June, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
263 
The Scotch thistle is found here with a 
profusion and hardiness that seems 
astonishing to those who have first seen 
the thistles as they grow in the High- 
lands, and the thyme is sometimes 
found in patches that cover entire 
mountain sides, the mecca for millions 
of bees from the apiaries that are scat- 
tered throughout the countryside. 
The roads throughout the Catskills 
are far better than those found in most 
mountainous regions, and a numper of 
good guide books can be obtained for a 
reasonable price. Everywhere one finds 
those reminders of a past generation of 
hardy farmers — mile after mile of 
stone walls, some still serving their 
purpose as fences about the fields, and 
others fallen down beside the roads and 
across the open pastures that were once 
cultivated fields, though the rocks 
pointing up indicate the difficulties in 
farming there. 
Time was when wild life abounded 
throughout the Catskill region, but the 
toll has been exacted by hunters until 
it is only recently that deer and other 
animals of the forest are beginning to 
increase, due to protective laws. But 
the woodchuck, that gay fellow who 
burrows in nearly every field where 
clover or tender grass is to be found, is 
still very much in evidence. If you 
have a camera, take it with you, for 
the woodchuck can probably be ap- 
proached near enough for a good pic- 
ture, as they become tame during the 
summer, so long as hunters keep away, 
and a woodchuck has some very amus- 
ing features that appear to good ad- 
vantage in his pictures. His eyes have 
a roguish lilt, and when an old wood- 
chuck grins he looks a great deal more 
human than a pessimist who claims to 
be a human being. 
Perhaps you cannot see why all this 
has anything to do with the task of 
building up your health. Ah, but it 
has, a great deal more than many sup- 
pose. It is not alone exercise that is 
needed; enjoyment of the outdoors, a 
development of the sense of beauty lat- 
ent within you, these are also impor- 
tant factors in health building. Do not 
forget your mind while striving to im- 
prove your body. If you can build up 
and improve both you will be making 
double progress toward the health you 
have a right to attain; and nothipg 
helps the mind take on new life like the 
enjoyment ef the beauties Nature has 
produced for us to marvel at. 
Sometimes, as we think of the great 
masses of city dwellers so near them, 
it seems as though the Catskills were 
placed there because of the good they 
might do those who have neither time 
nor money for an extended trip to dis- 
tant playgrounds of the outdoors. Yes, 
they are old, these mountains, so old 
they are young again, and maybe that 
is the reason they hold forth so much 
for those who would grow young in 
health again. 
Smith C. McGregor, New York. 
SALMON FISHING 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I^ROM an experience gathered from 
1 fifteen seasons on a salmon river I 
conclude that there is a great deal ot 
sophistry in the notion common amongst 
anglers that success in salmon fishing 
requires a most extensive assortment of 
flies. 
I .admit that salmon do not as a rule 
rise readily to flies that are oversized, 
or that are of the more pronounced col- 
ors, such as black, white or red ; but I 
believe that fish do not discriminate to a 
noticeable extent between those flies 
which are made up of various mixtures 
and shades of browns or grays, either 
with or without slight additions of yel- 
low, blue, black, tinsel, etc. 
To illustrate: an experienced angler, 
who fished With me for an entire season 
some years ago, decided to use no other 
fly than a small-sized “Jack Scott” dur- 
ing his stay. The result was that he got 
his full share of salmon. 
During another season a friend of 
mine was given first chance in a noted 
A no-lb. Mahseer 
pool wherein lay at least twenty-five fine 
salmon. He spent over an hour casting 
when he was not busy changing flies, 
which he did a dozen times. After fail- 
ing to get a single rise he gave it up, 
and said to me, “You are welcome to all 
the fish you can get.” I then asked him 
what fly he was using when making his 
last efforts; he said a Silver Doctor. 
Just to tease him a bit I said that I 
would begin with that same fly. He left 
me in disgust and went on up the river. 
To make a long story short I got seven 
rises to that Silver Doctor, hooked them 
all, and landed four twenty pounders 
out of that same pool. When I joined 
my friend later on and told him the 
story of those seven rises to that “Silver 
Doctor” he said that he didn’t believe it. 
During my salmon fishing experience 
I conceived the idea of making a salmon 
fly from green parrot feathers, and I 
had a few dozen tied for me by Forrest 
on No. 4 hooks. 
I found that salmon were not attract- 
ed by these flies when first offered, but 
that after a few casts the green- color 
rapidly changed to a medium brown, and 
then I took many salmon with them. 
It may not be amiss while I am on 
this subject, that in closing, I, may say 
a word of warning to salmon anglers. 
While playing a strong fish the angler 
usually sets the butt of his rod against 
his left groin, and he does not realize that 
he is bringing severe pressure upon a 
most delicate spot in his anatomy, the 
identical spot where most cases of her- 
nia originate. I have known severe 
cases of that trouble which I have no 
doubt arose from excessive, and more or 
less frequently applied, pressure of a 
salmon rod. 
To avoid such possible injury the an- 
gler should always use a belt provided 
with a socket in which to rest the butt 
of his rod when playing his fish. 
John Fottler, Mass. 
THE MAHSEER 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
T HE rivers and the artificial lakes of 
the Mysore State in South India 
abound with all kinds of fish, but the 
largest is that known as the Mahseer, a 
species of carp, and called by the natives 
“silver fish.” 
Regular trips are made for Banga- 
lore and other places in South India 
to these nivers, and His Highness, the 
Mysore, usually arranges for a fishing 
excursion when he receives important 
guests at his capital, Mysore City. The 
planters, who reside in the high regions 
in the west, engaged mainly in the cof- 
fee industry, take advantage of a free 
season, and go to fish in the Mysore 
River. Some of these mahseers are well 
over 100 lbs. in weight. The one shown 
in the illustration was recently caught 
by the Viceroy on the occasion of his 
visit to the State and weighs 110 lbs. 
The natives often catch these large 
fish by netting during the months the 
rivers are low. At such times two or 
three villages of professional fishermen 
will combine to net a single large fish 
known to be a prisoner in a pool during 
the hot weather. The pool may be a 
hundred yards long and broad, and the 
water as much 'as fifteen feet deep, with 
many rocks that give the fish a hiding 
place. But by joining their nets and 
diving and working for several days the 
prize is nearly always secured. 
E. W. T. Slater, India. 
THE FLY FROM THE TROUT’S 
VIEWPOINT 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
TV/' HEN we read the things that 
W sound right, we are very apt to 
accept them without any further 
thought, and follow in that path for 
years. We are reasoning with the un- 
natural intellectual training of years, 
for a little natural trout. Like our 
A B Cs, which we are often able to 
repeat only in one direction, or, in find- 
ing our way out of the woods, after 
making the most conspicuous markings 
going in, with the full confidence of our 
safe and easy return, we very often find 
ourselves in error. 
Surely it is very difficult for us to 
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