370 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March 22, 1913 
place a second time; often a trout will wait to 
strike, the second cast luring him out of the 
water. 
The rainbow will always take the fly on his 
downward plunge, the speckled on his upward 
ascent. This manner in which the trout takes 
the fl}' is a good means of identification at the 
second they strike. The brook trout fights 
little in comparison to the death-like struggle 
of the rainbow. 
Trout are a fish that feed together, and if 
the angler meets with poor success he may 
just as well lay off till the trout begin to rise 
to the surface. Evening fishing, regardless of 
the day, is alw'ays good. The fish are near the 
surface, preceding and after dusk, and are feed¬ 
ing on floating bait entirely—except in cases 
of high or riley water, when no results can be 
gained, unless bait is used. 
Bait fishing is dull and tiresome to the man 
who has used the fly. The larger trout may be 
obtained on bait, as the big trout seldom rise 
to the surface; when they do rise, it is ex¬ 
tremely hard to get them as far as the net on 
the average sized trout fly. During the 
spring freshets, at the opening of the season, I 
have caught rainbow trout weighing from five 
to eight pounds with large pieces of fish bait, 
cut from a red-horse or a chub. Chub bait, 
either whole or in pieces, is a good tempter for 
these big fish, but if caught with a large hook 
in their throat or stomach, they fight poorly. 
Sometimes when the fl3'-fishing is poor, catch 
a small shiner or chub and put him on the hook 
as you take him out of the water. Sink this 
live bait in a deep hole, and if there is a large 
fish there, you will not have to wait long. 
When he does strike, don’t jerk instantly as 
when using the fly, but feed out line, presum¬ 
ably nine or ten feet, at least until you feel 
the line growing quite taut and the fish a dead 
weight on the end. Then jerk suddenly. You 
will have him securely hooked and you may 
rely on a big prize. Bait-fishing is considered 
slow and is slow, I will admit, after using the 
fly, but it requires skill on the part of the 
angler to catch these large rainbow in that 
way. In my experience it is the only way to 
secure the monster trout of the largest streams. 
In the brooks, of course, where bush and wind¬ 
falls make the fly impossible, bait is the only 
method, but this brook fishing is very poor 
sport if the larger stream can be reached. 
The Brule permits the use of the canoe over 
its whole course; yet one may wade its waters 
very comfortably and reach all points of 
vantage. 
These few opinions of mine on fly-fishing 
may meet with disapproval on the part ot 
many; yet from close observation and wonder¬ 
ful success each season, I have proved them to 
be true. 
Trout Fishing in New York. 
Springfield, Mass., March 20. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: With the disappearance of the 
snow, the swelling of the maple buds, and the 
song of the returned bluebird and robin comes 
that perennial “spring fever” symptomitized in 
an individual according to his hobbies. Doubt¬ 
less the devotee of the rod becomes conscious 
of a lack of equilibrium which requires a five- 
ounce rod to balance, an itching of the finger 
satisfied only by contact with a favorite reel, 
and an irresistible tendency to sort out the tackle 
bo.x. 
Probably every reader of Forest and Stream 
has his particular trout brook, but for the early 
fishing, when the lusty old fellows seek the shal¬ 
lows of the lakes and ponds, one must go back 
to the little frequented waters to enjoy the stir¬ 
ring contest with the three and four-pounders 
which take the troll before the flies have roused 
from their winter slumber. After several years 
of investigation of the various waters offering 
■‘special attractions,” we found last year an emi¬ 
nently satisfactory location of which perhaps 
your readers would care to know. 
Taking the St. L. & O. division of the New 
York Central north from Utica, we transferred 
at Lowville to a stub line running to Croghan 
from which terminus the “team” from the Bald 
Alountain House drove us the twelve miles to 
what were formerly known as the Oswegatchie 
Lakes, but are now termed Long Pond and its 
sisters (Round, Rock and Trout). On the bank 
of Long Pond is the house above mentioned re- 
TEMAGAMI TROUT. 
cently purchased by a group of college men who 
are offering just what we had looked for, viz.: 
comfortable quarters, good board and everything 
the fisherman could desire, but such fishing! 
Mine host, himself a college professor in his 
younger days, took every pains to see that we 
were adequately supplied with guide, boats, etc. 
’Twas like the “good old times” of which we 
read, and of which we had heard in- other places. 
The fire, which wiped out half of Croghan on 
the first day of the open season, recalled most 
of the local fishermen, so that perhaps we had 
more than our share. Our first morning with 
Chris, who knew every yard of the lake, resulted 
in an even dozen of keepers, all of them one 
pound or better, and five of them going two 
pounds or more besides a good many smaller 
fry above the legal length which, on the advice 
of the guide, we returned to the water “to grow 
up.” Each trip yielded to two rods something 
like the above catch, and what fighters! We had 
not known the like since on a former trip the 
brooks emptying into the north shore of 
Superior surprised us by the gaminess of its 
prizes. ’Twas a glorious week and resulted in 
an advance booking for the coming season. But 
how slow is the coming of the day we have 
checked as that on which we again slip off for 
a few days of long-looked-forward-to sport. 
G. B. A. 
North Carolina Rainbows. 
Hendersonville, N. C., March 13. — Editor 
Forest and Stream: I read with much interest 
Forest and Stream of the 8th inst. and desire 
to be among those who most heartily congratu¬ 
late you on the passage at last of the migratory 
bird bill, and in congratulating you I feel that 
I congratulate the whole country at large and 
especially those who did so much toward the end 
to be obtained by this bill now to be the law of 
the land. 
Our State Legislature has “quit and gone 
home,” and we have the usual number of county 
game laws. This county had much better game 
laws before the passage of the new ones, I 
am told. After I have seen the full text, I will 
know better how to express myself in regard to 
this. Our Senator told me that it was really 
amusing to sit and hear one ask for the passage 
of a game law for his county, when another 
would rise and ask for the repeal of just such 
a law for his county. 
I wonder if North Carolina will ever pull 
itself together and ask for a State-wide sane 
game law ? It gets very tiresome at times in the 
constant effort to get men to see that will not 
look till too late. Under Uncle Sam’s new law 
wild pigeons are to be protected, it seems, but 
where are they? There are none left to be pro¬ 
tected. Too late, too late—that is, if the word 
wild be applied to the passenger pigeon. 
Spring is with us again. How rapidly the 
year runs round! And so much faster as one 
grows older. I can well remember as a small 
boy wishing I were a man so I could go shoot¬ 
ing and fishing, and the time dragged so. Now 
as I near my sixty-fourth birthday I can’t begin 
to keep up with it. At any rate, I don’t feel 
my age as yet, and hardly will, I suppose, till I 
find I can’t climb our North Carolina moun¬ 
tains all day after ruffed grouse or wade our 
dear mountain streams without tiring out. 
It will not be long now before I think I 
shall have a cast at the trout, and I can feel 
that “peculiar feeling’’ anglers have as the sea¬ 
son grows apace. 
We are having heavy spring rains, but when 
the streams fall to normal and are clear, I hope 
to try conclusions with the rainbows. Rain is 
pouring in torrents. Ernest L. Ewbank. 
American Forestry Association. 
The directors of the American Forestry As¬ 
sociation have arranged to hold their quarterly 
meeting this spring at Asheville, N. C., where 
they will inspect the Biltmore forest and nur¬ 
series under the guidance of C. J. Beadle, the 
superintendent of the Vanderbilt estate. On the 
evening of the same day there will be a public 
meeting and addresses will be made by Dr. 
Henry S. Drinker, president of the association, 
and president of the Lehigh University, who has 
made a particular study of the forest taxation 
problem; by J. S. Holmes, secretary of the North 
Carolina State Forestry Association, which is 
affiliated with the American Forestry Associa¬ 
tion; by J. E. Rhodes, manager of the National 
Lumber Manufacturers’ Association, and a num- 
■ ber of others. 
