540 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 8, Jcj it. 
ours. A little hole not over eighteen inches 
deep was hollowed at the roots of a pine stump, 
on the north side, and lined with green leaves 
and ferns; then a pail of water was thrown in 
and the hole roofed over with sticks and dirt, 
leaving an opening on one side through which 
we could reach the articles wanted. The evapo¬ 
ration of the water kept the contents always 
cool, the butter would come out as solid as 
from the refrigerator at home. All the care 
necessary was to keep the hole filled with leaves 
and once a day throw in a pail of water. Butter 
and meat were kept in friction top tins, so the 
water did not harm them. Unless you have 
tried the scheme you will be surprised to find 
how successful it is. 
Camp completed, we called it a day and spent 
the rest of the time in getting a good dinner, 
for we had brought with us from Cavour the 
large rainbow trout caught the night before, 
the cooking of which demanded time and care. 
Some editors think, so they have expressed 
themselves to me, that we out-door dwellers 
talk too much about our dinners and suppers 
and breakfasts; the fact is, those are the three 
points we count time from in the woods. 
“What time is it?” some one asks. “Two hours 
to noon,” “three hours to supper,” is the 
answer as the case may be. No, I am not going 
to tell of the planking of that rainbow, but it 
was delectable eating. 
On Sunday we lay in bed until the glare of 
the hot sun drove us out of the tent. The day 
passed quickly, though we did not fish, for each 
had a book for just such occasions. Night came 
all too soon, and we realized that our last Sun¬ 
day in camp had passed. 
On Monday we were up earfy, and while Wife 
got breakfast, Girl and I tried for a trout, but 
though we saw plenty of fish, none conde¬ 
scended to touch our flies, baits or spoons, for 
we tried all. After breakfast we went down the 
trail with lunch, camera and rods, bent on dis¬ 
covery. That walk through the shaded aisles 
of the woods was a continuous delight. We 
saw both ruffed grouse and deer, neither of 
which seemed greatly surprised at our pres¬ 
ence, but gazed at us with wide eyed curiosity. 
We spent two hours upon the trail before we 
came to the creek and then we found it a deep, 
sluggish river, mirroring the trees along its 
banks upon its placid bosom. It did not look 
fishy but before our shadows fell upon the 
water I sent a grasshopper skipping out over 
the surface and instantly it was taken, and 
shortly a pound rainbow was struggling upon 
the bank. Two more were caught and then the 
fish took a vacation. We spent the day wander¬ 
ing up and down the bank, fishing when the 
spirit moved, but for the most just loafing. By 
three o’clock we had several rainbows and some 
large trout, which satisfied us, and we returned 
to camp. 
Some boys were fishing where Girl and I had 
failed to score in the morning. As they had a 
fairly good string of fish I asked them what 
they were using for bait. The boys informed 
me that pieces of chub alone would attract fish 
in that stream. When I informed them of my 
success with flies and ’hoppers further down, 
they only smiled and I saw that they did not 
believe me. 
During our absence a fire had started some 
forty rods west of our tent and was burning 
furiously, a matter which disturbed us, for we 
knew that if the wind changed to the west the 
flames would be down upon us in short order. 
The next day Girl and I repaired to the 
stream, determined to try the bait the boys 
were using so successfully the night before. 
The catching of a chub was a simple matter, for 
the stream was alive with them. We baited up 
with generous pieces of the white flesh and 
waited for a bite. Soon I hooked a fish, then 
Girl hooked and landed a trout that weighed 
almost two pounds; it was not so long, but was 
very thick, the largest speckled trout caught 
on the whole trip. Girl’s satisfaction was com¬ 
plete, and without waiting to remove the fish 
from the hook she rushed up to the tent to tell 
her mother the story of the capture. That trout 
would take such bait in preference to flies or 
grasshoppers was a surprise to me, and I soon 
gave up fishing, for trout fishing with meat for 
bait did not appeal to me. 
Having heard of another stretch of rapids a 
mile or so below those discovered the day be¬ 
fore, we set out for them. The distance was 
long but at last we reached the rapids and a 
likely place it would have been, too, had there 
only been water enough; as it was we secured 
only a few small fish and soon tired of the 
sport. After a lengthy rest we started home¬ 
ward, Girl complaining of a headache, her 
flushed cheeks indicating fever. We were not 
a little disturbed but concealed our anxiety as 
much as possible from the child. At the tent 
we administered what simple remedies we had 
with us, but her condition not improving at 
four o’clock Thursday morning we determined 
to start for home by the first train. By the 
light of the camp-fire we took down the tent 
and by seven o’clock were at the station. For¬ 
tune favored us, for we caught a south bound 
freight on the Northwestern line. A friend 
met the train with his automobile and hurried 
us to our home. Thirty minutes after we reached 
the house rain began to fall and continued all 
night. As we bent over the bed of the sick 
child we rejoiced that we had fled in time, but 
her sickness proved merely a severe attack of 
indigestion and was not of long duration. 
As we look back over the events of the trip 
we feel that it paid, but we do not care to take 
another like it, because of the curious people 
we met. Next year if we pack we shall keep 
away from towns, and as much as possible 
from people. O. W. Smith. 
Fishing in Florida. 
Punta Rassa, Fla., March 18 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The tarpon are here. Six large 
fish have been caught in San Carlos Bay and the 
pools of Matlachee back of Pun Island since the 
season opened. None has been caught in -.the 
Caloosahatchee River at Fort Myers, although 
they usually show there first. E. S. Burnham, 
of East Orange, N. J., came up from Caxamjaas 
this morning with the “bayonets” of two tarpon 
each of which weighed over 115 pounds, the 
capacity of the scale. 
He said that a party of two anglers caught 
seventeen tarpon at Chockaloskee in one day, 
and that he never saw so many tarpon before, 
but they would not bite at anything. They 
merely rolled around the boat showing their 
backs. Mr. Burnham, who is a keen observer, 
says that he believes that the bayonet on the 
tarpon’s fin is a useful member. He thinks that 
it is erected by the fish when at the top of 
water, and that it is a highly nervous appendage 
which quickly apprises the fish when it strikes 
the air night or day. 
From now on the tarpon wi.l undoubtedly be 
easy meat around here, but as usual the majority 
of the anglers are pointed for the North. Clay¬ 
ton E. Rich, of Seventy-fourth street, left with 
his wife to-day with a record of two tarpon 
caught and three strikes. Edward Vom Hofe 
and wife will soon foilow, but there are a few 
others who will stay for a fortnight or more. 
Then the usual crowd wiil come down later 
to slaughter tarpon in Captiva Pass, Blind Pass, 
Boca Grande and the poo’s of San Carlos Bay. 
Those who fish in the passes in May and June 
often aggregate fifty or sixty tarpon a day, run¬ 
ning ashore with the fish as soon as they are 
taken. 
E. H. Tomlinson, who has a place at St. 
Petersburg, is an occasional visitor. He is a 
harpoonist of distinction and is out for big 
things, his pet sport being harpooning devilfish 
(manta) with a lily iron. He gets a few every 
year, but has found none this season. Mr. Tom¬ 
linson has a seven-foot stepladder strongly 
braced on the top of the pilot house of his big 
power boat, and he says that it is surprising 
how much a man can see from this height that 
he cannot discern from the deck. 
Mr. Tomlinson showed the head and hide of 
a big porpoise at the wharf last week. He 
harpooned the fish, which was nine and a half 
feet long and so old that nearly all of its teeth 
were ground down to the flesh and were hollow. 
“I wonder whether he suffered from the tooth¬ 
ache,” he remarked. The cuticle of the porpoise 
was blue-black and as thin as cardboard, while 
the hard fat, or blubber, was three-quarters of 
an inch thick. The head when cut off fairly 
leaked oil.” Harrimac. 
Casting Tournament at Paris. 
The casting tournament held on March 9-12 
inclusive at the Cercle du Bois de Boulogne, in 
Paris, under the auspices of the Casting Club de 
France was not so well attended as it should 
have been, and only a few of the British casters 
took part. The scores were not above the aver¬ 
age. 
Wilfred M. Plevins, who took up bait-casting 
while in New York three years ago, and adopted 
American tackle, showed improvement in light 
lure casting. His best cast with the quarter- 
ounce weight was 44 meters. With the half¬ 
ounce weight he scored 53 meters, but this appears 
to have been made in practice. In practice he 
scored 47 meters with the salmon rod, the length 
of which was restricted to 15 feet, as in this^ 
country. In practice M. Decantelle cast the 
ounce weight 92.20 meters (302 feet 2j4 inches), 
whereupon the makers of the British reel he 
used came out in the Fishing Gazette with an 
advertisement in which it is said that M. Decan¬ 
telle established a new world’s record. How 
we love to roll the term “world’s record” around 
our tongues! But M. Decantelle deserves great 
credit for this great cast, even if it does not 
count in the records. He won several first 
prizes in the tournament, and the Tuckerman 
special prize for highest general average. 
