100 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July i 7, i9c>9- 
Little Talks About Fly-Fishing. 
All the quiet water on the Neversink was 
formerly alive with the large caddis larva, which 
builds its house of dead twigs—the “stick bait” 
of the Western North Carolina mountains. 
The stones in the running water were covered 
with the little cases made of sand and tiny 
pebbles, and the larger rocks, that were exposed 
to the air, displayed the discarded shells of the 
big stone fly and many smaller species. A 
considerable number of larva can still be found 
by turning over the stones in shallow water, but 
the supply is much smaller than it was a few 
years ago. The hatch of the ephemeridae is 
much smaller. When we do see a good rise of 
fly, it is soon over, rarely continuing more than 
an hour at the best of times. This rise occurs 
only when the temperature of the air and water 
is just right, and at present it does not begin 
until the sun is off the water. Long hours pass 
during the day when scarcely a- fly. or rising 
trout is to be seen anywhere on the river. Very 
possibly, conditions may be better on the upper 
reaches, which did not suffer so much from the 
ice and flood in February, 1908. Also, the water 
holds a lower temperature up there. It has not 
traveled so many miles over shallow ripples 
under the burning rays of a June sun. 
Much rain fell one night, and next evening I 
found the river very full. A first-rate rise of 
fly began about 6:30 p. m., and the trout came 
strong on the feed. This rendered it easy to 
form an opinion as to the stock of trout in the 
stream, as all the little chaps were busy. Here 
and there a large trout, stimulated by the pros¬ 
pect of a dainty supper, with all the delicacies 
of the season in sight, may be seen at work. 
These fish feed very quietly, as a rule, and their 
first strong rush when hooked comes as a glad 
surprise to the angler who quite imagines that 
he is casting to a small trout. 
One evening a trout rose steadily, above a 
flat rock under water, at the tail of a long glide, 
half stream, half pool. I tried him with a small 
Wickham, which had been much in favor with 
the fish for several evenings, but he ignored my 
attractions and I moved on up the run. After 
killing a native trout on the Wickham, and be¬ 
ing refused by several rising fish, I tied on a 
pet quill-bodied fly of my own invention on No. 
1 hook. As this brought me two fish, I re¬ 
turned to try conclusions with my friend near 
the rock. He was still at tea, and the new fly 
was accepted without hesitation. It is mighty 
pleasant when the reel screams as the rod 
doubles up, and one feels that there is. some¬ 
thing weighty at the end of the line. This trout 
was hooked by the “skin of his teeth,” a mere 
bit of flesh. It was nearly a case of “gone for¬ 
ever, though to memory dear.” 
How those little hooks do cling once they 
find a lodgment. It is no joke to extract one 
from a finger if they penetrate over that tiny 
barb. Give me the small, neat barb and sharp 
point, not those great, long things that are now 
so common. The latter do not enter easily and 
only tear the flesh, making a slit or gash, from 
which the hook escapes if any slack line is 
allowed. In fact, they sometimes come away 
with a bit of flesh attached. I have samples of 
hooks with two barbs, one behind the other, 
and have seen others with barbs on both sides, 
all entirely unnecessary. 
The swallows have been hard at work build¬ 
ing their mud homes under the eaves of the 
barn. The catbird, bobolink and other tuneful 
songsters, have not been silent. I saw a yellow 
shanks tatler on the Sth of June, a very rare 
bird hereabouts; also a solitary snipe. The 
latter is usually the first of the southward bound 
migrants that we see in August. The ospreys 
were all killed off, I fear, some years ago.. They 
are beautiful birds, and it was interesting to 
watch them at their fishing. They caught large 
suckers upon the ripples. I never saw one with 
a trout in its talons. I see a few kingfishers; 
not as many as usual. I am tempted to boriow 
a 20-gauge and endeavor to exterminate the 
English sparrows—their everlasting chirp is a 
discordant note in the chorus of sweet bird 
tones. Then they are such bullying little 
wretches, always fighting among themselves, or 
going for some small and timid bird. 
June is fine, rain or shine. Why can’t we 
ljave more June and less January? The pleasant 
seasons seem to be in a hurry up here, and we 
have hardly any real spring. 
I remember no season when the trout rose 
so well in wet weather. Some of the best 
baskets have been made when .there was heavy 
rain all day. Qn the Beaverkill for a few days 
the trout rose well during the heaviest of the 
downpour. I have heard many stories of big 
catches being made while rain descended in tor¬ 
rents, but have always had poor sport during 
such weather, except on two occasions. I can 
not say that I enjoy a thorough soaking on a 
chilly day;, everything wet and nasty, and the 
water from, the rod running up my arm. Would 
prefer to stay at home and tie flies; but if a 
man’s time is limited, he must fish, no matter 
how bad the conditions may be. By the way, 
I saw the worst basket that has come under my 
notice, last . Friday. Not a trout of respectable 
size in it. The fish were killed on minnows, 
and it certainly was a poor day for fly-fishing. 
What splendid sport we would have if fly only 
were used. It will not always kill. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Encouraged by late reports from Truckee, a 
large aggregation from the San Francisco Fly 
Casting Club has left for that region in the 
hope of a good catch. 
There is still good trout fishing in some of 
the streams in the vicinity of San Francisco, 
which are visited by a number of local anglers 
every week-end. Some good baskets were taken 
last Sunday at the head of Purissima Creek in 
San Mateo County, and a good day’s fishing was 
had by quite a crowd on Paper Mill Creek. 
Salmon have not yet appeared in any number 
outside the heads, though the deep-sea fisher¬ 
men are anxiously awaiting their appearance. 
Several launches have been out during the last 
two weeks, trolling all the way from Point Pedro 
to Bolinas, but scarcely a salmon was caught. 
Good salmon fishing is reported in Monterey 
Bay, where members of the California Anglers 
Association have made large catches of fish, 
averaging about 25 pounds. 
The attention of the Governor has been called 
to the bad condition of the fish ladder at Floris- 
ton, on the Truckee River. Thousands of trout 
are now endeavoring to ascend the river, but 
few of them are able to pass the obstruction. 
Tudge Emmett Sewell of Santa Rosa, CaL 
has secured 5 0 ' 000 trout fry from the hatcher) 
at Ukiah, to be placed in Santa Rosa Creek. 
They are of the rainbow variety, and have been 
distributed along the creek at various point' 
from Santa Rosa to the headwaters. A. P. B. 
Fishing on the West Coast. 
San Francisco, July 6.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The trout streams in northern Cali¬ 
fornia were roiled a couple of weeks ago by 
heavy rains, which brought down a lot of rub¬ 
bish, but the water cleared again, and the latest 
reports indicate that good sport is to be had. 
Quite a number of local anglers have been fish¬ 
ing around Castle Crag and other points along 
the upper Sacramento, and a large crowd of 
fly-casters has left for a few days’ sport in 
that district. Those who were there last week 
had little difficulty in making good catches, and 
with some of them it has been a regular per¬ 
formance every day of the week. 
The Klamath River country is about the most 
promising in the State for the trout angler this 
summer. The river and tributary creeks are 
reported to be full of fish, and plenty of large 
ones are being caught; in fact, some of those 
who have gone there consider the game too easy 
to be good sport. Good trout fishing is also 
reported at Donner Lake, in the Sierras. This 
lake is well stocked with several varieties, in¬ 
cluding Mackinaw trout from the Great Lakes. 
Some of these fish are of great size, and are 
hard to catch, refusing to rise to a fly. 
The Dwindling Streams. 
Orange, Conn., July 9 . — Editor Fore* 1 am 
Stream: From Long Island, New Jersey and 
Massachusetts I hear a story of drouth simi 
lar to that which we are experiencing here, am 
which while excellent for the growth of th 
young quail and partridges, threatens destructio- 
to the trout. 
I know of one brook at least which in th 
memory of the oldest inhabitant had never bee 
known to go dry until last year. Then it drie 
up and whatever trout were in it, of course, pei 
' ished. This year there is in it still the bare: 
trickle of water, but unless we have speedy rair 
it will go dry. Further down this brook is 
deep hole in which a day or two since I sa 
a dozen or twenty trout from six to ten inch 
long. These may survive, but the chances ai 
rather against it. 
I suppose that these drouth conditions are ri¬ 
valling all through the middle and southern Ne 
England States. A. B. C. 
Blue Bream. 
Raleigh, N. C, July 3.—Editor Forest 01 
Stream: The fishing clubs in this section ha 
found that the best fish they can use are t 
black bass and what is known as the blue brea 
The latter fish seems to have started in t 
Lumber River, where they have been for ge 
erations. People here brought them to the ^ 
tention of the United States Fish Commissic 
which is greatly impressed with their food a 
game value. They weigh from one-half po" 
to one pound. F- A- Olds 
All the dsli laws of the United States a 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, 1 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
