Aug. ii, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
C 
FISHING UNDER THE BRIDGE. 
Photo by H. W. Clayston. 
trout have been carried into these canals and 
finally found an untimely end in a corn row of 
some ranch, left high and dry after the water 
was turned off. The county commissioners of 
Salt Lake county, not caring to needlessly an¬ 
tagonize the farmers, and the farmers not caring 
to go needless expense in procuring gates, have 
never enforced the law. In fact, these com¬ 
missioners are only doing what they have 
promised to do because they find that the claims 
of the anglers, asserted in concert, may make 
a difference at the polls if not heeded. So they 
have promised to see that any screen recom¬ 
mended by the association shall be properly in¬ 
stalled at every intake in the county. And as 
goes Salt Lake so go the other counties. 
This will be a great saving of trout life in the 
future, and shows the value of concerted action, 
for which Forest and stream has always stood 
in matters piscatorial. 
Another good move is that hereafter fewer 
fry will be planted in the streams and more 
fingerlings. There is not unanimity of opinion 
between the Fish and Game Commissioner and 
the association; but the two are trying hard to 
get together, and seem to be succeeding fairly 
well. As a result, hereafter no trout will be 
placed in the streams until they are large enough 
to put up a strong fight for their own existence. 
Another recommendation is that more finger- 
lings be placed in the streams and fewer sold 
to the private ponds. 
• All of which goes to show that there is 
strength in numbers, and that the State Pro¬ 
tective Association is a good thing for the 
anglers at large, even if bad for the game hogs 
and pot-hunters. In their efforts at increasing 
the fish reserve in the streams, both the Gould 
and Harriman lines of roads are giving that 
substantial aid which is measured by the dollar 
sign. 
It is pleasant to note the same spirit has struck 
Idaho. A few days ago the game warden of 
Idaho captured three shooters at the terminus 
of the new Oregon Short Line road, which is 
being pushed from St. Anthony toward Yellow¬ 
stone Park. These fellows are ignorant, gen¬ 
erally Greeks, Italians or other nationality ig¬ 
norant and careless of the laws of the land. All 
they care for is to fill the pot and fill it in the 
quickest and surest way. These three shooters 
were caught red-handed after shooting a pool 
in the noble old Snake. Two of them managed 
to break away and take to the waters of the 
Snake, and the Snake, true to its implied char¬ 
acter of liking human food, swallowed them 
into one of its deepest pools. In this laudable 
work the forestry men of the Government are 
taking large part under direction of the chief 
of that bureau. 
Here is a yarn of a tenderfoot. His name is 
Thomas. And he is employed by one of the 
biggest wagon concerns in the State of Utah. 
He casts a fly prettily and wears some of the 
most fascinating fishing toggery ever imported 
thither where most men think a pair of blue 
overalls quite good enough to wade in. Well, 
Mr. Thomas “took up” with one Frank O’Reilly, 
a salesman, a good fellow and one of those funny 
fellows who never crack a smile while twisting 
it off on the other fellow. The fever rose high 
in the blood of Mr. Thomas as open season ap¬ 
proached, and he asked O’Reilly if he knew 
where they could go for a quiet day on some 
stream. ’Course O’Reilly did know, and what 
was more, he was anxious to go himself. So the 
pact was made, and just as dawn was breaking 
on the morning of June 15, the two men jumped 
out of a buggy and tied up their horse near a 
stream. Spake O’Reilly: “There is the stream 
right over there; you go and catch the fish 
while I roast some eggs and make preparations 
for getting breakfast. You will get all you 
want, in a little while.” 
Which was true. Thomas had sixteen big, 
fat fellows in less than an hour, and was having 
the time of his life, when some one rudely asked 
him what he was doing there. He was so busy 
that he hardly took time to say “fishing.” “But 
this is no fishing ground,” said the other man; 
“this is the State hatchery.” Then Thomas was 
haled to the city prison at Murray, and locked 
up on a charge of violating the game laws. 
Meantime O’Reilly lay in the tall willows and 
chuckled to himself. Finally he hunted up the 
game warden and explained the matter so neatly 
ihat Thomas was allowed to go—even with his 
sixteen trout, all of which were in the pound 
class or better. Thomas refused to associate 
with his perfidious friend for some weeks and 
kept all his trout himself; but they are good 
friends now. Thomas says it was the best 
hour he ever spent on a stream till he discovered 
that they were tame fish and the time near their 
breakfast hour. 
Reports from the Strawberry River and its 
tributaries indicate that big catches are being 
made everywhere. Several camping parties from 
all over the State are now there, and many more 
are outfitting for a week or better of fine sport. 
The sheep flocks have gone up into the hills, 
and the trout are rising to the fly greedily. 
Some good bags are being captured in the 
Provo, but the best fishing on this noble stream 
is yet to come. There has been so much snow 
that the streams are still somewhat roily, and the 
volume of water makes it impossible to get down 
and wade. 
The Webber at Peoa and Coalville is afford¬ 
ing some fine sport. In fact, sportsmen say they 
never had better sport than is being afforded at 
these two points. It's a mighty poor sort of 
angler who cannot lift from four to a dozen 
game old fellows ranging from 2 to 3 and even 
4 pounds. 
Reports coming from Idaho indicate that the 
Snake, Portneuf, Teton and Warm rivers are 
getting just right, and that many fine catches 
are being made. Still the waters are not quite 
low enough to insure the best results, which 
may be looked for during the second and third 
week of August. A number of Salt Lakers are 
promising themselves the finest sort of sport 
in Warm River, which is a “new” stream, in 
that it is—or rather was—quite inaccessible till 
the Oregon Short Line road began to extend 
eastward toward Yellowstone Park from St. An¬ 
thony. And so jealous are the officials of the 
road of unlawful fishing that the Government 
was asked to co-operate in every way possible. 
This was done with the result that not a railroad 
hand dares attempt any dirty work with the 
handy giant powder stick, and reports—they are 
reliable, too—are to the effect that the fishing 
in superb. A party of four, of which the writer 
is one, is leaving for a little town near Marys¬ 
ville, where the trout are known to be plenty 
and gamy. Gage. 
Salt Luke, Utah, July 24. 
From the Beaverkiil. 
When a member of the angling fraternity 
learns anything that may be of value to his 
fellows, it is well to pass it on. Last Monday 
afternoon, while visiting a summer bungalow on 
the side of a mountain near here, the owner 
thereof, an expert amateur fly-maker, gave me 
his substitute for wax in fly-tying. Wax is al¬ 
ways too hard or too soft, too sticky or greasy 
or not sticky enough. The substitute does away 
with all this annoyance, and is simple and 
effective. A few drops of the best coach-body 
varnish are placed on a small piece of strong 
paper. This is folded and the silk thread drawn 
between the folds. At first a little more varnish 
than is necessary may be put upon the silk, but 
this is easily remedied by a rub with soft paper. 
The best way, probably, to use it is to prepare a 
dozen pieces of silk before beginning work. It 
is an excellent idea, and as far as I know, en¬ 
tirely original with Mr. Whipple. When the 
varnish becomes hard or too sticky, another 
drop or two upon the paper will make it all 
right. Coach-body varnish is, I presume, copal. 
It is used on fine carriages, and a small bottle 
can be bought for a few pennies from any dealer 
in paints and oils. 
In this country we often have great difficulty 
in getting fine, strong silk for fly-tying. The 
smallest size made is numbered 000 on the spool, 
and I have never seen it in any other color than 
black. It is hard to find and not satisfactory 
in use. However, all colors can be had on 
spools marked with the letter “A.” This is 
quite stout, as it is composed of three strands; 
but these can be separated without great diffi¬ 
culty, if a moderate length, say 18 inches, is 
taken from the spool. Fasten the end of each 
thread to a pin stuck into your work table and 
twist up the strand to the left. Retain the end 
in the left hand and pass the piece of varnished 
paper over it. This will hold the twist and 
the result is a fine thread which may be used in 
making small flies. Any one who has tried it 
knows how impossible it is to tie a pretty fly 
an a tiny hook with stout thread. Only the 
very best and strongest silk should be bought. 
Some day I trust that we may be able to buy 
the finest possible silk in the country. 
In spite of the warm weather we have had at 
times, there is still some fishing to be had. A 
large portion of the upper river is preserved, or 
we could have real good sport at any time by 
driving a few miles. Yesterday afternoon the 
sky was overcast and I killed seven trout in 
