Fishing in Newfoundland. 
St. Johns, N. F., June 13 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The summer visitors have begun to 
arrive. The first to register on the west coast 
were Major Ashburnham and lady, and they 
were shortly after, followed by some Americans. 
Now every Bruce carries knots of anglers in 
quest of the chiefs of the finny tribe whose abid¬ 
ing places are surely in these waters. 
The reports that are coming in daily from 
the salmon rivers are calculated to make one’s 
mouth water. The officers of H. M. S. Brilliant 
were having great sport, and Dr. Keegan, who 
left here last week to fish in the same waters, 
is reported to have landed several salmon rang¬ 
ing between ten and twenty pounds. Mr. John¬ 
stone informs me that they had a wire from 
Boyle’s yesterday reporting that Dr. Keegan had 
secured a twenty-pound salmon after as pretty 
a fight as ever w'as seen. Mr. Lewis, an Ameri¬ 
can, caught one seven-pound salmon and an¬ 
other ten-pound, also a three-pound sea trout. 
Mr. Holman secured among other fish one 
thirteen-pound salmon. Several others are re¬ 
ported for good catches. The outlook for the 
angling season is the best for years. 
The weather is not bad. It is just a trifle cool 
to date, but not disagreeably so. I send you a 
couple of clippings from local papers that will 
show your readers the quality and quantity of 
fish that reward the lucky angler who strikes 
the right time and place. 
“Messrs. Vinnicombe, Cullen, O’Brien and 
Comerford arrived by yesterday morning’s train 
from Brigus Junction and Maher’s, where they 
had been since Monday on a trouting excursion. 
They secured about thirty-eight dozen trout, 
some of which were beauties.” 
“Hy. Everett caught two large trout at Petty 
Harbor River Saturday. One weighed six 
pounds and the other five. A large Loch Leven 
trout, weighing six and one-half pounds, was 
found high and dry near the river at Coughlan’s 
yesterday. Some boys who were playing there 
captured it.” 
St. Johns, N. F., June 27. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Delightful weather, plenty of salmon 
and sea trout, and very few anglers are the 
conditions at present obtaining on the west coast. 
About this time last year the weather was cold 
and backward, and there were about 500 tourists 
at different places on the west coast. The fish¬ 
ing was very poor, many anglers were disap¬ 
pointed and made their dates for later on this 
season. But all during the present month of 
June we have been having lovely weather, not 
too hot nor too cool. 
j The salmon and sea trout have struck in a 
good bit earlier than last season and the anglers 
at the rivers are having the sport of their lives. 
Reports to date show that the fish are more 
plentiful and larger than they have been for 
years. Anglers wanting good sport and ideal 
weather conditions had better pack their kits 
as soon as possible and get to West Newfound¬ 
land. Many sportsmen have an exaggerated idea 
of the distance and difficulties in getting to the 
island. It is as easy to travel here as any- 
; where on the continent, and it is comparatively 
inexpensive. For instance a first class return 
from Boston to Port au Basque costs $35, from 
New York about $45, Philadelphia $50, Montreal 
$36. To Codroy, St. George’s, Bay of Islands 
or any of the other good fishing places it will 
cost an extra five or ten dollars. These figures 
are approximate and are extracted from a memo 
supplied by the Reid, N. F., people last season, 
but they are accurate enough to give prospective 
visitors an idea of the cost and distance. 
There are only about fifty visitors to date on 
the west coast. Twenty times that number could 
be accommodated there, and still there would 
be fish and room for more. 
I extract the very latest reports from the 
local papers so that readers may form their own 
opinions of the fishing to be had. 
The following salmon and trout report will 
show what has been done so far by anglers: 
May 29. Little River—Major Ashburnham, 
one salmon, 9 pounds. 
June 2. Placentia Junction—Residents, twelve 
dozen trout. 
June 8. Placentia Junction—St. John’s sports¬ 
men, thirty dozen trout. 
June 8. Terra Nova—Twenty-eight dozen 
trout. 
June 11. Terra Nova—Thirty-five trout, 23 
pounds. 
June 4. South Branch—M. Dywer, one sal¬ 
mon, 7 pounds. 
June 12. South Branch—J. F. Lewis, one sal¬ 
mon, 7 pounds. 
June 12. South Branch—Jas. Notman, one sal¬ 
mon, 13 pounds. 
June 12. Little River—J. F. Lewis, one sal¬ 
mon, 10 pounds; one trout, 3 pounds. 
June 13. South Branch—J. F. Lewis, two sal¬ 
mon, 25 and 15 pounds. 
June 14. Doyles—Dr. Keegan, one salmon, 26 
pounds. 
June 15. Little River—W. H. Fitzmaurice, one 
salmon, 10 pounds. 
June 15. Little River—Master Chaisson, two 
trout, 3 pounds each. 
June 15. South Branch—J. F. Lewis, three 
salmon, 9, 11, 17 pounds. 
June 15. Terra Nova—Fifteen trout, 7 pounds. 
June 16. Messrs. Dudley and Lecelles— 
Crabbes, five salmon, 10 pounds. 
J. T. Lewis, chief engineer of the South In¬ 
dian Railway, Saturday took a 25-pound salmon 
at Big Salmon Pool, Grand River. It came in 
by to-day’s express to friends in the city. Dr. 
Keegan landed a 26-pound fish at Doyle’s Satur¬ 
day, and all the other sports are doing very well. 
Messrs. White and Norman, of Mr. Sclater’s 
store, and Mr. Young, returned from a trouting 
excursion to Trout Pond, inside Foxtrap, last 
night, with twenty-eight dozen fine trout. They 
had good sport. 
John O’Brien and Michael Byrne returned to 
town yesterday after being in search of the 
speckled beauties. They were very successful, 
having secured a basket filled with “whoppers.” 
W. J. Carroll. 
The Houtmen Piscatorial Association. 
Twenty-six members of the Houtman Pisca¬ 
torial Association recently went to sea in a boat 
—the steamer Rambler—for a fishing excursion 
and a good time. Messrs. Barber & Co., steam¬ 
ship agents of New York city, furnished the 
comfortable steamer. The day was ideal and 
the members got what they were after. The 
good time and a very large catch of black fish 
and sea bass were secured. 
The Day I Stayed at Home. 
Philadelphia, Pa., June 15. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: After just returning from a 
week’s sport of trout fishing in the Paradise 
Creek and Broadhead, with a nice basketful of 
trout, my friend, B. F. Robinson, invited me 
to go bass fishing in the Jersey lakes. 
Feeling a little weary from the week’s sport, 
I concluded to stay at home. On his return on 
Saturday evening he brought one bass weigh¬ 
ing 5 pounds, four bass 2 pounds each, and four 
of 1 pound each. 
I relate this to show fellow sportsmen that 
the New Jersey fish commissioners are doing 
their work well, when fishermen can within one 
hour and a half from Philadelphia make such 
catches as this in three hours’ time. 
I can verify this statement by saying that I 
had the pleasure of eating the five-pound fish 
which he presented to me on his return. 
This fish was caught with a 6 J 4 ounce rod, 
enameled G line, a No. 24 Cincinnati bass hook 
and a three-foot double gut leader, casting 
from the boat about forty feet from shore, i 
consider B. F. R. an expert bass fisherman. I 
have gone with him many times. 
One Saturday afternoon last August our 
catch for four hours’ time in this same lake was 
twenty-seven bass, averaging from nine to 
fifteen inches long, all large-mouths. 
I have often been asked by some of my 
friends who subscribe to Forest and Stream, 
“Why don’t some of the subscribers tell us 
through the paper where they make these 
catches?” and I take this opportunity to answer 
their questions. 
I only said the other day to one of my friends 
that if all streams were fished in a sportsman¬ 
like and legitimate way there would be enough 
fish for everyone who likes the sport. I have 
found on my travels up the State that it is not 
the visitors that destroy the streams. 
Mark P. Mills. 
Barbless Fly-Hooks. 
Early in 1906 Mr. Theodore Gordon sent me 
a blue upright dressed on a hook without a barb, 
says R. B. Marston in the Fishing Gazette. I 
asked Mr. T. F. Tracy to try it for me on the 
Exe, and his report is interesting. He says: 
“I had only time to give it a short trial on the 
river one evening, when I caught with it five 
trout and one large grayling, all in fast water, 
and all of which it held perfectly. I have since 
tried it on my ponds and caught a number of 
brown trout of about one pound, and rainbows 
of two or three pounds, and also some lively 
two-year-old rainbow, which with their jump¬ 
ing and tender mouths were about the best test. 
I find the hook holds just as well as a barbed 
one, so long as one keeps a tight line, and even 
when giving a fish lots of slack to swim about 
with, the hook only occasionally came away, and 
no fish came unhooked when jumping, although 
the point of the rod was always lowered. The 
peculiar twist in the bend gets a very good hold 
in a fish’s mouth. The absence of barb is a 
great blessing if one gets the hook hitched up 
in one’s clothes.” 
Some day when anglers are too many for the 
fish we shall have to have recourse to one hook, 
and that without a barb. 
