Trouting In Arizona 
An Unfading Memory of Delectable Days in the Shadow of Mount Baldy 
By J. H. B. 
Fort Hamilton, Feb. 8. 
Editor Forest and Stream: To those still pos¬ 
sessing the heritable trait of answering at each 
recurring spring season the “call of the stream” 
the following might be of interest. 
After a sojourn of two years at the isolated, 
dry and barren military post Fort Wingate, New 
Mexico, where the native Zuni, unlike his kin 
of other tribes, knows nothing of nature’s oldest 
and most enchanting sport, fresh-water angling, 
we were headed for the great White Mountain, 
Arizona, trout streams, the sources of which 
are away above the timber line of famed Mount 
Baldy. 
Our course was through a desolate region of 
sandhills and intervening great stretches of 
dreary levels .which were scarred with deep gul¬ 
lies and washes, the beds of intermittent streams. 
The only water procurable at the time was from 
small springs located a full day’s journey apart. 
The early inhabitants were surely alive to the 
situation when they called this “Arizonac” (Ari¬ 
zona), a Spanish Indian name meaning “few 
springs.” 
Near the close of the fourth day out, and 
while in the act of reining our mounts toward a 
small grassy spot, one of the few welcome oases, 
a most unusual and grewsome sight was wit¬ 
nessed : innumerable snakes en masse were wig¬ 
gling all about us. We had only time to notice 
their resemblance to the garter snakes of these 
parts, when, as if by magic, they disappeared into 
the soft earth. It might here be mentioned that 
there was no canteen at the post from which we 
started, and that Springerville, the only place we 
touched along the route, was a prohibition town. 
And now, more surprising still! Our attention 
was next attracted by the marked agitation of 
the water of a small and muddy pond, fed by 
one neighboring tiny spring. We soon learned 
it was due to the presence of an immense num¬ 
ber of fishes; the pond was actually so over¬ 
crowded that many of them were necessarily par¬ 
tially forced over the surface of the water. It 
would be interesting to learn how this far inland 
and insignificant little pool ever happened to be 
so stocked. At supper time that evening we 
learned why the more expert fishermen who occa¬ 
sionally plodded by the place left them un¬ 
harmed; they were mud carp. 
Our final camp was in a country of strange 
and unsurpassed beauty. We were nestled in a 
depression surrounded by lofty, rolling, grassy 
hills on which herds of half wild cattle leisurely 
fed. At the foot of the hill next below, the 
streams before referred to were stealing spark- 
lingly away through grass to join a neighboring 
and larger one that babbled along among the 
white birch and alders in the valley further 
down. These waters were all teeming with 
speckled beauties! After a big catch, and while 
lounging in one of the shady nooks of the bank 
along which these brooks meandered, I thought 
it appropriate and impressive to hear my com¬ 
panion read from his little notebook a clipping 
which he said was from The Sun and which was 
as follows: 
“Trout fishing is not a recreation, nor a sport, 
in the sense that other things are. It is some¬ 
thing in the nature of a hypnotic trance, a trans¬ 
formation, a dream. When the brook is reached 
time is at an end. The world with its cares and 
worries recedes and fades away. It is a tale 
that is told. Time ends and eternity begins.” 
VERMONT FISH AND GAME LEAGUE. 
A decidedly interesting program has been ar¬ 
ranged for March 4 and 5 by Vermont Fish and 
Game League. This organization, under leader¬ 
ship of President John W. Titcomb, has done 
wonders for game protection in the Granite 
state. 
The Second Annual Sportsmen’s Convention, 
under the auspices of the Vermont Fish and 
Game League, will be held in Shrine Hall, Rut¬ 
land, March 4 and 5. This invitation is extended 
to all interested persons. 
Program: Wednesday, March 4—The conven¬ 
tion will open with a school for fish and game 
wardens at two o’clock in the afternoon. This 
meeting will be presided over by the state fish 
and game commissioner. An attorney will be 
present to answer inquiries in regard to the laws. 
There will be an evening session if interest in 
the subject calls for it. While these meetings 
are intended as a school for wardens, others in¬ 
terested in the subjects to be discussed will be 
allowed to take part. Thursday, March 5—The 
session will open at 9 o’clock sharp, and continue 
throughout the day with intermission at noon. 
This will be an open session for bird lovers, ad¬ 
vocates of fish and game protection and propaga¬ 
tion, hunters, anglers, fur trappers, dealers, etc. 
Various authorities, noted in their special lines 
of work, will be in attendance. 
At four o’clock in the afternoon there will be a 
popular illustrated lecture by E. Harold Baynes, 
to which, in addition to others in attendance, the 
children of the public schools are especially in¬ 
vited. 
Mr. Baynes is a naturalist whose lectures are 
on wild animal life. He has done a great deal 
to interest the public in his own town on birds, 
and his lectures on birds and other animal life 
are attracting a great deal of attention through¬ 
out the country. 
Other men of note are expected as follows: 
Dwight W. Huntington, publisher of The Game 
Breeder, New York, who will speak on “The 
Progress of Game Breeding in America.” 
John B. Burnham, president of the American 
Game Protective and Propagation Association. 
Very great credit is due to the activity of Mr. 
Burnham and his association for the passage of 
the Federal migratory bird law. 
Dr. T. S. Palmer, acting chief of the United 
States Biological Survey, in charge of the en¬ 
forcement of the Federal migratory bird law, is 
expected to be present to talk to the wardens on 
March 4 and to take part in the convention 
March 5. 
Charles Sheldon, of New York, who will give 
an illustrated lecture on “Big Game Hunting 
Near Mount McKinley, Alaska.” Mr. Sheldon is 
the author of “The Wilderness of the Upper 
Yukon,” and “The Wilderness of the North Pa¬ 
cific Islands,” both profusely illustrated. He is 
an active member of the Boone and Crockett 
Club. 
EVENING PROGRAM. 
Six o’clock, adjourned annual meeting of the 
Vermont Fish and Game League, in Shrine Hall. 
Seven o’clock, banquet and post-prandial exer¬ 
cises in Shrine Hall. Banquet tickets, $1.50. 
You will note that this is a serious business 
convention, at which there will be authorities on 
the subjects of fish, game and birds. 
Special rates may be obtained at both the Hotel 
Berwick and the Bardwell House at $2.00 per 
day, two in a room. 
JOHN W. TITCOMB, 
President Vermont Fish and Game League. 
H. L. ABBOTT, Secretary. 
CHAS. F. LOWE, Treasurer. 
Charles A. Gale, E. W. Lawrence, George L. 
Kirk, Henry W. Clement, William R. Pond, 
Charles E. Davis, John Dugan, Fred W. Hay¬ 
ward, Committee of Sportsmen. 
J. E. Gage, C. H. West, E. S. Kinsley, A. C. 
Mason, I. Miller, Will L. Davis, Wilbert E. Bur- 
ditt, C. R. Boyden, Committee from Rutland 
Business Men’s Association. 
A TRUE FISH STORY. 
Eureka, Calif., Feb. 17, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
If you don’t bar fish stones, would like to tell 
you one. About twenty miles from Eureka, 
where I reside, is a river known as Eel River, 
which is doubtless the best salmon river in Cali¬ 
fornia. 
In July of each year steel head salmon and salmon 
trout, ranging from one pound to twelve in 
weight, swarm into it in great numbers from the 
ocean, and about the first part of September sal¬ 
mon make their appearance on their way to the 
upper river for spawning, and from then on 
until the first freshets in the early winter, there 
is some of the finest salmon fishing to be had 
anywhere. In November the river is so full of 
fish that I have known two tons to be caught in 
a single haul of a seine. Steelhead and salmon 
trout take the fly or spinner, while salmon bite a 
spinner only. There are a number of pools scat- 
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