102 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 21, 1906. 
Mr. Willcox, and among their guides is a son 
of the Jim Raphael, the famous hunter after 
whom Lac-a-Jim is named, and who was born 
and brought up in that part of the country. Mr. 
Marcoux, of the Roberval hatchery, who now 
has charge of the guides and outfitting depart¬ 
ment at the Hotel Roberval, is well acquainted 
with the capabilities of the different guides and 
is the safest adviser as to the selection to be 
made of them for any particular trip. 
E. T. D. Chambers. 
On the Beaverkill. 
The weather was unusually warm, with great 
humidity, for many days. The temperature of 
the water rose until the batch of natural flies 
ceased almost entirely on the lower reaches of 
the river. We feared that our fishing hereabouts 
was nearly over, but several refreshing rains, 
with cool nights and mornings, have improved 
the situation considerably. Heavy creels must 
not be expected;.the month of July is not usually 
very favorable for fly-fishing, but the angler who 
is really in love with his art, can basket a few 
good trout by exercising the virtue of patience. 
It may please him to know that it has been 
splendid growing weather, and that the crops in 
this part of the State are now well assured. 
I have not heard of any very large trout being 
killed on the Beaverkill, but they are surely here. 
1 have no doubt that there are fish in some of 
the big pools, weighing at least 5 pounds. These 
old stagers are very wary, and feed mostly at 
night, when the water is low. After a freshet 
is the best time to try for them, and if one is 
located, there is a better chance for success. 
I have often heard that the time of all others 
to try for a big trout is between dawn and sun¬ 
rise, but I have never been energetic enough for 
this early fishing. A white-miller is said to be 
great medicine at that hour. 
I regret that I arrived here too late for the 
rise of the grannom, as I had tied some imita¬ 
tions of this fly, which I was anxious to try. 
We can never be sure of a pattern until it has 
been passed upon by the trout. The batch of 
grannom on the Beaverkill is well worth seeing. 
They sometimes rise in swarms at sunset and 
after during the month of June. The last sea¬ 
son I was here the flies were on the water every 
day for nearly three weeks. 
A native fisherman informed me that this sea¬ 
son the grannom came in early and did not last 
as long as usual. 
The wind-fish, fall-fish or silver-chub have 
been rather a nuisance- lately. It is dismally 
disappointing to find, after hooking a good fish, 
that you have a leather-mouthed chub in tow, 
instead of a fine trout. Some people like to 
eat chub; the meat is white and rather sweet, but 
full of bones. 
The best basket I have had since I came to 
the Beaverkill was made on Friday afternoon, 
the 7th inst. It consisted of nine trout and three 
chub. Nearly all the former were really good 
fish. I was so tired of dragging heavy water¬ 
proofs about (which, by the by, are not water¬ 
proof), that I waded without them, and was 
much more comfortable. There is no loafing 
about in fly-fishing, and if one keeps moving 
and changes clothing at once on returning home, 
there is small chance of catching cold in warm 
weather. 
There is a small lake, or pond, among the 
hills, about three miles from this place, which 
was planted with brown trout many years ago. 
It is now well stocked, but the fish are not easy 
to catch. All that I have seen, or rather, saw, 
on one visit, were fish of a pound or more. 
They are long and slim, as there are no min¬ 
nows in the pond. I think that they feed largely 
upon case worms. If trout eat lizards, those 
creatures are abundant in the water. I took but 
one trout with the fly, 16 inches long. This 
was some years since, and I fancy that there 
must be a few big trout in the little lake now. 
For at least a hundred years the Valley of the 
Beaverkill has been celebrated for its beauty 
and the river for its trout. This (last) spring 
the fishing has been as good, probably, as at 
any time during its history. The majority of the 
fish caught now are brown trout, and the aver¬ 
age size of these is certainly larger than the 
native trout has ever shown in the same water, 
even in the times of the early settlers. 
We take few undersized fish, and most of 
those I have returned had been fontinalis, not 
fario.. A brown trout of eight ounces to one 
pound affords good sport to any one using fine 
tackle, and this is necessary unless one descends 
to bait-fishing where the water is discolored. 
A few large ephemera have been rising in the 
evenings this week, but the only flies seen in 
numbers were of the caddis order; small insects 
with light yellow and pale green bodies. These 
are common whenever or wherever the water 
is cold enough for them to rise all through the 
summer months. 
Beaverkill, Sullivan County, N. Y., July 13.— 
The fishing is holding out wonderfully well this 
year in spite of hot sun and scarcity of natural 
flies. Whenever we have a shower followed by 
a cool night, there is a good chance for sport the 
next morning. Something can nearly always be 
done after the sun is off the water and on into 
the evening, until it is too late to see where one’s 
fly drops upon the water. By fishing in the dark¬ 
ness a big trout may be killed, but it is not the 
very best of sport. Fish rarely put up the best 
fight of which they are capable at night. They 
do not see the fisherman and the hook gives 
them little pain. They are apt to bore steadily, 
yet there is no dash, no brilliant play. How¬ 
ever, if you want a big trout, and know where 
one has taken up his abode, it is always worth 
while to try for him after “the darkness has 
fallen from the wings of night,” if you have 
failed to move the fish earlier in the evening. 
There is no doubt that the introduction of the 
brown trout has greatly improved the fishing in 
the Beaverkill. This fish grows fast and breeds 
better, I fancy, than our native fish. The fry 
brought from the New York State hatchery are 
usually strong and healthy; the percentage of loss 
is small. There are still a good many fontinalis 
in the river, and one or two fish of this species 
certainly add quality to the beauty of the catch 
when laid out in state upon a big dish. I do not 
believe that there is a lovelier fish in all the world 
than our native brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. 
In July there are not many insects upon the 
water to serve as a guide in selecting one’s fly. 
If the water is not too warm, a good many small 
yellow caddis will be seen and the trout some¬ 
times take these freely. This fly has cousin 
of the same order, which has a pale green body, 
by way of variety. The hatch of ephemera makes 
little show, yet there are a few about nearly 
every evening, and my experience seems to in¬ 
dicate that they are taken by the trout in prefer¬ 
ence to any of the caddis flies. What beautiful 
creatures the ephemera are in their last, or per¬ 
fect state. I have several small bottles on my 
table, as I write, which contain specimens in al¬ 
cohol. Some of these are fully one inch in length 
with bright glassy wings and long legs and tails. 
Unfortunately, these are very fragile, and if the 
bottles are knocked about a bit, one’s pretty 
specimens are soon sadly mangled, wings break 
and legs and tails come off in a very provoking 
way. It is delightful to be so near trout water, 
be the sport good or bad, no angler of experience 
expects great things at this season. If we are 
favored with sufficient rain to keep the streams 
in order and the temperature of the water down, 
a few trout are usually caught by the man 
who can choose his own hour for going a-fishing. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Fishing in Ponds Used as Water Supply. 
Boston, Mass., July 14.—A case that is attract¬ 
ing wide-spread interest was recently brought 
before Judge Kingsbury in the Court at South 
Framingham, against Joseph F. Minon of Way- 
land, charged with illegal boating on Lake Cochi- 
tuate, one of the sources of the water supply for 
Boston and in charge of the metropolitan board 
of commissioners. The regulations promulgated 
by the board, prohibit boating on the lake, ex¬ 
cept by those who have secured a license, and the 
residents of neighboring towns desire that the 
rights of citizens on public ponds shall be de¬ 
termined. Judge Bumpus for the defendant, in¬ 
formed the court that it was proposed to take the 
case to the Supreme Court and find out, once for 
all. if the board has the authority to state to 
private citizens that their rights on the public 
ponds are annihilated. A fine of $20 was im¬ 
posed, and an appeal was entered. Minon has 
a camp and several boats at the lake. 
There are many other communities that are 
interested in the final outcome of this case. 
H. H. Kimball. 
Striped Bass on the Pacific Coast. 
London, July 5.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
May I ask through your widely circulated paper 
if the introduction of the striped bass to the 
waters of the Pacific Coast has been followed by 
the" destruction or diminution of any valuable 
native fish ? The striped bass is a fish of prey and I 
understand it has increased to an enormous ex¬ 
tent since it was first turned out on the Pacific 
side. I ask as I have long been hoping to get 
some striped bass over from America to see if 
they will do in our waters round the south 
coast of England. One of the objections made 
is that the striped bass multiplies rapidly, grows 
to a large size, 50 pounds or more, and is a fish 
which lives on other fish. The common sea bass 
(Labfax lupus) is fairly common on some parts 
of our coast, but from what I can gather the 
striped bass is a much superior fish. Our bass is 
not a first class table fish by any means. 
R. B. Marston, 
Editor Fishing Gazette, London. 
Advance on Gut Crop, 1906. 
Redditch, Eng., July 2. —The crop has been un¬ 
usually late this year. As regards quantity, it 
is an average one, the very heavy classes are 
very scarce. Prices would have been normal, but 
for the eagerness of some of the buyers, and an 
enormous drop in the exchange. The price of the 
raw material itself advanced only from eight to 
ten per cent., but the lowering of the exchange 
to nearly par, which is a difference in the cost 
of 22F2 per cent, from that of last year made all 
the difference, and while there may be various 
estimates as to the advance in gut itself, there is 
no getting away from the fact of the exchange, 
which is known to the whole world, and between 
the two, we estimate that there is an advance of 
at least 30 per cent, over last year. 
Owing to this advance, the fishing tackle 
dealers and makers will have to increase the 
price of gut casts, traces, mounted hooks and 
raw gut. S. Allcock & Co., Limited. 
Both Caught It. 
Chicago, June 12.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
As an authority on the subject, I respectfully re¬ 
quest your opinion on the following: Who caught 
the fish ? 
On June 1 at Mason Lake, Wis. (Boyd & 
McCartney’s resort), A hooked an eleven-pound 
muskallonge, but being inexperienced, and feeling 
incapable of landing the fish, he turns the rod and 
line over to B at once. B is an experienced 
angler, and after about thirty minutes’ work, 
tires out the musky and gets him alongside and 
into the boat. The question arose as to who— 
from a sportsman’s standpoint—caught the fish, 
A or B. A. H. Mulford. 
[Neither A nor B caught it alone; it was taken 
by both, and the credit of the capture belongs to 
both.] 
Vol. 22 of the American Kennel Club Stud 
Book for 1905 contains 1,936 pages, and registra¬ 
tions from 84,964 to 93,239 inclusive. Besides 
the pedigrees, it contains a list of officers and 
active and associate members, bench sho^y win¬ 
nings, champions of record, foxhound and beagle 
trials, kennel names, prefixes and affixes, etc. It 
can be obtained of the secretary of the American 
Kennel Club, A. P. Vredenburgh, 55 Liberty 
street, New York. 
