9 8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July i 8, 1908. 
my would-be assistant managed in his haste 
to strike the line with the net, and I stood 
by to see a noble white trout—the genuine sal¬ 
mon trout—knocked off, and quietly swimming 
away. Why, I could gladly then and there have 
pitched this garrulous little man into the river. 
After twenty-nine years I regret that I did not 
land that four-pounder myself. 
One catches at times more than fish when 
out angling. One breezy summer evening I 
stood on the bank of a large reservoir at an 
Irish bleachworks, where many a nice basket 
has been obtained. I was waiting for the sun to 
go behind the hills, and had my rod erect with 
my casting line floating in the wind, when there 
was a sudden chuck, and to my surprise I saw 
a full sized swallow fluttering on my line. A 
little black-hackle, being the tail fly on my cast, 
had so well deceived the poor bird that he had 
snapped it for supper, and was now hanging 
hooked firmly at the side of his beak. 
Of course he was quickly and gently released, 
and after two or three moments’ quiet rest in 
the palm of my hand, he winked his little bright 
black eye and darted off none the worse. 
I have a pleasant memory of the way in 
which many years ago one of the Irish nobikty, 
himself a keen sportsman and fisherman, tried 
to impress upon my mind exactly the size of 
trout he wished taken in his little river. I was 
no doubt young in years, but taking me into 
his library, he sought out scissors and paper 
and carefully cut out a strip of the desired 
length and asked me to hold tight to my slip and 
carefully replace in the stream any juvenile 
trout that might on reaching the shore not 
prove up to the landlord’s standard. 
There may not seem to be much difficulty in 
obtaining worms for bait, but I came across 
lately on the banks of the Thames rather a 
cute method of providing a supply of these 
useful creatures. My friend, an ingenious Irish¬ 
man by the bye, having run short of bait, pulled 
out of his pocket a little tin of mustard, and 
mixing some with a little water, quietly poured 
a little of the mixture down a few worm holes 
in the field beside him. In a few minutes the 
desired bait began to make its appearance here 
and there, and our fisherman had his stock re¬ 
plenished. 
If we bipeds could leap like a spring salmon 
or fresh trout, how records would be broken in 
the athletic fields! For many an hour have I 
lain among the heather at the side of the bub¬ 
bling, eddying pool below the falls of the famous 
River Bush, watching with intense pleasure the 
salmon making their bold spring to clear the 
“Leap”, a high basalt rock quite perpendicular 
over their heads. Shooting upward like a bent 
bow, again and again they make the attempt 
often to fall back into the pool; but like Bruce’s 
persevering spider, these fine fish keep pegging 
away, until at last they find themselves safely 
on top, and often so tired with their exertion, 
that one could almost take the fish with the 
hands alone out of its shallow resting-place 
above the falls. 
I have “tickled” trout in the County of Cork, 
hunted them in the fast Welsh streams, tried 
to beguile them in the Cumberland Lake dis¬ 
trict and carried back some fine fellows from 
the Scottish Highland waters; but nowhere have 
I enjoyed better days than among the far-famed 
Glens of Antrim, where one breathes the purest 
air, and wanders amid the most lovely scenery, 
all within view of the broad, rolling Atlantic, 
Fishing a well stocked lake late one evening, I 
heard near me a splash, and to my astonishment 
saw a large trout rapidly making its way on 
land. In other words, it appeared that this 
greedy fish having in the dusk gone after a large 
moth, had miscalculated his distance, and found 
himself high and dry some eighteen inches from 
his native element. Before I reached the spot 
the trout had rolled himself in and got safely 
to his home. Piscator. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
Black Bass in Missouri. 
Doniphan, Mo., July 5. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Fly-fishing for small-mouth bass this 
spring has not been up to its usual standard. 
We have had rain after rain, and just when it 
appeared as though the streams would clear up, 
some downpour up on the Jack’s Forks and other 
tributaries often polluted Current River when 
no news of rain was heard of within a radius of 
fifty miles. Occasionally the river righted and 
then the fighting fellows tried to take every lure 
offered. 
During high water the angler who depended 
on the fly-rod had to take a back seat to the 
minnow fisherman, and one afternoon when the. 
river was very muddy, Mr. Johnston, the county 
clerk here, distinguished himself by making quite 
a record with the plebian angle worm—some¬ 
thing unusual here for small-mouth to accept, 
but the big-mouth bass often take them when 
the water is high. 
On the rare occasions when the river was in 
good condition, success followed my efforts, 
though I was a wee bit timid aboufi wading, for 
Current River is a dangerous one to'wade in 
when the angler cannot see every bit of gravel 
bottom ahead of him. The best places of course 
were on the swift shoals or where the water 
swept out cutoffs that were heavily fringed with 
bull rushes. Here the red-eyes lay in wait for 
insects or anything their hunger tempted them 
to strike at. 
On one occasion I landed twelve nice ones on 
a stretch not a mile long, using a bucktail fly 
for trailer and a Jamison for dropper. The 
latter seems an all-season fly. Next in favor 
came the dark Montreal, and the red ibis, the 
latter especially good in the eddy waters along 
the rocky bluffs. In the very deep waters near 
the bluffs or among the gravel banks the large 
flies have preference, but in shallow, swift waters 
small or medium flies are better, for they are 
not such a strain on a light rod. In the quieter 
waters recovery is easy with the large flies, but 
in the swift sucking water the large ones be¬ 
come weightier than the average light rod is 
capable of contending with. 
Over on Big Black, St. Francis, Cache and the 
other rivers, the natives have designed a flv 
that seems very taking, though it is a departure 
from the usual methods of fly making or ideas 
of feathered lures. A long-shank hook—or 
rather three—are - wrapped together with ordi¬ 
nary coarse tailor's thread, the color of body 
depending on the taste of the angler. Large 
feathers are tied on them, generally brown, gray 
or black, and lapped across, so when the flies 
strike the water the feathers alight flat like the 
wings of the “darning needle.” A slight sound 
is caused upon its touching the water which has 
given it the name of the “spat fly.” Its size 
is about three inches. Some use the cane pole 
for casting, but most anglers use the steel fly- 
rod or split bamboo that will weigh at least 
seven ounces. I have never seen this fly used 
in’the small-mouth streams, but have seen many 
successful catches of large-mouth made with it. 
Possibly some tackle manufacturer may take up 
the idea, and add finish and daintiness to this 
lure. The single hook should replace the treble, 
and the size should be so reduced that the flv 
could be handled on a fairly light rod. 
Loch Laddie. 
RAPIDS OF THF. SHANNON AT CASTLECONNELL. 
Courtesy of John Enright. 
