78 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July 19, 1913 
With these facts staring us in the face, it 
would seem to be time for sportsmen to awake 
from their Rip Van Winkle slumber and unite 
on a definite and practicable plan for the accom¬ 
plishment of a long desired purpose, viz.: the 
bringing back of conditions that existed in the 
“good old days” when we could go afield with 
rod or gun, knowing that we had before us the 
opportunity of capturing a fair and reasonably 
sized basket of fish or bag of game. 
The Massachusetts Fish and Game League 
is drafting a combination hunter-fisherman 
license bill, which is to provide that upon the 
payment of $1.25 (the twenty-five cents to be 
paid to the town or city clerk), any citizen of 
the State may obtain a license or permit to fish 
and hunt during the open seasons. Women and 
boys under the age of sixteen or seventeen will 
be exempt, while owners or lessees of lands to¬ 
gether with their families will also be exempt 
from the provisions of the act while fishing or 
hunting on their own or leased land used for 
agricultural purposes. 
The most important feature of the bill will 
be a provision that all moneys received from 
the sale of hunters’ licenses shall be used by our 
fish and game commissioners for the propaga¬ 
tion, distribution and protection of game birds, 
while the revenue derived from the sale of fish¬ 
ermen’s licenses shall be used for the building 
of fish hatcheries and the propagation, planting 
and protection of fish. The above provision will 
doubtless be contested, and sportsmen must or¬ 
ganize and be in readiness to fight for their 
rights. Every prospective legislator in the State 
will be shown a copy of our proposed measure 
by representative sportsmen of his district, and 
will be asked to support the same in the event 
of his election. 
Since the enactment of the hunters’ license 
law, with its archaic and unjust provision that 
all moneys received from the sale of licenses 
must go into the general fund, hunters have paid 
into the Treasury of the State approximately 
$175,000, out of which we have received one 
game farm at a cost of about $5,000. The bal¬ 
ance of our fund has gone as each incoming 
Legislature saw fit to dispose of it. 
Let us put an end to this injustice by has¬ 
tening the growth of the Massachusetts Fish 
and Game League, because it is only through the 
power of State-wide organization augmented by 
the active and unanimous co-operation of local 
fish and game associations throughout the State 
that we shall be able to convince our incoming 
legislators that what we ask for is deserving of 
their serious consideration. 
John B. Smith, 
Secretary-Treasurer Massachusetts Fish 
and Game League. 
Large Trout. 
Last May I met an angler from Ellenville, 
N. Y., John H. Divine, who was then fishing the 
Neversink, with fair success. He told me that 
last season (1912) he killed a trout in the Lacka- 
wack stream that was twenty-three inches long 
and weighed over four pounds. On the evening 
of June 28 last, Mr. Divine caught a much 
larger fish. This was a real “sockdollager” for 
the fly-fisher, although larger ones have been 
taken on bait. 
This fine specimen was twenty-seven inches 
long and weighed six pounds three ounces; not 
a stout fish and probably a male. Last season 
1 sent Forest and Stream particulars of an eight 
and one-quarter pound trout caught on worm 
bait in a small stream in the Catskills. Mr. 
Divine thinks well of a dark gray hackled fly 
with red tail for big trout early in the season 
or for evening fishing. It requires patience to 
kill these big trout on the fly as well as skill. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Nets and Netting. 
BY F. C. MULLIN, CHIEF OF ST. LAWRENCE DIVISION, 
CONSERVATION COMMISSION, NEW YORK STATE. 
The greatest trouble the protector has is to 
catch the illegal fishermen. It is like still-hunt¬ 
ing the fox, catching him asleep and shooting 
him in his bed; and to do it successfully you 
must know the tricks and habits of the animal. 
The old fish pirate has as many tricks as the fox, 
and then some. He usually works at night, and 
before hauling his nets will scout around the 
shores to learn if anyone is watching for him. 
Some of them have dogs that will follow along 
the shore while the fisherman goes with his boat, 
and if anybody is secreted on shore, the dog will 
give the alarm by barking. Then the jig is 
usually up for the night. The pirate gets busy 
and locates where the protector is stopping and 
watches him until he leaves the country. 
If the protector can locate a net without 
the fish pirate getting wise, he may possibly get 
him. 
In setting these illegal devices, the netters 
have changed their tactics in the last few years. 
Instead of setting straight out from shore, they 
now run parallel with the shore or channel, 
usually along the offset, and unless the pro¬ 
tector who drags for them zig-zags, he will not 
pick up many nets. In locating gill nets, which 
are fished illegally in Lakes Erie and Ontario, 
where they are set eight to ten miles out, it is 
like looking for a needle in a hay mow. 
The Dry-Fly at Grand Lake Stream. 
The writer was very much interested to 
read in your issue of June 7 the article by Ed¬ 
ward Breck, under the heading, “Sensational 
Dry-Fly in Nova Scotia.” It reminds him of 
our dry-fly fishing at Grand Lake Stream, “It 
is so different.” 
Brothers Breck and Cabot should come to 
Grand Lake Stream any time from June 1 to 
Oct. 1 and they would not be disappointed. 
They should bring with them the little hare's 
ear and March brown and not forget to include 
a supply of the pretty little Wickham fancies 
with their gilt bodies, light brown hackle and 
drab wings. 
There are many pools on the stream with 
just the right current to float the little fellows, 
and the delight to see a four or five or even a 
six and three-quarter-pound ouananiche rise and 
grab them is well worth the trip to the best land¬ 
locked fishing country to be found anywhere in 
the world. And consider a moment, the fun 
has just commenced when you have hooked your 
fish. He feels the prick of the little hook and 
then leaps and runs and slats and leaps again 
and again, and you wonder if you have the skill 
to bring this splendid fighting gentleman to net 
with your four-ounce rod and tapered line and 
leader. And you don’t have to fish them wet. 
Now, to vary your trip. You have tried the 
little dry-fly to your heart’s content and desire 
a change and you will not troll. 
You take the steamer Alberta or Sunset for 
a delightful sail fifteen miles through Grand and 
Pocompass lakes to Dobsis Dam; there you have 
a guide paddle across to Norway Pines (two 
miles). After lunch the canoe again and attach 
your wet-fly and you have them again. 
S. F. Copeland. 
An Obliging Game Warden. 
Hillsdale, N. Y., July 10. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: As an example of the lack of en¬ 
forcement of some of our game laws in this 
vicinity, we can report on good authority an 
incident which happened on July 4 last. Two 
young men from the financial district in New 
York city were spending a few days at Hills¬ 
dale, N. Y., and being anxious to do some trout 
fishing, inquired of the game warden of Hills¬ 
dale who, by the way is also a justice of the 
peace, as to the best trout streams. They were 
directed by him to a brook which he said was 
very seldom fished, and where he thought they 
could catch a good mess. Hurrying to the stream 
early on the 4th, well equipped for taking any¬ 
thing that could swim, they tried all their arts, 
but were obliged to return before noon and re¬ 
port nothing in the way of a fish. Apparently 
desiring to please the young men, they were 
furnished with a net and were told how to 
use it and where. This method of taking 
trout proved to be much more successful, and 
the guests were enabled to return about noon 
with thirty trout. Wishing to show their appre¬ 
ciation for the warden’s kindness, they proudly 
handed him the two largest trout, which was 
undoubtedly gratifying to him, as he then in¬ 
structed them as to the best grouse locality. 
Being equipped for shooting as well as fish¬ 
ing, the young men set out to finish the day in 
the woods hunting birds. In this, however, they 
were not as successful as in netting trout, and 
after tramping all the afternoon and flushing 
several partridges, were obliged to return with 
only one male bird. j. p. H. 
An Acknowledgment. 
New York City, July 8. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: In your issue of July 5, Dr. Grinnell 
has published a very generous acknowledgment 
of a mistake made by Forest and Stream some 
years since. I want to thank Dr. Grinnell and 
also state that the mistake is easily accounted 
for, as Dr. Grinnell and I were together on the 
trip that the photos were made, and our photos 
were unknowingly mixed. 
Edwin Willard Deming. 
Migratory Bird Law. 
In our issue of June 28 was printed the full 
text of that section of the Agricultural Appro¬ 
priation Bill, referring to the migratory bird pro¬ 
tection (Weeks-McLean) bill. These regulations 
go into effect Oct. 1, 1913. We made this an¬ 
nouncement in view of the many inquiries that 
have come to us in relation to snipe shooting, 
the season on which now is open in some States, 
and in no way is affected by the new bill. 
