Sept. 29, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
501 
forests are going the same road that the forests 
have already gone in other States. I went to 
Pine Bluff about twelve days ago by way of a 
new railroad. This railroad is one succession of 
lumber and logging camps. No other industry 
except farming is evident along the line. One 
sees logs, logs, logs all the way from Benton to 
Pine Bluff. White Oak staves for whiskey bar¬ 
rels are cut to a large extent also. 
Did you ever get covered with chiggers? We 
have plenty of them down here. They almost 
ruin some people, but 1 have become used to 
them and simply scratch them. We also have 
plenty of ticks, but not many mosquitoes. Go¬ 
ing through the woods in summer is somewhat 
objectionable, on account of the numerous 
spider-webs stretched everywhere, which are 
very annoying when they strike one across the 
face and stick there. 
Game is apparently going to be very plenti¬ 
ful this winter. Several good bags of squirrels 
have been taken near camp this summer. Quail 
feed right in our stable lot, and they have nests 
all around us. Many turkeys have been seen, 
and a few deer. I did not get a bit of duck 
shooting last winter, and if the same thing 
happens this year, I will be disappointed. 
Frank Connelly. 
Hot Springs, Ark 
From the Beaverkill. 
The summer is past and gone, many of the 
birds have taken their departure, and the chill 
of early autumn is felt in the air. We feel that 
our good time is over, for this year,, at least, and 
most of the city people have returned to their 
homes. . 
Even the big trout below the bridge grew 
tired of the attention it excited and has tied 
away up stream in search of more retired 
quarters. 
The lie of this fish was vacant for about a 
week, then a smaller trout, of say 2)4 pounds, 
appeared and selected a position a little lower 
down, by the same flat rock. Instead of two 
trout in the pig-pen pool, there are six or seven, 
the largest of which has been under a dock so 
long that it is quite as black as your hat. I be¬ 
lieve that all these fish have been hidden in that 
shallow pool all summer. It is astonishing how 
trout can conceal themselves during the warm 
weather, and in exposed positions, where they 
are much disturbed. 
There are two good spawning brooks in this 
neighborhood, and I am told that trout crowd 
into them in great numbers. I saw many of 
the Neversink fish at work upon their beds last 
November, and as they were not easily dis¬ 
turbed or frightened, was able to watch their 
proceedings with much interest. I do not think 
that any sensible person would kill a spawning 
trout, although I have heard of two or three 
very large fish being shot on the shallows at 
that season. 
How we miss the bird music of early summer! 
Now we hear nothing but the everlasting chip, 
chip, chip of that universal nuisance, the Eng¬ 
lish sparrow. That belligerent little beast will 
soon pervade the whole earth. He was present 
with the Japanese army in Manchuria and quite 
enjoyed the bombardment of Port Arthur. 
What can one do with a bird which is not driven 
away, or greatly disturbed by the roar of an 
n-inch howitzer belching forth its 500-pound 
shell. 
We never see the big hare here in summer, 
although ruffed grouse (partridge) and rabbits 
(the common American hare) are frequently 
noticed in the woods and on the roads. The 
hares keep back in the big woods near the 
evergreen swamps. They do not get their white 
coats until very cold weather; at least, I shot 
one last November that was just beginning to 
change. 
In Forest and Stream of Sept. 15 I have 
read Mr. Chas. Lose’s “Young Angler’s Com¬ 
plaint” with much sympathetic interest. I am 
not sure whether he is telling a story or re¬ 
lating facts. In the latter case, I fancy that 
the woes of the skilful but unfortunate youth 
may be greatly mitigated by close study of the 
cause of his misfortunes. There is a reason, I 
am quite sure. In a big, bold stream, such as is 
described, a few of the large fish hooked may 
be lost. Every one expects that—but not all, 
or_ nearly all. Sometimes poor hooks make 
trouble. When using very small flies I once 
lost four large trout through the hook’s break¬ 
ing, and again with larger flies. I lost three 
out of four in the same way. When trout are 
shy and take the fly gingerly, they are often 
hooked by a mere shred of skin; but when large 
trout rise in the bold way described by “Young 
Angler,” a large proportion should be brought 
to hook. In at least three instances out of four 
I have found that the loss of a big trout was 
occasioned by my own carelessness, excite¬ 
ment or stupidity. 
I remember one fine stream, almost a river, 
where for a time all the trout above a certain 
size broke away or were lost. The whole of 
these misfortunes nearly, were caused by hold¬ 
ing the fish bard. When I used 50 yards or 
more of line and let the trout go, following 
them as fast as possible, when they bolted down 
stream, I found that nearly all the big fish were 
landed, and other fishermen had the same ex¬ 
perience. We have taken many trout from 18 
to 22 inches long, not on one occasion, of 
course, but I have lost very few of the large 
fish hooked. When they do rise, they often 
take a good grip of the fly. I am satisfied that 
many fish are lost through the use of badly 
shaped hooks. It seems difficult for the manu¬ 
facturers to stick to a good form of hook when 
they do make it. They change its form or 
shorten the shank unduly. I have some good 
hooks now, but do not know how long I shall 
be able to get them. If I knew Chas. Lose’s 
address, I would send him a few; in fact, I 
would send him a few flies of the sort I am fond 
of using for big trout. 
I cannot understand why so few really big 
trout were taken in the Beaverkill this season. 
There were lots of good fish, but I heard of very 
few being taken over i )4 pounds. Early in the 
season, in May and June, I killed three trout 
of 2)4 to 2.^/2 pounds, but these were not from 
the Beaverkill. There were some in the river, 
probably many of them. That fish below the 
bridge must have weighed nearly, if not quite, 
4 pounds. 
I have no doubt that if Mr. Chas. Lose and 
“Young Angler” will put their heads together, 
they will be able to solve the problem of the 
big trout that always get away, in that large 
unnamed stream, which, by the way, must be 
a pretty good place to fish. 
Winged flies are the favorites in this country, 
and are usually most successful. My pet fly 
during the past summer would not be nearly as 
attractive if dressed as a hackle. It is quite 
hard enough to see a small pattern in the even¬ 
ing now; without wings it would be almost in¬ 
visible on the water. 
I was surprised when I read Peter Flint’s 
letter in a recent issue of Forest and Stream. 
All the species of trout with which I am ac¬ 
quainted will take minnows when they can get 
them, but there may be brooks where small, 
coarse fish are ngt found. In very small, cold 
streams minnows may, very possibly, not exist, 
or there may be very few of them. Fontinalis 
is often taken with small fish as bait, and I re¬ 
member when fishing Big Island Lake in Maine, 
that many of the large trout taken disgorged 
minnows while being played. In lakes such as 
Tim Pond, where there were no minnows, the 
trout ran small, and I could not hear of any 
really big fish being taken. As an experiment 
trolling in the deeps w.as tried, to see if any 
large trout’ were there. Nothing but trout of 
the usual size was taken. I would very much 
like to know whether the great trout of the 
Rangeleys are ever seen midging or quietly 
sucking down the smallest possible flies. I re¬ 
member that Genio C. Scott mentions taking 
several large fish at the Middle Dam with a 
couple of ash-midges, but this is the only record 
of the kind I have been able to find. Fly¬ 
fishing affords an endless field for specu¬ 
lation, study and investigation to its votaries, 
and I do not believe that any one man ever 
arrived at a point where he had nothing more 
to learn. Theodore Gordon. 
Beaverkill, Sullivan County, N. Y. 
Fish and Fishing. 
Large Trout and Ouananiche. 
While the very warm and dry September 
weather and the consequent lowness and high 
temperature of the water in shallow lakes and 
streams has been somewhat against fisherman’s 
good luck during the last few weeks, and 1 ising 
fish have been rather the exception than the 
rule, even in the best stocked waters of the 
north, there have been some notable reports 
of splendid sport with both ouananiche and 
trout. 
The beautiful Metabetchouan Pool between 
the falls in the river of that name, so pictur¬ 
esquely described by Colonel Haggard in his 
charming introduction to “The Ouananiche and 
Its Canadian Environment,” has of late years 
been carefully preserved by the lessee, Mr. H. 
J. Beemer, for the taking of spawning ounan- 
aniche for the Roberval hatchery. Once a year, 
however, he invites a party of friends to fish 
the pool with him, when all the fish taken which 
are not required for breeding purposes, are re¬ 
turned to the water. Among those who accom¬ 
panied Mr. Beemer to the pool on the 20th 
of September was the Hon. Mr. Gouin, Prime 
Minister of the Province of Quebec, who is quite 
a well known angler. Some thirty-one large 
fish rewarded the anglers’ efforts that day, nearly 
half of which were killed by Mr. Gouin. Two 
fine yearling salmon were also caught but 
promptly returned to the pool. Some of the 
ouananiche weighed close upon 6 pounds each. 
The Hon. Lyman D. Gilbert, of Harrisburg, 
Pa., passed through Quebec the other day on his 
way home from the preserves of the Tourilli 
Fish and Game Club, where he enjoyed some 
exceptionally good fishing. He had with him 
ten trout weighing over 40 pounds, taken in one 
day with the artificial fly out of Lake Long. 
The smallest of these fish weighed 3)4 pounds, 
and the largest, 5 ) 4 . 
The extraordinary fact about these fish is that 
they were only planted in Lake Long four years 
ago. Prior to that time there was not a trout 
of any kind in the lake. Their rapid growth is 
doubtless due to the enormous amount of good 
fish food which they found in the lake, owing 
to the fact that there was nothing to feed upon 
prior to their advent there. 
Something of the same kind was brought to 
my notice the other day by General Henry, the 
U. S. Consul at Quebec, who some three years 
ago, with another member of the St. Bernard 
Club, Mr. P. B. Laird, carried over from Lake 
Monet 150 trout weighing less than a pound 
each, and planted them in Lake Blue. This 
lake is about a mile in length, and contained 
no trout at all prior to the planting in question. 
Its waters swarmed, however, with a brown min¬ 
now about two inches long. This fish furnished 
such abundant food for the trout that at the end 
of three years some of the latter had attained 
a weight of three pounds. These and other in¬ 
stances that might be mentioned go to illustrate 
the important part played in the animal economy 
of fish by the quality and supply of the food 
upon which they feed, and suggest the desira¬ 
bility of much more attention than is ordinarily 
paid to the food supply of fish in preserved 
waters. 
Transplanted Ouananiche. 
The other day I was fishing with Mr. Chas. 
Simpson and a party of friends on the magnifi¬ 
cent preserve of the former, whose headquarters 
in Canada are at Lake Carolus, some thirty miles 
north of Louiseville in Maskinonge county. 
The particular lake to which I now have refer¬ 
ence is Lake Madame Prevost, so named on the 
occasion of my recent visit with the Hon. Mr. 
Prevost. President of the North American Fish 
and Game Protective Association, and Minister 
of Colonizat on, Mines and Fisheries of the 
Province of Quebec, at Mr. Simpson’s request 
and with the permission of the minister. Pre- 
