surf fishing and light surf tackle. I 
am in hopes of landing a bigger fish 
shortly and make some of my friends 
in North Carolina take notice. 
There are plenty of big fish here at 
this season as my tackle has been ripped 
up several times lately by fish of con¬ 
siderably larger size. 
I might further state that this fish 
was not shot or gaffed in landing, al¬ 
though the latter was tried and it was 
found impossible to accomplish on ac¬ 
count of the thickness of his hide. So 
it was finally accomplished, after the 
fish was well spent and well up in the 
break, by two of my companions grab¬ 
bing him by the tail and slipping a rope 
over this part of his anatomy. 
I thought this might be of interest 
to Forest and Stream readers. 
G. Horton Glover. 
AN INTERESTING SIGHT 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
Recently it was my good fortune to 
witness a very unusual sight. 
A short time ago while riding down 
a steep, rocky slope, my horse sud¬ 
denly shied and snorted, very nearly 
throwing me. 
Looking down I saw a Texas Prairie 
Snake some six feet long, devouring a 
GOOD WORK 
water moccasin fully four feet in 
length. 
This I thought might be of interest 
to Forest and Stream readers as it 
is a good example of the beneficial de¬ 
stroying the harmful. The water moc¬ 
casin being deadly poisonous while the 
Prairie Snake is no man’s enemy. 
A. D. Smith, 
New Braunkels, Texas. 
BAIT FOR CISCOS 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
P OSSIBLY you can give me some 
information that I have been un¬ 
able to obtain by local inquiry. 
What is the proper lure for ciscos? 
As you know, they appear for about 
two weeks in the Spring and then aie 
not seen to feed again throughout the 
year. I wish this information for fish¬ 
ing a northern Wisconsin lake, where 
the ciscos appear in May. 
ANS.—The cisco is a small fresh¬ 
water fish, found in the Great Lake 
region. It seldom attains a greatei 
length than ten inches. During the 
period that it feeds near the surface, 
it is in search of small insects. It is 
often taken with a small white pearl 
button slipped over the barb and onto 
the bend of a fine, sharp Carlisle hook, 
about No. 8. This is trailed through 
the water or cast from a fly rod. 
While we have never heard of its 
having been done, we believe it would 
be possible to take ciscos with a fine 
light-colored artificial fly. At any rate, 
it would be worth trying. [Ed.] 
DUCKS AND THE FIRST 
MORNING 
By Frank Linwood Bailey 
Oh, the joy of preparation 
When you wind that night-alarm, 
And the keen anticipation— 
Wouldn’t miss it for a farm; 
The old gun is oiled and ready 
From the stock unto the sight, 
As you swing it sure and steady 
’Bout a thousand times that night. 
“Whir!”—alarm goes in the morning 
Somewhere round 3-3 A. M., 
Up you jump with stifled yawning— 
No man’s every sleepy then; 
Just a hurried cup of coffee 
And perhaps a bite of pie, 
Drink, may taste a little “sloppy 
You’ll have better, by and by. 
Out into the dark, you bustle 
As you hurry on your way, 
And you know you’ve got to hustle— 
Soon will come the break of day; 
Now a breeze is smartly blowing, 
Cooler flows the morning air, 
While anticipation’s growing— 
Just a moment, and you’re there. 
Now you’re in the “blind,” and waiting, 
No confusion, fuss or noise 
Save the morning in the making, 
And the murmur of decoys. 
Soon the East is growing brighter 
Over hill and far behind, 
And you hold the old gun tighter 
As you snuggle in the “blind.’ 
What was that familiar “whistle”? 
There it comes again—once more— 
And that dark swift-flying missle? 
Sure you’ve read those signs before; 
Once again, those shapes are coming 
Swift and sure on blue-barred wing, 
All at once, your blood is humming 
And your pulse begins to sing. 
• * 
Now, you’re up and at-’em—shooting, 
Swiftly blazing, left and right, 
While those feathered-forms are scoot¬ 
ing 
Mid the “crack” of Ballistite; 
Drops another, and another— 
There they go—bang! bang! hooray!! 
Honest Injun, tell me, brother, 
What can beat that opening-day? 
SOUTHERN READER 
REGISTERS PROTEST TO 
NORTHERN FOX HUNT 
METHODS 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
B EING a new subscriber but an old 
hunter, I kind of feel a little hesi¬ 
tancy in introducing myself to Forest 
and Stream family with a criticism; 
so here it goes. You can publish what 
I say if you like, if not, let her slip. 
“Reynard of the River Swamp” in 
your August number hit me with a 
push as all fox hunting tales do. 
The article is well written and in¬ 
teresting. But what I wish to say is 
this: I am 60 years old and have 
hunted fox ever since I was a young- 
man, but never in my life did I ever 
hear of two old fox hunters carrying 
their guns along and making desperate 
efforts to kill poor reynard without 
even giving him a running show-down. 
They remind me of deer hunting, they 
even selected out their stands in ordei 
to get a good shot, and as one of them 
expressed it, “I ought to be kicked full 
of holes for leaving the road,” or in 
other words this was the stand he had 
taken. 
My! My! In my part of the coun¬ 
try, Alabama, Tennessee and Missis¬ 
sippi, if a man had been caught with 
a gun on him in a fox chase it would 
have been taken away from him and he 
strapped to his horse and the bridle 
taken off. 
I should not be harsh though, for 
every country has its customs (?), so 
I will close. 
Respectfully, 
B. T. Jones. 
Geiger, Ala. 
IRISH SPORT OF 
YESTERDAY 
A NEW book for sportsmen has just 
been issued by the Houghton Mif¬ 
flin Co., 2 Park St., Boston, Mass., en¬ 
titled “Irish Sport of Yesterday,” by 
Major A. W. Long, a competent and de¬ 
lightful spokesman. It treats in a fas¬ 
cinating way of days spent with guns 
and dogs among the Irish hills, leisuiely 
fishing excursions up sparkling Irish 
rivers and rides to hounds across the 
famous green fields and tremendous 
ditches. Price is $4.50. 
By Major A. W. Long 
Page 570 
