182 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. i, 1908. 
one summer afternoon when the sun was bright 
and the water low. I please myself by fancying 
that not everyone could have caught those trout. 
The fly was one of my own patterns, dressed on 
a No. 14 hook, and this fact added to my pleas¬ 
ure, although it is quite possible that another 
fly, tied by'somebody else would have been quite 
as' effective. The little ways that trout have 
are often quite puzzling and past finding out. 
An oval pool of fair depth in a small stream had 
been carefully fished on many occasions with- • 
out stirring a fin until we happened along one 
day at about two of the clock. The first cast 
was rewarded by a rise and a large trout sprang 
into the air. This fish was extremely wild and 
thoroughly disturbed the pool, but we wished to^ 
investigate a little to see if it had companions. 
By crawling on hands and knees to the edge of 
a little bluff we were able to command the depths, 
as the light was just right, and were astonished 
by what we saw. My dear .sir: there was a 
school of trout in that place—big fellows—at the 
upper end tapering away through various sizes 
down to little chaps on the shallows. 
Two o’clock seemed to be their time for feed¬ 
ing. You might get one trout, possibly three, 
never more. I did not get a fish in the morning 
or late afternoon. A large tree stood upon the 
bank, and I fancied that there might be peculiar 
lights and shades over this bit of water. 
One hundred yards lower down was a deep 
hole by a flat rock with quite a rush of water 
into it. The first time I saw the place my com¬ 
panion, who was in advance, declared that he 
had seen trout run up into it. He was right, 
but it was a long time before I was able to prove 
it. Then I killed two fish, one twelve inches, the 
other eighteen inches in length. We must not 
hasten to the conclusion that there are no trout 
simply because we cannot catch them. Big fish 
may haunt a large safe pool where there is good 
cover or hiding places for them for years. Their 
presence may be known to many people who 
exert their best endeavors to catch them, but 
it is a long time before they are reduced to 
possession. I have heard that between dawn 
and sunrise was the best hours for a jumbo 
trout. I have always intended to try this re¬ 
cipe, but never did. It involves getting up in 
the middle of the night, and a long tramp on an 
empty stomach. I have risen from my bed at 
1130 A. M. and driven fifteen miles to a moun¬ 
tain trout stream, but we had a good breakfast 
at 2 A. M. 
By the way, it will scarcely be believed, I saw 
a woodcock swim that day. There was no mis¬ 
take about it. There was a long quiet reach 
of the stream with little current and I was stand¬ 
ing in the water changing a fly. A big fat wood¬ 
cock came out on the margin, and after walking 
about a little deliberately entered the water and 
oared itself across to the other side. I never 
saw a prettier sight, as the bird was not more 
than twenty feet away. I had stood like a statue 
from the moment it approached, and it paid no 
attention to me. Four woodcock were flushed 
during the day and a deer crashed away through 
the thick brush. We were very close, but were 
unable to catch a glimpse of the animal. The 
laurel was in bloom and the mountains ex¬ 
quisitely beautiful in the evening light, but O! 
the long drive in the darkness after we reached 
the valley. We were so overpowered by the 
slumber god that we almost fell out of the buggy. 
The man who drives is better off, as he has 
something to keep him at attention. 
Did you ever hear of Toboyne tannery in the 
Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania? I struck the 
place during a storm, the water was very high 
and fishing useless, except in one small place 
at the head of a tail race. We killed eighteen 
large trout there and then went on in the rain. 
I always hoped to revisit the tannery as the 
stream was a £ne big one, coursing down a nar¬ 
row valley between high mountains. I wonder 
what it is like there to-day? There used to be 
fine fly-fishing near Newville in the Cumberland 
Valley. A big slow-flowing limestone stream, 
which in those days carried a heavy stock of 
native trout. Is it fished by any of the readers 
of Forest and Stream nowadays, or is the water 
closely preserved? There must be good angling 
in many of the tributaries of the Susquehanna 
River if any attention has been paid to restock¬ 
ing. Some of them should hold heavy trout. I 
wonder if Young Woman’s flreek is any good 
at the present time ? Once we begin thinking of 
fly-fishing and the mind is like a runaway horse 
prancing over hill and dale and never quite ready 
to stop. Theodore Gordon. 
Fishing in California. 
San Francisco, Jan. 17.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Winter fishing for trout in the tide 
waters of Coast streams will terminate with this 
month, much to the sorrow of the local angling 
fraternity, which delights in outings at this sea¬ 
son of the year. The closing down for Febru¬ 
ary, March and April, to anglers who enjoy a 
small measure of sport fishing in tide waters for 
the gamest trout that swims, is considered a 
mistake of the last session of Legislature, as the 
few large steelheads that are taken during the 
winter months by the users of rods is a mere 
nothing compared to the number that are killed 
in sweet waters by men who spear and net steel- 
heads when they are on their spawning beds. 
Up to the present time there have not been 
more than a dozen large steelhead taken on rods 
from any of the tidewater streams accessible to 
local anglers. Trout fishing in May, when the 
coast streams are low and clear, is child’s play 
compared with the sport that may be enjoyed 
in February when these fish are waiting in deep 
pools to give battle to the angler. 
The Russian River season is now as good as 
a failure and San Francisco fishermen who 
figured on a mid-winter outing on that river 
have about given up hope. When fine weather 
came a few days ago the weather prophets 
predicted a repetition of the excellent fishing 
enjoyed during the latter days of January in 
most past yerrs, but still further rains have 
caused another freshet and the water is not 
yet in condition for steelhead fishing. With this 
last freshet the first big run of fish ascended the 
stream and only the stragglers will be left by 
the time the water is in condition, if indeed this 
comes about before the end of the month, when 
the fishing will end by law. 
The San Francisco Striped Bass Club held its 
annual meeting, banquet and election of officers 
a week ago Wednesday. The election resulted 
as follows: President, Charles Landresse; Vice- 
President, H. Copeland; Treasurer, Charles 
Kewell; Secretary, James Turner. James Lynch, 
the retiring president, had been asked to accept 
the nomination again, but was unwilling. The 
successful winners of prizes during the past 
season were as follows: High-hook medal and 
first prize, C. L. Johnson: second prize, Emil 
Aceret; third prize, James Turner; fourth prize, 
C. P. Landresse; fifth prize, C. P. Hollywood; 
sixth prize, Joseph Uri. The banquet and en¬ 
tertainment of the evening were a great success. 
The California Anglers’ Association held its 
election and smoker on Jan. 6, with a large 
gathering of members. The feature of the even¬ 
ing was an address by Charles Vogelsang, chief 
deputy of the fish commission, who reported the 
take of eggs for the State hatchery as 18,000,000. 
The directors elected were: Dr. C. E. Leithead, 
George Wentworth, H. A. Gosliner, W. J. 
Street, C. R. Oberholtzer, G. A. Roberts, and 
E. M. Pomery. The election for president was 
not held, but James Watt will probably be re¬ 
elected. 
The anglers of the Southern California coast 
are haying rather poor sport at present. 1 he 
ubiquitous kingfish still furnishes most of the 
fun in San Pedro Bay, and the fish are getting 
large now, really putting up a* better fight than 
they have been credited with. A few bass, an 
occasional croaker or halibut, are also being 
caught, but jack smelt are scarce, and the 
pompano incursion is . still delayed. A good 
many nipper surf are being caught, and a few 
good messes of jack smelt have been taken at 
Port Los Angeles. At Redondo mackerel and 
sardines are biting intermittently, but the sport 
cannot be said to be good. It is said that bass 
fishing at the San Pedro breakwater ought to 
improve steadily from now on. 
A. P. B. 
Illinois Bait-Casting Club. 
Chicago. Ill., Jan. 21 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Illinois Bait-Casting Club held its 
annual meeting last evening. An interesting part 
of the programme Was the awarding of club 
buttons, showing the degrees of proficiency of 
members. This is the first season the club has 
awarded them, and the sentiment generally was 
quite favorable. These buttons are given for 
averages of contest scores during the season; 
six contests with Lj° z - bait and six with j'joz. 
bait. Wm. Stanley was highest with an average 
of 98.54 in the bait events. 
The new officers for 1908 are: Chas. E. 
Reiser, President; Ed. Matthews, Vice-Presi¬ 
dent; FI. E. Rice, Secretary-Treasurer, and Geo. 
Morrell, Captain. The organization for handling 
the national tournament was effected, and va¬ 
rious committees appointed. The club interest 
was great, and the desire largely voiced to get 
up a tournament that anglers will thoroughly 
enjoy and of such character that they will feel 
well repaid in attending. 
L. E. De Garmo, 
Chairman Publicity Committee. 
Newark Casting Club. 
The first annual meeting and dinner of the 
Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club will be held 
at 9 o’clock on the night of Feb. 11, at I? 
Central avenue, Newark, N. J. This club has 
become a member of the National Association 
of Scientific Angling Clubs, and will be an im¬ 
portant factor in the national tournament to b( 
held in New York city in 1909. 
