178 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 31, 1909. 
I understand that there are fly casters who 
never use worms, dear no; but we use worms 
and hoppers in season. On light tackle there is 
as much sport in fishing with bait as with flies, 
so long as one plays the fish fairly; gives it 
what every honest sportsman is sure to do. a 
fighting chance. One of the hard lessons Girl 
has had to learn is that she must never be in 
haste to land her captive, that she must fight 
fairly until the fish either gives up or succeeds 
in effecting its escape. That the splash of an 
escaping fish is sweeter music than the dull thud 
of one striking the bank when snatched incon¬ 
sequentially from the stream. Girl is learning— 
what some anglers never learn—that ‘ it is not 
all of fishing to catch fish.” 
Immediately after our discovery of what the 
fish were feeding upon, Girl made a discovery 
all her own. “Oh, Dad,” she called, “the water 
is full of worms. Look here, look here!" Sure 
enough, they were being carried along by the 
eager current, singly and in pairs, rolling and 
tumbling over one another. Girl soon had a 
number of the wriggling gentry knotted up m 
her pocket handkerchief. Then the fun began. 
How the trout did bite! Every overhanging 
bank, every obstructing snag and quiet pool 
seemed to shelter one or more of the beautiful 
fish. We fished from the bank and we waded, 
but always we caught fish. Suddenly I realized 
that my creel contained eight goodly trout I 
had thrown back several small ones—so I 
shouted to Girl. “Better quit, had’nt we, honey?" 
“Let me catch just one more,” she pleaded, 
“there is a big fellow under a log here and I’ve 
fed him two worms already.” After a mo¬ 
ment’s silence she called out again, "Dad, these 
worms are .awfully hard to put on the hook, 
they are so-so nervous.” Laughing to myself, 
I went down and baited her hook for her; for 
while Girl is a tomboy she is also feminine with 
an antipathy for worms, snakes, bugs and all 
creeping things. Her hook baited, she returned 
to her fishing and I knelt by the stream’s side 
to dress my fish, an operation which is always 
full of interest for me. There is such a variety 
of colors, and such bright colors, that I always 
feel as though I were handling a boquet of flow¬ 
ers. Neither have they that fishy smell—when 
fresh from the water—that is so disagreeable. 
It is never a task for me to dress a basket of 
fresh trout. 
My catch cleaned and packed between cow¬ 
slip leaves, I sat and watched the child at her 
fishing; thinking of the child and her future. 
A few more years and she will be grown up, 
and then what? Such questions come unbidden 
to every parent, but time alone can answer them. 
Of one thing I am certain, she shall not grow up 
before her time, and if outdoor life will give 
her a sturdy body she shall not enter woman¬ 
hood handicapped in that regard. Suddenly, 
though gazing at her through hazy eyes, I be¬ 
came conscious that her attitude had become 
tense, expectant. Then the tip of her rod 
bent to the water with a disconcerting sudden¬ 
ness and she screamed in excitement; then she 
settled down to battle with her antagonist. To 
me it was more than a mere piscatorial battle, 
it was an augury of her future. She was fight¬ 
ing the battle of her life. All unconscious of 
my presence, intent only upon the matter in 
hand, she gave line and reeled in as the exigen¬ 
cies of the situation demanded; handling her rod 
and reel with all the sangfroid of a seasoned 
veteran. Once, when the fish rushed away, 
seeking to secure a slack line, I regarded the 
maneuver with anxiety; but the child remained 
master of the situation. At last the fish was 
drawn within reach and successfully landed. I 
breathed, for the child’s future was safe. Girl's 
joy was infectious and I rejoiced with her. 
Again came the inevitable plea, "Just one more, 
Dad, only one”; but I was inexorable, for I am 
resolved that she shall learn to stop with enough, 
for, to quote the wise man quoted in the begin¬ 
ning, “Train up a child in the way he shall go, 
and when he grows old he will not depart from 
it.” We, Girl and I, know fishermen who never 
stop so long as there are fish to be taken. 
It pays to take the children with you into the 
woods. Some fishermen have learned that their 
wives enjoy trout fishing, hut few know what 
it means to take the whole family on an outing. 
Try it. O. W. Smith. 
Fisheries Board for Newfoundland. 
St. Johns, N. F., July 20. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: “I had grand sport on the Upper Hum¬ 
ber; fished right at the falls and caught twelve 
salmon, nine to twelve pounds, and thirty-one 
grilse. No flies, good guides and a good time!” 
This is an extract from a letter received by me 
from Dr. Pratt, of Binghamton, N. Y., an old 
Forest and Stream reader, who fished the 
Humber last week. The Doctor is an ardent 
angler and deserved the good sport he enjoyed. 
He is now on his way home, a happy and con¬ 
tented man. 
Judging by the reports coming in daily, most 
of the American anglers are having a “bully 
good time”; the fish appear to be very plentiful, 
the weather good, and the temperature delight¬ 
ful. The morning papers give an account of the 
hot wave in American cities, but while I write, 
the glass in my hall registers 60 degrees. 
American sportsmen will be glad to hear that 
at last a Game Preservation and Inland Fish¬ 
eries Board has been appointed by the Admin¬ 
istrator of the Government. The inland fish¬ 
eries suffered through various abuses hereto¬ 
fore, and it is to be hoped that the new board 
will make such rules and regulations for the 
preservation of game, the protection of the 
rivers, the supervision of guides and wardens 
as will put this island on the same plane in 
most respects, as Maine and other resorts in 
the United States. 
It is pleasing to note that the board is com¬ 
posed of all thorough sportsmen who have been 
appointed regardless of any political standing 
they may possess. There are others who ought 
to be on it, if the size of the board were elastic 
enough to admit them, but it was not possible 
to include all the good sportsmen in St. Johns. 
The board is fairly representative. Mr. Mc- 
Neily is by long odds our leading authority on 
angling matters. He is a true disciple of the 
gentle Izaak, and his writings on piscatorial 
matters are acknowledged to be models of 
grace, exuding a love of nature expressed in 
poetic phrases. Dr. Keegan is president of our 
local game fish association, and has done 
marvels in restocking our lakes with rainbow, 
brown trout, etc. To a love of angling he adds 
a scientific knowledge of pisciculture? that 
marks him as Teing eminently fitted for a re¬ 
sponsible position on the board. The others 
are all well known sportsmen, and it is safe to 
say that the inland fisheries will be well looked 
after in future, ft ere are their names: 
The Minister of Marine and Fisheries, (Presi¬ 
dent ex-officio); Messrs. A. J. W. McNeilv, 
K. C.; J. R. Bennett. M. H. A ; L. E. Keegan, 
M. D.; Thos. Winter, W. J. Carroll, F. Mc¬ 
Namara, W H. Bartlett, G. E. Motty. W. B. 
Sclater and J. W. Penney (all of St. Johns), and 
Messrs. J. F. Tompkins (Little River). Norman 
Fisher (Bay of Islands), C. Fitzgerald, M. D. 
(St. Jaques), R Mosdell (Port aux Basques), 
and W. Sinnott (Placentia), have been ap¬ 
pointed to be the Game Preservation and In¬ 
land Fisheries Board, under the provisions of 
Section 7 . Chapter 20, 6 Edward VII. 
The following items will give your stay-at- 
home readers an idea of the sport for the last 
few days: 
Stephenville, G. Dodd and two sons, from 
Waterbury, Conn., U. S. A., caught all the 
salmon they needed last week at Fox Island 
River, Port-au-Port, including some 28- and 30- 
pounders. Dr. Woodward also got a 30-pouiKi 
one and presented it to Mr. Johnstone. 
A. J. Oehen, of London, England, had a suc¬ 
cessful salmon fishing experience at Placentia. 
He reports thirty salmon caught for the six 
days for five rods. This will surprise many 
sportsmen, but Mr. Fulford, who has now 
charge of the South East River, looks out well 
for people netting the river. 
W. Bartlett and Dr. Smith arrived here by 
last night’s train from Pinsent s Falls where 
they had spent a week fishing, and secured, 
twenty-two fine salmon between them. 
Arthur Donnelly and W. R. Warren, who 
were at Murphy’s Falls, Salmonier, have en¬ 
joyed splendid salmon fishing the past week. 
They landed seventy-five fish, averaging 8 and 
10 pounds. Harold Harvey and H. Hayward, 
who were at Pinsent’s Falls, secured fifteen fine 
fish. C. Ellis returned from S. E. River with 
eight splendid fish. 
Dr. T. F. Woodworth, of New York, who had 
been fishing at Tompkins, Little Codroy, the 
past week, broke the local records on Friday 
by landing a 30-pound salmon and a 28-poundei 
on the day following. Dr. Woodworth, pre, 
vious to last Friday, had never cast a fly in t 
stream. His first salmon proved a very gam; 
fish, and after playing it for two and a hal 
hours, it was finally gaffed by the guide. Dri 
Woodworth will try his luck on the uppo 
reaches of the Humber. Mrs. 'Woodworth ac 
companies him. 
Salmon are now reported plentiful at Sa 
monier, and during the last few days the sportt 
men have done well. 
During last week there was good salmo 
fishing at South East Arm, Placentia. Those <j 
the visitors and residents who got good catch* 
were: A. Oehen, Montreal, 9; P. Crok 
Placentia, 7; W. J. Walsh, Placentia. 7; J. Bh 
don, 6; T. Kemp, 2. The salmon weighed fro 
7 to 10 pounds each. 
W. J. Carroll. 
All the fish laws of the United States a 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, fl 
given in the Came Laws in Brief. See adv. 
