1202 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sleeping Bag 
with Pneumatk Mattres* 
the roost satisfactory camp bed made. Can be 
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SLEEP OUT OF DOORS 
No sleep Is more healthful or restful than ueep 
In the open, provided your bed Is right. Per¬ 
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Pnenmatic 
Mfg Coo 
984 Ninth 
Brooklyn, 
Small-Mouth Black Bass 
We have the only establishment dealing in young 
small-mouth black bass commercially in the United 
States. Vigorous young bass in various sizes, rang 
ing from advanced fry to 3 and 4 inch fingerlings 
for stocking purposes. 
Waramaug Small-Mouth Black Bass Hatchery 
Correspondence invited. Send for Circulars. Address 
HENRY W. BEAMAN New Preston, Conn. 
Brook Trout 
of all ages for stocking 
brooks and lakes. Brook 
trout eggs in any quantity. Warranted delivered 
anywhere in fine condition. Correspondence 
solicited. 
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT CO. 
Plymouth, Mass. 
RAINBOW TROUT 
are well adapted to Eastern waters. Try stocking 
with some of the nice yearlings or fry from our 
hatchery, and you will be pleased with the result. 
PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT COMPANY 
PLYMOUTH, MASS. 
Membership in Private Hunting 
and Fishing Preserve 
The Longwood Valley Sportsmen’s 
Club, Controlling the Fishing and Hunt¬ 
ing Preserve of the late U. S. Senator 
John Kean in Upper Longwood Valley, 
Northern New Jersey, invites inquiries 
from Sportsmen for Membership, which is 
both limited and exclusive. Deer, Pheas¬ 
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Brook, Rainbow and Brown Trout, Large 
and Small Mouth Bass in Lakes and 
Streams. Two hours by auto from New 
York. 
Address LONGWOOD, care Forest and 
Stream, 128 Broadway, New York. 
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JACOBS BIRD-HOUSE CO. 
..4*4 South Washington Street WAYNESBHRG, PENN. 
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KINKS AND KNOTS UNTANGLED FOR THE ANGLER. 
Conducted by Seneca. 
This Department is for the Angler—First, Last and All the Time. 
Readers are invited to cast a line, the pool is large. 
The Editor of this Department will be glad to answer inquiries on subjects of general 
interest to the fraternity and replies will be published monthly, in the order received, under 
this heading. 
THE FISHERMAN’S EQUIPMENT. 
One has very little difficulty in finding ade¬ 
quate information as to the equipment used by 
now-a-day fishermen, but very little has been 
written on holding the fish after it is once 
hooked and the method successfully employed 
in tiring the fish out and landing him. 
The handling of the hooked fish is really a 
subject that is not given half enough attention 
by the angling fraternity as a whole and it is in¬ 
deed an item that the tyro fisherman should give 
much thought, for the novice will often get as 
many strikes as the fisherman of experience 
but if he is not wised on the matter of playing 
“Mr. Fish,” he stands an excellent chance of 
not landing him. 
A quick twitch of the rod, a movement of the 
wrist and forearm only, is the usual manner of 
hooking the fish. In still fishing the fish fre¬ 
quently hook themselves and the act of lifting 
the fish from the water and hooking is practi¬ 
cally all one operation. One error that the tyro 
fisherman frequently makes in hooking his fish 
in still fishing is the unnecessarily hard strik¬ 
ing at the bite, a yanking of the rod, as it were, 
as a result of whch the hook is torn out of the 
fish’s mouth or is broken and the fish is lost. 
It is only the heavy tackle used in deep sea 
fishing that will allow such tactics. It can hardly 
be called angling; it’s fishing pure and simple. 
The lighter the tackle the more sport, as the 
pleasure is obtained by tiring the fish out by the 
action of the rod and the use of the reel and 
not by brute strength. However, there is a 
happy medium even in light tackle. It must be 
remembered that much lighter tackle can be 
employed in fishing lakes from a boat where 
there is plenty of room for the fish to make his 
run, than in places where one has to keep the 
fish away from rocks, submerged stumps, etc. 
In the use of the short rod, as in bait cast¬ 
ing, the rod, when reeling in a artificial lure, 
should be held at an angle of twenty degrees; 
this allows a healthy strike to be made without 
breaking the tip. 
In the hooking of all kinds of fish, one point 
should be remembered and that is, always keep 
a taut line. One frequently has to give line in 
fighting a game fish, but make him fight for it 
and when you give line do so grudgingly, then 
take it back a: every opportunity. In playing a 
game fish, this operation, that of giving and 
taking up line, is often frequently repeated, but 
don’t be in a hurry to get the fish into the boat. 
Take your time and thoroughly tire him out; 
over-anxiety on the part of the fisherman and 
the tendency to net or gaff the fish at a too 
early stage of the game has been the reason for 
many a lost prize winner. 
Through the lack of knowledge on how to 
handle a game fish when he breaks water is an¬ 
other reason for the loss of many fish. In this 
case, according to the best authorities, it is best 
to lower the tip, so as to give some slack to the 
line which should be immediately tightened 
however, when the fish strikes the water again, 
for if he falT on a tightened line, the result 
is generally a lost fish. 
In still fishing here are a few “don’ts” that 
may be worth considering. Select the spot 
where you intend to anchor, then let your boat 
glide to the location; don’t row to it in a noisy 
fashion; life the oars into the boat in a careful 
manner; don’t first drop them alongsde the boat 
with a loud splash, then yank them into the boat 
any old way. In dropping your anchor over¬ 
board, don’t drop it with a splash without re¬ 
gard for noise. How much better it is to allow 
the anchor rope to glide through the fingers 
slowly! They are little things, to be sure, but 
they all tend to help the fishing. 
THE BIRTH OF THE BAIT CASTING-ROD. 
Much has been said and much has been writ¬ 
ten on the art of bait casting, the proper meth¬ 
ods of casting and the equipment needed, but 
as to the history of the game, the first short 
rod and the men whose efforts helped to bring 
the sport up to its present-day standards, little 
is known. 
Devotees of this sport no doubt will be sur¬ 
prised to learn that the bicycle played an im¬ 
portant part in the development of the short 
rod, nevertheless it is true. 
The bait casting rod was first developed and 
used in the fall of 1896 and to one William 
Tocher of Kalamazoo, Michigan, goes the honor 
and credit of working out the idea that is found 
in the dainty little stick now much in vogue. 
The embryo rod was made from Calcutta 
cane, unvarnshed and cut short. Now here is 
where the bicycle plays an important part, first 
in the guides, then in the handle. The guides 
being made from the spokes of an old bicycle, 
being extremely large and attached to the rod 
by windings of linen thread. Here is found 
the introduction to the angling fraternity of the 
now famous Kalamazoo guides. The next part 
of the rod fittings, borrowed from the two- 
wheel steed, was one grip from the handle bars 
which was merely glued on the large end of the 
rod, there being no reel seat, the line either 
being allowed to lie in coils on the ground or 
held in the hand. This rod was used by Mr. 
Locher during the season of 1896-97, when he 
designed a four-foot rod, this time made of 
lancewood that tapered from 7-16 of an inch 
at the butt to % of an inch at the tip, the 
handle 12 inches long, with a %-inch reel seal 
of brass tubing. No reel band as now used, but 
fitted with a clamp to hold the reel in place. 
Steel guides were this time used, considerably 
smaller than on the first rod, while silk was 
substituted for the former linen windings, the 
entire rod being now wound at frequent inter¬ 
vals. A great improvement over the Adam of 
the rod clan, one readily admits. 
To Tilden Robb, a boon fishing companion 
