Dec. 17, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
969 
softly from behind, lie down on the bank, slip 
an arm into the water below them and slowly 
move the hand up until the tail could be grasped. 
Then a sudden grip, a quick throw, and the big 
fish was on the bank. But the great fellows were 
quick and strong, and while they did not scare 
at a touch, the instant the hand closed on them 
they got busy. I was fortunate enough to se¬ 
cure a good snapshot of Bill catching an eight- 
pound trout in this way, which is probably a 
unique photograph. 
We carefully put back all except those we 
needed. We shot several big blue grouse and 
a foolhen or two with the .22 pistol. Our big¬ 
gest Dolly Varden weighed twelve pounds and 
measured thirty-one inches, and several rainbow 
trout showed one pound on the scales. These 
latter were in our opinion much better eating 
than the big ones. 
Between showers we saw bands of goats on 
different mountains, all of course visible only 
through our glasses. It is astonishing how far 
one can see these animals. Their snow white 
coats show up against the rocks so that I have 
seen them quite plainly through my glasses at a 
distance of eight miles. 
beyond this we left the trail and turned north 
again, over a high ridge, then down the other 
side, and we were in sight of a beautiful lake. 
We circled around the north end of it and strug¬ 
gled through the thick brush along its trailless 
shores for four miles, till we reached a little 
creek which came roaring down from the moun¬ 
tain. Here we camped. 
The night before Bill had been telling me of 
the big trout to be found there, and had wagered 
a hat that he could land a nine-pound trout in 
ten minutes from the moment of putting his 
hook into the water. Consequently on our ar¬ 
rival at camp the aches and scratches attending 
our progress through the brush were forgotten. 
After Bill disappeared with his tackle 1 had not 
time to unstrap my camera from the saddle be¬ 
fore he was back with a Dolly Varden which 
pulled nine and one-half pounds on my scales 
and measured thirty inches in length. He had 
won his hat fairly, as he had over eight minutes 
to spare, but luck was with him, as only two 
others over nine pounds were caught by us after¬ 
ward. 
Here we spent three days of rain, but when 
the clouds lifted occasionally we saw it was 
snowing in the mountains. However, time did 
not hang heavy on our hands. The mouth of the 
creek was full of Dolly Varden trout and near¬ 
by was a spot beside a long log which extended 
out into the water where rainbow trout from 
one-half to one pound congregated by hundreds 
waiting for a fly. Such fishing I never saw. 
The rainbow trout were by far the gamier, and 
as we usually got two or three at a cast, they 
made things interesting. Many big Dolly Var- 
dens were lying further up the creek spawning, 
holding themselves against the swift current by 
an occasional flick of the tail. We discovered 
that the multitude of rainbow trout near the 
mouth of the creek were waiting for the spawn 
which was carried down by the current and on 
which they fed voraciously. Accordingly for 
ground bait, we caught several of the big ones 
with our hands and stripped them, throwing the 
spawn to the others. I had never seen a fish caught 
with the hands before, but found it quite easy. 
One had only to go quietly up stream until the 
ruddy glow of a big Dolly Varden showed in 
some comparatively quiet pool, then approach 
CATCHING AN ErGHT-POUND TROUT WITH THE HAND. 
There were plenty of big yellow-haired porcu¬ 
pines about, and we nightly expected one of 
them to visit our camp. They are a nuisance of 
the woods and are thoroughly disliked by the 
prospectors and guides, as they do not confine 
their mischievous teeth to girdling and killing 
trees, but sample saddles, packs or provision bags 
left unprotected about camp. Their habit of 
walking into a tent at night and lunching off 
one’s boots adds a spice of fear to the dislike 
with which they are regarded, as a big porky 
is a bad thing to bump against in the dark. A 
few weeks before our trip a prospector awakened 
one night by a rustling in the tent. Thinking a 
squirrel was at the provision bag, he struck out 
with his hand and disturbed a big porcupine 
Which lashed out with its tail, catching the un¬ 
lucky prospector across his bald head. His 
partner, awakened by his yell, found him looking 
like a human pincushion, and after shooting the 
porcupine, removed fifty-seven quills from the 
man’s scalp. 
These yellow-haired porcupines are much 
larger than their cousins of our Northern 
forests and have a yellowish tinge which gives 
them their name. We saw probably a dozen and 
found evidences of their activities in girdled 
trees. Coyotes and lynxes were also quite 
numerous, and we frequently found their tracks. 
Finally the rain ceased, we ate breakfast early, 
and by 6:30 Bill and Bonaparte started after the 
horses. Knowing the uncertainty of horses in 
the mountains, I did not break camp beyond col¬ 
lecting my own stuff and rolling up my bed. 
When they had been gone eight hours, they ap¬ 
peared with the horses, which they had tracked 
and found nearly at timber line, 4.000 feet above 
camp and miles away. The delay cost us a day, 
which we could ill spare, and to insure against 
a repetition of it we picketed them that night. 
We broke camp early and took only three 
pack loads with us. By 10 o’clock we had 
reached our campsite near the head of a gully 
running up between two ridges. There were of 
course no trails, as not more than half a dozen 
men have ever hunted on this mountain. The 
whole formation of the mountain showed its 
volcanic origin. It had once been a huge cone, 
with a deep crater, and the bursting out of the 
lava had torn away the walls and scored deep 
ON THE LOOKOUT. 
