858 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 28, 1910.. 
seen him creep up to a bend of the stream and 
study the pool without showing himself to the 
wary trout; then creep back and land thirteen 
fish without rising from his knees. Again, where 
the mowing machine had clipped short the grass 
so that there was not a vestige of cover remain¬ 
ing, 1 have seen him flat upon his stomach, 
worming his way toward the creek. To the un¬ 
initiated the Presbyterian’s methods are a reve¬ 
lation, for he is a past master of craft and cun¬ 
ning. ’ To behold him engaged in his devotions 
is to desire to emulate him, but in all fairness to 
him, be it said, many are called, but few are 
chosen. 
As I have intimated there has been consider¬ 
able rivalry and not a little hard feeling between 
the Methodists and Presbyterians, but the othei 
day I beheld a representative of each denomina¬ 
tion discussing hard-boiled eggs and other things 
on the banks of Meadow Brook, therefore I 
look for a truce between their camps in the near 
future. I have a great many friends among the 
Presbyterians as I have among the lmmer- 
, sionists and Methodists. I fish with them all and 
would not say one word to hurt anybody’s feelings. 
There are two other denominations that are 
much alike—the Unitarians and the Universa- 
lists. The former maintain that trout are so 
easily caught that one does not require special 
knowledge or special tools, while the latter in¬ 
sist that all men and all women are so expert 
that special tools or special knowledge are not 
required. Both maintain that it is not the num¬ 
ber of fish caught that makes a day on Meadow 
Brook worth while, but it is the blue sky with 
its yeasty thunder-heads, the green meadow 
spangled with flowers, the birds and their sweet 
songs, the cloud-mirroring stream itself and its 
heart song; in a word, to be alive to the en¬ 
vironment is the all-important thing. They have 
grand, good times, those Unitarians and Univer- 
salists, but they catch few fish. You will find 
them upon Meadow Brook almost any fine day, 
for they are fair weather fishers; the brothers 
with bare arms and throats, sun-burned; the sis¬ 
ters, gloved and sun-bonneted, all laughing and 
joking as though trout were as phlegmatic as 
carp and bullheads. They march up to the very 
marge of the stream with a disregard for the 
conventions that causes the orthodox gentry to 
gasp in amazement and ofttimes to leave Meadow 
Brooklet in disgust. When a fish is captured 
for, strange as it may seem, they do capture a 
fish now and then—the event is greeted with 
great applause and congratulation. As to lures 
they use flies, spoons, worms, grasshoppers and 
have been known to use silver. They are hetero¬ 
dox and they glory in their heterodoxy. How¬ 
ever, I have fished with them and 1 declare that 
they' are not half bad. If you would learn to 
appreciate nature and the poetry of nature, go 
fishing on Meadow Brook with the Universalists 
and the Unitarians. 
Are you wondering as to my faith? Well. I 
have never united with any of the man\ de¬ 
nominations, and I have not enumerated them 
all by any means, but I affiliate with all of them. 
T am a piscatorial agnostic and believe in being 
all things to all men. But I have been think¬ 
ing of late that a piscatorial ecumenical confer¬ 
ence would be a splendid thing. The hard shell 
Immersionist, the cock-sure Methodist and the 
dogmatic Presbyterian may each learn much 
from the heterodox Unitarians and Univer¬ 
salists. The latter are teaching us that it is 
not all of fishing to fish, though it must be ad- 
mited that they are a trifle too superior at times. 
However, theirs is a pride of aestheticism and 
we can forgive them. There was a time when 
1 found it exceedingly difficult to brook the arro¬ 
gant demand of the Immersionist that I “go 
down into the water” with him, even as I found 
it hard to endure the command of the Methodist 
when he insisted that I walk the bank with him, 
but with the passing of the years I have ac¬ 
quired tolerance and am ready to say that, as 
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The Im¬ 
mersionist and the Unitarian, the fly-fisher and 
the user of worms, each is a true sportsman if 
he uses light tackle and does not violate the 
ethics of sport. When I reach the piscatorial 
paradise I expect to see the Immersionist wad¬ 
ing down the trout streams of Elysium while 
he smiles upon the Presbyterian and the Metho¬ 
dist who will stand upon the shore conversing 
amiably. The Universalists and the Unitarians 
will also be there, lost in wonder and amaze as 
upon earth, yet enjoying the fellowship of their 
brothers of the angle. Perhaps some trout fish¬ 
ing cranks you and I know will have to be made 
over; indeed, perhaps even you and I will need 
to have some of the corners knocked off, but 
as the village choir sings, “I’ll be there, I’ll be 
there. When the last trumpet sounds I’ll be 
there.” At least that is the opinion of one who 
consorts with the orthodox and boasts that he 
is an agnostic. O. Warren Smith. 
Havoc With Three-Six. 
Los Angeles, Cal., May 14.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Small yellowtail ranging from fifteen 
to twenty pounds in weight have been disturb¬ 
ing the piscatorial peace and quiet about Cata¬ 
lina Island all week, and such havoc has been 
raised among the outfits of the Three-Six fisher¬ 
men that a number have backslid and taken out 
their discarded nine-nine outfits. 
The Tuna Club directors have made a change 
in their tackle specifications, acting upon advice 
submitted by the manufacturers. The line is the 
final arbiter of tackle, regulating the rod, and 
all the rest of the outfit, so it is all-important. 
As limitation of the power at the angler’s com¬ 
mand is the cardinal principle underlying the 
light tackle movement, it was thought advisable 
to place a limit of two pounds per strand break¬ 
ing strain upon lines last fall, and everybody 
thought it an excellent idea until the manufac¬ 
turers came in with their side of the story. They 
said they were using a superior grade of flax 
now known as No. 50, and that it would test 
from 2 x / 2 to 2pounds per strand. They wanted 
a limitation of lines to that standard of material 
made, and the Tuna Club directors fell for it. 
So the result is we now have a six-thread line 
that may pull as high as fifteen or sixteen 
pounds, and a nine that will go as high as 
twenty-four. As judged by the way some of 
the fishermen who try to use nine-ounce methods 
with Three-Six have been breaking lines, the 
new ruling is all right, but those who qualified 
on twelve-pound lines naturally do not like it 
over much. It seems to be a limitation in name 
only, as no one here knows fifty flax from any 
other. In view of the much improved, stiffer 
six-ounce rods the makers have been putting 
out, and this proportionate increase in the line, 
we now have a 1 hree-Six outfit that is practi¬ 
cally the equal of the original nine-nine com¬ 
binations used the first year of the Light lackle 
Club. The Southern California Rod and Reel 
Club has not as yet adopted this new standard 
and I doubt much if it does so. 
There are white sea bass in great numbers 
about Catalina, but they are not biting at all 
freely just now. Two were taken at Redondo 
Beach last week. 
In a heavy offshore blow last week the launches 
of Al. Carraher and Phil. S. O’Mara parted their 
moorings and drifted off to sea. Commodore 
Conn next morning scoured the ocean in the 
Nevada without sighting them, and they were 
given, up for lost until a stray freight steamer 
stumbled on to them far off in the Gulf of 
Catalina, twenty-five miles southeast of San Cle¬ 
mente Island, picked them up and brought them 
in on her decks to San Pedro. Now somebody 
has salvage to pay. 
The alongshore fishing is not as good just now 
as it was a week ago and few catches are re¬ 
ported, but the best time of the year is at hand 
and sport will not long be delayed. The sein¬ 
ing law limiting the capture of corbina, croakers 
and yellowfins to hook and line methods, the 
chief varieties of sportsman’s fish alongshore, 
is being obeyed pretty well, but reports of viola¬ 
tions come to hand occasionally. 
A steady refinement of angling methods mani¬ 
festing itself in lighter tackle and a highei 
standard of sport is to be noticed among the 
local surf fishermen. T he Catalina anglers, bet¬ 
ter advertised, have no corner upon piscatorial 
progressiveness. The heavy rods formerly 
found necessary for handling the 24-thread 
lines, six to eight-ounce sinkers and six-hook 
leaders that were once thought necessary, gave 
way before the nine-ounce rod, nine-thread line 
and its three-hook leader. This demonstrated 
the feasibility of proportionate reduction in gear 
until now the experts are using Three-Six tackle 
with a two-hook leader, two and a half to three- 
ounce sinker and short gut leader, making better 
distance, and as good results with a third the 
labor, three times the sport and jmuch keener 
satisfaction. The Three-Four-Five idea will be 
demonstrated in surf fishing this summer also, 
although it cannot be used with pleasure on all 
days or under all conditions. 
Trout fishing is quiet at present, and the ex¬ 
pert anglers are preparing to go out, the tyro 
element having exhausted its ante-season enthu¬ 
siasm quite generally. The streams are deserted 
and conditions approach the desideratum x of the 
expert angler who loves solitude - and silence. 
Some long trips are being planned. The low 
stage of water locally is unfavorable for long 
continued sport in tjie opinion of most expert 
Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Captured a Halibut. 
While two Italian fishermen in a twenty-two- 
foot dory were nearing the lightship in Boston 
Harbor one afternoon, their attention was called 
to a commotion in the water, and they discovered 
a large halibut chasing a pollock. The halibut 
paid no attention to the fishermen, and one of 
them caught it with a gaff and actually managed, 
by a superhuman effort on the part of both, to 
get the big fish into the dory. It weighed about 
300 pounds.—New York Fishing Gazette. 
