April, 1922 
FOREST AND STREAM 
185 
BOYHOOD EXCURSIONS 
FOR TROUT 
{Continued from page 159) 
received scant respect if it had not been 
backed by the authority of his Uncle 
John. Tommy's Uncle John was a tem- 
peramental person, who seldom got and 
never kept any useful job, but he mounted 
birds marvelously and climbed wholly 
impossible trees to take hawks’ nests. In 
a matter of this kind his confirmation 
was the voice of the law and the prophets. 
W’hat fires of longing leaped up in the 
hearts of adventurers when word came 
back that gold had been found in Cali- 
fornia or diamonds in Kimberley, I do 
not know; but I doubt if any fortune- 
seeker waited to start for the diggings 
in any greater ecstasy of impatience than 
that which possessed my soul through the 
days intervening between the receipt of 
the epoch-making news and the first 
holiday when freedom from home work 
left the road open to McLean’s brook. 
It was not far, as our ro\'ings went — 
probably a short six miles to the south- 
east : but it lay beyond the orbit of our 
habitual wanderings. When they ex- 
tended into that c|uarter, we had seldom 
gone beyond the big swamp. The next 
hillside beyond that was bare, orderly, 
cultivated and untempting to the imagi- 
nation, offering neither woods for ad- 
venture nor even cover for a rabbit. 
Past this, therefore, and past the few 
farms and dairylands crowning the ridge, 
into the narrow belt of wet woodland 
beyond, was new ground. I can see the 
jneture very clearly still, and recall viv- 
idly the rising excitement as landmark 
after landmark on Uncle John's rough 
chart was passed, until the brook itself 
was heard in the thicket to the right of 
the road. I can recall the tense, breath- 
less crawl through the bushes, the cast 
into the dark pool, the electric shock as 
the hook was seized with a swift rnsh, 
shaken as a terrier shakes a rat, and 
borne impetuously back to cover under 
the other bank — and then the strike, the 
struggle, the franctic effort to keep him 
from twisting the line around an alder 
stem, the scrambling, bungling but ec- 
statically .successful landing of my first 
trout. 
I remember, too, the big rock on the 
nigh bank in an open pool below the 
crossing where there was a quarter- 
pounder, and a long stretch further down 
below some rocky rapids, where the 
stream came out into a meadow and ran 
deep and quiet between grassy banks, 
with, as it seems now, a hungry trout in 
every bend. 
■"THE picture merges into visions of 
later days and other brooks; for 
the wonderful revelations of McLean's 
brought us into new revelations with 
larger streams to the north which be- 
came our principal fishing waters. Our 
range was long. We thought nothing of 
starting before daylight — sometimes, in- 
deed, of starting the. night before. One 
of the most stirring recollections is of 
a tramp which led through the hollow 
and over the bridge of Irving's Head- 
less Horseman, at midnight, to a hard. 
p. " 
» 102ND 
YEAR 
Among the Initiated 
April, the first month of Spring, has 
special significance to anglers. 
And for the well-informed on fishing 
tackle, the Abbey & Imbrie trademark, 
for 102 years the symiiol of dependable 
tackle, has particular interest as the 
Spring fishing season opens. 
Just now, l)efore tlie rush has be- 
gun, tile tackle counters permit oi 
leisurely choosing. W’e suggest 
tliat you bring out your tackle box 
and go over its contents. Then ask 
for Abbey & Imbrie tackle at your 
dealer’s and you will be sure of the 
quality and reliability of your 
e(iuipment. 
ABBEY & IMBRIE 
Division of 
Jiakcr, Mnvrai/ tt* Imbrie 
97 Chamber! Street 
NEW YORK N. Y. 
Estfihlishdl J.S20 
ARE BE6T 
5EHD FOR CATALOGUE 
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ynANCHBSTER VERMONT 
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’ Fishing Tackle Maker. 
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Catch Fish, 
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our new, folding, galvanizeil 
^ STEEL WIRE TRAP. It 
catches them like a fly-trap catches flies. All sizes. Write 
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HILDEBRANDT 
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Have no equals for general, all 
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can be used with live bait, pork rinds, 
flies, or by themselves. They catch 
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meaium distance from the shank, 
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FREE TO FISHERMEN 
Write for >our copy of Hilde- 
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It is brimful of live tips on spinner 
fishing for bass, trout, pike and 
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A post card will bring your copy. 
THE 
JOHN J. HILDEBRANDT 
COMPANY 
460 High Street 
LOGANSPORT. IND. 
HILDMDT 
“SILVER CREEK” 
^ POLLYWOG 
The most succes.'tful killi-r made, lias tlie dip. dire 
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black spots; White, black striitt's: Hainl>ow. s>did wliite. 
At >oiir dealer. ordtrt>pr. ;^|.()0. K^nd for color circnlari 
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“WATERSHED” 
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Preserves and Adds New Life to Leather, 
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35 Cents per can 
JUUUS F. KAUFHERR, 42 Garden St., NEWARK. N. J. 
luray 
You can easily earn money for the^ 
small payments. Parents often ad. 
vance first payment to help buy a RANGED. 44 
styles, colors and sizes. Factory to Rider prices. 
Delivered FREEtCxpress prepaid, for 30 DAYS* 
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IntTtps, wheels, horns, repairs 
••^^^couipment at half usual prices. 
SEND NO MONEY. Writ* today for oar big. 
Free Ranger Catalog and marvaloos pricea. 
Comply wHt; 
Dept. 1-234 Chicago 
for , 
aUlogN 
In Writing tn 
X 
n unii 
