436 
Amercan methods and temperaments, yet many 
English dry fly men prefer our Leonard rods. 
Sometimes they have two or more for small fly 
and May fly fishing. Personally, I wish that our 
rods could be weighed and reckoned without 
handles, as I much prefer a rather fat, comfort¬ 
able hand grasp, and weight in the hand has 
(within the small limits to be considered), practi¬ 
cally no influence in causing fatigue. It is the 
weight out board that is tiring—a long rod, or 
one with a stout top joint and a kick in the butt, 
is more fatiguing than a short one. I have seen 
beautiful work done with limber rods twelve feet 
long and splendid casting with stiff Tournament 
rods of nine feet (the latter require a heavy 
line), but modern practice is all in favor of the 
quick, resilient, up-to-date weapons. Charles 
Kingsley considered any man a weakling who ob¬ 
jected to single-handed rods weighing one pound 
or more. He loved the brown alder fly, on hooks 
of fair size, but he fished for big brown trout, in 
a stream wull of weeds. Irishmen are celebrated 
for using limber rods and a big greenheart Castle 
Connell salmon rod kicks like a heavily loaded 
gun. Englishmen are supposed to prefer stiff 
rods of considerable weight, but their practice 
has certainly been considerably changed or modi¬ 
fied by the advent of the light yet powerful 
American dry fly rod. We have now such splen¬ 
did rods of all lengths and weight that any man 
may be satisfied, but I would advise the novice, 
if he expects varied fishing in many waters, not 
to go to extremes. Let the rod be nine, nine and 
one-half or ten feet in length, and be not over¬ 
anxious for the least possible weight on the scales. 
Any handle desired can be had upon the rod, at 
small additional cost. I have seen hand grasps 
that had been enlarged at home with rubber or 
cork. An E line, I think, should be sufficiently 
heavy to bring out the action of the rod you 
choose for stream fishing. If a first-rate spring 
is put into one of the cheap “Feather-light” reels 
it is good enough for anyone, but the spring that 
comes in the reel is usually of poor material. It 
breaks at the most inconvenient moment. I wish 
that we had noiseless click reels. I have one fine 
old Abbey & Imbrie (I am afraid to say how old) 
that still sings the same old song. Nobody within 
half a mile can fail to hear it when it is busy, and 
I detest attracting the attention of everyone in 
the county when I am fishing. I have tried out 
a great many rods in the past two years and hope 
that at some time I may be able to formulate the 
advantages and disadvantages of the various 
types without being biased by my own prefer¬ 
ences. I know how important it is to secure a 
rod that is perfectly suited to one’s style and 
method, and the additional pleasure and satisfac¬ 
tion to be derived from such a tool. In casting 
with the perfectly designed rod one is not con¬ 
scious of any effort in ordinary fishing. The 
wrist only is used and the rod does all of the 
work. In fact, the line seems to fly out and re¬ 
trieve itself, and the fly alights softly without the 
suggestion of a splash. With it one can use the 
finest gut near the fly without leaving the said fly 
in the trout’s mouth on the strike. A very slight 
movement of the rod is required to drive the 
hook home, over the barb. The trout hooked, we 
must have enough power to guide, and in a 
measure control it. It must be butted away from 
snags, roots and other entanglements. Brown 
trout in some streams have a habit of rushing at 
once into holes under rocks or ledges, and this is 
FOREST AND STREAM 
a dangerous trick. In a big bold water rainbows 
often run down stream, and brown trout some¬ 
times do so. If large, such a fish cannot be held 
or played against the stream, but must be fol¬ 
lowed. It is easier to lose a fish by reason of the 
hook tearing out, with a stiff rod than with a 
more pliant one. With the latter nothing ap¬ 
proaching a dead pull is possible. It yields to 
every effort of the fish, yet the grip of the hook 
is never relaxed, nor slack line given. But the 
light, pliant rod lacks power to control fish in 
dangerous situations, and to cast into even a 
moderately strong breeze. The dry fly and up¬ 
stream fisher must have power, but the rod 
should not be so stiff that an extra heavy line is 
required to bring out its action. D line is the 
limit, in my opinion, and the range of sizes re¬ 
quired may be limited to D, E and F, double 
tapered, air pump dressed, soft finish lines. These 
might be designated stout, medium and fine, but 
the lines made by manufacturers vary somewhat 
in diameter and weight. At one time the fly lines 
containing a copper thread were quite popular, as 
they were heavy in proportion to size. All things 
considered, one may select a rod that handles a 
regular E line (tapered) in the shop, with rea¬ 
sonable assurance that it will work well on the 
stream. Very light rods may be used in boat 
work, particularly if one has a good man at the 
paddle or oars. One can cheat the wind, and if 
a big fish is hooked the guide will back up the 
rod, in playing it, doing quite half the work. In 
this country much salmon fishing is done from 
canoes, and with first-rate guides the most inex¬ 
perienced of men is usually successful, if he is 
on a good river holding a fair stock of fresh run 
salmon. A river that admits of casting from the 
bank and waging is a more sporting proposition 
and requires more skill. 
But we are talking about trout fly rods with 
the knowledge that at this season all tackle is in¬ 
teresting. I should enjoy trying out a new fly 
rod every year, and one finds much enjoyment 
in fiddling with artificial flies. One never tires of 
these small creations, and it is really worth while 
to spend time in the buying or making of carefully 
selected patterns in dun, brown, orange and yel¬ 
low. Red quills are good and many anglers have 
faith in the various patterns of whirling duns. 
All the duns are good at one time or another, but 
we are thinking of standard flies such as the 
Wickham’s Fancy, which is known everywhere. 
One is embarrassed by the fact that there are so 
many dressings for some of our old friends. I 
found eight or nine of the yellow dun in one old 
book, but we want a few flies with light yellow 
bodies and harmonious legs and wings. The old 
Beaverkill is a good fly. You can put another 
wing on the Queen and call it an orange Ledge 
fly, if you like. It is not troublesome to note the 
colors of the natural flies on the streams one fishes 
and these are the best possible guides in select¬ 
ing our colors. It is not worth while to bother 
with insects unless the trout are seen taking 
them, or they are to be found in the stomachs 
of the fish. I am not fond of the Royal Coach¬ 
man, but it is a great killer on many waters, just 
the same, wet or dry. One thing is sure, the 
trout can scarcely fail to see it. Usually when I 
hear or know that one fly is taking great numbers 
of trout, I can discover the reason by patiently 
investigating the matter, but the R. C. resembles 
nothing except possibly a glorified ant. 
It was the second season before I found that 
a small greenish bodied insect was plentiful, and 
thus accounted for the popularity of a fly with a 
little green mixed with the dubbing of the body. 
A pale yellow Perlidac was very plentiful last 
season and an Ephemera of different shade, with 
rather stout body and mottled wings. I think of 
flies mostly by name of the species and the color, 
or the materials that enter into them. Lou Darl¬ 
ing’s Cattskill is good. So are pale Evening and 
silver Duns. 
I fussed after a fly for two years and named 
it after a well-known angler. I took the color 
from an insect and added a gold ribbing to 
brighten it up, as I fancied that he liked gold 
ribs, and they mark the segments of the body 
well, if not too wide. This is a good pattern, 
and so is the gold-ribbed Hare’s Ear, which is 
much darker in coloring. The stiff fibers from 
the hare’s face must be carefully tied into this 
latter fly if it is to cock and float well. Lots of 
them are poor in this respect, if made from the 
ear only. 
Nature is a great colorist and the tones in in¬ 
sects are fine and harmonious, but for the most 
part subdued. I never tried a dun colored fly that 
pleased me that did not prove useful, and I like 
to have several shades in the box, from very pale 
to a dark iron or purplish blue. It is easy to use 
flies too large, yet a big trout will sometimes rise 
at a large fly when he would ignore a little one. 
One could easily fill a book with talk about in¬ 
sects, natural and artificial, so it may be well to 
call a halt. 
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCIENTIFIC 
ANGLING CLUBS. 
The seventh casting tournament of the National 
Association of Scientific Angling Clubs will be 
held September 5th, 6th and 7th at Anglers’ pool, 
Washington Park, Chicago. 
The executive committee of the association is 
preparing plans to make the 1914 tournament 
greater than any that have preceded it. 
The award for the amateur championship, in 
each event, will be a suitable trophy. Place 
awards will be articles of merchandise pertain¬ 
ing to angler’s kit, such as rods, reels, etc. 
No professional casters are permitted to partici¬ 
pate in the N. A. S. A. C. tournaments. 
PICKEREL LAW IN VERMONT. 
At the recent annual convention of the Ver¬ 
mont Fish and Game League, at Rutland, State 
Commissioner Titcomb announced that his de¬ 
partment held that the season for catching pick¬ 
erel did not close March 1, but when it was no 
longer possible to catch the fish through the ice. 
It was recommended that the bounty on bear be 
removed and that on the bobcat increased. There 
were also addresses by D. W. Huntington, Dr. 
T. S. Palmer, J. B. Burnham and an illustrated 
lecture on “Birds” by E. H. Baynes. 
FEWER COMMISSIONERS IN JERSEY. 
The proposed policy of Governor Fielder, of 
New Jersey, includes appointing a single com¬ 
missioner to take the place of the fish and game 
commission in that state. 
There has not been a single violation of the 
Federal game law in California, according to a 
news report from that state, although the waters 
are said to be alive with ducks and geese. 
