June. 1918 
FOREST AND S T It E A M 
357 
OUR CONTRIBUTORS’ AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 
SOMETHING ABOUT THE WRITERS WHO ARE HELPING FOREST AND STREAM 
TO MAINTAIN THE POSITION AT THE HEAD OF AMERICAN OUT DOOR 
MAGAZINES WHICH ITHAS HELD FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY 
NUMBER ONE—LEONARD HULIT 
Y OU have asked me to give to you 
something of my experience in life 
as a fisherman and otherwise. I 
was born on a farm near Freehold, 
Monmouth County, N. J., on a bitterly 
cold day in December while the un¬ 
pleasantness between the North and the 
South was in full swing; the exact year 
is no matter, as it can in no way af¬ 
fect the veracity of this tale. My early, and, 
as a matter of fact, my entire school¬ 
ing was in a country schoolhouse where 
strict discipline was maintained and where 
birch sprouts were plentiful. At the age 
of sixteen I entered a general store as just 
“utility boy” at a salary of $50 and board 
per year, and it is yet an open question if 
I was not a trifle overpaid. Be that as 
it may, I stuck to the job until in the end 
I had served through all departments to 
buyer and manager-in-general. 
At last growing tired of the indoor life 
I purchased a farm which had known bet¬ 
ter days, and spent four heart-breaking 
years trying to make two things grow 
where nothing had grown for many sum¬ 
mers. At last I sold it for just what I 
paid for it, minus the $2,500 I had spent 
on it in the way of improvements, and on 
my way home after giving the deed I dis¬ 
tinctly remember singing “Lucky Jim.” 
Since which time I have interested myself 
in several enterprises, some of which have 
been like the farm, others, however, more 
successful. Politically I have never aspired 
very high. I have served more than a 
dozen years as councilman in the munici¬ 
pality where I live and much of the time 
have been its treasurer. This result may r 
be owing to the fact that I am a very warm 
triend of the judges of election who 
handle the ballots. Of my legislative work 
I can say I have served ceaselessly on the 
different committees, and have also been on 
different occasions delegate from my own 
state in interstate work. 
A S a fisherman my experience began 
early in life and the love has grown 
with each passing year. While still in 
gingham dresses I recall lying by the side of 
the small creek watching the minnows and 
wondering if they grew up to be the large 
fish I had seen the men and larger boys 
carry' home on a string. More than a 
quarter of a century ago Forest and 
Stream printed a story of mine on the 
brook sucker, that fish being the first to be 
taken by me on a hook, and I believe 
my first one was the largest ever taken by 
me. I have, however, taken a great many, 
and as a matter of fact believe I myself 
have been angled for as being one of the 
variety, and it is safe to add have been 
successfully landed more than once. 
Thirty-two years ago my interest placed 
me by the seashore and I immediately be¬ 
gan the quest of the game fishes of the 
Leonard Hulit 
M ANY letters have been received 
by our Editorial Department 
asking questions about the various 
writers tv ho have made Forest and 
Stream so welcome in thousands of 
homes , including every country on 
the globe. With this number we in¬ 
augurate an autobiographical page 
in answer to these communications. 
In these columns, from time to time, 
will appear all the data regarding 
your favorite contributor that we 
can persuade him to divulge to an 
interested audience. Modesty will 
forbid him from saying many things 
about himself that others might say 
for him; so in the case of Mr. Hulit, 
zt'ho is the first in this series, we will 
whisper confidentially that he is 
known all over America as the fore¬ 
most authority on surf fishing and 
his articles in Forest and Stream on 
this subject have attracted wide at¬ 
tention from scientific experts as 
well as sportsmen. Gentlemen, Mr. 
Leonard Hulit! [Editors.] 
ocean. So dear was the subject to me that 
I left no manner of question open that 
could be solved in relation to the time of 
arrival and departure of the more impor¬ 
tant coast line fishes. Inquiry and obser¬ 
vation were ever on tap and when the sub¬ 
ject proved too knotty for local solution 
the files of the fish commissions were 
sought, and the conclusions of the final 
authorities of the Smithsonian Institution 
invoked to make sure of the grounds to be 
maintained. I have fished over much of 
the waters of the Atlantic down to and 
around the Florida coast and journeyed 
to the Texas coast in quest of infor¬ 
mation. The inland waters of Florida, 
too, have been gone over by me to 
establish some facts in relation to the 
channel bass. I fancy I have taken every 
variety of fish common to our waters 
with the exception of the tuna. While, 
of course, the heavy weights are ever a 
source of delight, and I have had my full 
share, still to me there is an unspeakable 
joy in taking may of the smaller fishes on 
light tackle where the quiet of headwaters 
is to be found. 
O F one thing I can boast. I have 
never been accused of underestimat- 
ting the weight of any fish ever 
taken by me, nor of overestimating the 
help which may have been given me by my 
partner; and on each occasion where ques¬ 
tions of veracity have arisen I have been 
able to take the doubters down and show 
them the particular ocean where I had 
my luck. 
Leonard Hulit. 
ANSWERS TO FISHERMEN 
S EVERAL readers have written or have 
telephoned to us asking if there is trout 
fishing on Long Island, also the different 
places near New York City where bass and 
pickerel are to be found. These men are 
mainly busy men who have only the week¬ 
end in which to fish and rest—and there is 
no better rest than to go a-fishing. This 
year there is an added spur to one’s de¬ 
sire, for one can fish and fish and be a 
patriot, too. 
There is no trout fishing on Long Island, 
that is, no open water, for all the streams 
are preserved or protected. In regard to 
pickerel fishing, there is said to be very 
fine fishing at Peconic River, Riverhead, 
L. I. For both pickerel and bass, the fish¬ 
erman might try Wildwood Lake, which 
is i l /4 miles southeast of Riverhead, L. I., 
or Artist Lake, 454 miles northeast of 
Patchogue, L. I. 
Trout fishing is good at Bethel, Conn., 
about forty-five miles from New York. 
There are many open streams in the vicinity. 
Near Hackettstown, N. J., which is about 
90 miles from New York, there is good 
trout fishing. The Muskenetcong and Pe- 
quest Rivers in northwestern New Jersey 
are reported to contain many trout. This 
territory can be easily reached by railroad, 
automobile or motorcycle. 
There are probably many other fishing 
waters within a fifty-mile radius of New 
York which are unknown to the writer. 
Information regarding these streams will 
be gratefully received and passed on to 
the brethren of the angle. 
