiil people. All the fatigues 
and misfortunes of the pursuit are forgotten, or form 
subjects for jokes or amusing reminiscences. We re- 
member our first trout and nearly all of our big fish 
until the last day of our lives. The man who caught his 
first trout with a fly may be congratulated. I took mine 
with a worm scented with asafoetida. The old man who 
introduced me to Bonny Brook was a real old-time fishi 
hawk, such as may be found in many fishing neighbor- 
hoods. He believed devoutly that the ill smelling stuff 
referred to had a powerful attraction for all fish, and 
kept his worms stored in an old stocking with a big lump 
of this drug, or whatever it is, in the middle. The foot 
of a sock held the worms for a day's fishing, with a 
smaller quantity of asafoetida in that. Poor old Docky: 
he passed to the land of ever-flowing waters many years 
ago. 
When a friend goes fishing I always send after him a 
wish not that he may fill his basket, but that he may take 
a really big fish, and this, thanks to the liberality of the 
State of New York, is not a very improbable event. Trout 
have been taken with the artificial fly within a short dis- 
tance of New York City weighing five pounds or more, 
and we know that in many of our large streams, and even 
m some that are quite small, larger fish are known to 
dwell. Two years ago, in August, when the river was 
very low, I saw a male trout in the Beaverkill that I am 
confident was 28 to 30 inches in length. As I got within 
ten feet of this fish on two occasions there is no reason to 
doubt that I judged correctly. This fish inhabited a hole 
in what was usually a large pool, and had his home under 
a flat rock only just large enough to conceal him. He 
went under diagonally and had some difficulty in getting 
his latter end tucked away out of sight. His coloring was 
very bright for a big fish, the head very large, with great 
powerful jaws, and to see him open them a little, as he 
did once or twice, made thrills run down my back. That 
fish IS right there now, as such fish haunt the same pool 
for many years, and I will describe the place to any good 
fly-fisher. 
Another large fish was in plain sight from the public 
road on ahnost any day you looked for him. Some people 
put the weight of this trout at seven pounds, but I be- 
lieve this estimate to be excessive. It was truly a brown 
trout— m fact, almost black— and a large company of 
other trout— natives, browns and a few rainbows— was 
collected in the same pool to enjoy the water flowing in 
from an ice-cold brook. When the water fell very low 
these fish would be literally plastered against the stones, 
as most of the cool water flowed under the rocks and 
gravel mto the main stream. Theodore Gordon. 
The Latest in Fishing Tacfclc. 
From Van Bugg's Latest Tackle Catalogue. 
No. 132. Kippered herring fly rod; three-piece, with 
extra tip. Scales attached. Price, $29. 
Smoked halibut bait rod; nickel trimmed, cork tips. 
Cheap. Price, $16. 
Planked shad rod; oak handle, straw or cork tips. Ex- 
cellent rod for club house purposes. Price, $42.50. 
Combination steamed finnan haddie and sardine fly rod 
Another great club house rod. Price, $16.32. 
Baked bluefish rod; cane wound handle, spiral handle 
Sumatra wrapper. Price, $27.35.— Chicago Tribune. ' 
Fly-Casting at New York, 
Mr. Milton H. S.mith sends us the following as the 
official score of the single-handed bait-casting Saturday 
afternoon, March 7, Class X: 
JIV p. Leonard 128 7-12 
P. J. Tormey, .San Francisco, CaL.» !!!!.!!!llO 5-12 
Mi.Hon New York,,.,,.,,,,, ?1 6.-ig 
