420 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 13, 1909. 
A Word or Two About Trout. 
CoRUNNAj Mich., Feb. 25 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have read Mr. Sherwood’s article 
“Where Barefoot Boys Look for Trout” with 
unusual interest as w’ell as pleasure. lie has 
pointed out very clearly the stream knowledge 
that is necessary to every trout fisherman and 
which it has taken most of us many years to 
acquire. 
My fishing has usually been done on the trout 
streams of Michigan. These streams differ 
somewhat from those described by Mr. Sher¬ 
wood,-in that they are to a large extent free 
from rocks and stones and the current mere 
sharply steady, there being very few stretches 
of slow water, while sunken logs, old trees and 
stumps here replace the rocks and furnish the 
hiding places for trout. The bends are fre¬ 
quent and nearly everyone has a fine deep pool 
usually containing plenty of sunken logs and 
plenty of trout, too, and sharp play is often 
necessary to keep the fish free. 
In the straight reaches one frequently sees 
near the shore what appear to be deep still 
places. These are caused by sunken logs quiet¬ 
ing the current or shifting it toward the center 
of the stream. Mr. Sherwood would never pass 
such a place without carefully testing it with 
the fly, as there are no better places for trout. 
While I very seldom use anything in the way 
of bait but an artificial fly, still there are times 
with us, particularly when grasshoppers are in 
season, that trout do not seem to relish a fly 
and one must go without fish or resort to the 
’hopper. These are easily caught in the early 
morning before they are warmed by the sun, 
or toward evening, but even in their use a cer¬ 
tain degree of knowledge and skill is required. 
Unless they come to the fish looking natural 
they are sure to be rejected. The best way for 
their use, according to my experience, is to place 
them on the hook by entering the point in the 
center of the head and passing the hook through 
the length of the body, pushing them up on the 
arm of the hook so that they are straight, leav¬ 
ing the whole bend of the hook bare, then cast 
gently, the same as you would a fly, using as 
short a line as the water you are fishing will 
permit. They will not stand rough handling and 
a fisherman whose rod is heard loudly swish¬ 
ing through the air in casting will hardly suc¬ 
ceed. Such a one should drift his line into the 
pools, in which way he may meet with fair suc¬ 
cess. When the ’hopper becomes soft and slides 
down on the bend of the hook, replace it at 
once with a fresh one or you will get no fish. 
A six-foot leader is about the right length to 
use and a good fly at the center of the leader 
will do no harm. 
An added pleasure to me in Mr. Sherwood’s 
article is the fact that he describes a stream 
with which I was quite familiar when a boy, as 
I was born on the bank of the Esopus near 
Atwood, and have fished in nearly all. of its 
trout-holding branches. One of the most beau¬ 
tiful parts of this stream—a place well worth 
the trip to see—is at, and for two or three miles 
below the Dwass Falls, a small falls near At- 
wogd. Ffere grand ledges tower first on one 
side and then the other, crowned with hemlock 
and pine, rising abruptly for more than 200 
feet, with here and there a projecting surface 
overlooking the stream, covered with ■ ferns, 
shrubs and often with large trees, and having 
a shore flooring of solid rock ten to upward of 
fifty feet in width and then the water—the 
further shore banked with loads upon loads of 
round flat stones just the right size for skip¬ 
ping and the water just right, too, and then a 
little ways and a succession of grand pools, 
some so deep that the bottom can by no means 
be seen. At the head of these is where the 
large chub used to lie and which I could never 
catch except when the stream was roiley. 
Now that this stream is stocked with rainbow 
and brown trout, I would like very much to 
know whether they are caught as far down the 
stream as the place I have mentioned. M. B. 
[The work on the Ashokan dam and the reser¬ 
voir has brought many large crews of men to 
the Esopus valley. The work extends from a 
point near Atwood up almost to Boiceville. The 
temporary dam is near Brown’s Station, and a 
good view of it will be found in Forest .and 
Stream of Aug. 27, 1907, at which time a story 
of the great reservoir project and its effect on 
the trout fishing was printed. At present the 
fishing water extends from Olive Bridge to the 
headwaters of the stream, but the lower reaches 
have been disturbed so much that few anglers 
fish below Shokan, and the majority prefer the 
stretch between Big Indian and Mount Pleasant. 
—Editor.] 
' Anglers’ Club of New York. 
The first indoor tournament held under the 
auspices of the Anglers’ Club of New York 
was the one given in Madison Square Garden 
in connection with the Sportsmen’s Show. 
Nineteen events were contested in the eight 
days of the show, and several new records were 
made. 
For the first time at these shows, classifica¬ 
tion according to skill, etc., was tried, some of 
the events being open to all, and others only to 
amateurs, with the usual novice events. Freak 
events were omitted and fishing practice largely 
adhered to. 
A few years ago a tank half the length of 
this one was sufficient for the contestants, but 
every year the tank has been extended, until 
at the recent show 215 feet was none too long, 
as was evident when R. J. Held cast a half¬ 
ounce weight 195 feet and established a new 
indoor record. For the salmon event the plat¬ 
form was placed about 130 feet from the Fourth 
avenue end of the Garden, but although this 
gave sufficient space for the best forward cast, 
the fly in the back cast generally passed over 
the heads of the people passing in at the main 
entrance, and the loss of leaders occurred often 
in practice. Perry Frazer established a new in¬ 
door record for the standard is-foot salmon 
rod by casting 116 feet 8 inches. 
With a four-ounce fly-rod George M. L. La 
Branche made a new amateur record of 86 feet 
3 inches. 
The club had on hand and distributed a large 
number of the little booklets it has issued, en¬ 
titled “An Appeal to Anglers,’’ containing an 
address made at one of the club meetings by 
Charles H. Townsend, director of the New York 
Aquarium. The subject is “The Pollution of 
Streams,” and is in direct line with the work 
the club is doing, mainly in New York, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania, to awaken public sen¬ 
timent and stop the defiling of trout streams and 
other waters that are inhabited by game fish. 
Copies can be had by addressing Edward Earn- 
ham Todd, the secretary, at 62 Liberty street. 
New York city. 
The summary of the events follows: 
OPENING DAY. 
The first event was held Friday night, Feb. 
26. It was fly-casting for distance, amateurs. 
70-foot class, rod and leader unrestricted. 
William W’atts won the first prize, a cup. The 
results: 
Feet. 
William Watts . 75 5 
L. G. Saunders . 74 3 
E. M. Gill . 70 
H. K. Griffin.65 
C. H. Doughty. 65 
J. W. Black. 64 
M. H. Smith. 
L. C. Ketchum.. 
C. E. Mackey_ 
E. U. Alpers. 
J. I\I. Steinacher. 
Feet. 
. 58 
. 58 
. 58 
. 54 
. 50 
BAIT-CASTING, QUARTER-OUNCE. 
Event 2, Eeb. 27, bait-casting for distance 
with quarter-ounce weights, amateurs, 115-foot 
class, best cast in five to count: 
J. L. Kirk. 
Feet. 
.. 125 4 
H. Cl. TIenclerson.. 
Feel 
. 97 
T. Doughty. 
.. Ill 9 
W. J. Ehrich. 
. 9(i 
(leo. La Branche.. 
.. no 
R. H. Lawrence. 
. 70 
E. F. Todd. 
.. 100 
^\’a]te^ McGuckin... 
. (10 
FIVE-OUNCE FLY-RODS. 
Event 3, Eeb. 27, fly-casting, distance, five- 
ounce rods, amateurs, 70-foot class: 
Harry Friedman 
.T. Doughty . 
R. B. Lawrence.. 
E. M. Gill. 
T. L. Kirk. 
R. J. Held. 
AA'alter McGuckin. 
Feet. 
Feet. 
73 6 
H. 
K. Griffin. 
.... 63 
73 
L. 
G. Saunders... 
.... 59 
69 
E. 
U. -Alpers. 
.... 47 
63 6 
day. 
same 
conditions. 
but re- 
-foot class 
; 
Feet. 
Feet. 
. 84 6 
T. 
Doughty . 
. 69 6 
. 76 
E. 
U. Kice.. 
. 66 
. 75 6 
R. 
B. Lawrence.. 
. 65 
BAIT-CASTING, HALF-OUNCE. 
Event 5, bait-casting for distance, half-ounce 
weights, amateurs, 165-foot class. Messrs. 
Henderson and Kirk tied, and in the cast-off 
the former won second cup. The best cast in 
five counted: 
Feet. 
E. F. Todd. 141 
IT. G. Henderson.120 6 
J. L. Kirk.... 120 6 
Feet. 
H. K. Griffin. 116 
Walter McGuckin.... 85 
Points. 
E. R. De Wolf. 8 
R. M. Knapp. 7 
H. G. Flenderson_ 5 
E. M. Gill. 0 
OBSTACLE FLY-CASTING. 
Event 6, March i, fly-casting for accuracy 
with five-ounce rods at a target 30 feet distant 
and under a bush; open to all, five casts: 
Points. 
Walter McGuckin.... 31 
R. B. Lawrence. 28 
L. S. Darling. 27 
D. T. Kennedy. 18 
R. J. Held. 8 
HEAVY FLY-RODS. 
Event 7, March i, fly-casting for distance, 
rods unrestricted, amateurs, 85-foot class: 
Feet. Feet. 
Walter McGuckin- 77 6 H. K. Griffin. 72 6 
John Doughty . 77 
ACCURACY BAIT, QUARTER-OUNCE. 
Event 8, March 2, bait-casting for accuracy 
with quarter-ounce weights, open to all; two 
casts at each distance, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 feet: 
Score, 
Demerits. Per Cent. 
E. B. Rice.. 
96.6 
R. T. Held. 
96.5 
B. F. Flegel. 
. 38 
96.2 
E. F. Todd. 
. 38 
96.2 
Harry Friedman . 
. 96 
90.4 
DISTANCE FLY, FIVE-OUNCE. 
Event 9, fly-casting for distance with five- 
ounce rods, open to all: 
Feet. Feet. 
T. L. Kirk. 82 6 W. J. Ehrich. 80 9 
E. J. Mills. 81 9 R. J. Held. 70 
OPEN DISTANCE BAIT, QUARTER-OUNCE. 
Event 10, March 3. bait-casting for distance 
with quarter-ounce weights, open to all: 
