May io, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
593 
Conditions in the Trout Country. 
Sullivan County, N. Y., April 26 .—Editor 
Forest and Stream: After three days of bitterly 
cold north winds, we are having June tempera¬ 
tures at the end of April. A warm haze hangs 
over the hills, and, even the nights are not cold. 
Vegetation is being forced as in a green house 
or conservatory. The streams are in beautiful 
order—clear and at a good height for fishing. 
Insects are hatching in small numbers, but will 
soon be plentiful. 
The outlook for sport is remarkably good 
at the moment, yet it is quite possible that after 
this period of calm warm weather we may ex¬ 
perience great changes. However, it is surely 
an early spring, and thousands of anglers are 
eagerly anticipating the opening of the trout sea¬ 
son on May i. We wish them all good weather 
and tight lines. Usually the dark flies in duns, 
browns, etc., kill well early in the season, but 
conditions are rather unusual this year. 
The larva of insects may have suffered again 
from floods and changes in the stream beds. It 
is good to be out in such weather, even if one is 
not very successful in taking trout. One must 
be prepared for sudden changes in temperature 
and take a few warm duds with him from the 
city. I have seen the trout rising. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Fishing ini California. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
The sixth annual picnic, field day and bar¬ 
becue of the California Anglers’ Association 
was held at Point Reyes, on Paper Mill Creek, 
a few miles from San Francisco, on April 20, 
under most favorable circumstances. The 
weather was perfect for an outing of this kind 
and fully six hundred enthusiastic anglers were 
on hand to enjoy the fishing and the program 
of sports. The da}' was too bright for , success¬ 
ful fly-fishing and most of those who tried their 
fortune along the crowded stream used bait. 
A large list of prizes was offered and con¬ 
testants were allowed to fish on Paper Mill 
Creek and its tributaries, including tide water. 
The catches were not as heavy as usual, due 
largely to weather conditions and the size of 
the crowd. The morning was given over to 
fishing and shortly after noon the baskets were 
examined by the judges, Frank Gorman, F. X. 
De Witt, Henry Abrahms and Floyd Spence. 
Prizes were awarded as follows: Best general 
catch—Charles Urfer; second, J. A. Edmond; 
third, S. Hermann. Best catch with fly only—L. 
Lamb; second, C. Stevenson. Largest trout 
taken—Chas. Arp; second, E. T. Preuse. 
Women’s prizes: Best catch—Miss Sarah An¬ 
drews; second, Mrs. V. C. Howe; third. Miss 
Thelma Berber!, and fourth. Miss Lydia An¬ 
drews. Following the distribution of prizes a 
great barbecue was enjoyed and field sports 
then occupied the attention of the anglers until 
time to return home. 
Fishing in coast streams generally has been 
quite satisfactory this season, but the sport 
promises to be of short duration, as streams are 
falling rapidly and some will probably be al¬ 
most dry by mid-summer. While fish seem to 
be quite plentiful, it is the general report that 
they are small in size, with but few large ones 
being landed. Marin county streams seem to 
be yielding the most satisfactory results at the 
present time, due to the fact that these are 
still carrying a fair volume of water. Some of 
the streams down the coast are also still in 
good shape, especially the San LorenzO' River. 
This stream has been yielding limit baskets of 
steelhead trout ever since the opening of the 
season, and big catches are still being made 
there. Coyote Creek is also in good shape and 
the same large trout are being taken from this 
stream. Recently E. FI. Humphreys landed two 
beautiful specimens of steelhead trout there, 
these weighing six and fifteen pounds respec¬ 
tively. 
On the Klamath River some large steel¬ 
head trout are being taken, but the cool weather 
and high water is serving to keep all but the 
most enthusiastic of anglers away. A 1 M. 
Cummings has been there for some time and 
has sent word that the streams are high, but 
that good baskets of fish are being taken. Cot¬ 
tonwood and Shovel creeks are declared to be 
alive with fish. After the first of May, when 
trout will be general throughout the State, a 
great exodus is expected to Sierra streams, es¬ 
pecially those in the Feather River country re¬ 
cently opened to the traveling public by rail. 
The late snows in the mountains have been 
quite heavy and the indications are that streams 
will be in at least as good shape as they were 
last year. 
New Trout Fishing Laws Proposed for 
California. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
A BILL has been introduced into the State 
Legislature designed to make a number of 
changes of importance in the laws regulating 
trout fishing, including a re-districting of the 
State. This bill has been reported favorably 
out of com.mittee and it is believed that it will 
be passed. The new districts, with the princi¬ 
pal features of the proposed law are as follows: 
District No. i.-—Modoc, Lassen, Shasta, 
Siskiyou, Trinity and Tehama counties. Season 
commences May i, and ends Nov. 30. Limit 
fifty trout or ten pounds in one day. 
District No. 2.—Mendocino, Del Norte, 
Humboldt, Lake, Sonoma, Glenn, Colusa, 
Solano, Yolo and Marin countries. Season 
from April 16 to Oct. 31. Limit, fifty fish or ten 
pounds, steelhead trout excepted. 
District No. 3.—Plumas, Sierra, Butte, Placer, 
Sutter, Yuba, Amador, San Joaquin, Sacra¬ 
mento, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne. 
Season from May i to Oct. 31. This district 
includes Lake Tahoe within its boundaries and 
special provisions are made for angling in that 
body of water. The sale of Tahoe trout, cut¬ 
throat or black-spotted trout is to be permitted 
only when these exceed twelve inches in length 
and twenty will be a day’s limit. Dates are 
named between which it will be unlawful to 
take trout in any of the streams flowing into 
the lake for a certain distance from their -mouth. 
District No. 4.—Tulare, Stanislaus, parts of 
Kern, Fresno and Kings counties. Season from 
May I to Nov. 30, with a limit of fifty fish, or 
ten pounds in one day, except steelheads. 
District No. 5.—This district comprises the 
rest of the counties in the State, extending 
from San Francisco south along the coast to 
the Mexican line. The open season is from 
April I to Oct. I, with a limit of fifty trout, or 
ten pounds in one day. 
Steelhead trout are protected above tide 
water bj' a close season extending from Nov. i 
to April I. 
Ice on Lake George. 
Albany, N. Y., April 25. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Information as to when inland waters 
freeze over, and when the ice on them breaks 
up, often is of value to the out-of-door man. 
Following is the record of recent years for Lake 
George in this State, furnished me from actual 
records, by Arthur S. Knight, editor of the Lake 
George Mirror: 
Froze over, Jan. 5, 1908; cleared,. April ii, 
1908. 
Froze over, Dec. 27, 1909; cleared, March 
26, 1910. 
Froze over, Dec. 30, 1910; cleared, April ad, 
igii. 
Froze over, Dec. 15, 1911; cleared, April 24, 
1912. 
Froze over, Feb. 10, 1913; cleared, March 27, 
1913- 
The year 1913, as the record shows, was a 
remarkably open winter, and the ice was un¬ 
usually late in forming, and was far from the 
usual thickness. 
The natives consider the average date for 
ice to close the lake as Dec. 30, and the average 
date of clearing as April 10. 
The lake is practically a great spring of 
unusually clear and cold water, having in some 
places a depth of 180 feet. J. D. Whish. 
New York Anglers’ Club. 
The tournament committee is arranging for 
the annual spring tournament to be held on the 
cluh platform in Central Park on the afternoons 
of May 15 and 16, and all day on Saturday the 
17th. Mark these dates off and be on hand. 
An interesting list of events is being ar¬ 
ranged, giving the novice as well as the expert 
a chance for the prizes. A full program of the 
events will be mailed later. 
J. G. Fulton, Chairman. 
