FOREST AND STREAM. 
99 
July 18, 1908.] 
Lillie Talks aboul Fly-Fishing. 
On the Beaverkill, July 1.— Editor Forest 
id Stream: The long drouth has been broken 
y a smart shower and we hope for more rain, 
he trout streams are very low and sport has 
ot been good. One old gentleman spent some 
ays on a preserved lake and returned home 
ith thirty-four pounds of trout. For this suc- 
=ss he paid at the rate of fifty cents per pound, 
he heat at times has been intense and we had 
vo uncomfortable nights, not a common experi- 
nce in Sullivan county. It is said that the hay 
rop is ruined, a serious loss in a dairy country. 
On Saturday afternoon I was moved to lead 
forlorn hope, as it was my last day on the 
leversink. En route to a big pool, I passed 
bait angler who stated that he had not had 
bite. This was not encouraging. The pool 
,as now curtailed of its usual fair proportions, 
nd for two-thirds of its length resembled plate 
lass. Not the vestige of a ripple disturbed its 
urface. A trout rose once in this quiet water, 
iut many casts with the artificial fly resulted 
mly in a half-hearted rise. At the top of the 
iool, where the white water still rushed and 
•ddied, a few baby fish of some kind were mov¬ 
ing. We fished up and down; we reclined at 
■ase and waited for a rise. Time was flying, 
,-et still there was nothing doing. The sun 
lropped behind the hills, the air was fresher 
and a few flies began to appear. At last I saw 
[1 rise in fairly deep water near the rocks on 
he opposite shore. We fairly yearned to basket 
rim, although we had been too lazy to bring the 
big brown creel we usually carry. Wading in 
below, the tiny fly was dispatched upon its mis¬ 
sion. Once, twice, three times it danced daintily 
with the current; the fourth trip was the charm. 
A large fish rose boldly, seized the fly, and feel¬ 
ing the hook, raced madly dowm the pool. We 
do not resemble that Highland laird, who, when 
he had hooked a salmon, lost interest in the 
matter and handed the rod to his gilly to play 
and land the fish. To us this is most exciting. 
The leader was made of thinnest gut, the last 
three feet of fine drawn. To the end of this 
the hook was tied by that best of all knots, the 
, old figure of eight. At last he wearied, and with 
due respect was escorted ashore. What a picture 
he presented, laid out in state upon a mat of 
bright green grass. Over tw-o pounds? Well! 
I should say so. “What a long story about 
.catching a little fish!” Do not forget, my friend, 
that it has been a poor season for big trout, 
also that everything depends upon the locality 
and attending conditions. A great success in 
one place is small potatoes in another. 
The Beaverkill is low and the water much 
warmer than it should be. The river has been 
hard fished in this neighborhood and I fear that 
even in the most strictly preserved water trout 
are not so numerous as they were last year. It 
is two years since I fished this part of the stream 
and I notice a good many changes. A man who 
knew the river well ten years ago would 
scarcely recognize seme portions of it to-day. 
As to sport, one cannot expect very much. I 
fished five hours yesterday for five trout (one 
very handsome specimen) and innumerable “fall 
fish.” This was a chub day. They seemed to 
be everywhere, but particularly in slow flowing 
rather deep water. They rose like trout and the 
hook took firm hold upon their leathery mouths. 
It is impossible to shake them off without break¬ 
ing something. 1 broke the hook in a killing 
fly which had a rare and beautiful hackle on it 
in trying to extract it from the nose of a big 
chub. I basketed three of the largest and re¬ 
turned about two dozen. I hated to kill them, 
but they were better out of the stream, i hey 
must consume much of the food which should 
go to feed the trout. The habits of the chub 
are very similar and they take everything that 
the trout do. Big chub will feed on minnows, 
and 1 am afraid that these arc not as plentiful 
as they used to be in the Beaverkill. 
I have seen two black bass in one of the large 
pools. One of them a fish of half to three- 
quarters of a pound. Years ago I feared that 
bass might work into these pools and do much 
damage if they attained any great size. I hear 
that a few have been taken as high up the 
Willowemoc as Livingston Manor. Many years 
ago I killed one above Rockland on the Beaver¬ 
kill with a trout fly. 
Any bass found here have in all probability 
come down from a lake which drains into the 
river five miles up stream. I am a great ad • 
mirer of these plucky fish in their own habitat, 
but not in trout waters. I fancy that natural 
flies must have been as numerous as usual on 
the Beaverkill earlier in the season. 
With lower temperatures of air and water 
yesterday there was a fair hatch of insects 
later in the afternoon. These were largely 
ephemeridae, duns and spinners with a few stone 
flies and caddis. The common stone fly is a 
large insect. The female particularly makes a 
big show when on the wing. They appear, when¬ 
ever the conditions are favorable, all through 
the season. 
A few whacking big spinners were in the air, 
but the flies on the water were mostly small 
duns and midges. We fished for three hours 
without a rise except from chubs, but had fair 
sport after the flies came on. 
We have no great successes to report this 
season. Occasionally we have had a bit of 
pretty sport which it will be pleasant to remem¬ 
ber, but we are fond of reading about fishing 
and days spent on the beautiful streams in the 
trout country. This must be our excuse for 
chronicling small events. For instance, all ang¬ 
lers will recall similar experiences when we 
say that yesterday we found three really good 
trout rising close together and were able to take 
them all. We only killed eight trout, yet it was 
a fascinating bit of sport, and the victims made 
a brave show in a big milk pan when they were 
turned out of the creel. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Milwaukee Casting Club. 
Milwaukee, Wis., July 9.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Following are the scores of contest 
held Wednesday, July 8: 
Then. M. Toll. 
M. A. Beck . 
M. K. McPherson. 
Anton Stoltz ... 
Alb. Lahmann . 
C. C. Schoen’anb . 
T. C. Farber. 
B. J. Kellenberger. 
A-ounce. 
14-ounc'. 
97 
12-15 
98 
7-15 
97 
4-15 
97 
4-15 
84 
97 
9-15 
97 
2-15 
95 
14-15 
98 
7-15 
98 
1-15 
90 
3-15 
86 
11-15 
95 
10-15 
The next tournament will be held at the 
Washington Park grounds, on Saturday, July 18, 
at 2:30 P. M. sharp. 
James A. Mander, Sec’y- 
Blossoms of the River Tisza. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Flowing through Hungary in eastern Europe 
is a river called Tisza. It is bordered by long 
stretching lowlands, and in some respects re¬ 
sembles our Missouri, as its waters are of the 
same dirty yellow color. The river is rich in 
all kinds of edible fishes and thousands of peopL 
along the shores make a living by fishing. 
When the first hot June days begin there sud 
denly appears above the surface of the stream 
something that looks like little clouds and that 
grows in size from hour to hour; it is an un¬ 
countable number of swarms of very small flies. 
Nobody knows where they come from and a; 
other times of the year they cannot be seen; 
perhaps they come to the water for their own 
destruction. The swarms of flies sink lower and 
lower until they reach the cooling flood, then 
the fishes come out of the deep water crazed 
with a mad desire to swallow the little insects, 
and they are so eager in their hunting and feast¬ 
ing on them that they forget all fears and do 
not notice the dangers which surround them. 
Their attention is absolutely concentrated on the 
flies. Wherever the flies appear the fish are seen 
close to the surface of the water in surprising- 
numbers. They may be caught with the hands; 
in fact, they are thrown into boats with certain 
shovels manufactured for that purpose. 
After eight or ten days the flies disappear, not 
to be seen again for another twelve months, and 
the fishes hide in the deep water. They call 
that phenomenon “blossoms of the River I isza, 
and it is one of the many curiosities a tourist 
may find in that land so little known to travelers 
in Europe. Otto Roth. 
Fishing in California. 
San Francisco, Cab, July 3 .—Editor Fores! 
and Stream: Reports from anglers all over the 
State are to the effect that trout fishing is as 
good now as it has been at any time during the 
season. The. coast streams have been depleted 
for some time, but in the sierras anglers are 
enjoying themselves. In the northern part of 
the State the Klamath River and its many tribu¬ 
taries are affording some royal sport. 
Fishing in the Truckee River is at its best 
at the present time. Anglers have had splendid 
results on Lake Tahoe during the past month, 
although as a rule there is but little doing until 
later. M. L. Effinger. a mining man of Gold¬ 
field, Nev., has landed the largest trout ever 
taken in the lake, a 231-2-pound fish, and but a 
few days previous to this J. C. Kellogg caught 
a record Mackinaw which weighed close to 31 
pounds. He also took a 9-pound Tahoe trout, 
an unusually heavy fish for this variety. 
Trout fishing on the upper Sacramento is 
good, but is expected to be better later in the 
month when the warm weather sets in. In the 
li w r Sacramento and in the San Joaquin the 
striped bass are running well, the largest fish 
lai (led so far being a io)4-pounder. 
It is considered a very unusual thing to catch 
salmon in fresh water with a hook and line, 
1 ut such is said to have been the result of a 
fishing party headed by “Doc” Stewart, which 
made several good catches of these game fish 
at Prospect slough last week. 1 he fish are said 
to be biting almost as well as striped bass, and 
Sacramento fishermen are becoming interested 
in the sport. A. P. B. 
