from its mouth. There were so many ornamented 
after this fashion, it must have been quite the go 
in the upper crust of fish society and a handsome 
lady trout without one was out of style and 
lonesome in her lack of adornment. Quite a 
few were caught with my hook or Joe’s spinner, 
or someone else’s spoon fixed in their jaw and 
a Beau Brummel of a fellow had two, one on 
each side. How the others must have envied 
him! The line taken with a hook was always 
disposed of in some way, and only the shortest 
of ends left hanging from the fish’s mouth. 
This unlike the kelp cod or sea trout, rather a 
gamey kind of fellow, heavy and fat, which pays 
little attention to a dozen feet of thick line trail¬ 
ing behind. The writer does not know the cor¬ 
rect name of these fish. Some called them kelp 
cod, some sea trout, some spotted cod. They 
are of a darkish green, mottled with yellow 
splotches the size of a dime. Sometimes one 
will weigh as much as eight or ten pounds. It 
was when fishing in Besher Bay, twenty miles 
southwest of Victoria, B. C., the writer made 
their full acquaintance. He had caught a few 
small ones at other places. This day it was a 
salmon trip. An Indian reported salmon so 
thick in Besher Bay they were trying to jump 
into his canoe and as soon as a suitable launch 
could be hired, to Besher Bay four of us went. 
A rather risky trip at that, for with tide and 
wind playing contraries, a nasty sea could be 
kicked up in no time. 
The sight of several square miles of salmon 
leaping out of water or skimming along the sur¬ 
face was worth the trip, was more enjoyable 
than catching them. They struck fiercely, favor¬ 
ing the writer’s copper and silver spoon with 
salt pork tail. Once with a large one hooked, the 
word was passed, “In with those other lines. Look 
out, we’ll have a mix-up!” but before lines could 
be taken aboard, each had a fish on, no small 
ones either, and the mix-up came and a jolly 
good one too. All four lines were snarled so 
no fisherman could tell his from his neighbor’s 
and even the poor salmon did not know to whom 
they belonged. The difficulty was solved by 
three fish making their escape. Then all four 
men claimed the one brought to gaff, not be¬ 
cause they could not see it was fast on the cop¬ 
per and silver spoon, but for the reason they 
claimed the fish had fouled three lines and there¬ 
fore hi's catcher must be disqualified and lose 
his salmon. 
Landing a fish of this kind was like hoisting 
anchor. No one had a rod to use. It would 
have been glorious sport fly fishing with light 
tackle, for that day the salmon were striking at 
anything. A dozen Indians had their canoes 
loaded to the gunwale with a twenty mile pad¬ 
dle in prospect before they could reach a cannery 
where they would receive about two cents a 
pound for their catch. 
The writer soon had enough. His hands were 
cut and bleeding, through pulling in a hundred 
and fifty feet of line so often and he quit, took 
the dingy and rowed to a thick bed of kelp a 
quarter of a mile inshore. After finding a well¬ 
like opening free of weeds to the rocks and 
sand below, he tied a long arm of seaweed to 
an oarlock by way of an anchor and dropped 
a shiner baited hook over the side. Half way 
to bottom—Biff! something struck and ran for 
the thick weeds. It proved a six pound kelp 
FOREST AND STREAM 
cod and landed in the boat, the place it sought 
for refuge being just six inches too far away. 
In an hour twenty-one more were caught, every 
line broken, every hook lost. Twice fish were 
taken with pieces of line hanging from their 
mouths. 
The fishers on the launch soon became tired 
and very wet. They came close in, as close as 
the kelp would allow, picked the writer up and, 
bucking a strong tide, headed back to Victoria. 
There were twice as many fish as all four 
could carry. Those we could not take up town 
to distribute were left at the dock for the boat¬ 
man to give to any who might come. The kelp 
cod were taken before any asked for salmon, 
the catch of which had been so large for ten 
days past, the fish eaters of Victoria wished 
something different for a change. 
Perhaps these salt-water fish, like trout, might 
in time have rid themselves of the hanging lines. 
With the chance they had, they didn’t and that is 
why I wrote, “they pay little attention to a line 
trailing behind.’’ 
But back to fresh water. Catching very large 
trout is all right until the novelty wears off. 
It gives a person telling of past experiences 
chance to talk; to say,“When I caught that twelve 
pound rainbow.’’ It is slow work. Two, or at 
most, three, is all one can catch or carry in a 
day’s fishing. Medium sized fish—those weigh¬ 
ing from three quarters of a pound up—furnish 
the real sport. Shooters and fishermen alike pre¬ 
fer rapid action, duck rather than deer, and 
rarely care for a long wait between chances. 
There were no small trout in the waters of the 
big fish, all apparently driven away. 
During our stay in this country, many side 
trips were made to smaller streams after trout 
for table use, for the frying pan, the larger ones 
not being fancied unless boiled or baked, for do¬ 
ing which there were no facilities in camp. 
Only one foray was successful. In a round 
basin, twenty-five feet across, at the foot of a 
waterfall where the creek threw itself over a 
rocky wall 200 feet high and dropped, touching 
but twice in its downward course, were found 
many trout, all nearly of a size, three quarters 
of a pound to a pound in weight. It took a 
climb of several hundred feet to reach this spot, 
over rocks, through briers and small pines. A 
green clad mountain, with top of white, towered 
six thousand feet above. Down its side this 
stream of molten silver coursed its way, fed by 
melting snow, until it reached the larger river. 
On every slope tall firs and lordly cedars grew. 
Silence, save for the noise of rushing waters 
and the occasional scream of an eagle circling 
above in the sky so blue, reigned supreme. Man 
was a stranger here. Years it may have been 
since hunter passed or fisherman visited this pool. 
The brush was thick, there Was no chance to 
use a fly, no room to make a cast even with the 
shortest of rods. So a small sharp hook was 
baited with a 'Salmon egg and dropped into the 
water. A dozen trout rushed for it and as fast 
as hook could be baited 'twenty-five were caught. 
Enough, and remarking they would save the rest 
for some other day, Smith and the writer carried 
their catch to camp. When that some other day 
came, the trout, notional in their ways as many 
of the human race, oared not for salmon eggs, 
and none were caught, so that night the campers 
had nothing for dinner; nothing except broiled 
399 
venison, stewed giouse with rice and hot biscuit 
with huckleberry sauce. If those trout had been 
in striking humor, no one would have gone hun¬ 
gry to bed. 
A move of a few miles brought the party away 
from the waters of the big fish, and where the 
smaller ones were very plentiful, 'So very many 
that half an hour’s fishing never failed to supply 
the camp all it needed for a day, and conse¬ 
quently much time was spent mountain climbing 
after deer and grouse. 
Such was one man’s introduction to Western 
fishing. Such anyone can find there now in 
proper season; but a common man’s line is the 
kind to take. Not one of “the very best made, 
such as the nobility use.” 
SOUTHERN FIELD TRIALS. 
Montgomery, September 8. (Special). The 
Southern Field Trials Club, through John H. 
Wallace, Jr., Secretary, today announces that 
Col. W. F. Garth, of Huntsville, Ala., and Leon 
T. Cheek, of Nashville, Tenn., will be the judges 
of the Sixth Annual trials of' the Club to be 
held at Letohatchie, Ala., the week beginning 
December 14, 1914 - 
Col. Garth is the breeder of celebrated race¬ 
horses and pointers and setters. For many years 
he was president of the old Alabama Field Tri¬ 
als Club, and has on several occasions served 
in the capacity of field trial judge. 
Mr. Leon T. Cheek has for many years been 
a devotee and patron of field trials. He has 
witnessed many of the most famous of the field 
trials on the American continent. The members 
of the Southern Field Trials Club regard them¬ 
selves as being especially fortunate in being able 
to secure the services of Col. Garth and Mr. 
Cheek as occupants of the judicial saddle on the 
occasion of their next contest. 
At Letohatchie, beginning December 14- the 
Derby and All-Age Stakes of the Southern Field 
Trials Club will be run, the guaranteed value 
of each being $750, divided as follows: 1st prize, 
in each stake, shall be $400; second, $250; third, 
$100. The entries close November I, 1914 - 
On account of the excellent hatching sea¬ 
son and the protection afforded quail on the 
Club’s preserve at Letohatchie, abundance of 
birds this year is assured. 
By reason of the fact that the Southern Club 
occupies such a prominent position in the field 
trials world, the capture of its All-Age Stake, 
which by thousands of sportsmen is considered 
the classic of the continent, is an honor widely 
sought and contested for by practically all of the 
owners of eligible pointers and setters on the 
continent. 
EAT WHALE MEAT AND REDUCE LIVING 
COST. 
Washington, D. C.—As a means of reduc¬ 
ing the high cost of living, R. E. Mans¬ 
field, American Consul General at Vancouver, 
B. C., suggested in an official report to the State 
Department the use of whale meat. The use of 
whale meat, he said, would build up an important 
industry, as the supply is obtainable in unlimited 
quantities and the whale meat, he said, is pala¬ 
table and healthful. Mr. Mansfield suggested that 
the salmon canneries ‘of the Pacific coast might 
add the business of canning whale meat when 
the salmon catch has been canned. 
