742 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Nov. 6, 1909. 
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My Bass. 
Scranton, Pa., Oct. 29. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: On the 8th of October last, in com¬ 
pany with J. F. Billings, I was fishing in the 
lower eddy at La Grange, Wyoming county, 
Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River. Many 
of your readers who have fished the river about 
La Grange will doubtless remember both the 
place and the man. 
The stream was unusually low, lower even 
than it was last year. The water was so clear 
that the bottom was easily observable. We • 
could locate all the big rocks, could see the big 
black and yellow bass lying quiet in the holes, 
the rock bass swimming lazily around the big 
rocks. At one place we passed a school of a 
dozen carp making their way up stream, at an¬ 
other place a large eel lying sluggishly on the 
bottom. The day was intensely hot; there was 
not the slightest hint of a breeze to ruffle the 
surface of the water; the perspiration rolled 
down my face as I sat in the boat; the hillsides 
were just beginning to show their autumnal 
foliage; the sumacs made patches of scarlet 
color along the side of the railroad. 
We fished all the morning and well into the 
afternoon, and except for a few small rock bass 
we had caught nothing. We had clippers and 
crabs, minnows and lampers; we had drifted, 
we had still-fished, we had trolled, and, like the 
apostles on the Sea of Galilee, we had toiled 
and caught nothing. So, along about four in 
the afternoon, we anchored on the northwest 
shoulder of the deep hole just below the rifts 
at the head of the eddy. I had a nicke’-plated 
steel rod with the reel guide and tip with agate 
centers, and a multiplying reel on which I had 
engraved a line from Dr. Henry Van Dyke’s 
poem, “An Angler’s Wish in Town” in his 
charming work on “Little Rivers,” which runs: 
“I’m only wishing to go a-fishing,” 
which seems to me to be the most appropriate 
words for a reel I ever heard of. It might not 
inaptly be called “The Song of the Reel.” I 
was using an electric quality A, No. 24 Cincin¬ 
nati bass hook with a clipper for bait not longer 
than my little finger, hooked through the back 
thorax, with something over one hundred feet 
*of new line out. I was explaining something to 
Billings—I have forgotten now what it was, 
though I am sure it was not about the North 
pole—when my rod gave a little jerk, and as 
I held it expectantly I felt the line tighten, and 
in an instant a large black bass broke water. I 
made up my mind on the spur of the moment 
that I was going to have that fish if I had to 
play him an hour to get him. I did not dare 
pull upon him, but let him have his own sweet 
way, gave him line considerately, kindly and 
“Firmly but tenderly that he might feel 
The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel.” 
He broke water six times and each time my 
heart was in my mouth, but when I had him 
within fifteen feet of the boat he opened his 
mouth and then I knew I had him. I brought 
him carefully up to the boat and Billings landed 
him with a hand net. I had hooked him on the 
left side of the lower jaw just inside of the 
outermost rim of cartilage around the mouth, 
and in spite of my gentle handling there was a 
hole in his lip as big as a lead pencil from which 
he could have easily thrown the hook if he had 
had the fraction of an inch of slack; indeed, I 
wondered that I had been able to land him at all. 
It took me about fifteen minutes to bring him 
to boat. When we got ashore we weighed him 
on two different scales and each registered the 
same, five and three-quarter pounds. Of course, 
this is not a record fish, but I am having George 
Friant mount him for my dining room. He was 
a true small-mouth, having eight spines on his 
back fin. He was twenty-one inches ,from tip 
of nose to tip of tail. I did not measure his 
girth; I wish now I had done so, but he was 
heavy for his length. J. H. Fisher. 
Fishing Near San Francisco. 
San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 20.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Trout fishing in California streams 
has been better this season than in many years 
and at the present time some very fine sport is 
being enjoyed in almost every trout stream. 
James H. Schwabacher has just returned to this 
city from a visit to the Truckee River district, 
and he brings back word that the sport there 
now is fully as good as it was in the early part 
of the season. A heavy snowfall was experi¬ 
enced in the mountains last winter, and with a 
mild summer none of the streams have lacked 
water. Anglers are still visiting the streams in 
the northern part of the State, but of late other 
attractions have prevented many getting away 
from the city. 
In the vicinity of San Francisco striped bass 
are now running fairly well and this fish is 
occupying a great deal of attention. Anglers 
have been out in full force during the last few 
Sundays and each week there is an improve¬ 
ment to be noted in the sport as w.ell as in the 
size of the fish taken. In a few days the closed 
season for salmon will be at an end, but by that 
time little sport is anticipated here. In some of 
the rivers further north there may be good 
sport, however. 
Anglers in San Francisco Bay are incensed 
over the methods that have been adopted here 
by the so-called fish trust and there is talk of 
taking active measures to check its rapacity. 
Although the price of fresh fish is very high 
at the present time, it is alleged that the fish 
combine is sending from ten to twenty tons of 
fish a week to fertilizing works, the idea being 
to keep the price at a high figure. They look 
with dissatisfaction on the action of the com¬ 
mercial fishermen in taking more fish than can 
be consumed. A. P. B. 
On the Gulf Coast. 
New Orleans, La., Oct. 26.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Fishing continues quite good in 
all sections near New Orleans. Many fishing 
parties report good luck at the Rigolets, Chef 
Menteur, Lake Catherine, North and South 
Shore, the Lookout and other places. Sheeps- 
head, speckled trout, green trout and various 
other fish have been landed. During the week 
the following fishing party was entertained at 
the Rigolets: S. Alfred, District Attorney 
Adams, Mr. Bruff, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Walter 
Green. Mr. Gogreve, Mr. Favalora, Dr. Hava, 
Geo. Lynd, J. J. and H. Manson, Captain Ben Ray, 
Paul Hauck, Eugene Simon and Mr. Wunch. They 
all caught several fish of different varieties. 
At the Little Cottage Club were: J. Brehm, 
who caught 2 reds, 18 trout and 30 bull croak¬ 
ers; H. Brehm, 16 trout, 2 sheepshead and 20 
croakers; L. Loeb and Robert L. Crager, 3 reds, 
40 speckled trout, 60 bull croakers, 8 sheeps¬ 
head and 8 flounders; G. Bansall and D. O’Neill, 
1 red, 20 trout and 30 croakers; J. Barbe, 15 
trout and 30 croakers; the Muller brothers, 30 
trout and 47 croakers; M. C. Conn, 30 trout and 
3 sheepshead; H. Zambelli, 2 reds and 8 trout; 
P. C. Chesterfield, 2 drum and 30 croakers, and 
J. Chanister, 1 red and 60 trout. 
The following party were entertained at the 
Jaquet’s Club at Lake Catherine and had great 
luck catching fish: Guenard and Rudy Lion 
composed one fishing party that caught 18 
sheepshead and 4 reds. Captain Daley, Lain 
Goubliar and Arthur Samuels made up another 
that landed 19 sheepshead, 7 speckled trout and 
S flounders. Geo. Wendling and Geo. Boucher, 
Jr., caught 14 sheepshead and 2 reds. Henry 
Montreuil, Simon Marx and V. F. Banta, 10 
sheepshead, 8 speckled trout, 6 flounders and 5 
croakers. Colonel T. W. Bush, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, made the boss catch of the day, landing 
39 fine sheepshead and 5 large redfish. 
F. G. G. 
Enforce Tackle Rules. 
Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 21.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Since the fishing game at Catalina has 
become systematized by the gathering of all the 
various light tackle divisions under the guidance 
and protection of the Tuna Club, a few changes 
are taking place. Taking advantage of the 
loosely drawn specification of the Three-Six 
Club, certain dealers had some six-strand lines 
made of selected linen, and these were virtually 
nine-thread lines in size and breaking strain. 
Quite a few of the large Three-Six fish taken 
this year came in on these extra strong lines. 
Letters are being prepared to be sent to all 
the dealers and makers of lines instructing them 
as to the breaking strain limits permitted by the 
Tuna Club, together with the information that 
any lines tested and found to pull in excess of 
that figure will be disqualified, together with the 
entire brand. This is a harsh measure, but it 
is thought it will obviate some of the cheating 
that has been done in the past. 
The proper standard of strength is two pounds 
per strand in the smaller sizes when tested in 
fifteen foot lengths. Not desiring to be arbi¬ 
trary, a margin of twenty pounds’ limit on nine, 
and thirteen pounds on six-strand lines will be 
made. This is as much as any bona fide six- 
strand line should test, and is enough to allow 
of working in the very best stock, but it will 
shut out the special heavy strand lines. 
Secretary Tom Manning has been enforcing 
the rod weights strictly, having a very sensitive 
coin scale upon which he weighs them, and if 
the beam goes up, out goes the rod. This some¬ 
times works a hardship, but if the line is to be 
drawn at all it must be drawn somewhere. 
Fishing at the island is quiet just now, alba- 
core being plentiful enough. The winter tourna¬ 
ment is expected to prove quite a stimulus to 
the sport during the tourist season. Two white 
sea bass came in during the week, a most un¬ 
seasonable event. The albacore are of large size, 
thirty-five to forty pounds, and some big yellow- 
tail are biting also. Edwin L. Hedderly. 
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