222 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The Rainbow of the Ocean 
By E. A. Donnelly. 
T HE Rainbow of the Ocean, or the sea trout, 
either of these names sound better to the 
ear than the common name of Weakfish. 
A game fish that is followed closer by anglers 
than any other of the so-called salt water game 
variety—a fish of many whims, fanciful as a 
bride-to-be, and a fish that you can always de¬ 
pend on not to be where you think it is. So 
when you have your mind set on a good day’s 
fishing—wind, tide and weather conditions made 
to order, plenty of bait, good tackle, fine boat and 
a guide that knows the ground conditions as well 
as you know the carpet or rugs in your own 
home—that’s the day, not a fish, not a strike. 
“Don’t it beat the cars,” the old guide will s$y. 
“Now only yesterday three of us had as nice a 
catch as you ever saw.’ 
The trout in his pool under the dark shelter 
of some overhanging branch, letting past all 
kinds of delicate morsels, has nothing on his salt 
water brother for doing the same thing when he 
so desires. 
This may seem strange to many, but it is a 
fact nevertheless. It is possible that just the 
moment you lay down your rod for a bite or to 
light a pipe, zizz goes the reel, and he is gone. 
Pull in, bait all over and try again. Now, look! 
there is one, and another over here—zizz, goes 
someone’s reel. Be quick, make as little noise as 
possible; let excitement lend you speed. That’s 
it!—take him easy! Don’t lean over the boat so 
far; now, in with him; fine! Look at him now. 
All the color combinations of a summer’s setting 
sun mixed on nature’s palette, follow one another 
in quick succession. He sure befits the name of 
rainbow. 
In angling for these game and tender mouthed 
fish a certain amount of skill is required that 
you can acquire only by experience. In the end, 
experience is a very wise but costly teacher. 
The first and most essential point—drive this 
home—the very best tackle that you can possibly 
afford. T^e next is good bait and plenty of it; 
better to have to throw it away, after catching 
your fish than to go short when everyone else 
is catching fish. 
Baits that bring good results are shrimp, 
plenty of them; blood worm, and crab. Fishing 
from shore or pier, crab or blood worm is best; 
as shrimp fly off the hook in casting. From a 
boat try blood worm; tip off with shrimp, or crab 
tipped off, the same way. If either do not take, 
try chum. A handful of shrimp thrown from 
the bow of your boat so as to drift by you often 
brings good results. Fish quietly, letting your 
anchor down easily and pulling it up in the same 
manner; make as little noise as possible. It may 
not affect your fishing, but you don’t know; so 
be on the safe side. 
If two or more are fishing from a boat one 
can try bottom and one top, and if more in the 
boat one can try a few turns of the reel off bot¬ 
tom to find out how the fish are feeding. The 
minute they bite, use chum to hold them and then 
make hay while the sun shines. 
The word “weakfish” does not mean what it 
says, for the only thing weak about this game 
fish is his mouth and that cannot truly be called 
weak, judging from the strike you get, even in 
the smallest of these fish. There is a great dif¬ 
ference between the words tender and weak. The 
first expresses to a nicety the condition of the 
thin skin on each side of the jaw bones of a 
weakfish. This tears very easily and a heavy 
return from a strike often tears the hook clear 
of the jaws. Of course if your fish gullets the 
bait you have him as secure as if he were tied 
with a two inch hawser. 
When he strikes be quick and take your line 
away from him fast, till he straightens out the 
kinks. Play him then, and you will soon ac¬ 
quire the much sought skill and be able to fish 
with the best of the weakfish anglers. 
WHAT IS “BLOW-LINE” FISHING? 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
Can you describe for me what is meant by 
“blow-line” fishing which seems to be popular 
abroad? CURIOUS. 
Blow-line fishing for trout is an adaptation of 
dry fly fishing with the use of natural flies. It 
is used for the most part on Irish lakes. The 
method is about as follows: When you have 
reached the lake or “loch” where you are to fish, 
you secure as many natural “drakes,” “daddy 
long legs,” “stone flies” or “blue bottles” as some 
bare-legged future New York alderman can be 
induced to chase down and catch for you; then 
you hire someone to take you out in a boat to the 
spot where trout are supposed to hide. You rig 
up your trout rod, draw some yards of line from 
it, hold the rod in an upright position and let 
the wind blow the line out straight as far as it 
will go—six yards or more if possible. As soon 
as the light line is fairly extended, the top of 
the rod is lowered, and the “drake” alights on 
the surface of the “lough” as lightly as thistle¬ 
down. Not long is it allowed to dance upon the 
wavelets. There is the unmistakable rise of a 
trout, and the fly disappears; very gently is the 
line tightened—it is suicidal and quite unneces¬ 
sary to strike a trout when fishing with extreme¬ 
ly delicate tackle; the angler need merely 
tighten on the fish—there is a rush, a plunge, 
and soon you are busy playing a grand speci¬ 
men of the Irish lake trout. The tackle used 
is extremely light, but the rod as a rule is a 
long one in order to give the wind a chance at 
the line. The angler is supposed ' to fish as 
“fine” as he dares, and a long leader is essential. 
The blow-line angler is sometimes very success¬ 
ful, and heavy catches are often reported. 
SPRING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
Henderson, N. C., Feb. 23, 1915. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read Theodore Gordon’s interesting let¬ 
ters and have had the pleasure of hearing from 
him direct, also Louis Rhead and Ladd Plumley, 
etc., and have pretty well digested what they 
say. I have talked with others and have 
thoroughly mixed all together with fairly good 
results. I have learned to tie my own flies, and 
they kill trout! 
I fish up stream (and I think this best) and 
down stream and across stream—according to 
wind and time and weather, etc., and the sun. I 
have found I can get the larger fish in upstream 
fishing; but there are pools one can’t get the 
flies to—the likely place—from below, nor yet 
from either side. When I come to such a pool 
I get above and cover it well by casting across 
stream from me—the sun being opposite—arid fa 
let my flies float down, drawing them the while 
across current with a twitching motion, as an 
insect struggling to swim across. It is a deadly 
method if well done and gets the big ones too. 
I hold the line of course in my left hand, and 
as I gently raise the rod with my right, I take 
in line with my left, thus at all times having full 
control and ready for a strike. 
Soon all nature will be aflame on Green River 
—azalias, white and orange and yellow in color, 
and each with an odor all its own—and the kal- 
mias, then the rhododendron. Ferns from the 
coarsest to the delicate maiden hair, pinks and 
many other flowers, and evergreens, all nearby 
the beautiful little river and down to the water’s 
edge—and big timber too, deciduous and conifer. 
The call to go down there and try out some 
of my newly tied flies will soon come. Usually 
my first trip I try to keep out of the water, only 
casting in such places that I can get room for 
the back cast—but I can’t keep to this. I usually 
wind up with a wetting, sometimes only knee 
deep or it may be “all over.” Many a ducking I 
have had, and this reminds me of a couple of 
anglers fishing a stream in the Sapphire country. 
There was a stream with little pockets and at the 
bottom of all a fine large pool. One of the ang¬ 
lers stopped to fish the pockets while the other, 
unobserved by his friend, passed on down to 
the pool. After covering the pockets thoroughly 
he turned round and saw his friend quietly cast- ^ 
ing over the pool—but how did he get there so 
quickly? Evidently, he could as easily reach the 
spot his friend was casting from, as he had, so 
he began and very quickly did he slide to its 
bottom, rod, basket and all. On getting out, and 
