408 
Forest and Stream 
‘‘There’s something 
more than mere 
mechanical perfec- 
tion about a FOX” 
‘TTTrAVE you ever noticed 
Iril how attached a man be- 
comes to his Fox? Sometimes 
it seems as if he is actually ex- 
aggerating its place in his sport.” 
“Don’t know about the exag- 
gerating, but I know what you 
mean — feel that way myself. 
If for some reason I were forced 
to give up all my sport things 
but one, I’d keep my Fox and 
let the others go.” 
“Of course, it’s a good gun — 
a little better than any other I 
ever owned. Handles easily, 
has good balance, shoots a close 
pattern, and is well-made all the 
way. But that alone doesn’t ac- 
count for my feeling toward it.” 
No doubt you know men who 
have a real affection for their 
Fox Guns. And the answer is 
— ^just the natural, unconscious 
tribute of a sportsman to a fine 
gun that helps him to get every 
possible pleasure out of his 
days in the field or at the traps. 
Let us tell you how the Fox has won its 
way into the hearts of thousands of real 
men all over the world^drop us a line 
today, or see the nearest FOX dealer* 
A. H. FOX GUN CO. 
4674 W. 18th St. 
PHILADELPHIA 
In Writing 
vary from the old fly I have used suc- 
cessfully for years, either a red hackle 
or a gray one; one was as good as the 
other. I never use but one fly at a cast 
and I think that enough for any respect-- 
able bass fisherman. 
I’m quite sure I did not hurt a single 
fish that I took, and I only kept seven 
small ones for the kitchen, the balance 
are down there now waiting to take 
some other chap’s wooden-minnow, and 
I hope he will put them back also. 
If I make a most positive declaration 
I trust you will forgive me: The fish 
in Lake Misere are the gamest I ever 
saw. 
If one is supplied with the proper 
tackle, say a 6-ounce fly-rod, and he 
handle his bass in a sportsmanlike way. 
I’ll warrant the fish will give him a play 
of two minutes and many jumps if he 
will not rush the play to an end but just 
have his boatman push the boat back out 
into clear water and let the fish take 
his time and I’m sure he will use up two 
minutes or longer, and you know that is 
a long time for a fish to last. 
I must again say frankly I never saw 
anything like it, and in the many small- 
mouth bass I took up on the St. Law- 
rence last summer (more than a thou- 
sand, I’m sure) I never in any one in- 
stance had such gameness shown as I 
found in the big-mouth bass 'in Misere. 
I guess I’d be romped on should I say 
there was no comparison in the strength 
of the two fish. 
One would naturally think that away 
down in the marsh country of lower 
Louisiana one would be far away from 
any kind of a song-bird, but to my sur- 
prise I was awakened each morning by 
what we call in this country a “bee- 
martin,” a species of fly-catcher. The 
little fellow was perched on a stem of 
grass singing for his mate who nested 
i a few feet from one of the windows 
of my room on the house-boat. His 
song was great and I must confess I 
had no idea the bird had the power to 
sing. Many bobolinks, jackdaws, petrels 
and comorants were in evidence all the 
time. I also saw many strings of ducks, 
called by the natives “black mallards,” 
said to be nesting down there. 
At night the mosquitoes were fierce, 
but in a good house-boat nicely screened 
they did not bother us much. They did 
not appear until about dark and as soon 
as the sun came up in the morning they 
all disappeared. The only trouble was 
the heat, but when we have had such 
a spring as the past one, giving us no 
chance for sport, one, I should hope, 
could be pardoned for fishing in the 
month of June. 
I’d give a good deal to have some of 
those chaps who know it all up in the 
North give the bass in this lake a try. 
to Advertisers moition Forest und Stream. It loill 
if the truth would be told a great change 
would be made in what is said of the 
big-mouth bass of the South. 
J. L. Phillips, Texas. 
THE SHACKBOAT 
(Continued from page 392) 
is fastened to this stringer and the top 
of the side planks. This is to stiffen 
the boat in lieu of the seats which serve 
the purpose in the smaller boat. 
Instead of a seat forward the boat is 
decked over to provide a place to work 
ship and for dry stowage underneath. 
The space between deck and thwart is 
the living quarters and should be fitted 
with a slat floor about three inches 
above the bottom as shown. From the 
■thwart aft to the stern would be called 
the cockpit on a more pretentious 
cruiser. 
It is in our treatment of the living 
quarters that we show our ingenuity. 
A few suggestions will help. It must 
of course be covered. The simplest way 
would be to make a tent-like structure 
supported on “A” frames at each end 
with a ridge pole between, and fasten- 
ing the lower edges of the cloth out- 
side the combings to shed rain. This 
has the single advantage that it can eas- 
ily be collapsed into the bottom of the 
boat but is otherwise inconvenient be- 
cause we have room for our heads only 
in the centerline. 
A considerable improvement so far 
as comfort is concerned would be to 
spread our canvas over bows similar to 
the old prairie schooners. This would 
be a more permanent structure and we 
would have to keep the' way clear 
through the centre in order to get for- 
ward in a hurry. 
By far the most satisfactory method 
is to build a frame that will just fit out- 
side the combing with about an inch 
to spare all around ; fasten on light slats 
and cover it with waterproof canvas. 
Note that this top or frame has a crown 
of about six inches in its width. Next 
get out four posts about 1)4 inches by 
2 inches, making two of them four and 
one-half feet long and two of them four 
feet one inch long. The longer ones 
are fastened at the after corners of the 
frame with bolts or hinges so that they 
will fold forward. The shorter ones are 
similarly fastened to fold aft from the 
forward corners. 
Now set the top in place, letting the 
four posts come down to the slat floor. 
Wooden sockets can be made for their 
ends and fastened to the floor to keep 
them from shifting. They should be se- 
cured to the combing with two sets of 
hooks and eyes to each post and the 
whole thing will be found quite substan- 
tial. Canvas is to be fastened to the 
sides and front and secured outside of 
the combing with the turnbuttons and 
eyelets as used for auto side curtains. 
The same fasteners can be used down 
the forward posts. Some of the ready- 
to-put-in auto curtain windows can be 
inserted in both sides and front to good 
(Continued on page 413) 
iilcntify you. 
■ 
