58 o 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[AraiL 10, 1909. 
backed patriarch that actually caused the bal¬ 
ance to tumble at six pounds. 
This monster was caught near the town, but 
the cream of the fishing is the water between 
the Aldrich ranch and the ranch belonging to 
James McLaughlin at the head of the valley 
where the river comes out of a canon some nine 
miles up stream. Mr. McLaughlin is hospitality 
itself and does everything in his power to 
make his “dudes” comfortable. Between these 
two ranches I guarantee all the fishing the soul 
can crave and a good bed at either end. As 
a matter of fact, any of the inbetween ranches 
will gladly put up for the night a footsore fish¬ 
erman if he asks for lodging in the right way. 
The equipment for the sportsman is the cus¬ 
tomary one of Eastern streams. A five-ounce 
rod will do all the work; stout boots with hob 
nails and woolen stockings and trousers, for 
you have to do a lot of wading and gum boots 
have no place in a day’s walking unless you are 
a Hercules; a flannel shirt and a soft hat and 
the friendly fly-book used on many a stream. 
Do not bother with a whole lot of lurid mon¬ 
sters that the tackle people try to sell you as 
killing Western flies. Stick to the old reliable 
flies. Have plenty of brown hackles, coach¬ 
men, professors, queens, some Parmachenee 
Belles of course, and an assortment of small 
dun-colored flies, the blue, gray and drab. 
Bring your flies and three-foot leaders from 
the Eastern stores when you visit the Shoshone 
River. Do not rely on the Cody stores, for their 
stock is small and not particularly good quality, 
and as you are taking a long trip, avoid disap¬ 
pointment by bringing what you really need 
with you. 
Two weeks’ fishing of this splendid little river 
is worth the tire and discomfort of the Pullman 
car, at least I found it so, and I am a lazy fish¬ 
erman who seldom takes a long trip for noth¬ 
ing. J. L. D. 
The Trout Stream. 
O’er hidden rocks its waters glide. 
All pent within a dark ravine; 
Then bursting forth it reaches wide, 
And flows a glorious stream. 
Through spreading avenues of trees. 
That hide from view the meadows nigh. 
Its vista opens out to please, 
A sight to charm the eye. 
Next, all its forces it recalls. 
And rushing wildly in its flow. 
It leaps a precipice and falls 
In spouting foam below. 
It then meanders for a while. 
And, whimpling ’neath the willow’s shade. 
It wears a most entrancing smile. 
In vernal pomp array’d. 
It gurgles, and it purls and sings. 
In cadence musical and low. 
In eddying swirls again ’it swings 
Beneath a bridge to flow. 
It sparkles where its golden sands 
A shallow form, that you may wade; 
Where flicker broad and shadowy bands 
Of dancing light and shade. 
Its calm, secluded pools that lie 
Within the shadows of a wood. 
Are deep and tranquil, where the shy 
Trout sport in playful mood. 
The angler loves this limpid stream 
In all its phases—when the year 
Bursts forth in glory, and the gleam 
Of spring doth reappear. 
C. T. Easton. 
Barbless Hooks. 
Cape Vincent, N. Y., April 3. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: Much has been written of late 
concerning the conservation of our natural re¬ 
sources. There is no question but that the 
earnest agitation of this all-important subject 
is necessary and timely. 
Included among the natural resources are the 
fishes of our waters, and as has been very 
obvious for some years past to all who have 
taken cognizance, the strongest efforts must 
be made, both State and National, to preserve 
the commercial species for food, and those 
which are termed the game varieties, both for 
use as food and recreation. 
The laws of the present time, pertaining to 
the game fish, all tend toward a limit in the 
catch and restrictions as to the size of indi¬ 
vidual specimens, and also provide for a close 
period, each provision of which is absolutely 
essential for the preservation of the species in¬ 
cluded within the scope of the law. 
A few years ago I wrote an article which 
was published in one of the magazines devoted 
to fish and fishing, in which I set forth the 
value of a needle-pointed hook, particularly 
when dressed for fly-fishing, which would great¬ 
ly aid in the preservation of all fish taken under 
the legal size, and any others which it was de¬ 
sired to return to the waters, and the present 
article is written with the idea of still further 
elaborating on that subject, and perhaps bring¬ 
ing it to the notice of many new readers. 
Now. where the barbless hook proves its 
greatest value is in removing the fish from the 
hook with the least amount of damage to the 
fish. In the first place, the injury caused by 
the needle point is slight compared with that 
of the hook having a barb, which it is almost 
impossible to remov’e without tearing the jaw, 
and many times killing the fish outright before 
it can be extracted, while with the needle point 
this difficulty is largely overcome and the 
wound heals quickly on the same principle that 
a clean cut with a razor mends much sooner 
than a jagged cut with a saw. 
Another point of equal importance lies in 
the amount of handling and the length of time 
usually required to detach the barbed hook. 
The fish when taken from the water and 
brought to hand naturally struggles violently, 
and in the efforts of the angler to unhook the 
fish the slime or mucous coating which en¬ 
velops the body of the fish is liable to be 
broken, thus rendering it susceptible to para¬ 
sitic growth, producing fungus and death. 
Many fish when liberated swim away lively and 
strong superinduced by fright, but if sufficiently 
injured finally succumb. 
Llaving in mind the brook trout, the sale of 
which is now prohibited in many States, and 
which are caught principally for sport and 
recreation, and during the angling for which 
so many small fish are unavoidably taken and 
must be returned to the water, it behooves all 
who would aid in the preservation of this 
beautiful fish to pursue such methods in angling 
as will permit their return to the water with 
the least possible injury, and in the way least 
liable to produce fatal results. It must there¬ 
fore appeal strongly to the thinking angler 
that fishing with the barbless hook must elimi¬ 
nate killing the fish to a great extent. 
To the uninitiated it would appear that it 
would be difficult or impossible to prevent the 
fish from escaping from the barbless hook, but 
this is really not the case, provided the needle 
point has the proper bend. To overcome the 
office of the barb, the hook is constructed with 
a deeper curve than in the ordinary hook, which 
makes it more difficult to dislodge, but the most 
important factor in preventing the escape of 
the fish lies in the skill of the angler in guard¬ 
ing against a slack line at all times, which is 
also one of the requisites with the ordinary 
« 
tackle. 
It is plain that the object of our far-sighted 
legislators in framing laws and placing re¬ 
strictions on the taking of game fish is solely 
with the view of the perpetuation and preserva¬ 
tion of these species for the use and enjoyment 
of present and future generations, which is one 
of the component parts of the conservation of 
our natural resources so energetically advo¬ 
cated by former President Roosevelt. It must 
therefore appeal to the far-seeing that any 
method of angling which tends to save the lives 
of small fish which are returned to the waters, 
must necessarily be an important aid in carry¬ 
ing out the spirit and intention of this move¬ 
ment and also the law. 
When one stops to consider the multitude of 
narrow escapes from natural conditions and 
hosts of enemies that the young fish must per¬ 
force pass through before reaching the size to 
take the lure, and the numbers which are des¬ 
tined to fall by the wayside, it stands to reason 
that the liberating of each baby fish should be 
done with the greatest consideration and care¬ 
ful handling. It therefore goes without the 
saying that the use of the barbless hook must 
reduce to the minimum the possibility of fatal 
injury. 
In advocating the use of this hook, I know 
that it will not meet with the approval of many 
anglers, on account of the fear of losing the 
large fish, but at the same time, if when a fish 
is hooked there was no possibility of escape 
and the fish had not even a fighting chance, 
wherein would lie the sport or gratification of 
exercising one’s skill against a powerless ad¬ 
versary? Surely no sportsman would enjoy 
such a contest. What if the fish should be lost, 
nothing serious has happened, and if unusually 
large, undoubtedly the satisfaction of a yarn 
over the enormous fish lost would be greater 
recompense than the actual capture. 
Apropos to this subject I take the liberty of 
reproducing the following excerpt from the 
ancient treatise entitled, “Fish and Fishing,’ 
published in London in 1835, which very prettily 
illustrates the point: 
“In the art of angling man has none to 
quarrel with but himself, and his enmity, if any, 
can be easily composed. This recreation falleth 
within the lowest fortune to compass, afford¬ 
ing also profit as well as pleasure, in following 
which exercise a man may employ his thoughts 
in the noblest studies, almost as freely as in his 
closet, the minds of anglers being usually calm, 
and composed; but when he has his worst suc¬ 
cess, he only loseth a hook and line, or, per¬ 
haps what he neyer possessed, a fish; and sup¬ 
pose he takes nothing, yet he enjoyeth a de¬ 
lightful walk by pleasant rivers and sweet 
pastures, among odoriferous flowers, which 
gratify his senses and delight his mind; and 
