700 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 30, 1910. 
“Gee! but those trout were good. W ish we had 
a few more!” 
“Them’s my sentiments,” echoed Bob, who was 
so full of food already that he could hardly 
move. And right then I began to lose my re¬ 
gret that we had packed in enough of some arti¬ 
cles to last, as I had supposed, a week. 
The same scene was repeated with variations 
that night. I had come in from the East Branch 
with a dozen nice trout and had started baking 
as large a corncake as our baker would hold, 
when the boys arrived with six or eight* more 
fish. The corncake was just taking on that puffy 
appearance with little brown spots all over its 
surface and they eyed it with watery mouths. 
A slab of the cake about eight inches by six 
scarce filled a corner in those capacious maws, 
and it tasted so good to them that I had to re¬ 
peat the performance about every meal there¬ 
after. The amount of corncake they would eat 
was limited only by the amount I could bake. 
It was the same with everything else. We had 
with us about six pounds of bacon, enough surely 
to last an ordinary party of three for a week. 
After four days there was not a shred left. Of 
coffee we had a full pound. It was all con¬ 
sumed at four meals, for the boys wanted at 
least three cups a piece. Fortunately, we had 
cocoa and tea to fall back on, and it is not easy 
to use up a good supply of the latter in four 
days; in fact, so far were we from having too 
much grub that we should inevitably have been 
forced to forage on the lumbermen if we had 
stayed a week. 
“Well, boys,” said I, as we lit our pipes and 
waited for the dish water to come to a boil, 
“how did you find the Spring Branch?” They 
had gone up stream a mile or two to try this 
tributary. 
“Nothing doing,” said Fred. “Too much water 
still, and I think there are only little ones there, 
anyway. At least I did not see any big fellows.” 
“Yes, and the bush is so thick that you have 
to wade all the time,” said Bob, “and jiminy, 
but it’s cold!” 
“Of course,” said I. “These brooks we’re on 
are outlets of ponds, you know, but Spring Branch 
is fed by little spring brooks up in the moun¬ 
tains, and I suppose the rain hadn’t warmed it 
up much.” 
“Not on your life,” said Fred. “I had to get 
out and dance every once in a while so that I 
could feel my feet.” 
“See anything to shoot?” 
“Mink,” answered Fred laconically, and then 
to Bob: “What are you grinning at, you lob¬ 
ster?” Bob’s grin became audible. “Why,” said 
he, “I was just thinking of the way you looked 
sliding down that bank.” It seemed that Fred 
in his anxiety to get a shot at the mink had 
broken off a piece of overhanging bank and slid 
with it down into the brook. This had alarmed 
the mink and he had successfully avoided sev¬ 
eral wild shots. 
“That’s where I got this rip,” said Fred, 
thoughtfully fingering a scar about two feet long 
in his trousers. “Say, I wonder if they would 
sell me a pair of trousers over at the lumber 
camp?” 
“You might go over in the morning and see,” 
I answered, “and get us a loaf of bread. You 
can fish the East Branch on the way back. Bob 
and I will go down the river to the gorge. We 
ought to get some good ones there if the water 
is right.” And so it was arranged. 
Arthur L. Wheeler. 
[to be concluded.] 
Steelhead Fishing. 
San Francisco, April 16. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Steelhead fishing is now on in full 
force in California streams, except in a few 
counties where the local laws have extended the 
closed season. In fly-fishing there has been 
but litle accomplished so far, but those who 
have uSed bait have found but little difficulty 
in landing fine catches of fish, and some good 
baskets have been taken. Most of the fishing 
at present is being done in Marin county, as 
fishing in San Mateo county streams is pro¬ 
hibited until the first of May, when the general 
trout season commences. 
Most of the fishing that has been done so 
far has been done in the vicinity of Point 
Reyes, and the White House pool at that place 
has attracted the greatest number of anglers. 
The streams are still a little too high and 
muddy to secure the best results, due to con¬ 
tinued rains, but now that clear weather has 
set in, some fine sport is anticipated from now 
on. On Olena Creek there was but very little 
doing, as the water was very muddy, but it was 
demonstrated that the stream was well stocked 
with fish, for on the opening day, before the 
heavy rains commenced, Milton Frankenberg 
secured a fine basket of large fish. Wildcat 
Creek, Contra Coast county, has furnished 
some good sport and several parties have se¬ 
cured the limit number there. The salmon 
Creek Club has been fishing for the past two 
Sundays on Salmon Creek, but the results met 
with so far have been rather disappointing. 
The third annual picnic and field day of the 
California Anglers’ Association will be held at 
Point Reyes to-morrow, and a largg crowd is 
expected to be present to enjoy the barbecue 
and entertainment. 
Steelhead fishing in Southern California has 
been very good since the opening of the sea¬ 
son, b.ut, of course, it is not as extensive as it 
is further up the coast, where there are more 
streams and where the rainfall insures a better 
water supply. In the San Gabriel, Santa Inez and 
Sepe rivers, however, there is good sport to be 
enjoyed at the present time, and those who can 
get away from the salt water grounds are try¬ 
ing their luck on steelhead trout. 
The members of the Three-Four-Five Club, 
an organization of Southern California anglers 
who fish for sport and not for slaughter, are 
getting their tackle ready for the season that 
commences on May 1 and lasts six months. 
The primary object of this club is to provide 
rules which will give the big game fish taken 
in Southern waters more of a chance for life 
when taken and to make the ability of the 
angler count for more. Secretary Roy F. B. 
Shaver has announced the rules for the coming 
season as follows: 
The rod must be five feet long or over, with 
metal reel seat and detachable butt, whole rod 
not to weigh more than four ounces. The reel 
can be of any size, shape or material. Fish must 
be fought from strike to gaff without the use of 
click, brake, drag or any other device attached 
to the reel. The line must be of three threads, 
or strands, and when tested in fifteen-foot 
lengths must not show a breaking strain of 
more than seven and a half pounds. Any angler 
is eligible who can show that he has caught on 
the tackle prescribed a tuna, yellowtail, albacore 
or white sea bass. Records are kept of the 
weight of all fish taken, the time taken to land 
the fish and the number lost through the break¬ 
ing of a hook, line or rod. 
At the end of the season prizes will be 
awarded to those who have succeeded in land¬ 
ing five or more fish, the awards being made 
on the following basis: First prize, for angler 
who has the best percentage of fish landed as 
compared with the number lost; second prize, 
for the one whose fish average highest in 
weight; third prize, for the angler who averages 
the shortest time in landing the fish. 
A. P. B. 
Opening Day. 
Berlin, N. Y., April 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: St. Angle’s Day (April 16) was an un¬ 
usual one in Rensselaer county. It had been 
generally agreed that the extreme low water of 
the last two seasons had killed the trout fry by 
thousands and no one believed that many fish 
would be taken on the first day of the season, 
or indeed on any other day. The exact con¬ 
trary, however, was true. Not in years were so 
many trout taken or so many large one. 
The largest catch reported by one fisherman 
was thirty-three and he left the stream early in 
the forenoon, fearing that he would exceed the 
ten-pound limit. Many catches of over twenty 
were made, and even the small boy equipped with 
a bit of string, a nail for sinker, any old hook 
and a stick for a pole, had two or three trout. 
Many of the local anglers were on the streams 
at dawn despite the fact that the sky was dark 
with clouds and the wind was a sharp one from 
the east. By 10 o’clock the wind had shifted to 
the west, the sky was clear and the sun made 
the day as bright and warm as though it were 
June. 
My own fishing was confined to the pleasant 
hours of the day and I took eleven good-sized 
fish within a third of a mile of my home. 
My explanation of the unusual number of fish 
this season is that the low water had discour¬ 
aged fishing and that the young fish were down 
among the stones in what were only apparently 
dry brooks, because it is not unusual here dur¬ 
ing low water to find a dry stretch in the brook 
bottom and then find that the water again flows 
on the surface further on. The Parks Brook 
never shows water in the lower stretches during 
the late summer, yet higher up the hollow there 
is always plenty of running water and many 
good trout pools containing large fish. As usual 
the main stream was greatly changed, old pools 
were gone and new ones formed. At this time 
the fish are generally in the swift water and bait 
fishermen throw their lines in the current up 
stream and let the bait float down, fishing very 
much as though they were using a fly. One 
angler at least used flies exclusively and took 
twenty-two fish. Rob Saunderson. 
All the fish laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
