APRIL 28, peace, ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

I fished for one fish for more than two weeks 
before I got him, and had cast over his lie at 
least fifty times on the successful evening before 
he rose. In this case a short line cast from a 
different direction turned the trick. One can 
never learn all that there is in fly-fishing, Only 
men of limited experience think that they know 
it all. A few patterns of flies will usually an- 
swer all purposes on any river or lake, but it is 
not wise to despise a large assortment. They can 
all be stowed away in small compass, and one 
never knows what strange combination of fur 
and feathers may be useful some day. 
There are few things more interesting than a 
good collection of artificial flies. My fingers itch 
to open any old fly-book I see. All fishing cranks 
enjoy looking over a good angling kit, rods, flies 
and tackles. A visit to a first-class fishing tackle 
shop is more interesting than an afternoon at the 
circus. If one has leisure, fly-making is an ab- 
sorbing occupation and there is considerable sat- 
isfaction in taking trout with the work of one’s 
own hands. I was driven to it many years ago 
by the difficulty experienced at that time in get- 
ting just what I wanted at the stores. I wished 
to imitate certain insects, some of which were 
very small and required small hooks tied on fine 
drawn gut. Nowadays IJ use eyed-hooks as often 
as hooks tied on snells and find the Pennell very 
good for hooking and holding. It certainly is a 
nuisance trying to knot the eye to the cast when 
the light is bad. The sproat is excellent, if you 
can get it correctly made, and the sneck is also 
useful, but of late years there is a tendency 
among manufacturers to shorten the shanks of 
hooks unduly. This is bad, I think. I hate a 
dumpy hook for fly-fishing. 
In many of our streams the European brown 
or yellow trout now outnumber the native fish, 
and one never knows when he may stir up a 
regular buster. Then, indeed, we are in need of 
the best possible hook and tackle. If we have 
been careless in regard to these things the result 
may be a most regrettable memory which may 
haunt our minds for years, Just imagine losing 
a trout above six pounds in weight through the 
use of an old fly with a worn gut link. I have 
had that bitter experience and others nearly as 
annoying. With an abundant supply of food 
there is almost no limit to the growth of these 
brown trout. They have been “taken up to 9 
pounds at least, and I saw two specimens at large 
during low water in the Beaverkill that were very 
large. One of these could be seen any day from 
the public road, and was estimated at 7 pounds. 
I thought he would weigh about 6. The other I 
saw only twice, as he lived in a small hole in 
what was a big pool in a good stage of water, 
and was usually under a flat rock that barely 
covered his vast proportions. 
The first time I saw this fish I was standing 
on the edge of this hole in shallow water watch- 
ing a school of big suckers to see if any trout 
were among them. Suddenly this enormous fish 
appeared from under his stone, almost directly 
below me and not more than eight feet away. I 
did not move a muscle, and for some time he re- 
mained there, gently waving fins and tail and 
opening and shutting his great gills. Once or 
twice he opened his mouth and yawned; I sup- 
pose he was probably tired of low water and a 
slim diet. It was a male fish in grand condition, 
rather light in color and brilliantly spotted. In 
about ten minutes he swam quietly back to his 
house of stone, but had quite a time getting un- 
der cover. He went in head first and then 
worked around sideways until tail and body dis- 
appeared from view. 
I found him taking the air only once, about 
two weeks after my first call, and this trout was 
absolutely unknown; no one had ever seen him. 
Not wishing to be considered a greater prevari- 
cator than necessary, I have always reported this 
fish at 8 pounds, but in my soul I believe that he 
weighed nearly or quite 10 pounds. That trout 
has never been caught. He is there yet, and 
now weighs anything you please. Go and catch 
him, my brother, it will be a feather in your cap. 
What is more to the point, I will help you all 
I can by revealing, in strict confidence, the pool 
where he lived, and where he probably still re- 
mains. Those big fish dwell in the same place 
for many years. I had positive knowledge of two 
S877 

~ 
trout in the same pool for four or five years 
before they were snared, and had played one of 
them to the point of exhaustion when the hook 
broke at the bend. 
To return to the fish. The pool is near the 
public road. You can slip in some evening and 
have him out in a jiffy. Be sure to carry a large 
grain sack with you to hide the fish in until you 
get to your quarters. I can tell you where to 
have him stuffed, and he will look bully on the 
wall of your sanctum. I would have caught him 
myself if the water had not been too low. 
THEODORE GORDON. 
Sleeping Car Service to Moosehead. 
THROUGH sleeping car service between Boston 
and Greenville, Me. (Moosehead Lake), will be 
resumed from Boston Sunday, May 6, and from 
Greenville Monday, May 7, over the Bangor & 
Aroostock Railroad. The car will be attached to 
the train leaving Boston at 1o P. M. and due at 
Greenville at 10:55 A. M. Returning it will be 
attached to train leaving Greenville at 3:40 P. M., 
due in Boston 5:30 A. M. Accommodations can 
be secured at the ticket office of the Boston & 
Maine Railroad in Boston, or at the Pullman 
ticket office, North Station. 
To Extract a Hook. 
Ir a barbed hook gets into your flesh do 
not torture yourself by butchering it out with 
a knife, but just push the point and barb clean 
through, break it off with the end of the knife 
handle, and draw the shank out the reverse 
way by the line. CHARLES HALLOCK. 
CLEARWATER, Wis.—I like the new form of 
FOREST AND STREAM fine. 
Suburban Life 
For May 

First Things to Know About Movroring 
In Three Parts 
By HOWARD MARSHALL 
In addition to this instructive article on the care and keeping of the 
automobile, the May Suburban Life presents the following contents: 
Possibilities of Modern Bee-keeping. 
Solving the Good-Roads Problem. 
The Whippet,—a Dog for Amusement. 
A Six-Hundred-Dollar House-boat. 
One Way to Use a Rug. 
Flowering Trees and Shrubs for the 
Home Garden. 
My Garden of Small Fruits. 
A Ten-Room Country Cottage. 
For Sale on News-stands Everywhere. 
Hatching and Rearing Chickens. 
Some Details in Regard to Transplant- 
ing. 
A Handy Garden Screen. 
A Useful Garden Dress. 
Propagating Herbaceous Plants. 
Beautifying a Tree Trunk. 
A Pond Lily Experiment. 
Insect Enemies of Ornamental Trees. 
15 Cuca OY. 
Subscriptions received for a short time only at $1 a year. 
Address 
16 State Street, — 
Suburban Life 
= BOSTON, MASS. 

