1020 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 26, 1909. 
and that it is mainly through the efforts of these 
clubs that legislation is enacted affording protec¬ 
tion to fish and game. Therefore, it was not 
logical to suppose that the initial protectors of 
fish would assume the role of willful destroyers. 
On the contrary, one gathered the distinctive 
impression from observation and language heard 
that the rural residents silently opposed any such 
legislation, and among themselves openly vio¬ 
lated every clause of any such act. Unless it 
should be in the presence of a suspected officer 
of the law, no reservation in speech was em¬ 
ployed when discussing the use of dynamite, nets 
and seines. The idea seemed to be that no law 
was being violated; merely disregarded, over¬ 
looked,- a thing unworthy of consideration. 
Afterthought brings regret because it cannot 
be hoped that the condition here described is an 
exception in that State and confined to that 
locality; in fact, is very different in this State. 
It is much worse. 
It is true that Oklahoma has a fish and game 
law. verbose and complex as regards game ani¬ 
mals and birds, and extending the customary 
discourtesies to non-residents and aliens. The 
fate of the fish is passed up with scant refer¬ 
ence. Possibly the poor success of the author 
of the bill in his efforts to catch fish gave him 
the firmly rooted idea that fish could take care 
of themselves. One bright, particular gem of 
thought, transformed into law, prohibits any 
person from taking fish from a private pond 
without the consent of the owner. To have in¬ 
serted “chicken” for fish and “roost” for pond 
would have been an equal boon to poultry 
raisers. A “spear, snare or gig” is deemed to 
be among the methods employed by the m'ost 
sportsmanlike. In clear water an expert with 
spear or gig has a big cinch on the fish, and 
he will get about as much sport out of it as 
catching tadpoles in a colander. After all it is 
the enforcement of a law that accomplishes the 
desired results. Paul H. Byrd. 
Trout Scarce. 
Berlin, N. Y., June 12 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The summer of 1908 was very disas¬ 
trous for trout in Rensselaer county. Not only 
did thousands of young fish die in the upper 
reaches of the streams, which in many instances 
were dry for long periods, but hundreds of fair¬ 
sized fish were taken from pools during the ex¬ 
treme low water period by fish robbers who 
snared them without mercy. 
The majority of fishermen here have become 
discouraged by the scarcity of trout and are 
journeying to the mountain lakes for pickerel 
which are abundant and of larger average size 
than usual. Some of the more expert fishermen 
who can throw a fly report occasional good 
catches of trout. 
In the fall of 1906, 3,000 brown trout fry were 
placed in the streams here, and a number of 
these fish have been taken weighing a pound 
and over. 
I fished the main stream here for a short 
distance through the village and besides mak¬ 
ing a fair basket saw at least fifteen large brown 
trout which looked with disdain on both flies 
and natural bait. 
A buck, a doe, a yearling and a fawn were 
on a farm about ten minutes’ walk from our 
postoffice all one day last week. They came 
down into the valley from the mountains on the 
east and went up the mountains toward Massa¬ 
chusetts. They were in a pasture with a num¬ 
ber of colts. R. Saunderson. 
Amateur Work and Angling Inventicns. 
On the Neversink, N. Y., June 10. — Editor 
Forest and Stream: I have met a good many 
anglers who tie their own flies, make fly-rods 
to suit themselves and even reels and lines; but, 
in spite of the fact that these amusements add 
considerably to one’s enjoyment of sport, they 
are usually dropped after considerable facility 
of execution has been gained. Modern business 
is so strenuous that men have little time for a 
side line of work. 
Fly-tying requires only patience and persever¬ 
ance, but the accumulation of a satisfactory 
stock of materials is a matter of considerable 
difficulty. No one can make a first-rate rod or 
reel who is without 'mechanical ability and a 
knack with tools, yet I have Seen many lovely 
split bamboo rods turned out by amateurs. I 
know several anglers who have worked out a 
method of their own and invented special tools 
for making these rods by hand. It is probably 
true that most of the improvements in fishing- 
tackle, which have come into use during the last 
fifty years, were introduced by amateurs. Many 
of these inventions have been presented to the 
manufacturers, but a good idea, when protected, 
has often proved extremely profitable. H. 
Cholmondeley Pennell stated several years ago 
that the royalties from his improvements in fish¬ 
ing tackle had exceeded £2,000 ($10,000). The 
patentee of a dressing for waterproofing fishing 
lines must have realized a very comfortable 
profit, as the process has been used by manu¬ 
facturers of lines which are sold in large quan¬ 
tities at wholesale. I see them everywhere. 
So, brother angler, if you have been longing 
for years to have a season on a salmon river, a 
trip to the north shore of Lake Superior, or a 
chance to take in a few of those big rainbows 
in the far Northwest, you may be enabled to 
realize one or more of these delightful ambitions 
if you chance to be possessed of a little inven¬ 
tive ability. We all turn to thoughts of sport 
for rest of mind and recreation, and consider¬ 
able pleasure might be found in working out 
some practicable improvement in fishing tackle. 
At the present time the artificial bait men are 
having a great time. Some new monstrosity is 
constantly coming out and may be quite killing 
in spite of its queer looks. I must say, however, 
that I balk at a bait carrying twelve or fifteen 
hooks. All depends upon the way these hooks 
are attached to and placed upon the bait. One 
triangle may do better work than five. Last 
spring I sent a new minnow to a friend at the 
south to be tried in big-mouth bass and the fish 
approved of it, but it is almost useless. The 
hooks are so badly placed that the bass are 
missed one after another, except that occas¬ 
ionally an unfortunate chap is hooked outside. 
I hear that a physician has invented a minnow 
that is doing great things on the coast of South¬ 
ern California, particularly when tried on rock 
bass. Probably it will prove a success elsewhere 
and may be adapted to fresh water fishing. This 
is a case in point. An angler has much experi¬ 
ence in fishing certain waters where natural baits 
are often scarce or hard to procure. He finds 
most of the artificial lures in use unsatisfactory 
and proceeds to work out a bait that will do 
the work. A correspondent says: “You see, 
the single propeller is just ahead of the hook. 
They (the fish) strike at the flash and hit the 
steel nearly every time.” 
This is a practical age and If an angler in¬ 
vents a real good thing, which will assist all 
fishermen in securing sport, there is no reason 
why he should not profit by it. It is an easy 
matter to get publicity and attract the attention 
of the craft by sticking an advertisement in 
Forest and Stream. Theodojie Gordon. 
Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club. 
Newark, N. J., June 20 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The scores of our last contest, June 
5, are as follows: 
ACCURACY TROUT FLY. 
Doughty . 
Per Ct. 
... 98.9 
Muldoon . 
Per Ct. 
.... 96.4 
Champion . 
... 98.3 
Eichlin . 
.... 96 
Mapes . 
... 97.7 
Neu . 
.... 93.14 
distance 
HALF-OUNCE BAIT, AVERAGE. 
Mapes . 
...1G5 1-5 
Champion . 
... 113 
Doughty . 
.. 164 1-5 
Muldoon . 
... T04 
Traver . 
.. 157 1-5 
Neu . 
... 94 4-5 
Eichlin . 
.. 118 1-5 
*A. J. Marsh. 
... 156 1-5 
ACCURACY HALF-OUNCE BAIT. 
Muldoon . 
... 96.13 
Traver . 
.... 96.03 
Champion . 
... 96.12 
Neu . 
.... 96 
Eichlin . 
... 96.11 
Doughty . 
.... 95.12 
Mapes . 
... 96.10 
*Marsh . 
.... 97.06 
*Visitor. 
The next regular club contest will take place 
June 26. 
Darling’s trophy cup is going for number of 
points according to place; five points for first, 
three for second, two for third and one for 
fourth. As we now stand the following is the 
list: 
J’oints. 
Mapes . 1:2 
Champion . 11 
Darling . 10 
Doughty . 9 
Points. 
Muldoon . 6 
Eichlin . 5 
Travers . 1 
Fred T. Mapes, Sec’y. 
Weakfishing. 
Prince’s Bay, N. Y., June i6. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: The past week several good 
catches of weakfish have been made in the south 
shore waters of Staten Island. At Ward’s Point 
two fish were taken weighing four and five 
pounds. At Gifford’s, on the 15th, one man 
caught eight fine fish, ranging in weight from 
two to three and a half pounds. At Prince’s 
Bay no one has been out, but the fish must be 
here. I speak of good catches and yet of few 
fish, because it is quality and not quantity that 
the weakfish expert gets now. These large weak- 
fish, called tide runners, at this time of year 
frequent the waters near shore and are very 
shy. The fisherman with a four-pound sinker 
and a reel that makes a noise like a Buckeye 
mowing machine need not try to catch any old 
tide runners in three feet of water. It is use¬ 
less to tell here what a fisherman should do 
and what bait to use, but it is not out of place 
to let those readers of Forest and Stream, who 
have time and patience, know that the sport is 
Anglers’ CIvb of Massachusetts. 
Boston, Mass., June 12 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: At a meeting of the Anglers’ Glub of 
Massachusetts, held June 8, the following officers 
were elected for the ensuing year: President, 
Dr. F. M. Johnson, re-elected; Vice-President, 
Geo. B. Clark; Treasurer, Chas. W. Cheeney; 
Secretary, Call J. McCarthy. 
