14 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Jan. 4, 1913 
permit the taking of a bag limit that will more 
nearly approach the numbers killed in European 
countries in which game has been shot for hun¬ 
dreds of years? 
Last year, throughout the United States, 
there were killed probably 25,000,000 ducks. Al¬ 
lowing for a moderate increase of five birds to 
the pair, this means that there will be nearly 
100,000,000 less birds to come back this fall than 
there would have been had there been no shoot¬ 
ing last season. How long will the supply last 
at this rate? In California at least 1,000000 
birds were killed. Over one-third of these were 
used in the various markets of the State. Thus 
estimating the same rate of increase of five birds 
to the pair, we have approximately 1,000,000 less 
ducks this year than would have been the case 
had the sale of ducks not been allowed. 
“Dapping” with the May-Fly on the Westmeath 
Lakes. 
There are four important trout lakes in, or 
bordering on, the county Westmeath, viz.. 
Belvedere, Owle, Derryvarra and Sheelin. 
Strange to say, they are pretty much the same 
size—about seven by four miles each in extent. 
Their characteristics are similar in almost every 
particular save one, and this exception is in the 
case of Derryvarra, one portion of which is 
peaty or boggy; all the others are more or less 
sandy bottomed and have clear and bright 
spring waters, including the greater part of 
Derryvarra, the trout in which, notwithstanding 
the peaty portion, are, as a rule, of excellent 
quality. 
These four lakes are situated within seven 
or eight miles of each other, and all four are 
about this distance from the important town of 
Mullingar, which is one of the chief railroad 
centers of Ireland. 
The trout in these lakes are of the finest 
quality imaginable. They grow quickly, and in 
a day’s fishing thirty or forty pounds to a rod 
is frequently secured. It is comparatively sel¬ 
dom that any fish under two pounds rises to 
the fly—more likely two and a half to three 
pounds. 
The condition of the fish is exceptionally 
good, and for table purposes their flavor is fully 
equal to that of the finest salmon—only more 
delicate. The color of their flesh is a deep 
reddish pink—almost maroon; and between its 
laj'ers is a cream-colored curds similar to that 
of a good fresh lobster. The flesh is so hard 
and firm, that when taken out of the fish-kettle 
and dished, it falls to pieces on the dish. 
A striking peculiarity of these trout is their 
shortness as compared with their thickness. 
Thus a fish a foot long would weigh two and a 
half to three pounds—and this proportion holds 
good in all sizes. 
In appearance the trout is strongly marked 
with large light purple spots on a brownish 
back, and gray, slightly silvered, on the sides 
Other conditions must also be taken into 
account. The number of hunters is increasing 
from 2 to 5 per cent, each year. Facilities for 
getting to what were formerly inaccessible places 
have increased, it now being possible for a man 
with an automobile to go one hundred miles or 
more from a railroad in a few hours’ time. Game 
country, in which a gun was never heard a few 
years ago, is now overrun with hunters. Ranchers 
are crowding into all parts of the State, and the 
breeding grounds of the game are thus becoming 
less and less. Guns have been perfected until it 
is possible to fire five shots into a. flock of birds 
almost before they are aware of the presence 
of the hunter. 
Is it any wonder that the game is diminish¬ 
ing in numbers? The wonder is that there is 
any left. 
and belly; but there are scarcely any red spots 
to be seen on the skin. 
Of all the members of the European lake 
trout (Sahno fario) family, the Westmeath 
variety has no superior as a gamy fish, especi¬ 
ally during the time the May fly is on the water, 
which is usually the latter ten days of May and 
the first ten days of June. 
During this period they are very greedy 
for the fly, and rise to it with great avidity and 
sprightliness. They give a great deal of play 
and are sport to the last. One has got to be 
sure that the fish is played out before the land¬ 
ing-net is applied, .as these trout have a knack 
of getting a “second wind” at the moment 
when they seem to be exhausted; then they 
make a final desperate plunge, which sometimes 
breaks either the tackle or their hold, and in 
this way make their escape. 
The mode of May-fly fishing, which is called 
dapping, is as follows: The fisherman with 
rod, line, reel, casting-line and hook, launches 
his boat on the windward side of the lake. 
Some wind, sufficient to raise a “curl” on the 
water, is absolutely necessary. Having put the 
natural May fly (EphemeridcF) on his hook, he 
holds his rod so as to allow the fly to dangle 
on the surface of the water, and his boat tO' 
drift quietly right across the lake. This avoids 
any noise, and at the same time makes it easy 
to maintain a position for holding the fly on 
the surface of the water. When the boat 
reaches the lea side of the lake, it is rowed 
back again, and this process is repeated as 
often as required during the time the fishing 
lasts. 
It is a pity that the May fly’s term of 
aerial existence is so short. He has only a 
few hours, into which has to be crowded the 
chief events of his life’s history; his birth, his 
growth, his courtship, his marriage and his 
death (not to speak of minor details)—truly a 
Herculean task for a poor May fly. Whatever 
the opinion may be as to whether this particular 
life is a “merry” one or not, there can be no 
manner of doubt that it is “short”! 
This refers to his life as a winged insect, 
which, of course, is his perfected form. In his 
larval condition he is secreted under a stone 
at the bottom of a lake, where he exists for 
about a year, and then rises to the surface a 
full-blown May fly, in the month of May. Dur¬ 
ing the larval period he is known as the “stone 
bait”; and is used as a lure for trout and other 
fish, with considerable success. 
The sport and enjoyment obtainable in 
dapping for trout with the May fly on these 
Westmeath lakes is “rich and rare”; and it 
may be truthfully said that to those lovers of 
the “gentle art” who can afford the time and 
expense involved in a visit to these lakes when 
the May fly is up, would amply justify a trip 
for the fishin,g, even though one were to go all 
the way across the Atlantic for this purpose. 
Such would be the effect that, like Oliver Twist, 
the delighted angler would be pretty sure, be¬ 
fore long, to “call for more”! 
The fishing on these lakes is free to every 
respectable visitor, and there is no payment for 
license required by the Inland Revenue author¬ 
ities, except for salmon. 
How Much Does a Fish Shrink? 
Havana, Cuba, Dec. ii. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Your very delightful Christmas num¬ 
ber has just been received in this distressful 
country, and is being read with the usual in¬ 
terest, but we have been perfectly flabbergasted 
by the article on “How Much Does a Fish 
Shrink?” and our local experience in this mat¬ 
ter makes us inclined to qualify you as a ‘nature 
faker.” 
I have in my possession a photograph of a 
countryman of yours holding by arms length at 
the end of a line a microscopic red snapper 
with a look on his (the fisherman’s) countenance 
giving a good illustration of a scientist trying 
to discover the Mighty Atom, and I can vouch 
that, according to his own statement (and he 
ought to know) that red snapper instead of 
shrinking had increased the following day to 
exactly 7 pounds 2 ounces. This happened three 
years ago, and heaven only knows to what pro¬ 
portions it may have increased now. 
Another instance of the same: Six of us 
went out a few weeks ago and caught a sword¬ 
fish weighing about forty pounds. The follow¬ 
ing day (after this leviathan had been cut up 
and eaten) it weighed anything from 240 pounds 
3H ounces to a ton, according to the imagination 
of the individual relating the catch and the pre¬ 
sumable credulity of the listener. 
In the face of these established facts we 
must come to the conclusion that your waste 
paper basket must have been mislaid or your 
lynx eye out of focus when you allowed said 
article to appear in your columns. 
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and con¬ 
tinued prosperity for the New Year, I* remain, 
C. R. 
How Long Will a Fish Live Out of Water? 
Globe, Ariz., Dec. 12. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The correspondence in recent issues 
of Forest and Stream as to how long fish can 
remain out of water, has so interested me that 
I am prompted to give you some facts concern¬ 
ing my own experience in this line. 
Near my honje in the East were several 
swamps, caused by the surface waters collecting 
in basin-like depressions in the limestone country 
