Live-Bait Fishing in the Ozarks. 
April in the Ozarks is the ideal month for 
live-bait fishing. At this season the trees are 
taking on their bridal robes of living green, wild 
flowers are bursting forth in profusion and the 
air is laden with a pensive fragrance which 
blends in pleasing harmony with the notes of 
the feathered songsters as they are echoed 
among the sylvan bowers. When 
these wooing allurements invade 
one’s sanctum - sanctorum it is 
useless to offer resistance, for— 
“There’s a golden glow in the sun¬ 
shine, 
A charm in the pattering rain, 
For fin, fur or feather, it’s always good 
weather. 
Where the Ozarks meet the plain.” 
Among the many beautiful 
mountain streams which find their 
source in the Ozarks and move 
silently and swiftly to the great 
Father of Waters, none is more 
picturesque and attractive to the 
sportsman than the Gasconade, 
and it was upon the banks of this 
stream that we elected to spend 
our annual spring outing. The 
Gasconade is on the northern 
slope of the Ozark range and 
traverses a country wild and 
broken, the ancient haunt of 
numerous herds of deer and the 
breeding ground for countless 
thousands of wild turkey. The 
deer and the turkey, it is true, are 
on the wane, but their rendez¬ 
vous is as yet unoccupied and un¬ 
settled. The place selected for 
our temporary camp was in a 
bend of the river and on the 
side where the bottom was filled 
with giant oak trees. Immedi¬ 
ately on the opposite side of the 
stream a precipitous limestone 
bluff covered with scrub oaks 
made an almost perpendicular 
ascent of several hundred feet 
from the water’s edge. A small, 
swift running spring branch join¬ 
ed the Gasconade at this point, 
and less than fifty yards from 
our camp was a cool sparkling 
spring bursting forth from the 
hillside. 
Our first evening after becoming thoroughly 
settled in camp was spent in seining for' bait. 
The spring branch was fairly alive with the 
choicest specimens. Chubs, shiners and greasers 
were caught in great numbers. In these cool, 
clear streams no trouble is experienced in keep¬ 
ing the minnows alive, it being only necessary 
to place the minnow bucket in the riffle over 
night. The next morning we were at the water’s 
edge by the time the sun was fairly above the 
eastern hills. Several varieties of bass are to 
be found in the Gasconade, while crappy, chan¬ 
nel cat, drum and blue cat are numerous. Our 
plan was to set several bank lines along the 
margin of the deepest holes we could find and 
bait with an exceptionally large minnow. Then 
with our rods and reels we Would whip the 
smaller pools and secluded spots in quest of the 
smaller varieties of bass and crappy. Before 
retiring for the night we would visit the bank 
IN THE BROOK. 
From a photograph by F. F. Sornberger. 
poles and re-bait them with fresh minnows. 
At the close of the second day our string con¬ 
sisted of one twenty-pound blue cat, one twelve- 
pound drum, two three-pound channel cats and 
seventeen small-mouth bass ranging in size from 
one to four pounds. This count did not include 
the large number which had been dressed and 
eaten while in camp. During our stay the 
weather was delightful and the neighbors who 
inhabit this sparsely settled region were kind, 
and considerate to a degree. A. J. Young. 
More About the Rod Tax. 
St. John’s, N. F., March 22 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: It was announced through these 
columns recently that a rod tax of $10 had been 
decreed on all visiting anglers to Newfoundland. 
That there were ample grounds for misunder¬ 
standing exactly what was intended has been 
shown by the number of queries since received, 
both by myself and the Depart¬ 
ment of Fisheries. As a matter 
of fact, to be accurate in the use 
of terms, it is not really a rod 
tax at all, but a fee for a fishing 
license. 
Several anglers have inquired 
if it were the intention to tax an 
angler ten dollars for every rod 
he carried, supposing he brought 
three or four, or more. Anglers 
coming in, may bring a dozen 
rods if they think they need 
them or will find use for them 
and the fee will be only ten dol¬ 
lars. The fee is paid for the 
license when an angler obtains 
his license. He can fish any 
pond, river or lake—except those 
reserved for propagation pur¬ 
poses which number very few— 
and he can take salmon, sea trout, 
ouananiche, brook trout or any 
other fresh water fish to be had 
on the island. The fishing is 
absolutely free with above excep¬ 
tions. There are no preserved 
waters; an angler with a license 
may fish anywhere. 
The Game and Inland Fisheries 
Board is maturing measure? for 
the better protection of rivers 
that will, even this season, it is 
hoped, result in improving the 
principal waters, so that the fish¬ 
ing will be noticeably improved. 
Better protected fishing waters 
will mean increased expense for 
supervisors and more efficient 
game wardens. All license fees 
obtained will be added to the 
fund now available to make the 
system of protection as perfect 
as possible. Anglers who take 
out a license fee will get better 
fishing for the future. 
The question of netting or set¬ 
ting nets near the mouths of the principal rivers 
has been discussed very freely, and the board 
will instruct its supervisors that to have these 
nets removed and prosecute offenders will be 
one of their very first and most important duties. 
The principal work of one of the supervisors 
will be to visit every river where a mill is situ¬ 
ated and see that the water is not polluted with 
sawdust. 
Heretofore wardens have been very lax in en¬ 
forcing the laws and complacent when their 
