208 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May, 192 
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ADVISORY BOARD 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, NEW YORK, N. Y. 
CARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
EDMUND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 111. 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 3d, Washington, D. C. 
JOHN T. NICHOLS, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 
JOHN P. HOLMAN, Managing Editor 
TOM WOOD, Business Manager 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthfid interest in outdoor 
recreation, and a refined taste for natural objects. 
Auaust 14, 1873, 
“NESSMUK” 
T he fir.st day of May brings the anniversary of the 
death of “Nessmuk” (Geo. W. Sears), the woods- 
man, nature lover, poet, author and traveler, who 
is still warmly remembered by the older contingent of 
Forest and Stream, 
Nessmuk was born in 1821 and died May 1, 1890. He 
was long a frequent and very highly valued contributor 
to Forest and Stream, and after his death readers of 
Forest and Stream contributed liberally to erect a 
monument to the man who had given them so much 
pleasure, but who had himself no desire for any monu- 
ment other than the grateful remembrance of those who 
had delighted to read his writings. 
When Nessmuk was born in Massachusetts there 
were still Indians there and Indians of pure blood, and 
it was from the name of one of these Indians — meaning 
wood-drake — that Nessmuk took his pen name. 
Nessmuk was a philosopher — a believer in the out- 
door life. He was a most effective missionary of the 
gospel of getting close to nature, for he possessed the 
happy gift of writing of it so simply and so entertain- 
ingly that he converted many a man to the beliefs which 
he so strongly held. 
EARLY TROUT FISHING 
I T was a happy lot of men who departed from inns 
and cottages in the hill country in the gray light of 
early morning on the day the trout season opened. 
Many of them were strangers to the villagers, and but 
for the fact that the day was known by the mystic 
name. Opening Day, they might readily enough have 
been mistaken for burglars, for they were strangely 
clad and equipped. But burglars do not stumsp along 
village streets at break of day in stiff brogues studded 
with hobnails, and only the village dogs challenged 
them as they passed on to the country roads and by- 
paths leading to the trout streams. 
The larger streams were sv.mllen from the recent 
rains and the air was chilly, but the brooks were falling' 
and clearing and they babbled over boulders and heaps 
of leaves between banks freshly washed as if for this 
great annual occasion in the life of the angler. On such 
a day one’s favorite brook offers attractions that at 
ever new, familiar though all its surroundings may be ( 
but even the favorite brook may be less attractive tha y 
one that is being visited for the first time. The impuh 
to follow this one to its source and acquire some know tli 
edge of its peculiarities is almost irresistible at such tii 
time. The trout may be abundant lower down, bi s" 
there are discoveries to be made, and every tur t" 
discloses a surprise. Here a limpid spring pours froi 
under red sandstone and calls incessantly to all wh 
are thirsty. Further on, where one has expected to los 
the brook in a swamp, he stumbles through a gorg 
darkened by immense old hemlocks and finds a serie t' 
of cascades and pools. Perhaps the stream branche tii 
here and the vista is so pleasing that it is not passe ** 
by until luncheon has been dispatched and an hou; 
devoted to the pipe and the luxury of doing nothing p 
At such a time it is hard to compel the muscles t 
do one’s bidding. They, as well, as the mind, are a “ 
rest, perhaps the first real rest in months, and eve'® 
the call of the trout stream is insufficient to rouse on 
from his comfortable seat among the dry leaves besid 
the spring. But the shadows lengthen and one passes 
on in time, to resume his explorations among the aide P' 
thickets and the meadows. ' P* 
• st 
So the day passes. The creel may be light — certainbi 
one’s gear grows heavier with the hours — but the set 
ting of the sun rounds out a day of rare enjoymen1| 
and the tired angler returns to his home with a lightei^^ 
heart and pleasanter thoughts than for many a day. 
:g 
'i « 
NEW JERSEY TROUT STREAMS N 
F avorable winter conditions on the streams an(j^; 
freedom from destructive spring freshets, combine(|* 
with the greatest restocking program ever under - 
taken by the State, promise New Jersey anglers gooc; ^ 
sport during the trout season this year. j j 
Ten years ago the Jerseyman who wanted big trou lj 
fishing had to seek it in distant western and northen 
States and the expense put the sport beyond the read 
of the average citizen. The Jersey sportsman to-day 
however, can find right at home trout fishing equal t(| 
any in the country. i 
A decade ago the native or brook trout was the only 
species found in New Jersey streams. The angler to ^ 
day can take his pick of brook, brown or rainbow trout' j 
all three kinds having been extensively planted durinp |j 
recent years, with a record distribution during the las ' 
year. Since early fall, wardens have been putting OU; ^ 
new fish. These trout have ranged in size from finger | 
lings to larger fish, six to twelve inches in length am' ^ 
ready to furnish immediate sport for the angler. It , 
addition to the enormous output of trout from the Stati jj 
hatchery, tens of thousands of large fish have been pur“ g 
chased from commercial hatcheries and placed in th< | 
streams. , 
Aid of anglers in conservation of the trout is solicitet | 
by the Fish and Game Commission, especially in return, ti 
ing promptly to the water, any under-sized fish they f 
may hook. By careful handling with a wet hand, thes( [ 
smaller fish can be unhooked and dropped uninjurec I 
into the stream to continue their growth. The lega i 
size for trout is six inches and over. 
New Jersey’s best trout fishing will be found in th( ' 
counties in the upper half of the State, which contaii * 
the natural trout streams. The recent introduction o:n ' 
the brown trout, however, is extending the sport t( < 
many of the warmer streams in southern counties. * 
