Uioe
/T\aKing
Breeding
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UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
er
THE BOY'S OWN GUIDE
TO
FISHING
TACKLE-MAKING AND FISH-BREEDING
BEING A PLAIN, PRECISE AND PRACTICAL EXPLANATION
OF ALL THAT IS NECESSARY TO BE KNOWN
BY THE YOUNG ANGLER
JOHN HARRINGTON KEENE
AUTHOR OF "THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN" "FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING '
"FISHING-TACKLE ITS MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURE" ETC.
Illustrated by 82 diagrams drawn under the direct supervision
of the author by Lewis E. Shanks
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
10 MILK STREET
BOSTON
COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
All Rights Reserved
BOY'S OWN GUIDE TO FISHING
ELECTROTYPING BY C. J. PETERS & SON, BOSTON, U.S.A.
PRESS OF S. J. PARKUILT. & Co,
PREFACE
FISHING is a sport especially suited to boys.
It is a cleanly, healthy, open-air recreation, de-
void of feverish excitements, and yet not desti-
tute of quiet pleasures which are inexpressibly
fascinating during the tender years of childhood,
and, above all, entirely innocent in their ten-
dencies. As youth succeeds childhood, the love
of fishing deepens, and as maturity is attained,
this love becomes a part of the man, never to
be wholly cast aside. And as old age approaches,
and gun and dog and saddle are regretfully re-
tired, angling still remains the contemplative
man's pastime. Thus throughout life is angling
a source of comfort and pleasure, leaving no bad
taste in the mouth or sting in the conscience,
and being indeed unequalled by any other sport
whatsoever in its purity and guilelessness. For
what does Annie Trumbull Slosson's " Fishin'
Jimmy " say in his quaint, homely fashion ? " I
3
M844832
4 PREFACE
allers loved fishin', an' know'd 'twas the best
thing in the hull airth. I knows it larnt ye
more about creeters an' yarbs an' stuns an' water
than books could tell ye. I know'd it made folks
patienter and common-senser an'' weather-wiser
an' cuter gen'ally ; gin 'em more fac'lty than all
the school larnin' in creation. I knowed it was
more fillin' than vittles, more rousin' than whiskey,
more soothin' than lodlum. I knowed it cooled
ye off when ye was het, an' het ye when ye was
cold. I knowed all that, o' course, any fool
knows it. But will ye bleve it ? I was more'n
twenty-one years old, a man growed, 'fore I foun'
out why 'twas that way."
The object of this little book is to explain to
even the youngest reader what " Fishin' Jimmy "
did not find out till he was "a man growed."
I have never had cause to regret that my own
ancestors were professional fishermen, and that I
have been one myself. My father, his father, and
his father, and so on for several more generations,
were watermen and fishermen on the English
Thames. I cannot recollect, therefore, when I
first became an angler ; but like Topsy, " I specs
I grow'd " to be one from the cradle. Self-help
PREFACE 5
in all pertaining to fishing was, however, the
lesson drilled into me from my earliest years,
and at an infant's age I first began to handle
tackle and tackle-making implements. From ex-
perience, therefore, I am satisfied that the boy
who learns to prepare everything he uses will
(as I have done) derive tenfold the pleasure from
fishing, that is gotten by the angler who only
buys his tackle all ready to his hand. The things
that cost pains to procure are the most valued.
In the following pages I shall explain the why
and wherefore of everything likely to perplex the
tyro, as well as the making of each piece of
tackling, giving the methods I have myself made
use of, with suitable diagrams. Moreover, I shall
be pleased at any time to aid my boy-readers by
letter, if they write me to my address below.
J. HARRINGTON KEENE.
GREENWICH, Washington County, N.Y.
CONTENTS
PART I. SPRING.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
SUCKER FISHING n
CHAPTER II.
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 36
CHAPTER III.
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 50
PART II. SUMMER.
CHAPTER IV.
FISHING FOR THE SUN-FISH AND OTHER " BOYS' FISHES," 71
CHAPTER V.
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT, AND FLY-MAKING 79
CHAPTER VI.
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, PERCH, SUN-FISH, ETC. . . . 120
PART III. AUTUMN.
CHAPTER VII.
MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 139
CHAPTER VIII.
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW, ETC 146
8 CONTENTS
PART IV. WINTER.
CHAPTER IX. PAGH
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE 161
CHAPTER X.
BREEDING TROUT, ETC., IN WINTER 170
PART I
SPRING ANGLING
THE
BOY'S OWN GUI-DE TO FISHING
CHAPTER I
SUCKER FISHING
THE earliest fish in the spring of the year to
take the bait of the angler, are the trout and the
common brook sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and
the whole family, indeed, of this latter fish ; for
there are a dozen or more different kinds of suck-
ers. If I were writing for the advanced fisherman,
I should begin with the trout ; for, with the excep-
tion of the head of the family of fishes to which
the trout belongs, namely, the salmon, there is no
fish pursued by the angler requiring so much care
and prudent method for catching. As, however,
this is a book for boys, and as the sticker is, above
all, a boy's fish, and does not require great refine-
ment in tackle to catch, I shall speak at length on
it, with the intent that what I shall say will be use-
ful also in the capture of other more difficult fish.
ii
12 SPRING ANGLING
There are, as I have hinted, a dozen or more
species of the sucker in American waters ; but the
brook sucker is the one most generally known to
boys, and the ways of ts capture are suitable for
all the others. Now, the sucker is an early spring
spawner ; that is, it begins to seek the brooks and
shallow inlets of a river or lake to deposit its eggs
just as soon as the ice begins to go out. It gener-
ally also herds or goes in shoals ; and it is at this
time, whilst the water is still very cold, that the
sucker takes the baited hook most freely, though
it can be caught all the year till the winter ice
and snow shut up the water. Ordinarily the fish is
snared with a wire or horsehair collar, or speared, or
even netted, being thought of little worth as a food
or sport fish ; but I do not approve of the slaying of
any fish thus unfairly when it is capable of giving
pleasure in its pursuit and capture ; and, therefore,
the way to fish for sucker with hook and line is the
only method that I shall describe in these pages.
It is seasonable to fish for suckers before the
legal season in some States opens for trout, and
even before the leaves begin to appear on the
trees. It is not necessary to use fine tackle ;
but, of course, if you happen to have a nice rod
SUCKER FISHING 13
and reel, there is no reason why it should not be
used. Rods of really good quality can be bought
for such a trifle, that most boys will coax a rela-
tive to make them a present of one, if they can-
not earn the money themselves. However, as
self-help is one of the chief charms I have found
in fishing, I shall tell you how to equip yourself
for sucker fishing at only a few cents' cost.
The ordinary canes that one can buy at the
hardware store for a few cents make a capital
sucker rod (or even trolling rod for pickerel) ;
but if this is beyond your means, go into the
nearest waterside copse, and cut one of the
straightest poles you can find. Do this very
early in the season, so that you can trim it of
all the branches, and set it upright to dry for a
little time in the barn. It may be straightened
at any specially crooked parts by heating it over
the kitchen stove till quite hot, then suspending
it from a rafter with a weight several flatirons
will do to the but, or large end. In a week
you will be surprised at the improvement in its
appearance. If you want to make it still more
useful and neat, go to work as follows : sand-
paper off the knots and other irregularities, and,
14 SPRING ANGLING
without attempting to remove the bark, apply
with a pad several coats of shellac varnish,
thinned very thin with alcohol. The pad is made
as follows : take a piece of old cotton stocking
and wrap it round a ball of batting, making two
or three thicknesses of the stocking. Have a
wide-mouthed bottle, and place in it one ounce
of shellac, filling up with six ounces of alcohol,
or even more, to render it a very thin varnish or
polish. When you have laid on five or six coats,
drying each one before putting on another, of
course, the polish on your " pole " will be of
comparatively elegant appearance.
Fig, 1. Home-made Winder for Pole.
Of course, when the pole assumes this high-
toned appearance, you will require a winder for
your line. The easiest to make is shown at Fig. i.
It consists of a forked branch, trimmed, and
with a notch cut in the end of each leg to hold
SUCKER FISHING
the line. To attach it to the rod, you place a
square piece of wood or cork underneath the
lower end, and securely whip or tie it to the
rod-end, as shown. The line is wound in and
out in the outline of a figure 8 round the two
legs of the fork, and stayed at one of the splits
in the ends. Of course, if it is stayed lightly,
any fish requiring loose line can run off the line
"at will ; though the latter cannot be wound on
again by turning a handle, as in the device that
follows, or in the ordinary brass or wooden reel
sold at the tackle stores.
\
/ ,, \l
Spool with Wire Handle.
A better line-winder, or in this case reel, can be
easily made by any boy out of a large thread
spool. In the first place, he must get a length of
moderately thick brass or soft iron wire to form
his handle. This must be bent (Fig. 2) in the
i6
SPRING ANGLING
proper form, and passed right through the spool,
so that about a quarter -inch projects on the other
side. Then it must be plugged or wedged in so
that it cannot move ; and you have one part of the
reel ready. Now go to the tin-shop and get a
piece of tin, or copper, or brass, or even sheet-iron,
cut in the shape indicated at Fig. 3 ; but be sure it
Fig. 3. Metal Sides for Reel before shaping.
is of the proper size to fit your spool when it is
folded at the dotted lines of Fig. 3 and turned up
as in Fig. 4. Bore holes in each end of the cross ;
place your spool in between the uprights ; screw
SUCKER FISHING I/
the reel on to the rod, and you have quite a sightly
device, as shown at Fig. 5 (p. 1 8) ; and it will serve
Fig. 4. Metal Support for Reel.
your purpose for sucker, or even brook-trout worm-
fishing on an emergency, as well as a five-dollar
automatic reel (to which you will be introduced
later on in this work).
You have now the rod and reel ready for work ;
but there is something else to be done to the rod
before the two will work. I refer to the placing
of guides, or rings, through which the line is to
pass. On a ten-foot pole there should be a large
one nearest the reel of not less than half an inch
in diameter ; this may be placed one foot from the
reel. The next three should be placed at equal
distances on the pole, and for the tip a ring of not
less than | of an inch inside diameter is best.
i8
SPRING ANGLING
Fig. 5. Home-made Spool Reel.
SUCKER FISHIA T G 19
Now how to make them. Get some medium
gauge wire brass is best, and the gauge should
be that of ordinary bell-wire ; take a round stick
the diameter you require, and make one turn round
it with the wire ; then draw the wire out as if you/
wished to straighten it, until the ring is like a
snake (Fig. 6) ; cut off, and flatten the ends with a
Fig. 6. Snake Guide.
hammer, or by filing. Thus you have one of the
best guides (in principle) it is possible to use. I
use no other even on my best rods ; for i-t is im-
possible to get the line snarled round it, and there is
the minimum of friction to retard its free running.
Of course the nearer you get to the top of the rod
the smaller should be the ring, though this is not
a matter of the first importance. The tip ring
is made as shown (Fig. 7),
and the two legs are whipped
closely on the rod. An easy Figm7m __ Home . nmde Tip R ing .
rod guide, but not so good a one as
that just described, is formed of the
Fig ' Gu7d S e C . reW little screw picture-frame eyelets sold
in the hardware stores (Fig. 8). These may be
2O SPRING ANGLING
screwed into the pole if the wood is hard ; but there
is always a wea*k spot where they are screwed. I
prefer at all times the wire guides.
The whipping or binding of the rings requires a
word of explanation. Fig. 9 shows one of them
as it appears bound on to a pole. Go to your
shoemaker, and ask him for a piece of his wax
with which he waxes his shoe-thread, and get
some shoe-thread too, or use the spool-thread.
Wax it well, and bind on your rings evenly, as
shown, securing the whipping or binding by
means of two half-hitches (Fig. 9), for I will not
Fig. 9. Showing Double-hitch
Fastening.
now introduce you to the invisible knot ; that will
come later. Now apply some of your shellac
varnish (with which you varnished your rod) ; and
if you have been careful and neat, you have a ser-
viceable sucker, or bullhead, or " pumpkin-seed "
rod, just as capable of catching these fish as a
more expensive outfit.
The kind of line you will use will depend on
SUCKER FISHING 2 1
your financial resources, for you cannot make that
at this stage of your angling education. A good
linen line may be bought cheap, and for rough
usage it is to be preferred to the fine silk lines
costing even as high as five cents per yard. The
trouble is that the linen soon soaks up water, and
gets thick and " logy." This, however, may be
remedied in this wise. Wind your line on a card,
not too tightly. Then get an old tomato can or
other receptacle, next some old wax-candle ends
(the pararfine wax is best), and, after cutting out
the pieces of cotton-wick, place them in the can.
Put it on the stove until the wax is quite melted,
but do not get it too hot, or it will burn your line.
Now immerse the line, and keep it in the solution
till thoroughly impregnated. When you think
this is accomplished (and it takes several hours,
according to the thickness of the line), find the
end of the line, still keeping it in the warm solu-
tion, and have a companion gently walk back with
it, whilst you pass it through your closed finger
and thumb, to press off the superfluous wax.
This should be done in a warm room, or near the
stove, because the wax cools very rapidly. Hav-
ing come to the end of .your line, stretch it . be-
22 SPRING ANGLING
tween two nails, and go over it again with a piece
of chamois leather, rubbing hard to engender a
little heat, and so render the line smooth. This
dressing may be renewed as it seems to wear off,
and it will always be found satisfactory for the
fishing we are considering.
We now have arrived at the hook. One three-
eighths of an inch across the bend is quite large
enough for the largest fish. When the fish are
plentiful and biting freely you need not trouble
about snells, but can use the eyed or ringed hooks.
Fig. 10. Eyed-hook, with Method of tying.
These are best tied as shown (Fig. 10). Of course
the knot there shown is to be drawn tight. But in
clear water, and indeed generally, the snelled hook
is to be preferred. If you want to do the exactly
'\
right thing, send to a tackle dealer and get a
" hank " of gut, which is silk from the silk-
worm, taken away before the worm spins it, and
soak it in water. This renders it pliable, so that
you can tie a loop at one end like either of the
SUCKER FISHING 2$
two loops shown (Figs. 11 and 12). To the other
Fig. 11.
Loop for Gut (the "figure 8 ").
end the hook is whipped, using spool silk, waxed
Fig. 12.
Loop for Gut (the "Alpine ")
with the shoemaker's wax aforesaid, or with a wax
composed of :
Best resin, 2 ounces ; Beeswax, % ounce.
Simmer together ten minutes, and add :
Beef tallow, ^4 ounce.
Simmer all together fifteen minutes more, and pour
into a basin of cold water, and pull like candy till
cold and very white.
The whipping or binding of the hook is very
Fig. 13. Hooh whipped, and showing "Invisible Knot."
evenly wound, and secured by means of
the two half-hitches (Fig. 9), or the invisible knot
shown at Fig. 13. Of course the coils in the
diagram are pulled tight, and the thread drawn
24 SPRING ANGLING
through also as tightly as possible without break-
ing the thread. This knot needs practising.
Three strands of horse-hair, preferably from a
gray stallion's tail, will form a good substitute for
the silkworm gut aforesaid ; but it soon wears out,
and is not very strong.
A substitute for a hook can be found in a pin
or needle the latter is best. I remember once,
some years back, being near a brook in Vermont
where there were a great number of suckers in
the mill-pool below the dam. Neither myself nor
friend had any tackle, but we wanted broiled fish
with the other food we had brought. We turned
out our pockets ; and mine produced a little leather
case of needles and thread (for sewing on buttons,
etc.), and my friend found nothing save the useful
Fig. 14. Sewing-needle Substitute for Hook.
jackknife. With this I sent my friend off to cut
a pole ; and selecting a good stout needle, I attached
it in the middle to a double thread of the sewing-
yarn I had with me (Fig. 14). As will be seen,
the line was attached nearly in the middle of the
needle, and the blunt end was from, not to, the line.
SUCKER FISHING 2$
Presently my companion returned, and we began
hunting for worms. These we found it being
early spring near the water, under stones ; and
presently coming upon a good fat one, I thrust
the needle into it as indicated in the diagram (Fig.
i 5). We had now an ideal bait ; and as I dropped
Fig. 15. Needle, baited with Worm.
it into the hole where the suckers lay, I knew it
would soon be taken. This proved to be a correct
impression ; but as the worm and needle must be
swallowed, some half-minute was allowed before I
proceeded to strike and draw up. The strike must
be sharp, to draw the point of the needle through
the worm's side and catch it on the side of the
fish's throat ; and if it acts successfully, the needle
tears out from the bait and fixes crosswise, so that
it cannot be dislodged, and the fish is then your
meat. It was so in the case I am describing.
We took all we wanted from the pool, and had a
fine "broil " of firm, delicious brook-sucker. " How
did we broil them without utensils ? " you ask.
Well, that did not puzzle us. We whittled out
two thin pine boards, it was a sawmill where
we encamped, and stuck them at an angle over
26 SPRING ANGLING
the fire, pinning the suckers, split and cleaned, on
them, with a piece of fat pork to each ; and pres-
ently they were but a little less toothsome than a
trout cooked in the same way.
I have found the needle a good substitute for a
hook for. eels, their throats being much narrower
than other fish ; and with a pair of pincers (pliers)
one can take out the needle far easier than the
hook from the gullet of these snaky fish.
A sinker and a float, or bob, are desirable for
sucker fishing, though not exactly indispensable.
The sinker may be of any shape convenient. The
most usual is the oblong lead, with an open split
ring at each end (Fig. 1 6) ; but the most convenient
Fig. 16. Oblong Sinker.
for all styles of fishing where the sinker is needed,
is the Tufts " Mackinac " (Fig. 1 7). As can be seen,
Fig. 17.
'Mackinac Sinker.'
it is a shot of different sizes, cut in half, and ar-
ranged so that each half screws to the other half.
SUCKER FISHING 2J
It can be put on and taken off your line at an
instant's notice, and the weight and
distance from the hook be varied as
you please. Sometimes this is an im-
portant point, and may mean all the
difference between fish and no fish.
A light sinker, not nearer than a foot
from the hook, is the best ar-
rangement as a general thing.
The float, or bob, you can
make yourself with the greatest
ease. A very simple form is a
cork, good and solid, and select-
ed because of its freedom from
flaws. This is fashioned like an
egg in shape with a jackknife,
and a quill may be thrust through
it, to which the line is attached.
If you choose to make it of wood,
choose soft pine, and make it the
shape of Fig. 18, filling as the term
is with oil and whitening, to close
up the pores of the wood, and after that
either give it a couple of coats of ordi- Fig. is.
Bob, or Float.
nary paint, or varnish it several times
28 SPRING ANGLING
with the shellac. The rings (Fig. 1 8) where the line
passes through are made as follows : Twist some
rather fine wire three times round a small stick ; cut
off both ends at the proper length, one about half an
inch and the other flush with the coil. Then turn
the coil to right angles, and bind the other ends to
the stems of the float, using the silk waxed as be-
fore ; touch with shellac varnish, and you have as
good a float as you need for sucker fishing. Of
course the coiled spring-like arrangement is to
allow you to adjust the "bob" to suit any depth
of water. The line should be weighted, so that
it 'stands in the water to where the line across is
shown in the diagram.
We have now all the tackle necessary, and the
next thing is the bait. Nothing beats the garden
or earth worm for suckers, and I need not say that
it is one of the best of the old " stand-bys " for
almost all other kinds of fresh-water fishes. Very
few fishes will reject a lively, clean worm, with its
%
pretty tints of coral and pearl and opal iridescence ;
that is, it looks like this if you prepare it as I am
going to tell you.
" What ! " I hear some one exclaim, " fuss with
earthworms ! "
SUCKER FISHING 2Q
" Yes, my young friend," I reply ; "and you will
find your basket will take on at least an added
twenty per cent per annum in number of fish, if
you never fish with worms that have not gone
through the preparation I am about to describe."
Dig your worms, in spring, from beneath stones
that are near springs that have not frozen ; later
you can get them in the garden ; and in summer
the smallest you can find by lantern-light from
the lawn after a rain at night are good species of
earthworm for the angler. The little "gilt cock-
spur," as it is called in England, from old rotten
manure heaps (it has a yellow tip to its body), and
the yellow-banded, bad-smelling "brandling" (it is
yellow-banded, you can't mistake it), are some-
times more effectual than the common "gardenia ; "
but all of them may be gathered as opportunity
offers, and constitute eventually valuable bait.
Gather your worms in a clean can or other recep-
tacle, and place some soil under them, so that they
can crawl down through it. Those that have been
accidentally bruised, or otherwise hurt, will be too
feeble to crawl, and will remain on the top ; and
these, together with any dead ones, must be thrown
away. Now get a deep earthenware pan or box,
30 SPRING ANGLING
and place a few inches of dampened moss on
. the bottom, and turn the worms onto it. They
will immediately begin to crawl down through, and,
in so doing, will cleanse themselves from all dirt
and impurity. In a few days, especially if the
moss is washed, and the worms picked over for
lame ones, they will have become almost transpar-
ent, and so tough they cannot be broken by hand-
ling or placing them on the hook. By occasionally
pouring a little sweet milk over them, they can be
kept for a long time ; and a worm so prepared will
live twice as long in the water, and be twice as
lively and attractive, as the worm dug fresh out of
the ground.
I presume it is not necessary for me to tell
my readers where to fish for suckers. Every boy
knows where the fish abound in the spring of
the year, and the brooks where they are most
to be seen. This axiom stands good for fishing
at all times : " Go where the fish are, don't
expect them to come to you.-' It is precisely
because the boy fisherman commonly knows wJicre
to fish that he often beats the stranger, wise as
the latter may be in regard to tackle and baits,
and well equipped though he be with all the
latest fads and fancies in tackling.
SUCKER FISHING 31
Well, having decided to fish in a certain spot,
adjust your bob so that the bait will be just off
the bottom, and then proceed to bait your hook.
Now, there is a right way to do this, and, of
course, a wrong ; and I want to make the former
plain right here, because it is right for trout and
bass and other better fish than suckers. Take
the hook by the shank between finger and thumb
of the right hand, and enter the point into the
worm a little distance from the head, so that
the head can move when on the hook. Run the
hook through to the tail, but not quite out. You
now have a worm-hidden hook, and both the head
and tail are wriggling. The chief advantage, how-
ever, is in the fact that you cannot fail to hook
the wariest fish if the worm be threaded on in
this way. Some prefer looping the worm ; but
this bunches it, and may and does interfere with
the chance of hooking the fish. For bass, the
worm is sometimes simply hooked through the
middle, and allowed to squirm ; and this is very
deadly, though an exception to the rule.
The sucker usually goes in herds, and in fishing
for him this must be borne in mind. Gently
swing out your baited hook, not making more
32 SPXSA r G ANGLING
noise than you can help, and wait patiently, not
running up and down the bank, but at one place,
and quietly watching the bob. Ha ! a tremulous
motion seems to go through it ; now it is still !
again it quivers, and now it slowly disappears. It
is time to strike, but I beg you to do it swiftly
but not with violence ; and, having hooked the
fish, dorit! dorit! don t ! begin to haul in and
try to lift it out by main force. This is a lesson
you must learn in all kinds of fishing, if you would
get the full amount of enjoyment it is able to give.
What you should do is as follows (and it applies
to pretty nearly all fish, except the very smallest) :
Strike with a smart twitch, and then, keeping the
point of the rod or pole well up, first endeavor to
get your fish out of the immediate neighborhood,
that he may not startle other fish thereabouts ;
and next tire him so that he comes ashore readily,
putting, all the while, the strain on the elastic
pole. If you do this, you will seldom break loose
from the fish or break your tackle ; but if you
follow your first impulse, and attempt to "yank"
the sucker out, you may break your rod or line,
especially if the fish is a large one (and I have
caught them up to four pounds).
SUCKER FISHING 33
I have thoroughly enjoyed sucker fishing, and
so may my readers. In the spring, whilst the
snow-water yet runs down from the mountains,
the fish are gamey, and fight with a good deal of
bull-dog like courage. Moreover, they are quite
palatable to eat ; and that my boy readers may
know how to clean and prepare the fish for cook-
ing, the following few words of experience will
be in order.
Kill your fish by means of a stone or stick,
striking it on the back of the head. If it is a
small one, you can place your thumb into its
mouth, its soft mouth cannot hurt you, and,
pressing the ball of the thumb against the roof
of the mouth and the finger on the head outside,
quickly jerk the head back. This will break the
neck, and death is instantaneous. Kill all fish at
once after catching them : it is merciful to do so
(and " blessed are the merciful ").
When you get home, whilst the fish is still
fresh and moist, plunge it into scalding water
(two parts boiling, one part cold), and after let-
ting it remain a few seconds, withdraw it, and see
if the scales come off easily ; if not, give it rather
more time in the hot water. When the scales
34 SPRING ANGLING
come off very readily, as they will do when
scalded sufficiently, scrape them carefully off, and
cut off the fins with an old pair of shears. Wipe
off all the slime and coloring matter of the fish ;
and it should be snow-white when properly done.
Do not place it in water of any kind again, but
when you cut it open, use a damp towel to cleanse
the interior parts. Cut off the head ; and if it is
early in the season you have a firm, palatable fish.
There is no better way to cook this fish than
by broiling, or frying it in pork-fat. The latter
should be very hot, and the fish should be cut in
pieces of suitable length. It is to be eaten with
a plain boiled potato, and a squeeze of lemon-
juice over the fish; and the boy must be an epi-
cure indeed who cannot enjoy it. If the fish be
a large one, say over two pounds, the backbone
may be taken out by opening it carefully down
the back and cutting away the flesh from each
side, using a long, thin, and flexible knife for the
purpose. My readers should practise fish dissec-
tion in this way. Last summer I astonished some
unbelieving friends by taking out every bone of
a large shad they brought to me, and I did not
cut away much meat either. But to return to our
SUCKER FISHING 35
sucker fishing. I have found the fishing best
when the wind has been in the south or south-
west ; and on the best day last year I caught
seven, averaging two pounds apiece, in two hours.
These were as many as I wanted ; and, like good
old Izaak Walton, I required them only to give to
a "poor body" with a large family, so I consider
it was very good luck. As I used much finer
tackle than was suggested in the foregoing, I had
the greater sport ; but there is no reason why my
boy friends may not do likewise with their own
tackle, as here described.
36 SPRING ANGLING
CHAPTER II
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING
As soon as the ice goes out of the lakes where
pickerel (Esox lucius] abound, some grand sport
may be had trolling. There is a fitness also in
referring to this form of pike-fishing at this place,
because I want this little book to be progressive,
and we take one step higher in fishing for pick-
erel than in fishing for suckers. The trout season
opens, it is true, near about this time in the
spring ; but it will be well for you to come with
me, bringing your coarse tackle, for one day be-
fore you essay to catch the beautiful " salmon
of the fountains," which is what is meant by
the scientific name of the brook-trout (Salnw
fontinalis.)
A pole is not actually necessary in trolling,
though, for my own part, I always use one. Two
lines may be used ; and there should be two of you
in the boat, one to row, and the other to manip-
ulate the lines. These should be of linen, eight
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 37
braid, and very strong, and dressed with the par-
raffine wax dressing before given. One hundred
and fifty feet is not too much line for each, and
a winder (Fig. 19) can be made out of soft wood
Fig. 19. Winder for Trot ling-line, etc.
to contain each one (though be sure to unwind
and dry them after reaching home at night). In
order to render the allure more likely to attract
fish by reason of its connection with the line
being less visible, I always attach three feet
of three-ply twisted fine brass wire to the line,
taking care to have a large swivel duly tested
to see that it is strong at each end (Fig. 20).
Fig. 20. Swivel.
Through the swivel at the line end goes the line ;
and through that at the other end goes the allure,
be it spoon, or artificial fish, or large trolling-fly,
or dead fish.
SPRING ANGLING
Fig. 21. Ordinary Spoon.
Without doubt the spoon-
bait (Fig. 21) is the best all
round allure for troll-
ing for pickerel in the
spring of the year.
Fig. 22 is one of
Chapman's make of
Clayton, N.Y. ; and
with one like this he last
year caught a mascalonge
in the River St. Lawrence
weighing forty-two pounds.
But the ingenious boy can
make a spoon that will
serve his purpose almost
as well, though of course it
will not appear so finished
or handsome.
In the first place, he
must coax his good mother
to let him have an old
teaspoon, plated is good
enough (silver is too good to
lose), and cut off the bowl
j ust above where the handle
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 39
Fig. 22. Chapman Spoon.
40 SPRING ANGLING.
sets in with a file. Having done this neatly, he must
bore a hole in each end, and be careful that the
edges of the hole are rounded and smooth, or
they may cut the whipping of his hooks. He
now has a spoon bowl with two holes in it ; the
smaller end we will call the top, and the larger
end the bottom. Now, the smaller end must be
the one next nearest the trolling-line, or the spoon
won't spin ; and into the hole he passes a small
strong split ring, to be got at any hardware store.
Keeping it open with his knife, he now slides the
ring of the swivel, to which he has attached a
length of gimp guitar-string, and a ringed triplet
hook is placed in the lower hole, also by means of
a split ring. The lure now looks like Fig. 21, and
will catch fish as it is ; but it is better to tie some
gaudy feathers on the shank of the lower hookj to
hide the very "rank" barbs (Fig. 22). The tying
of these feathers need not be difficult, and almost
any bright feathers, begged from your sister's hat,
will do. Tie them, as recommended in sucker
fishing for the whipping of hooks, and you now
have a lure just as likely to catch a forty-two
pound mascalonge as Mr. Chapman's beautiful
weapon shown in Fig. 22.
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING.
Curiously enough, it is
not always the most ele-
gant spoon that catches
most fish ; though what
I am going to relate by
no means should be used
as an argument against
nice tackle, but rather as
an apology for the in-
ferior kind. Some years
ago I was living on the
shore of Lake Cossayu-
na, Washington County,
N.Y., and near by me
lived my friend, Wm.
McClellan, also a most
devoted disciple of Izaak
Walton. One day in
early spring he sought
me out, and prevailed on
me to take another with
us to row, and to go a- Fig . 23 .-A mi ng ~patter n .
trolling. Said I," William, I must rig me out a spoon
with fine feathers, and new hooks, for this auspi-
cious occasion. See, I have one of friend Chap-
42 SPRING ANGLING.
man's finest (see Fig. 22), and the hooks are as
vivid as Jacob's coat of many colors."- " Bosh,"
said he, "this is good enough for me;" and he
called attention to a blurred and battered and
rusted old tin spoon, to which some colorless
threads of feathers hung in scarecrow fashion ;
"and what is more, it will catch twice as many
as your brand new tackling, I'll wager."- "Ha,
ha!" I roared, "hang it up in the apple-tree for
the birds to laugh at, but don't disgrace me with
such a spoon-bait." But fish with it he would and
did. We rowed back and forth on the lake all
that morning, and caught thirty-seven pickerel ;
and how many do you suppose fell to the share
of my splendid spoon-bait ? Just fo2tr. I tried
everything to change the luck. I even fished
right in my friend's water, with my bait revolving
only a few inches away from his ragged old bait ;
and even then the fish preferred his lure to mine.
Oh, how he did tease about it ! I never met him
but he reminded me of this, the only occasion
when I was badly beaten by him. I made it up
next day. Now, I grieve to say, he is dead
gone to that " undiscovered country from whose
bourn no traveller returns." (Rest in peace !)
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 43
Other shapes of allures are sometimes very
successful in trolling. Fig. 23 shows a shape
that can be cut out of tin, and will serve, though
of course nothing beats the spoon amongst the
fancy baits. I have sometimes made a rough-and-
ready arrangement answer admirably, as I did once
last spring. It was this way. I was passing by
a famous hole in the river near where I live, and
in the bright warm beams I saw a four to five
pound pickerel basking near the shore. How to
capture him I had not the least idea ; but I sat
down on a stone and began a search in my
pockets. Item I, a pair of nail shears, small, but
strong ; item 2, a piece of silk fish-line about four
yards long, and strong ; item 3, a jackknife ; item
4, some pieces of lead ; item 5, an eel-hook, large,
and ringed at end of shank. This is what I did. I
cut a pole and tied my line securely to it ; next
I' looked around, and, this being a well-known
sucker pool, I found an old tin worm-box. With
the shears (I confess I spoiled them), I cut a piece
of tin in the shape of a fish, roughly fashioned,
of course ; and with one of the points I bored
a hole in both ends of the bait. In one hole I
slipped the ring of the hook, and closed it tight
44 SPRING ANGLING
by hammering with a stone ; in the other I tied
the line two or three times through, so that it
would be less likely to be cut, and lo and
behold ! I had a glittering pickerel bait. With
my heart beating loudly, I approached the water,
and looked over to where my pickerel had lain.
He wasn't tJiere ! Oh, the throes of disappoint-
ment I experienced after all my trouble ! I
was on the verge of throwing the whole thing
into the stream, and telling him to take it when
he next came that way, when, on peering closely
again, I caught sight of the cold, malicious, fierce
eye of this river pirate from beneath a patch of
weeds near where I first saw him ; and in a mo-
ment I dropped the glistening bait, not in front
of him, for that would have scared him, but just
behind, drawing it slowly away. In a second he
was on it, with a ferocious rush and a tremendous
splash, and I felt at once he had hooked himself.
I dared not be severe with him, and you may
imagine the tussle I had with no reel and only
four yards or so of line. Backwards and forwards
he struggled, and I saw that he was securely
hooked in the fleshy part of the mustache or
movable lip ; and by and by, to shorten my story,
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING
45
I drew him to shore, and, stooping and putting my
finger and thumb in his eyes, threw him well upon
the bank. (This is
the best way to
land a pickerel if
you had no landing-
net.)
Trolling for pick-
erel with the Cale-
donian minnow is
another good way
(Fig. 24), and troll-
ing with a large
hook to which
white feathers have
been tied some-
what in the form of a fish, occa-
sionally is productive of a good
basket ; but, next to the spoon,
the dead natural bait certainly takes
precedence of all.
An ingenious boy can certainly
make his own tackle for the latter.
That which I prefer is shown Fig. Fl '9- 24.
Caledonian Minnow.
25, and consists of a piece of rather
46 SPRING ANGLING
stout sheet copper cut with the shears to the form
of Fig. 25 at A. The hooks are attached as also
shown. To bait it the shaft (Fig. 25, A) is thrust
down the throat of the dead bait, and the tail of
the bait bent to a sufficient curve to cause it to
spin, or rather to gyrate, with a sort of " wabble,"
which is very attractive to pickerel. The hooks
lie alongside the bait. It is seldom on a bright
day, with the wind not too cold, that the tyro
cannot capture pike with one or the other of the
lures I have described. I have also found the fin
of a perch, or the belly part of a small pickerel, an
excellent substitute for the spoon.
Great Lake Trout (the Salmo namaycusJi] are
also caught by trolling in a somewhat similar way,
and at about the same time of the year ; but as it is
not likely my boy readers will take up Great Lake
trolling at this stage of the subject, I will not do
more than mention the fact that on Lake George
the experts use a gang, whereon the bait-fish is
impaled. The one described above will do very
well ; and having out a long, strong line, they
travel for miles, trolling this bait behind the boat,
and their patience is rewarded with great fish,
ranging up as high as the twenties, and even
higher. (This is true of the West especially.)
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 47
Fig. 25. Home-made Gang.
48 SPRING ANGLING
Then, again, the mascalonge is taken this way ;
but though trolling for this fish is at best very
elementary angling, it is not to be expected that
boys will want to undertake it until they have mas-
tered the rudiments of the finer and more sci-
entific angling for smaller and more manageable
fishes.
The best time in the North for pickerel trolling
on the lakes and rivers is when the apple-trees are
in full blossom ; but the fish can be caught much
earlier, and I have referred to it in the present
order of sequence as a spring pastime, because
considerable and undivided attention must be
given to the next chapter. Moreover, I wanted to
lead my pupils up to trout fishing by stepping-
stones to knowledge, as it were.
Two useful implements must not be forgotten
when one goes trolling ; viz., the disgorger and the
home-made rack for keeping open the fish's mouth.
As you know, the pickerel has long and sharp
teeth, and one is very apt to get a nasty bite or
cut when unhooking the fish, if not in some way
protected. The device I use is a V-shaped or
forked piece of stout wood or bifurcated branch.
It is cut from a bush of any stiff wood. To use it,
PICKEREL TROLLING IN SPRING 49
the apex or small end of the V is pushed into the
pickerel's mouth sidewise, and turned round, open-
ing the jaw, and thus keeping them open. The
disgorger is simply a stick with a V-shaped piece
cut out of the end, and may be also made either
of bone or hard wood or metal. To use it, take
the line in the left hand and pass the notch into
the bend of the hook, and the latter is then readily
dislodged.
5O SPRING ANGLING
CHAPTER III
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT
As soon as the trout fishing opens, this beautiful
game fish will readily take the worm ; indeed, it is
not at all uncommon to get a trout when sucker
fishing, but they are then not yet in good condi-
tion, and take the bait with hesitation, and show
no fighting power or resistance. Indeed, so late as
the ist of May in 1893 I have found them "logy"
and sucker-like in Vermont (Bennington County) ;
and many times when I pulled up a trout I could
have made an affidavit, before seeing the fish, that
it was a sucker from the tameness of its behavior ;
indeed, the suckers bit with greater freedom, and
caused more exertion of skill to land them with
fine tackle than the trout.
But what a fine basket of fish myself and friend
did catch on that same May I, 1893! We drove
all night from Greenwich, N.Y., nearly twenty
miles, up hill and down, and in a blinding rain-
storm. By daylight we were at the brush factory,
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 51
West Arlington, Vermont ; and as we took our
horse out of the buggy, we found we were not
alone, but several other kindred souls, including a
lady and a little girl, were ready to begin fishing
also. All the few inhabitants of the village turn
out on May Day to fish the lovely Ondawa ; for
that is the first day of the season, and the first
fishing after the long Vermont winter. But on
this occasion it rained, and rained, and rained ! and
yet through it all we caught half-pounders and less-
sized fish, till our baskets were full to overflowing ;
and then, while yet midday, we had dinner at our
friend Babcock's, the redoubtable and evergreen
Jim Babcock, may his shadow never grow less,
and came away.
Fishing with the bait is greatly practised in
mountain streams all the trout year, but there are
special features attending it in the springtime
that do not appear in the later season. The fish,
as the weather becomes warm, are getting hungry
after their long winter's fast, and seize the bait
greedily ; and very soon one finds that to make a
good basket it is necessary to use much strategy ;
for the trout, unlike the sucker, is easily scared.
Oh, how glorious it is to follow some purling
52 SPRING ANGLING
stream down in these halcyon spring days ! and,
whilst the birds and flowers and greening hills
are manifest to your appreciative senses, to catch
this beautiful Apollo of the stream with deft and
careful skill ! How the season, the beauty of
nature, and the invigorating atmosphere and sun-
shine combine to make a setting for this best of
spring fishing ! I beg of you, boys, not to miss it.
Many springs have I pursued it, and never once
has it disappointed me.
But you must be told the best way to go about
it. And, first, the rod must be considered anew.
I really think, by this time, by the time our
young angler has got to the dignity of trout-
fishing, it is right he discarded the copse-cut
pole and arrived at a real rod. Not that the pole
will not catch fish, but there is additional pleasure
to be gotten out of the use of nicer and finer
tackle. The pole does well enough for primitive
spots yet existing, and for the olden times, when
only the lazy boys of the village seemed to do the
fishing ; but now, when young gentlemen, in the
intervals of their studies, go angling, and when
even the fish have grown educated, it is time to
make use of what Mr. Gladstone calls the " re-
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT
53
sources of civilization ; " and I therefore insist on
a real rod, line, reel, and leader for spring trout
fishing.
The rod. If you can afford it, go to your near-
est drug-store, and you can get a jointed 1 2-foot
bamboo for about one dollar. This is quite good
Fig, 26. Cheap Brass Reel.
enough for brook bait-fishing, and if you break it
going through the brush it is no great matter. I
myself sometimes use to this clay such a rod, and
find it both light and convenient. A plain brass
reel will serve, something after the pattern shown
at Fig. 26, and a silk line of 75 feet is long enough
54 SPRING ANGLING
for all brook purposes. It should not be too
thick, and may be dressed in the wax referred to
on an earlier page. Of course, the rod must be
supplied with guides.
C
Fig. 27. Kirby-Carlisle Trout-hook.
The best hook I know for bait-fishing for trout
is the eyed Pennell hook (Fig. 10) ; but a round
bend hook, not more than three-eighths inch
across the bend, is suitable. It must have a long
shank ; and the kind I like best is that known as
the Kirby-Carlisle (Fig. 27). This has a slight
side twist, and this twist enables the hook to hook
into the fish more quickly than would otherwise
be the case.
Fig. 28. Hook for Worm-fishing with Bristle Attachment.
Of course gut is used for the snell ; and, at the
same time the hook is bound on, a short piece of
thin wire or gut or bristle is tied alongside it, so
that it projects one-quarter of an inch above the
end of the shank (Fig. 28). This prevents the bait
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 55
from slipping down and becoming a bunch on the
hook. It is properly baited by running the hook
through from head to tail.
Sometimes a little float, or bob, of white quill is
useful to let you know where your line is, and to
indicate the least bite. I often use a piece of
cork about the size of a bean to carry the line
down and indicate its whereabouts. Of this, how-
ever, more later.
Fig. 29. Basket or Creel.
We will now suppose the angler arrived at the
stream. He needs to have a bag or basket to
contain his fish and lunch, and we will spend a
moment in considering this useful piece of equip-
ment. Now, the ordinary form of basket is shown
in Fig. 29, and answers very well. I have no fault
56 \VG
to find with it ; but i: I StS I dollar or more, and a
made of an old linon shoot or table-cloth,
which can bo washed every time after being
is even preferable. 1 object to putting my t'resh
and beautiful trout into an ill-smelling basket ; and
it is almost impossible to deodori. , ,: out the
smell of fish if once it has got well into the porous
woodwork. Then, again, the basket soon rots,
about three - is the life of it, and you
have to buy another.
A bag something like Fig. 30 is the most suit-
able for the boy bait trout-fisher. 1 le can also carry
his worms in the small bag at <?, Fig. 30, in damp
moss, and thus avoid the extra trouble of attaching
a tin bait-box. However, if he wishes to do this,
Fig. 31 is a good pattern. My own bag is a leath-
ern one, and so made that it can be turned inside
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT *fl
out to be scrubbed ; and a little leather pouch no
larger than a cigar-case carries all my fishing tackle
when out bait-fishing. Of course fly-fishing is
another story, and we shall have a great deal to
consider beyond the foregoing when we come to
that fine art of angling.
Fig. 31. Jin Worm-box, with Safety-pin Attachment.
Now, in fishing in a stream, no matter how large
or how small it may be, here are some maxims
you must bear in mind :
Dorit get nearer the water than you are abso-
lutely obliged. Reach as far as possible with your
rod.
Dorit go stamping around as if you were cold.
Tread lightly ; trout can hear by means of the
nervous apparatus attached to each scale (you
didn't know trout had scales ! Well, they cer-
tainly have ! ) ; and they feel, if they don't hear,
as you do, the tread of the heavy-footed angler.
58 SPRING ANGLING
Don't fish dozvn stream in slow flowing water,
but up. If the water is swift, you imist fish down.
Don't yank your fish out of the water as if you
wanted him to fly, but it is well to get him out
with reasonable haste.
Dont fish hastily ; don't be afraid to renew your
bait frequently ; and dont forget that the most
successful fisherman is he who has his line the
most in the water.
With these few don'ts as preliminary to the les-
son, I now proceed to fish a typical mountain
brook with you.
Of course your worms are well scoured, as I told
you in the chapter on sucker fishing. That being
so, select a moderately large one, and bait your
hook. Here the stream runs through grass land
tolerably level. Crawl near and let your bait fall
gently. It is invariably as soon as the bait
touches the water that the voracious little fish
bite and ha ! you have one, but it is very small,
too small to keep. Yes, the State enacts five
inches as the least size at which the trout may be
kept ; and taking your little fish off as gently as
possible, we throw him back. Try down by yon-
der bush that hangs over the stream ; drop your
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT S9
line in so that the current carries the bait towards
the roots of the alder. Now watch it in its course.
It rolls gently and slowly down stream ; and, as it
nears the largest root, there is the flash of a fish
swifter than that of the lightning, if it be possible,
and the bait is seized. Don't hesitate strike !
There you have him ! and the next moment he
swings out in the air a good quarter-pounder. Do
you wish to preserve the coloring of this very
handsome specimen to show the folks at home?
Well, kill the fish as I instructed you when speak-
ing of sucker fishing, by pressing the ball of the
thumb against the roof of its mouth, and snapping
the vertebra ; and here is a piece of fine tissue
paper. Always carry some with you ; it occupies
but little space in your pocket, and if it be closely
wrapped round a trout, will cling by reason of the
natural moisture of the fish so tight as to exclude
all air and most of the light ; and so you will find
when you get home and wash it off, your fish is as
bright spotted and handsome as when it first came
from the stream.
Fish carefully, especially in the spring, all the
shallows, and most carefully those near to holes
and trouty nooks. After the spawning season the
60 SPRING ANGLING
fish retire to the deeper water, wherever they can
find it, for the winter, and emerge in spring to
seek food and to increase their muscular strength
by engaging with the swifter currents of the run-
let. Ah, here we arrive at a piece of thick alder
swamp which almost hides the brook. Shall you
fish it ? Why, certainly. It may be almost im-
possible to reach every likely looking spot, but
you must by no means pass this by. Right down
between these branches lies a trout for sure.
Take your rod, patiently shorten the line by wind-
ing in till only a yard remains free from the tip ;
now roll the rod round, and so wind up the line on
the tip till you can pass it and the baited hook
through the matted branches. Now carefully turn
your rod the reverse way ; that is, unwind the
line on the tip, and, being very expectant, drop
it gently near that cavernous root. Ha, another !
doft't give any line at all. He is the best fish of all ;
simply hold your rod point up, and let him kick.
Your tackle will stand it. Now draw him through
as you best can ; and to do it you must, I fear, spoil
your chances of another fish, because of your eager
trampling to get your half-pound trout. Well,
there is always, even with old anglers, a first day's
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 6 1
excitability of nerves ; and the next time you get a
fish in just this way, you will probably basket him
without scaring the others sure to be in the pool
also. Remember this, and it is one of the axioms,
the best fish are in the best places, and where
there is one good, i.e., large, fish, there is likely to
be more.
Now, in the next meadow is a corduroy cart-
bridge, and beneath it there is sure to be fish of
some kind, small, medium, or large, and perhaps
all three. Put on another worm, and let us try it.
What, you can't get the old one off because of the
bristle at the top of the hook ? Pull it right up
on to the gut-snell, then ; now double the snell, and
draw the worm through the closed thumb and
finger. That gets it off, doesn't it ? There are
more ways of killing a cat than by simply hanging
it, you know. Here's our cart-bridge, and we stand
a rod or more above it. Now crawl to a firm spot
on the bank about twelve feet away from it, and
draw out about fifteen feet of your line, so that
you may reach some three feet under it with your
bait. How are you going to get your bait there ?
Wait a bit ; I'll show you. Here is a flat chip of
wood about as big as the palm of your hand. I lay
62 SPXfNG ANGLING
it down, and, putting the baited hook on it near
the middle, I coil the line in loose coils around on
the chip. Now launch it on the stream, so that it
floats down the middle ; hold up your rod, and guide
it, which you can easily do as the line uncoils.
Be alert ; it is getting near the end of the tether :
for at once, as the chip passes from under the bait
and it falls on the water, I expect that you will
get a bite. You cannot see the chip or bait, but
hurrah, you can feel the hooked fish ! Draw
him up quickly ; he is not the largest to be found
there. Search for another chip, and by the time it
is all arranged there will be yet a bigger trout
waiting. In summer a leaf is as good as a chip of
wood, and sometimes neither is needed, and a
piece of quill or white stick of wood will act quite
well as a float, or bob, to carry your bait to the spot
you are aiming at.
If you are fishing a brook such as the one we
have been " supposing" and have a friend with
you, you must not have him alongside you, or
even within talking distance, as I have been ; but
if possible, one fish up and the other down, both
returning to meet at the point from whence you
started. If, however, you want to fish down, pull
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 63
straws to see which one shall start first ; and if
you lose, sit patiently down till your friend has
got at least fifteen minutes' start. These fifteen
minutes allow the fish to settle again, and is little
enough. I prefer half an hour on much-fished
streams. Then go to work, and fish slowly, and
do not miss any spot because it is difficult.
If you have to fish up stream, additional care
must be exercised to approach the water quietly,
and don't fall into the error which nearly every
novice seems to be unable to avoid ; namely, that
of walking a piece and then fishing dozuu. Cast
your bait with a swinging motion np always, and
you will find quite as many, and possibly more,
taken than if you used a long line down. In up-
stream, and sometimes in down-stream, fishing,
especially if the wind be blowing so as to carry
your line away from where you want it to go, it
is necessary at times to use a sinker. In that
case a No. I shot split will be ordinarily suffi-
cient. It should be pinched on at a foot from the
bait.
In worm-bait fishing in large waters rivers
or wide brooks where large fish exist, a double
hook tackle is sometimes used ; with this the bait
64 SPRING ANGLING
can be cast somewhat as the artificial fly ; and it
is a very sure hooking arrangement, but it is not
necessary for general use unless the trout run
large. Ordinarily the medium-sized long-shanked
Kirby-Carlisle hook is most suitable.
Other natural baits may often be used with
success in trout fishing in spring if they do not
seem to care for the worm ; though at this season
the worm is far and away the best bait, and can
always be got by the waterside if you run short
of your cleansed garden worms. In some streams
the fresh-water shrimp is to be found, and two
should be impaled on a rather smaller hook than
that in use for worm-fishing. You will find them
under stones. Then, there is the larvae of the
stone flies or the case or caddis insects. You
take one of these and squeeze it, and instantly the
little black head of the creature pops out of the
case in which it dwells. The latter looks exactly
like a bit of twig or stick on the gravel, and its
dress shows another of nature's benevolent ways
of hiding its creatures from observation by mak-
ing them precisely like their surroundings. The
grub or worm out of its case is like a maggot, and
is a most killing lure. Every brook, it is true,
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 65
does not possess this larvae, but most waters con-
taining trout do so. It is, at any rate, well to
search for them if the fish are known to be plenty
and are not biting at the worm.
I have caught trout with other lures odder than
these. Once up in the wilds of New Brunswick,
Canada, whilst camping with a friend on the
Magaguadavic River (pronounced Magadavick),
our guide surprised us by thus commenting on
the big one and two pound trout we were frying
for supper : " These trout ain't no use fer eating ;
I'd sooner hev corned beef," - we thought them
(and they were) most palatable, "but I'll take
yer to-morrow where the trout ain't larger than
herrings, and black as yer hat, and they won't take
nuthin' but bits of chubs fer bait." I stared at
Davis incredulously ; but he was serious, and on
the morrow it proved as he had said. The water
where they lived proved to be a sluggish, almost
dead little slough, or " sloo," running out of a
swamp thick with moss and decaying vegetation,
and the water was of India-ink blackness (of a
deep rich brown black), and we used just such
tackle as I have been describing, baited with
pieces of chub, or even pieces of their brothers
66 SPRING ANGLING "
and sisters, as we discovered when our supply of
chubs ran out. They were black all over, except
on the belly, which was silvery white ; and on the
dark sides could be faintly seen the customary
red spots, only they were of the deepest blood-
crimson color. The largest we caught was not
one-quarter of a pound, and I think we must have
taken a hundred out of a space of water not four
yards square.
I do not recommend the use of pieces of fish
for brook-trout in this country, but I have re-
peatedly caught them with the light belly fin, and
with the eye from another fish.
In late spring, when the water begins to clear
and become low, and the sunny days return,
maggot-bait fishing is sometimes most effective,
and it may be practised at all times through the
summer when the water is low and the weather
too warm for worm-fishing to be of any use.
Any boy can breed the maggots without the
process being offensive, if he will follow out the
following instructions : Obtain a beef's liver from
the butcher, and slash it with a knife in half a
dozen places ; put it into an old tin pail free
from holes, and cover it with a lid so arranged
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT 67
that the parent blow-flies or 'blue-bottles can get
in, but that no cat can get the liver out. Let
it remain in the sun until it has been very freely
"blown;" then remove it to a shady spot, and
cover it up from the rain or other disturbing in-
fluence. In a few days more or less, according to
the weather, the eggs will hatch, and the young
maggots will begin to feed and grow. In a week
they will be full-grown, and the liver all eaten, or
nearly so. You must now, with a forked stick, lift
out what remains of this, and bury it ; and then
turn your maggots out into an earthen pan or jar
half filled with dry mould and sand. Place them
in the cellar for coolness there is now nothing
offensive in them for twenty-four hours, and
then turn them into fresh bran. In a few hours
they will be white as ivory, and a most tempting
bait for trout. It is a good plan to throw in a few
every now and then in advance of you as you walk
down the stream. They should be placed on the
hook as in Fig. 32 (p. 68).
Brook fishing with bait is the best apprentice-
ship possible for the young angler, and it may
be extended to river and lakes with ever-increasing
confidence. Grasshopper fishing for the same fish
68
SPRING ANGLING
comes later in the year, and will be referred to at
the appropriate time.
Fig. 32. Maggots baited according to Size of Hook.
Let the young fisherman never forget that fine
and far off which means light fine tackle, and
fishing as far away from the fish as possible
is a secret as well worth practising to-day as in
Walton's time, two hundred and more years
ago, when the axiom was first put in print.
PART II
SUMMER ANGLING
CHAPTER IV
FISHING FOR THE SUN-FISH AND OTHER
"BOYS' FISHES"
DISTINCTIVELY a boys' fish is the sun-fish, or
" pumpkin-seed ; " and when the other game fishes,
trout, bass, etc., are no longer plentiful, this de-
spised little gamin amongst fishes will be as highly
esteemed by anglers as are some of the " coarse "
fishes by Englishmen over the water. Everybody
knows the sun-fish, bold in biting, and fearlessly
fighting to the last on the hook. On fine tackle
they give quite good sport ; and I have frequently
quit fishing for the large-mouthed black bass and
pickerel in some warm-water lake in summer, be-
cause I preferred taking the bold-biting and vora-
cious sun-fish.
The food of these little fish consists of the
Crustacea and larvae of the water, and they will
take almost anything a trout will feed on. Worms,
maggots, dobsons, grasshoppers, and crickets are
their favorite baits ; and as these are easily pro-
71
SUMMER ANGLING
curable, the boy angler has
no difficulty in providing a
good string of sun-fish if he
knows ever so little how to
fish. They will also take
the artificial fly ; and much
fun have I had with them
with the " brown hackle,"
which will be described far-
ther on.
The tackle most suitable
for these small fry is a light bam-
boo cane pole, jointed if you like
and can afford it ; and if not, in
one length of about ten feet,
with guides and a reel, as direct-
ed for trout. Let your line be
a fine one, dressed as for trout,
and do not omit to have a yard
of medium fine gut for leader.
Also snell your hook, which should
be a No. 5 (Fig. 33) on moder-
ately fine gut ; for though the
33 - sun-fish is a bold biter, you will
Sprout Hooks. Show-
ing exact size of fi n( J t h at you catc h tWO fish with
each number. J
FISHING FOR THE SUN- FISH 73
fine tackle, where only one will respond to the
" pole and cord " style of equipment.
In sun-fish angling I always use a float, or
bob ; and a very good one for this purpose can
be made of a turkey quill feather, as I directed
you when speaking of sucker- fishing. Split shot
should be closed on the leader, to sink the float
so that three-quarters of an inch rises above the
surface of the water; and so adjusted as to lift
the bait about six inches from the bottom of
the water. You are then in a fair way to catch
fish.
i
By the way, there is a rough-and-ready way to
split your shot I don't think I told you of. Get
out your jackknife, make a slight circular inden-
tation in a piece of hard wood, the top of a post
will do, lay the shot in this, and simply cut
the lead halfway through. All sizes of shot, from
buck-shot to No. 5's, should be split and kept
ready in a pill-box ; and the preparation of these
is a good job for a rainy afternoon.
Having selected the spot you intend to fish, be
quiet ; for though these fish are not easily scared,
you want to be light, and not boisterous, in your
movements. Bait the hook with a small wriggling
74 SUMMER ANGLING
worm or grasshopper, or either of the other bait
I mentioned, and gently swing it out. Presently
you will see by the tremulous motion of the bob
that a sun-fish is biting then down it goes be-
neath the surface. A sharp strike fixes the hook
firmly ; and now you have quite a fight on hand
before the plucky little fellow gives up. Size for
size, he is little inferior to the trout in this respect,
though I am aware " comparisons are odorous," as
Mrs. Malaprop would say. A very good variation
of the tackle is thus made. Place the split shot
or sinkers (sufficient, of course, to " cock " the
float or bob) at the end of the leader. Now tie
one of the snelled hooks at a distance of six inches
above the sinker, at right angles, and above this,
at a distance of another six inches, tie on another
hook. You can thus use two kinds of bait, and
frequently catch two fish at a time. Should you
get two half-pounders hooked, you have got a con-
test indeed that will occupy all your wits and re-
sources for a few minutes. Especially as I urgently
insist you must not lift the fish from the water
until they have had their struggle out. Of course
if you, on the other hand, insist on doing so, you
must use very strong tackle, or be broken unex-
FISHING FOR THE SUN-FISH ?$
pectedly at some odd time when a larger and
stronger fish is visiting you.
The sun-fish has a bad habit of stripping the
worm from the hook. I know of no cure for this ;
but if you watch carefully, and learn their methods
of biting, you will soon be able to time your strike
so that this does not happen once in ten bites.
These little fish are very good pan fish in early
summer, but become " wormy " as the water gets
warmer. The black spots with which they are
then sometimes covered is caused by the cyst or
cell of a minute "worm" or larvae parasite. Do
you not remember that :
" Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
And so on ad infinitum ! "
Under the heading of sun-fish there are many
members of the family, all to be taken as I have
described, or to be gotten with the artificial fly.
I do not go into detail anent the fly at this time,
as that branch of fishing will be dealt with ex-
haustively when I come to hold forth on trout fly-
fishing ; and any one who can catch trout with
76 SUMMER ANGLING
the fly can of a surety catch "pumpkin-seeds" by
the same method.
The other members of the sun-fish family, be-
sides the well-known Lepomis gibbosits, are the
long-eared sun-fish (L. megalotis], known through-
out the Mississippi Valley and south-westward to
the Rio Grande, and in the north-west, and plen-
tiful in Indiana and Illinois ; the yellow belly, or
bream (L. auritns], found plentifully east of the
Alleghanies from Maine to Florida, and also in
Virginia and the Carolinas ; the blue gill (L. pal-
lidus), the most widely diffused of all ; the green
sun-fish (L. cyanellus}, found in all waters between
the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies, and
several more not necessary to be specially enu-
merated. They are all to be caught with the
angle-worm, and are all "boys' fishes."
One step above the sun-fishes, towards the game
fish properly so called, we find the rock bass (or
red eye). This fish is fond of quiet, rocky pools,
and is a fiercely ' preying and pluckily fighting
member of the great bass family. He takes
almost everything, from a piece of raw meat to
a black beetle, and is best caught with rather
larger hooks and stronger tackle than his brother
FISHING FOR THE SUN-FISH JJ
the sun-fish. The same remark applies to the
" crappie," so beloved of the youth of the Missis-
sippi Valley. Small fish are a good bait for these,
and also for the rock bass ; and I have caught the
latter in great plenty in the upper Hudson on
" dobsons," the larvae of the corydalus cornutus,
or helgramite fly.
To fish for the yellow perch is yet one step
higher in angling promotion, and very nearly ap-
proaches the art of catching the black basses. In
all waters inhabited by them, the yellow perch is
a beautiful fish, and differs but slightly from its
European brother of the same name. Given cool
water and plenty of food, it grows to a fair size,
and is then a brave fighter ; and if taken before
it spawns, is succulent and even delicious as a
table fish. One day last August (1893), Mr.
Edward Newbury and myself took a hundred and
twenty yellow perch out of Summit Lake, Wash-
ington County, New York, weighing just eighty-
six pounds, and we only fished eight hours. These
were all caught out of thirty feet of water, and
some of them went one pound in weight. Of
course in fishing for them it was necessary to
take off the bob and use a light sinker, striking
78 SUMMER ANGLING
sharply because of the great depth. Our bait was
worms. Perch also take a fly, the making of which
will be explained in the chapter on fly-fishing for
trout.
The white perch (Morone Americana] is another
fish chiefly found in the estuaries of rivers in the
brackish waters, and are justly much esteemed.
They may be caught with the same tackle and in
the same way as the sun-fishes and perch, and are
to be highly recommended for their toothsome-
ness and the sport they give. They are generally
most plentiful in early summer, and are said to
feed on the ova of shad, as these fish are ascend-
ing the rivers.
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 79
CHAPTER V
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT
No one will question my opinion that fly-fishing
for trout is the very highest form of angling. It
may be defined as fishing with an artificial or
hand-made imitation of the natural flies and flying
insects (and in some cases of jumping and crawl-
ing creatures, as in the case of crickets, grasshop-
pers, and grubs). In its practice only the neatest
and finest of tackle is ordinarily used, the chief
reason for this being the absence of all handling
of living baits, and the necessity for skilful methods
in order to give the lure a semblance of what other
baits do or have possessed, but which this has not ;
namely, life and movement.
In order that the fly may be cast lightly, as if
it fell accidentally on the water, it is necessary in
this form of fishing to use a rod possessing pli-
ancy, strength, and lightness that is necessary if
you would be ranked as a true fly-fisherman. Of
course you can fish with a bean-pole, as for suck-
80 SUMMER ANGLING
ers, if you choose, this is a free country, but
there is no sense of fitness in doing so. You
wouldn't write a letter home with a broom-handle ;
and so I will assume that you desire to have
tackle befitting the aristocratic fish you are pur-
suing, and that you are desirous of knowing how
to use it. In such a case, without further preface,
we will consider the rod.
Fly-rods for trout are of two orders, the single
and double handled, meaning for use by one or
two hands. The former are chiefly in use, and
only differ in that the latter are longer and heav-
ier, and have handles so made that both hands can
grasp the rod.
The single-handed trout-rod is ordinarily made
of cane glued together in sections, and whipped at
short intervals, and of solid woods, such as lance-
wood, bethabara, greenheart, etc. The cane rods
are the best ; but they must be made of the very
best material, and fitted with infinite skill and
care, or they are worthless, as they break easily,
or come apart when you least expect it ; and as
the best materials and workmanship are costly,
my boy readers must, I presume, be content with
the other kind. A solid lancewood or greenheart
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 8 1
makes up into a capital rod, and is far less costly ;
and to give you an idea how both rods will last
with care, I may say that I possess one of each
wood which I have used eleven years, and they
are of my own making. A fair lancewood fly-rod
can be got for from five to ten dollars from the
tackle stores ; but suppose my boy reader goes
to work and makes one ! I will take one of my
own made rods as a pattern, and we will make it
together.
It is understood to be a difficult matter to ex-
plain a mechanical process on paper ; but if the
following instructions are followed, I do not see
why there should be any failure. Of course the
beginner, especially if unused to carpenter's tools,
will find some trouble await him ; but " if you
don't at first succeed, try, try, and try again," is
all I can say to you to lighten your task.
Now, no matter what you want to build, never
omit a plan of it to work from. Therefore let us
make a plan of the fly-rod we are about to con-
struct. The one before us is just ten feet two
inches over all in length. Now take a sheet of
tin, and draw a diagram with an awl and rule or
82 SUMMER ANGLING
straight-edge, like Fig. 34 ; that is, with all the
lines and figures shown and of exactly same size.
The handle is to be ten inches long, so you deduct
that from the full length of the rod, leaving one
hundred and twelve inches. Now mark off the
figure into eight sections, and let the widest be
one-half inch, and the tip one-sixteenth inch. The
rod is taper, just as shown ; that is to say, at every
Fig. 34. Plan cut out of Tin or Brass Plate for Lanceu/ood Rod.
part the rod is to be just as thick through as the
diagram represents. For example, if the end of
your rod is to be half an inch in diameter, at just
half-way between it and the tip, or fifty-six inches,
it will be one-quarter inch ; and the thickness the
rod should be at any point can be determined by
measurement at once. But that is not all the
advantage to be gained. Having marked the
FL Y-FISHING FOR TROUT ' 83
sheet of tin or thin brass (the latter is best), just
as shown, get your hardware merchant, or do it
yourself, to cut out and file true the tapering space
between the two outer lines, leaving it exactly as
shown at Fig. 34, with the space cut out. Now
you have the plan of your rod and a gauge to
guide you in tapering it as you plane and work
the wood into shape. For example, say you are
working on the tip joint of your rod, and you want
to know how thick 1 it should be seven inches from
the extreme tip. You just place it in the slit, and
if it fits closely half-way between o and 14, it is
right ; for the diagram is divided into eight sec-
tions of fourteen inches, and seven inches are half
of each section.
(Before reading farther, go over the above again,
until you fully understand the whole thing. It is
perfectly simple, if you once grasp it, and is indis-
pensable for you to know about.)
The tools required are neither costly nor hard
to procure. A good plane, a good wood file ; a
piece of old saw steel, some, broken glass and
sandpaper, and a jackknife and gimlet are really
all you want with which to make your first fly-rod.
I made mine with just those tools, and no more.
84 SUMMER ANGLING
As you become proficient, you can extend your
possessions, and get several iron planes and more
files, etc. 1
The rod is to be in three pieces, so the larger or
longer joint should be of 3 ft. 8 in. (for 3 ft. 6 in.)
in length, and three-fourths inch square ; the two
other joints will be 3 ft. 6 in. (for 3 ft. 4 in.) each
in length, and may be of half-inch and quarter-
inch stuff square. Pick out some well-seasoned
and straight-grained wood, and you can then go
to work as follows :
Into your work-bench drive a short hard-wood
bolt, and bore holes to correspond in the ends of
each of your rod pieces. This is to enable you to
plane them from you ; and you will find this the
best way always. Now commence to plane the
pieces taper, keeping them square until they just
fit the gauge at the proper places on it ; for ex-
ample, the but-end of the large piece must be
just small enough to go in the end of the plane, or
measure one-half inch, and its other end must go
in at the third 1 4-inch section; then the but of
the next just fits the third 1 4-inch section and the
1 You can procure your wood from A. B. Shepley & Sons, 503 Com-
merce Street, Philadelphia ; either lancewood or greenheart
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 85
sixth 14-inch section, and the tip or top joint at
its largest part fits this sixth 1 4-inch section, and
the tip fits the end, or is one-sixteenth of an inch
in diameter.
Having got it to fit in the square, you must now
take two pieces of square-edged hard wood of four-
foot length each, and take a strip off one square
edge of each, and then nail them together, as
shown in the diagram (Fig. 35). Now lay your
Fig. 35- Section of Wood Strips to aid in Planing.
strip in this groove, and plane the four edges
down so that each joint forms an octagon, or
eight-sided stick of wood, and be particular that it
is according to the gauge. Next comes the file.
Now, the file must be what is known as a mill-file,
and you must always use it at right angles to your
work ; that is, crosswise. With this rub off the
eight corners of the octagon, and you will see you
86
SUMMER ANGLING
are quickly progressing towards a round form for
the rod joint. At this point, the utility of the
piece of old saw comes in. Get a round file, and
file it to the shapes shown (Fig. 36), leaving three
sides plain for ordinary scraping ; and you will find
this tool, when good and sharp, is a great help.
If, however, you cannot get or make this simple
tool, you must depend upon your pieces of broken
glass and file and sandpaper ; and, by dint of fre-
quent measuring and much persevering rubbing,
Fig. 36.
Piece of Old Saw filed for Scraper.
you will finally get it round, and of the right
diameter for each joint.
The handle of the rod must be larger, of course,
than the end of the largest joint, so that it fits the
hand comfortably. It may be made of sumach, or
some soft wood, as you please ; and if you cannot
get it turned round for you by some carpenter of
your acquaintance, you must get it bored about
three inches down whilst square, and work it down
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT
'8 7
to about three-fourths inch diameter in the round,
as you did the rod. At the end of it, it must
be narrowed to receive the reel-fitting (Fig. 37),
and the place for the hand must be swelled, as
Fig. 37. Reel Seat.
shown (Fig. 38). You can drive the large end of
your rod into it at once, cementing it with Le-
Page's liquid glue.
Fig. 38. Handle of Rod with Reel Seat in Place,
The ferrules (Fig. 39) next demand your atten-
tion. Obtain from Shipley's a set to fit the joints
of your rod, and fix them on in this way. Having
Fig. 39. Ferrule "Male " and "Female,"
got the wood so that it will go easily into the fer-
rules, wind it with some sewing-silk in wide coils,
and saturate with the glue. Now place the fer-
rule on the end, and push it home. Do not put a
pin into the ferrule to keep it on the rod ; that
88 SUMMER ANGLING
would weaken the latter. If the ferrules work too
tight, a little rotten stone and oil rubbed over
them will render them freer.
The guides are now the next consideration.
Now, the guides of a fly-rod are usually of the
kind shown at Fig. 40, and are whipped in place,
usually during the process of winding the rod.
This process consists in winding coils of silk vary-
ing from one-quarter inch to one thirty-second
Fig. 40. Guide Rings in Place on Rod.
000 OOO
Fig. 40. Guide Rings Apart.
inch in breadth, at intervals up the rod, to
strengthen it and increase its resiliency.
These whippings are made with spool-silk, to
be obtained from any of the dry-goods stores ; and
it should be waxed with the wax given in the
chapter on sucker fishing. There is a proper way
to wind a rod, and it is as follows : Having waxed
the silk, take the joint in the left hand, with the
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT
8 9
end towards you under the left hand ; lay the silk
on the rod (Fig. 41), and turn the latter till the
end is caught under the first coil of silk, guiding
the latter with the right finger and thumb ; keep
Fig. 41. Method of commencing to wind a Rod.
turning with the left hand from you, steadying
the other end of the joint against something, a
post will do, and so continue till you have a
quarter of an inch (if it be the large end of the
Fig. 42. Method of finishing off winding with ''Invisible" Knot.
rod) wound. Now make the invisible knot (Fig.
42), and draw it tight by tightening the coils, and,
pulling the end through, cut off close, and it is
gO SUMMER ANGLING
done. The guides need putting on in a like man-
ner ; and with a little practice this may be done as
neatly as in the rods made by professionals.
The number of whippings may be varied to suit
your fancy ; but the more the better for the dura-
bility of your rod. There should be at least two
guides on the lowest or largest joint, three on
the next, and four on the tip.
Practically the rod is now ready for varnishing,
and only the best coachmaker's varnish should be
used. It is best to give it two or three coats with
a camel's-hair brush, and to put it on thin (thin-
ning with turpentine), taking care that each one
dries before another is put on. Of course the
smoother and more finished every process is, the
nicer will be the appearance of the rod ; and
you had better get the loan of a good shop-made
rod, which will remind you of each feature as you
make it.
In rod-making (as in every other art) practice
makes perfect, and if you do not satisfy yourself at
first, keep trying ; that is my earnest advice.
The reel for fly-fishing cannot be made at home ;
you must save up and buy one. The Star reels
are the best and cheapest, and such a one as
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 91
shown in Fig 43, called the " Gogebic," costs only
a small amount, and will answer every purpose.
All the tackle stores keep these reels, as they are
standard.
The very finest reel in the world for fly-fishing
is the Automatic, shown in Fig. 44 (p. 92). This
Fig. 43. The "Gogebic" Reel.
reel winds up the line when you have hooked a fish
by means of a spring released by the touch of the
little finger (Fig. 45, p. 92), so that with the other
hand you may use the landing-net. I, personally,
never use any other.
The line for fly-fishing may be one of Martin's
92 SUMMER ANGLING
Fig. 44. " Automatic " Reel.
Fig. 45. Showing Method of operating Spring Catch.
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 93
" Kingfisher " lines of medium thickness. If you
prefer to buy it undressed, and to dress it yourself,
do so. The following are some useful receipts :
1. Boiled oil and best coach varnish, equal
parts ; mix at blood heat (about 100), and im-
merse line twelve hours. ,
2. Boiled oil, one pint >./>.eeswax, four ounces ;
put the oil in an earthenware jar, and stand it in
boiling water. (Keep the latter boiling.) Add the
wax in small shavings. Immerse the line when
the temperature has fallen to 100, or thereabouts,
and keep it immersed several hours, the longer the
better. The mixture should be retained at about
blood heat on the stove as long as the line is in it.
3. Boiled oil, one-half pint ; three-quarters
ounce beeswax ; one and one-half ounce Bur-
'gundy pitch ; tablespoonful copal varnish. Raise
the heat of this a little above that necessary for
complete solution, and immerse the line, keeping
the mixture warm on the stove for twelve hours.
These are first-class dressings, and are decidedly
the best I know of for the boy angler. Do not
forget to wind your line on the winder (Fig. 10)
you made for your linen sucker-line, and stretch it
when soaked the proper time in some dry place
94 SUMMER ANGLING
between loops of string rather than on nails. A
barn makes a good place ; but, as it is apt to be
dusty, an unused attic is better. Wipe off the
superfluous dressing at the time of stretching with
a part of an old kid glove. When it is perfectly
hard and dry, a littler-French chalk will give it a
splendid polish, if applied between the folds of a
piece of chamois leather.
The next operation for the fly-fisher to learn is
to make his own leaders. Now, to begin at the
beginning, a leader is a line made of silkworm gut,
generally three yards long ; and it is attached to
the silk or reel line, and to it is attached the snell
on which the fly is tied. As the silkworm gut
comes in lengths, according to price, from eight
inches to twenty inches in length, they must of
course be joined together until the three yards
is made up. Sometimes, as for bass fishing, six
feet is deemed sufficient, but I prefer my leader
to be within a foot of the length of the rod for
trout fishing ; so nine feet let it be at this time.
The gut is cheapest if a good fair price is given
for it. You can trust yourself with Shipley to
send you a hank of good quality for it comes in
hanks of a hundred fibres each at a reasonable
FLY-FISHIA T G FOR TROUT 95
price. There are two waste ends that are wrapped
in red cotton yarn, and these must be cut off.
Then immerse the strands in lukewarm soft water,
and let it stand till cold. If the gut be allowed to
soak all night, so much the better. In the morn-
ing proceed to make your leader, selecting only
the round and even strands. You can easily see if
they are round by twisting them, each end in a
different direction, between finger and thumb. If
flat, the gut will resemble a screw in appearance,
because of the twisted flat edges. If round, no
Fig. 46. Loop for End of Snell or Leader.
such appearance will show itself. It is well to
pick out the round and clear strands, and place
them in another receptacle. There are sure to be
a few flat strands that can be laid aside to come in
at some time when a short piece of indifferent gut
will serve some odd. purpose.
Assuming that you are ready to begin, take
the first strand and tie a loop (Fig. 46). This is
the easiest of all the loops, though I am not quite
sure that it is the best absolutely. However, I
g6 SUMMER ANGLING
have never known it to draw loose in a long ex-
perience, and it is very easy to tie. Draw it tight,
and cut off the ends close. The next knot to be
tied is called the fisherman's knot, and is easily
made (Fig. 47), and one of the best for medium
thick gut ; but for the very finest the angler's
knot (Fig. 48) is both easy and effective. Either
Fig. 47. "Fisherman's" Knot, for Leader tying.
of these will do for the tyro, as they are quickly
made, strong and easy. Other knots have been
advocated even by myself, and I must refer you
for these to my other books for advanced anglers.
Fig. 48. "Angler's " Knot for Fine Gut.
Having tied up sufficient lengths to amount to
nine feet, finish with another large loop. Both of
the loops should be at least, one inch in length.
You can now stretch the leader between two brass
or clean iron nails on a board or on the side of the
barn ; and when dry, being straight, it will coil
neater for packing in your tackle-book. Some
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 9/
good anglers like their gut for snells and leaders
stained a mist color (a bluish dun), and this you can
do before stretching with the following stain :
In a teacupful of hot water nearly boiling
drop a piece of copperas (sulphate iron), and set
that aside. Now take a piece of extract of log-
wood about the size of a bean, and dissolve it in
another teacupful of hot water ; add to this a good
pinch of carbonate of soda (saleratus), placing the
gut into a bowl sufficient to hold the two cups of
solution, and pouring the dissolved logwood over it.
Let it soak for fifteen minutes, till the gut has
attained a faint but decided crimson color. Then
add the copperas solution all at once (not pouring
slowly), and keep the gut moving for fifteen min-
utes longer. Then take out and wash with cold
water. The result is a neutral dark tint, which
renders the gut invisible on dull days, but is not,
I think, the best for bright, clear, sunny days.
The gut is best dyed after tying, as the stain
seems to render it less easy and smooth to tie ;
but the point is trivial and need not be insisted on.
The length of the snell is commonly four and a
half inches in American fly-making ; but English-
men tie their flies on the whole strand, which is
98 SUMMER ANGLING
sometimes, as I have said, over a foot long. The
arbitrary length is on account of the fly-hook
being just so long ; and though not to be rec-
ommended, because the fish are liable to see the
double loop of the snell and leader when it is not
over four and a half inches away, the tyro can
follow it for the present on account of its being
convenient for the fly-hooks in general use.
Sometimes the snell is " re-enforced " by doub-
ling the gut at the hook end. This is done by
tying a large loop, and, after stretching, cutting
through it (Fig. 49). Another good way is to
have three strands for re-enforcement (Fig. 50) ;
and whereas I have found two inefficient at times,
I have never found three to fail with the biggest
fish. The re-enforcement is also a preventive of
the accident known as "cracking" off the fly, due
to a clumsy cast, as will be shown farther on.
We now arrive at the daintiest art of all arts
whatsoever, fly-making. I must beg your close
attention, and will at the outset promise you to
give the easiest and plainest of tasks for you to do.
First, let us make the easiest of all artificial
flies together, a " Pennell Hackle." Take a snell
of gut, and a feather (hackle) from the neck of a
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT
99
100
SUMMER ANGLING
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT
IOI
rooster; also a hook and a waxed piece of spool-
silk. Place the snell underneath
the shank of the hook, and whip
it with the silk and the end of
the hackle (Fig. 51), taking care
the hackle is placed with the
under side np. Then take the
quill end of the hackle, and
wind it round at right angles to
the shank (Fig. 52), and finally
tie it in place, and run the silk
down to opposite the barb of
the hook, leaving the end of the
hackle protruding to form the
tail of the fly. When finished,
it appears as shown in Fig. 53.
This fly may be made without
other tools than the fingers ; but
for all other kinds, some other
tools are advisable. These are
as follows :
A vice made somewhat after
the diagram (Fig. 54).
A pair of pliers made of steel _
Fig. 53. Making a Hackle
wire (Fig. 55). Fly 3d Stage.
102
SUMMER ANGLING
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 1 03
A little hook made from a crochet hook, to draw
the thread through in tying knots ; and on the
other end you can roll your wax, as the stick
enables you to rub it on the silk with less risk
of getting it on your fingers.
The wax needed is as formulated in the chapter
on sucker fishing.
The varnish is of white (or bleached) shellac.
The feathers you need will depend upon the
kind of fly made, of course, and consist of hun-
dreds of varieties, though you can make killing
flies with few. Never disdain the wings of any
bird, or the hackles of any rooster. They are
always useful.
The silks used for the bodies of flies are the
best " wash " embroideries. The tinsel is the flat
kind, to be purchased at the theatrical costume-
makers ; but if you find a difficulty in this mate-
rial, send to Shipley's, or substitute yellow or
white silk for the gold or silver tinsel. In most
cases this can be done without hurting the use-
fulness of the fly.
For the beginner I advise the following modest
list of feathers :
Hackles, from brown, black, Plymouth Rock,
and white roosters.
IO4
SUMMER ANGLING
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 105
Wings from the crow, white goose, brown hen,
and mallard duck, with feathers from the breast of
the latter, turkey tail feathers, peacock tail or
sword feathers.
The silks to be used can be procured as they
are wanted from any dry-goods store.
Let us now make a hackle fly, say a brown
hackle, which is a killing fly everywhere for trout,
and will probably take more fish in a year than
any other one fly known to anglers in five years.
Set your vice in place on the edge of a good firm
table. Take a No. 6 Sproat hook (see Fig. 33),
and tie a snell to it, commencing an eighth part of
the shank away from the end (for there is where
your head of the fly will be, and you don't want it
to be too large). Now take two of three fibres of
the peacock's tail feathers (called herl), and tie in
the ends as shown (Fig. 56) ; wind them round the
shank till within one-eighth of an inch of the end ;
and now wind your tying silk around the herl, that
is, wound in a loose coil to where you want the
herl to be secured (one-eighth of an inch from the
end). Now tie the herl with a half-hitch (Fig. 57),
and cut off the loose part.
Now take a hackle, and, by stroking it from
io6
SUMMER ANGLING
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT IO/
end to end, draw out the fibres. Run the nail of
the middle finger of the right hand down next the
mid-rib, holding the point of the hackle between
the finger and thumb of the right hand, and the
root of it between the forefinger and thumb of the
left hand. The nail of the middle finger can be
forced in this way against the roots of the fibres,
and they will be " turned!' as it is termed (Fig.
57), and so arranged away from the mid-rib that
they will not be tangled up when tied on the hook.
This little operation should be mastered, as it is
of great value to the fly-maker.
Now cut off the extreme tip of the hackle, and
tie it in (Fig. 57) ; then wind it as you did with
the Pennell hackle, and tie it firmly with the ty-
ing silk, with two half -hitches ; cut off the loose
ends of the silk and hackle, touch with the varnish,
and your Brown Hackle is finished.
Now, in the making of a winged fly, let us take
the " Coachman," which is a Brown Hackle with a
white wing added. The easiest way is to so dress
the Brown Hackle as to leave space enough when
the hackle is tied to lay on a pair of wings taken
from two feathers (Fig. 59) from opposite wing
feathers of the white goose or pigeon. The slips
108 SUMMER ANGLING
of feather are held between the forefinger and
thumb of the left hand, and pressed down to the
shank of the hook ; then the
thread is passed up and over
the ends of the slips, and down
round the shank, and there se-
cured (Figs. 59 and 60). These
are called laid on wings ; and
small white whole feathers will
do equally as well as slips, and
may be tied with less difficulty.
Indeed, in the large-sized bass
fly a pair of feathers is always
used.
The " reversed " wings, which
are applied to all the best trout
flies in this country, are, how-
ever, put on the hook first.
That is, when the hook is at-
tached to the snell, two slips
are placed in the position shown
(Fig. 61), and there se-
cured. Then the body
and legs, or hackle, are
Fig. 61. Method of tying Reversed
wing mes. tied as in the case of
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT IOQ
the Brown Hackle fly ; and after the hackle is
secured, the wings are turned back and secured
with two half-hitches, and the fly is finished.
The learner has only to practise making these
two flies till he can find no fault with them, to un-
derstand the whole principle of fly-making. And
he can catch fish with one or the other of these
all days in the trout season. Of course, as he gets
other patterns to imitate, he will want to search
the works on angling for the names of the materi-
als used, and it will be necessary for him to some-
times undo a fly (from the head) to find out how it
is made ; but with perseverance he will soon learn
the process, and will only thus be doing what many
others have done before. Mr. Francis Francis,
the great English angling author and editor of
the Field, admitted that he had never had a les-
son on fly-making in his life, yet he was certainly
an excellent fly-maker, to my certain knowledge.
As I have mentioned a few materials that the
tyro had better provide himself with, I will give
the flies they are useful for :
Brown Hackle, peacock herl body, brown
hackle for legs.
Black Hackle, black embroidery silk body,
black hackle for legs.
I 10 SUMMER ANGLING
Plymouth Rock Hackle, green silk body,
ribbed with gold tinsel or yellow silk, and the
hackle f for legs.
White Hackle, white silk body, ribbed silver
tinsel, hackle at head for legs.
Black June is made thus : Body, peacock herl ;
legs, black hackle ; wings, crow.
Coachman has been described.
Cowdun, body, yellowish green wool yarn ;
legs, brown hackle ; wings, from the brown hen.
Red Spinner, -- body, blood-red silk; legs,
brown hackle ; wings, from the leaden part of the
wing feathers of the mallard duck.
Professor, body, yellow silk ribbed with gold
tinsel, and a tuft of red ibis feathers (you can get
ibis sufficient for this from me) as tail ; legs,
brown hackle ; wings, two breast feathers of the
mallard.
Montreal, body, wine-colored silk, ribbed gold
tinsel ; legs, a wine-colored hackle (stained or dyed,
from the white rooster hackles) ; wings, turkey
tail feather.
These flies will be sufficient for the young fly-
maker to begin on ; and when he has mastered
them, he must go for further information to my
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT III
more advanced book, " Fly-fishing and Fly-mak-
ing," published by the " Forest & Stream Co.,"
New York City ; or he can send to me direct,
and I will advise and help him, so that he cannot
fail.
I spoke of stained hackles just now. The
staining can be done very easily by means of the
" Diamond Dyes," to be got at any drug-store. *
Be sure you follow the " directions " exactly -
they are given on each ten-cent package of dye.
The feathers must be washed with soap and warm
water until every particle of the natural grease is
out, and rinsed in several waters, to get out the
soap. They are best dried, after dying and rinsing
in cold water, by placing them in a cardboard box,
pierced with holes through the lid, and letting
them get warm on the stove ; or, if the weather be
favorable, out in the air, shaking the box vigor-
ously every now and again. This is my practice
for a large quantity. For a small number (a few
dozen or so), tie the hackles on ordinary skewers,
or slips of wood, a dozen on each ; and when you
want to dry them you can do so by simply twirl-
ing them between the palms of both hands.
Having constructed your fly, I must now tell
112 SUMMER ANGLING
you how to use it, and let me here say that the
most successful fly-fisher is he who knows how to
drop his fly daintily, rather than he who only
knows how to cast a long line. Most fish are
caught within fifty feet ; and you need not, there-
fore, endeavor to learn how to cast ninety feet
at the first start.
Fig. 62.
Improper Method of Casting.
Here is the procedure I recommend
to the beginner. Take a boat and row
out into a lake ; casting on the grass
will do, but water is better. Now
grasp your fly-rod firmly by the handle ; the
reel below the. hand (no matter what anybody else
says), and hanging from the rod ; the grasp should
be as shown in Fig. 45 ; and if you use the
automatic reel, the little finger must go round
the break, as shown, but not on it, except where
necessary to draw out line or land a fish. Draw
out from the reel a few yards of line, and, waving
the rod with a smart movement, cause it to pass
through the guides. The cast is made by drawing
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 113
the rod smartly backwards, so as to throw the fly
back in the air to the extent of the line out ; and
then a forward thrash of the rod brings the fly
forward, and lays the line out straight. It is a
matter of judgment, based on much practice, to
know when to bring the rod again forward ; but
practice and watching others are the only roads
Fig. 63.
Proper Moment for Forward Jhrova or Cast.
by which an elegant manner of casting
can be achieved. Be careful, first, to
throw back (or retrieve) the line quickly;
and, second, to not make the forward cast
or throw too quickly thereafter. If you do, the
result is shown in Fig. 62, where -the fly has not
got back far enough, and the forward movement
snaps the fly off (most probably on the principle
of the snap of a whip). Fig. 62 shows the im-
proper forward cast, and Fig. 63 the proper mo-
ment at which the cast should be made.
Again I say, practice, practice, practice ! If you
do so on the grass, tie a little tuft of wool yarn
on your line end ; and I have found the snow in
114 SUMMER ANGLING
winter to be a capital fly-casting ground. As
soon as you can lay out thirty feet straight and
without snapping, go to work and strive for deli-
cacy and correctness of aim, especially the former.
It is unpardonable to make a splash of your line
in the water when fly-fishing.
We now come to an important point, how to
fly-fisJi. On this subject volumes have been writ-
ten ; and, as Izaak Walton long ago pointed out,
one might as well try to teach another how to use
his fists in writing as to try to teach fishing in
the same way ; nevertheless, if the learner will let
this little book accompany his persistent practice,
he will be on the right road towards becoming a
proficient fly-caster and trout fisherman.
If the stream to be fished is a tolerably broad
and slow-flowing one, the dry fly may be used ;
and this means that the fly is dried in the air by
several times making the motion of casting, but
not dropping the fly. In England, especially on
the clear chalk streams, this fishing is the only
style deemed ordinarily applicable ; but it is rarely
used in this country, though I frequently practise
it, having had at one time ten miles of the premier
dry-fly stream of England in my charge. And
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 11$
the fly in this style must be cast np stream, not
down, and be allowed to float until, it approaches
the feet of the angler. This is a deadly style of
fishing ; but the flies must be small, and require
to be made with large wings, and sometimes it is
advisable to use double wings ; that is, two slips
for each wing instead of one.
The ordinary way of fly-fishing is, however, to
cast the fly down stream and across, drawing it
up with slightly jerking motion. This motion ex-
pands and contracts the fibres of the fly, and gives
a semblance of life, as if the insect struggled to
be free ; and this movement, of course, goes far
to hide the fraud on the fish. In dry-fly fishing
this movement is not made, but the fly is allowed
to float quite without movement ; and is neces-
sarily, therefore, of much closer imitation, that
is, to be successful. Personally, I am an advo-
cate of the " exact imitation " theory, and be-
lieve that all imitations should be as close as
possible. This is, however, a refinement into
which the boy-angler need not be led.
Down-stream fishing is certainly easier to prac-
tise, and the task of casting is much facilitated by
the downward and therefore pulling action of the
water.
Il6 SUMMER ANGLING
Of course all likely spots must be covered,
whether they lie down or up stream, quiet cor-
ners and eddies ; the edges and, in early summer,
the centre of swift -running streams ; beneath
dams ; near old sunken trunks of trees or logs ;
near to springs and cool incoming streams ; and
though no special time of the day can absolutely
be set apart, yet early morning and late afternoon
are generally found most fruitful of sport in trout
fishing.
Nor is the night-time to be despised in mid-
summer. During the excessive heat of the day no
fish will bite ; but if the moon be on the ascend-
ant, or even on the decline, providing it be not too
bright, trout will rise to the fly very satisfactorily
in the night. Indeed, the fact that no fish are
so easily taken in the daytime whilst there are
moonlight nights, may be assumed to be because
the fish find food plenteously at night-time, and
therefore have no room for it in the daytime ; or,
at least, do not feel so eager as they otherwise
would do. For night fishing large flies are best ;
a large Brown Hackle or Coachman is a capital
lure, and it can be cast into the water with some
splashing, for the purpose of attracting the fish's
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT \\*J
attention. Some of the largest fish are taken in
this way ; though, to be sure, it is rather lonesome
work, unless one is accompanied by another brother
of the rod.
Another very productive way of fly-fishing is
angling with what is known in England as a " blow-
line." This consists of a light floss or twist silk
reel line, and a single hook at the end of the
leader, on which is impaled a natural fly a
"blow" or blue-bottle fly is the best. The only
time this lure can be used is when the wind is fav-
orable. It must be at your back, blowing either
up, or up and across, or down, or down and across ;
but, as you can fish from either bank, you have a
good choice of winds, and can fish quite a number
of days in the summer. It is especially fitted for
fishing the riffles or shallows, and is very killing.
The way to practise it is as follows : First,
catch your blue-bottles the butcher will gladly
spare you what he has, and a gauze insect collec-
tor's net is the most useful device for their capture.
Then kill them by pinching their heads ; next tie
a fine piece of silk thread around each one ; pre-
pare, say, two dozen in this way before repairing
to the stream. You will not regret the time it
takes.
Il8 SUMMER ANGLING
Being on the bank of the river, you must find
out about the wind ; for to it you owe the placing
of your fly where the fish are. Having slipped
the hook into the girdle of silk thread round the
fly, you raise your rod aloft, and begin drawing out
your fine silk line. The looser the strands of the
line the better, as the wind catches it the more
readily when it is loosely twisted. Let it float
out before the wind, till some forty feet or more
are being blown up or down over the stream.
Then by lowering the point of the rod, drop your
fly just on the water, let it float a few inches,
and lift the rod again, so as to take it off, con-
tinuing to do this over any likely spots you may
perceive. It is rare that a trout refuses to rise to
this lure, and there is really more in it than seems
to be the case from this brief mention.
Fly-fishing with the natural fly is to be com-
mended as a killing method of fishing at all times
where possible ; but it does not compare with fish-
ing with the artificial fly as an art.
A word of advice may here fitly be given in ref-
erence to the playing and landing of a hooked
trout. Don't forget that you must never allow the
fish a slack line ; keep the tip of the rod always
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT I 19
up and at tension against the fish ; be careful and
deliberate ; never hurry the fish ; and, finally, never
lift the fish by the line, use a landing-net, and
bring it up behind the fish, rather than dive for
the head of the fish, as I have seen novices do
many times. *If the fish is not tired out, let it
struggle until it is, and then you can use the net,
if you cannot do so at first.
120 SUMMER ANGLING
CHAPTER VI
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, PERCH, STJNFISH,
ETC.
IN summer, especially during the early part of
July, the bass (both " large " and " small " mouth)
will take the fly with avidity. A rather more
powerful rod is necessary to completely enjoy bass
fly-fishing ; but the one made for trout will do if a
tip be fashioned rather shorter say six inches
than the one you use for trout. The reason for
this requirement is the heavier and larger fly in
use. It is usually twice as large as the ordinary
ones employed for trout ; and for the large-mouth
bass of the South, I have made flies nearly three
inches long, but these are very exceptional. A
No. 3 or 4 hook (see Fig. 33) is ordinarily large
enough for the black basses of the generality of
our streams and lakes.
The reel need not be changed, and that em-
ployed for trout can be used without difficulty.
The line may be a little thicker, but the point is
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 121
of no importance if it be strong enough. I always
use my trout fly-line for black bass, and find no
difficulty. The leader should be of thicker gut,
and the same length as for trout.
If you have carefully followed the directions for
fly-making for trout, you do not need them re-
peated here ; for bass fly-making is identical in
principle and practice, except that a larger hook
and stouter gut are used. A few of the best bass
flies I know of may be described, and with these
you will probably catch as many fish as anybody
else with a $500 collection. These have the
merit, also, of simplicity :
Brown Hackle, made as described for trout
on No. 3 or 4 hook.
Brown Moth, body, brown worsted (cinnamon
brown) ; tail, a few hairs from tail of brown squir-
rel ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, turkey tail. Size
of hook, No. 3.
Coachman (see chapter on trout).
Royal Coachman, made same as ordinary
Coachman, but the body is divided in centre by a
band of scarlet silk. (Fig. 64.)
Gray Hackle, same as for trout. No. 3 hook.
Professor, same as for trout. No. 3 hook.
122
SUMMER ANGLING
Black June, same as for trout.
No. 3 hook.
Cowdun, brown wings ; green-
ish-yellow worsted body ; brown
hackle.
White Miller, body, white
wool and silk-ribbed gold tinsel, or
orange silk ; hackle, white ; wings,
white.
Seth Green, body, green silk
ribbed with yellow silk ; wings,
brown (buff turkey tail) ; hackle,
brown. No. 3 hook. These are
sufficient to begin with.
In using the fly for bass, some-
what similar tactics to those in
vogue for trout are employed. Of
course the thing to do first is to
ascertain beyond peradventure that
bass are present. The fly is cast
in precisely the same style as for
trout ; but it is allowed to sink
several inches at least under water
before it is d?awn back by little
jerks towards the caster. In deep
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 12$
water it is advisable to close a small split shot
about a foot above the hook, so that the line
is sunk a foot, or even two, beneath the water.
The small-mouth black bass is usually found
over a rocky bottom, near old submerged trunks
of trees, and in deeper water generally than its
confrere of the " large-mouth " species. But both
take the fly greedily at times ; and when either
is hooked, there is quite a "circus" on hand to
deal with. Especially is this so with the small-
mouth fish. He is the very bull-dog of the
water. As soon as the hook pricks him, the
line runs out with startling rapidity ; then he
leaps from the water, following this up with
other leaps, sometimes to the number of six,
or even more ; and it is necessary to be patient
arid wary if you would secure the fish in the end.
I do not think any fish that swims is superior to
the black basses in fighting-power on the hook.
By the way, the young angler is sometimes
puzzled to know how to distinguish between the
targe-mouth and the swat/-mouth fish. Let him
do it by observing the feature that gives them
their colloquial names. The large-mouth has a
proportionately much larger mouth, extending to
124 SUMMER ANGLING
the outer orbit or rim enclosing the eye, whilst in
the small-mouth, the mouth only extends to a line
drawn perpendicularly through the centre of the
pupil of the eye, and in addition there is a spot of
red in the eye of the latter.
All the various black basses of fresh water in
this country have been decided by authoritative
naturalists to belong to one of these species :
either Micropterus salmoides (the large-mouth), or
M. dolimeu (the small-mouth black bass).
I have at times dressed the flies I used with
a slip of lead on the hook shank under the body ;
but it has the disadvantage of interfering with the
casting. The fly does not alight so softly, and
cannot be propelled through the air so readily.
The movement in bass-fly casting should be almost
exactly like that in throwing a ball ; and I suppose
my boy readers know how this is done overhand.
Perch will take the fly in summer in any waters
where they are numerous. Near where I write is
a beautiful little mountain lake on the summit of
a hill (whence it is termed Summit Lake), supplied
by springs, and deep and clear and cool. Bass
and perch inhabit it ; and the perch vie with the
bass in taking the fly. Whilst camping on its
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 125
shores last August, I found that a special fly was
wanted to withstand the sharp teeth of the perch ;
and after many experiments I found the follow-
ing to be the most killing combination. It is a
modification of the ever useful " Coachman." I
call it the Bronze Coachman :
Body, of the bronze tinsel cord one gets at the
dry-goods stores at five cents or so a ball. It is
used by ladies for embroidering on velvet, etc.
Legs, plenty of brown hackle ; wings, white.
With this fly we sometimes caught three perch
on a line at one time ; of course using three
flies. These flies were made on a No. 6 hook.
(See Fig. 33.)
A Brown Hackle is a capital fly also for perch.
So is what is known as the Soldier Palmer. This
fly has a red silk or woollen yarn body ; and one
hackle is tied in at the bend of the hook or tail
end of the body, and run up in several coils to
the head, and there fastened ; another one is then
tied in at the head in the ordinary way.
Either of these flies will also catch the lively
little sun-fishes ; and I do not by any means dis-
dain this small fry, if fished for on the trout-rod
with fine gut and small hooks.
126 SUMMER ANGLING
The wall-eyed pike, white perch, and even pick-
erel, will take a fly ; and in the waters of Florida
almost every fish that swims will respond to a
gaudy fly or insect. I therefore strongly advise
my boy readers to make the fly-rod and its acces-
sories their chief thought in fishing. Fly-fishing
is the fine art of angling, and they will never re-
gret the time and pains expended on it. The lord
of all sporting fishes is the salmon, and he is
chiefly captured with the beautiful creations of
the fly-makers' fingers. In the years of maturity
my readers will doubtless come to fish for and
catch this superb fish, and these pages are in-
tended as preparatory lessons for so doing. But
all must begin with this alphabet before going
farther.
The memories of many adventures in pursuit of
fish with the fly-rod arise in my mind as I ap-
proach the end of this chapter, and I am minded
to tell of a coincidence that occurs to me now
when thoughts of summer fly-fishing are com-
manding the attention.
A fish-story, to be generally palatable, must be
very highly spiced with romance. This one is a
record of veritable experience.
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 12*]
My narrative really consists of two separate
stones, each being perfectly distinct and complete
in itself. The incidents occurred many years and
thousands of miles apart. But coincidence con-
nects them with each other in the fact that they
both occurred on the same date, May ist, and that
their salient features were alike, as were also their
results. " So much," to quote old Izaak Walton,
" for the prologue of what I mean to say."
I was born on the banks of the English
Thames ; how long ago it does not boot to say.
My father, and generations of his ancestors, were
professional Thames fishermen, so it is easy to
understand that I loved and learned fishing as
soon as I could walk nay, I am given to under-
stand that I caught my first fish before I could
walk. Be that as it may, I could handle a rod
long before most boys hear of one, and I was a
constant companion of my father whenever pos-
sible. He was a great fisherman, I say it advis-
edly, keen of eye, intuitive, an athlete, and a fish
lover, and particularly was he a great trout-fisher-
man. The Thames trout is a brown trout (Salmo
fano), and grows to sixteen pounds on exceptional
occasions, and averages, or did, from seven to ten
128 SUMMER ANGLING
pounds. He is a rara avis of the water, I am
bound to admit. But my progenitor rarely failed
to capture the " sockdolager " of every dam or
" weir " above the tideway each season. He had
his own methods. Here they are, in brief : The
rod was a light red deal and lancewood rod of
some fourteen feet (he was tall) ; the line was
a fine strong silk one ; the leader was a six-foot
length of good stout gut ; and the one hook no
gangs of ten for him was a No. I Sproat or
Limerick. His bait was a small fish named bleak
or bley, similar to, but brighter than, a " shiner."
The manner of using this outfit was simple.
These large trout frequent the deep, quiet waters
adjacent to the rough waters of the dams or
" weirs," and there in some corner watch, in per-
haps twenty feet of water, for what they may dis-
cover. Now, above and some eight or ten feet
over these dams is built a beam as a bridge-way -
a single beam, without railings ; for the public
were not supposed to use it. Only danger-lov-
ing English boys would dare to run along its
dizzy path and gaze into the tumbling water be-
low ; the general public never intruded. This
beam always formed the coign of vantage on
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 1 29
which my father and none but himself hitherto,
owing to the dizzying effect had taken his stand
for the glorious Thames trout. From this stand-
point the bait was manipulated deftly across and
athwart the rushing waters ; and there was fre-
quently ten or fifteen yards of loose line drawn
from the reel and coiled in a figure eight in the
hand preparatory to casting. Many a time had I
watched his dexterous movements with envy ; and
once, after aiding to boat a particularly large fish, I
remember the resolve was suddenly born in my boy-
ish heart that I would, could, and must do likewise.
The fishing season began in April, but was best
a little later ; and behold me, therefore, one bright
May Day morning, a boy of about twelve, early in
the light skiff, eager to reach the vicinity of the
"Weir." I remember the joy I felt : it comes back
to me now ; and also the scent of the hawthorn
hedges, with their masses of white bloom ; the
carol of the skylark, the song of the thrush and
the blackbird, and even the brilliant azure and
orange-red hues of the kingfisher as he darted by
all nature was radiant ! I soon reached the
venerable weir ; and, selecting with a general's eye
the most " likely " spot, I made the boat fast, and
I3O SUMMER ANGLING
climbed lightly on to the beam. Very soon I was
sitting astride it, and deftly casting the brilliant
minnow, and manoeuvring it from cataract to eddy
through the myriad jewelled spray. As it skipped
and danced from crest to crest, it seemed like some
silvern butterfly rather than a fish. Herein lay its
attraction ; and before I had fished twenty minutes
the great tortoise-shell shoulders of a big trout
heaved above the torrent, and with a determined
plunge he had seized the bait, and sunk for his*
watery lair. How well I remember the thrill of
awe-like ecstasy I felt ! And then began the bat-
tle. I will not attempt its description. Such com-
bats have been portrayed by more masterly pens
than mine. It is sufficient to say that, from my
high post, it was one of tragic interest to me as
well as the fish; and just as the latter seemed to
become sufficiently amenable to reason to allow of
my seeking the shore, with a view to landing him,
I remember the top of my head seemed to be
swimming off somewhere ; then the water became
sheets of silver flame I staggered, recovered my-
self, for I had risen on the narrow bridge, the bet-
ter to traverse it shoreward ; then the loose line
dropped from my left hand, and, without further
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 131
to-do, I rolled off into the boiling torrent below,
down down down to the abysmal depths. The
cold water revived my mind, and with a good diver's
prescience I held my breath, and sought to emerge
from 'the curling, eddying, twisting fury of the
maelstrom of which I was the sport. Try as I
would, I found my arms and legs held as in a vice,
and powerless ; then after a time, interminable as
it seemed, I was violently thrust forward, as by
some strong human arm, and found I was ascend-
ing. With one convulsive kick I arose amidst a
great clot of white foam, which I remember to this
day looked like a great sky window from below.
My breath came back convulsively, and, oh how
painfully and chokingly ! and in another moment I
was washed on to the shallow riffle ten or twelve
rods below the dam. There I lay for quite a time,
till I could cough up what water I had unavoidably
swallowed. Finally, I began to realize. The first
poignant thought was the fish. The loose line
had wound round and round my legs and body, and
even arms, in the eddy ; but still something was at-
tached to it. This was the rod. Carefully I drew
it up unbroken and reeled in the line, which I had
disengaged from my body. There was still a lot of
132 SUMMER ANGLING
line in tne water, apparently entangled tip stream.
I unsteadily wound it in it was fast around the
woodwork of the dam. I tried to draw it to me
- then suddenly out sped the still attached fish.
Was ever such good fortune ? Reader, / fongJit
tJiatfisJi anew, and landed him. He ^veigJled seven
and a quarter pounds ! He should have been lost
to me, I know, according to usage in all fishing
stories, but I cannot tell a lie !
This occurred at Chertsey Weir, England, A.D.
1 867 ; and many yet live near the spot who can
attest the occurrence.
My second episode occurred in 1891, at the East
Greenwich Dam, Batten Kill River, Washington
Co., N.Y. Time of year, also May ist. A glori-
ous morning for the fisherman was this when I
drove up to Lake's Hotel " as the gray dawn was
breaking." The robins were still at matins around
the house, and very soon I had mine host and his
satellites roused. A keen sportsman he ; and to his
salutation I returned, " Is the dam in good order
for fishing ? " receiving an affirmative reply in no
uncertain tone. No boat being on the river, I had
taken my " Acme " canvas folding boat, intending
to fly-fish all the likely spots of this famous trout
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 133
water. Very soon I had the boat geared ; and
whilst one of the men carried her to the water, I
took my " morning draught," as quaint old Walton
would term it. That duly accomplished, and with
rod lightly arranged, I stepped into the fragile
bark, and was pushed off into the stream.
In this instance I was below the dam, and
intended approaching as near as might be advisa-
ble, and anchoring, altering positions to suit cir-
cumstances. A select crowd had gathered on the
shore, and were taking in the situation with enjoy-
ment ; and I soon increased their admiration by
boating a nice little twelve-ounce fish. Now, this
dam was built for supplying a knitting and flour
mill near by, and is not at all a formidable one, its
fall not being more than ten feet ; but at the time
of which I am writing, a very respectable volume
of water was coming over, and there was, at one
part near the side, a swift and powerful undertow,
a fact of which I was yet unaware. Presently,
however, a good fish rose to my Royal Coachman ;
and as I struck him, and saw him plunge, I knew
it was a two-pounder at least. How he did fight !
And finally, finding I should have trouble in boat-
ing him, the boat being so light, and I being so
134 SUMMER ANGLING
heavy for it, I determined to raise anchor and let
her drift to the shallow water, where I could step
out and accomplish the deed. The raising of the
stone anchor I easily accomplished with one hand,
and then prepared to manage the fish. As the
boat drifted, however, I found she took a rather
erratic course, which, being so light (seventy
pounds only), I attributed to the pressure I was
putting on the fish. At all events, I suddenly
realized that we were in the undertow, and rapidly
approaching the dam's fullest rush of water. Once
under that, and, with my heavy boots and other
paraphernalia, I was. doomed. I tried to row her
free, but the hold of that fell stream was great.
Still I should have rescued her had not the light
oar broken. Then, when there was nothing else
to do, I jumped ; and, as fortune would have it, I
escaped by some miraculous means the force of
the reflecting current, and, with nothing more than
a good ducking and some excitement, I swam as
best I could, and was pulled out on terra firma,
What of the boat ? Well, released from my
weight, she floated on the upper stratum of the
current, and was stranded a few hundred yards
lower down. And "what of the fish?" do you
FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 135
ask. M' yes, I cannot tell a lie. I didn't find it
still on. It broke loose ! But it weighed just two
pounds seven ounces ', all tJie same. I am positive
of that. And this is how I know :
Two months later I was fishing the dam of a
flax-mill lower down the same river. It was
evening ; and as the soft -winged moths fluttered
alongside my own artificial white miller, I "rose"
a fish and hooked him. Moreover, I landed him ;
and in his mouth were the remains of my identical
Royal Coachman fly, lost at the upper dam in the
early season. No one makes this fly just as I do.
This fish weighed two pounds seven ounces exactly,
that is why I am positive of the weight of the
lost one, you see !
PART III
AUTUMN ANGLING
CHAPTER VII
MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT
IT is not usual to fish with a minnow for any
trout except the Salmo namaycush, or Great Lake
trout, in this country ; but those who have tried
it for brook trout, including myself, find it quite
as deadly as the fly or worm. I shall not describe
the process of trolling for the lake trout, asvit is a
sport that is rather outside the reach of my young
readers, further than to say a gang of hooks, on
which a shiner is impaled, as in pickerel trolling,
is ordinarily used, or one of the artificial fish (the
"Caledonian " Minnow or " Phantom " Bait) is
attached to the line and towed behind a boat pre-
cisely as in pickerel trolling in principle, though
the detail may vary. The Great Lake trout is
taken in spring and fall by this method, and a
grand fish it is ; but if one can use the minnow
for the brook trout, he may be pretty certain that
the lake trout fisherman can teach him but little
concerning the larger fish.
139
140 AUTUMN ANGLING
Now, the minnow is only used for brook trout
on rivers where it is known large trout exist.
These large fellows are also very hard to catch
with the fly or bait, and hence it is not unsports-
manlike to use the live or dead minnow. In no
case need the young sucker, dace, or shiner be
longer than two and one-half inches ; and some-
times, if smaller, the sport resulting will be the
more.
The live minnow must first claim our attention.
Be sure they are got from some cool stream, if you
are to use them near springs, where the large
trout do most congregate at this season of the
year. If you do not pay attention to this little
matter, they will not live and play freely on the
hook, any more than an African from Central
Africa would find the climate of the Esquimau
to his liking; but they will certainly die, and
that sometimes as soon as they touch the cooler
water.
The tackle you must use for the live minnow
may be one single No. 2 hook on strong gut, with
a light sinker to carry the bait down, or it may
be like that figured ; namely, a single loop hook to
go through the bait's lip, and a triplet hook to lie
MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 14!
by side the bait (Fig. 65). In the case of the
single-hook tackle there is a good chance of hook-
ing the fish, but in the case of the triplet hook
arrangement the chance is far better ; and espe-
cially is this tackle fitted for use in the rapid
water of dams, etc., where the biggest fish un-
doubtedly lie. The triplet hook simply lies along-
side the living minnow, and it is worked around in
the likely places pretty much as any other bait,
taking all the care you can, of course, not to get
Fig 65. Gang for Liue-minnow Fishing for Trout.
"hung up" on the stones or sunken logs, boughs,
etc.
Sometimes, when trout are found to inhabit the
deep springs of lakes, a large glass jar may be
filled with minnows, and closed, and lowered by a
line near their hovers, and allowed to remain.
Perch and trout both are attracted by this lure,
and I know of several instances where the method
has been exceedingly successful. There are no
further hints to be given on this head, except two
words of advice. Keep your bait moving, and use
142
AUTUMN ANGLING
lively minnows. When they die, take them off
and place away in a little piece of tissue paper, in
your can or basket, for another style of fishing ;
viz., dead-minnow fishing, which is frequently more
deadly than fishing with the live bait.
The particular form of dead-bait fishing I prefer
to all others is that known as the " sink and
MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 143
draw " bait. To prepare the tackle, you take a
single hook, about No. 3 (Fig. 33), and, having
tied it to double or extra thick gut, slide upon
it a barrel lead or sinker (Fig. 66) ; let this be
plugged, so that the lead stays as shown. To use
it, a bait of suitable size is selected, it must be
dead, of course, or you will kill it ; and, if dead, it
must be fresh, and a baiting-needle (Fig. 67),
made by turning the end of a thin, piece of iron
or brass wire, is attached to the loop of the gut
by the eye. The needle is now entered into the
fish by the mouth, and brought out exactly in the
centre of the tail ; the gut is drawn through, and,
finally, the lead is pulled into the stomach of the
bait, leaving the hook to hang around its mouth
sufficiently rank or outstanding to easily hook any
fish that swallows it. The tail of the bait is tied
round with a piece of thread, to keep the gut from
tearing out if the tail catches in anything ; and the
piece of tackle is now ready to be attached to the
reel line. The latter should be fine, and not a
heavy one, and the rod needs to be light and
moderately pliant.
Having attached the bait, a few yards of line
are drawn off the reel with the left hand, and the
144
AUTUMN ANGLING
bait is gently urged through the air, rather than
cast to any suitable eddy or spot likely to hold a
trout. Letting the point of the rod droop, the
bait " shoots headlong through the blue abyss," as
u
USJ
Fig. 69.
Trout Gang baited.
Fig. 68. Trout Gang.
a poet has aptly described the motion. That is
the " sink " of the " sink and draw " bait-fishing.
After a little pause the point of the rod is gently
MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 145
lifted, and a foot or two of the line gathered in,
and the bait is again allowed to shoot downward.
It is generally at the moment of the headlong
plunge of the bait that the trout darts out and
takes the bait. If, on drawing up, you find that
vicious tug ! tug ! which infallibly denotes a fish,
just lower the point of the rod a few seconds, and
then strike sharply. In nine cases out of ten you
will hook the fish, and must proceed to land him.
You will find that in every case your fish will be
the largest, not the smallest, of the stream.
A gang of small hooks (Fig. 68) is easily made,
and is very effective if plenty of swivels are
placed above it, to prevent the line kinking when
the bait revolves, as it will do when baited (Fig.
69). I, however, recommend the other " sink and
draw " tackle in preference ; though such a gang is
very useful to have with one in the event of see-
ing a large trout unexpectedly, which will take no
other bait. A small artificial minnow is also emi-
nently useful at times, and sometimes may replace
the natural bait, but not often.
146 AUTUMN ANGLING
CHAPTER VIII
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW
BASS that is, black bass fishing by means
of the minnow, termed technically " minnow-cast-
ing," has got to be quite a distinct science, espe-
cially with the Western brethren of the rod. The
rod is usually a nine-foot, or even less, lancewood
or bamboo weapon, with standing guides of ample
size, to allow the line easy passage through them.
The line is of the best make one can afford ; and
the reel is a Gogebic, or Star (Fig. 43), or other
fine reel constructed so that when the bait is cast
its friction is of the very least, and the line runs
out till the thumb stops the spool of the reel, and
the minnow drops on the water. Of course, a
sinker must be attached to the end of the line ;
and the kind of leader, sinker, and snell I invaria-
bly use myself is shown at Fig. 70, with one to
three hooks.
Now, the manner of making this cast so that
the bait's head is not jerked off in the rush
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 147
through the air and the termination of it, is almost,
if not quite, impossible to describe. Personally, I
favor the overhand cast, the motion of throwing a
ball in baseball, and find it the simplest to teach
the beginner. Be sure, however, to practise first
with a sinker minus hooks and bait, on the grass
or snow in winter, and you will soon get the
" hang of it." If you can persuade some kind
friend to give you a lesson or two, so much the
better.
This method of casting the bait is distinctively
American, and is never used in England, where
very different styles of bait-casting prevail. These
are termed the " Nottingham " and the " Thames "
styles. The former is a " round arm " cast, made
with both hands grasping the rod handle, and from
a light wooden reel, the finger of the right hand
acting as a brake on the circumference of the outer
reel plate, which revolves ; the " Thames " style is
more easily learnt, and for short casting may be of
use to the novice.
Briefly, these are the proceedings. The rod is
grasped firmly in the right hand, and a few yards
of line drawn off the reel ; these are gathered in
the palm of the hand in a form of the figure 8 by
148 AUTUMN ANGLING
a reciprocating motion of the finger and thumb
and ball of the hand (or lower part of the palm)
and little finger, bending the wrist back and forth
the while. This gathers up the line slowly for
the cast ; and when the point of the rod urges the
bait forward, the line goes out without hindrance.
It is a pretty method of fishing.
In general, bass fishing where the live minnow
or other bait may be used, the " paternoster " (as
it is termed in England for want of a better name)
is decidedly the most useful contrivance (Fig. 70),
for the simple reason that it permits of three baits
of different kinds being used at one time ; and the
angler may attach a minnow to the bottom hook,
a dobson to the next, and a frog to the highest
one, with the certainty that they will be kept in
motion by the moving fish. Sometimes the bass
won't take a bait fish ; and if this be so, even a fly
can be attached to find out if -they will take that.
They are very capricious, especially in midsum-
mer.
The " sink and draw " bait mentioned as useful
for trout is a very good bait also for the basses,
as also is the " Caledonian minnow/' and " Phan-
tom."
ASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 149
PICKEREL FISHING WITH A MINNOW.
Pickerel may be caught in precisely the same
manner as bass ; that is, with the live minnow,
and with the dead " gorge " bait, or " sink and
draw." Trolling with a gang is also a killing
method, and requires no further instructions than
150 AUTUMN ANGLING
are given for bass to make the method of procedure
plain. The only difference consists in the neces-
sity for using very strong tackle ; and if I know I
am likely to get pickerel or mascalonge, I tie my
hooks to fine piano wire, otherwise, the razor-like
teeth of these fish will bite through the snell.
The wall-eyed pike (Stizostedion vitrenm) is amena-
ble to bass treatment, and in Lake Champlain and
fig, 71. Larvae of Dragon Fly, or "What is It?"
other waters is an agreeable relief, being a gamey
and palatable fish.
BASS FISHING WITH DIFFERENT BAITS
Perhaps one of the most killing of baits for the
bass in summer is the larva of the dragon-fly (Fig.
71). This creature is obtained from the weeds
one finds in waters where the dragon-flies (or
"devil's darning-needles ") most frequent, and are
termed by anglers, in some parts of New York
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 151
State, " What is It ? " The odd appearance, and the
variations in that appearance, are sufficient to puz-
zle the ordinary observer ; but my boy readers may
Fig. 72. The Dobson, or Helgramite.
recognize the creature pretty surely from the above
cut.
The dobson (Fig. 72) -really deserves a chapter
by itself. It is the larva of a large fly (Corydalus
152 A UTUMN ANGLING
cornutus\ and wherever it is found, there will it
catch bass. Moreover, it is a very sure thing that
bass will thrive in the waters that produce it, and
that they are pretty generally to be found there-
abouts, even as the silver birch-tree is a sign that
the soil and water will do for trout. This " Dob-
son " has also about a score more local names ;
and few boys living on the banks of bass rivers
will fail to remember its decidedly interesting but
pugnacious appearance.
In the winter the dobson cannot be found in
the water, but hides itself deep in the earth be-
neath stones and debris, especially if the latter
be woody. Early in spring it may be dug up from
such positions ; but as time goes on it seeks the
water and lives under stones, where it can be
caught with a net of mosquito-netting. As its
breathing apparatus permits it living in either air
or water, it can be kept among half-rotten chips of
wood in a box all summer without other food, if
once a day the can or box be flooded with cool
water, and this water carefully drained out again.
The dobson should be hooked under the hard cara-
pace or armor-piece at the back of the neck,
taking care that you hold it firmly by the back
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 153
with the left finger and thumb, or you may receive
from a male dobson such a nip as will startle you,
and probably cause you to drop the repulsive and
savage creature in disgust. Of course this nip
with the mandibles is not poisonous.
The crayfish, or, as it is sometimes termed, the
fresh-water crab, is another very good bait for
large bass. These live under the stones and
woodwork incidental to mill-streams, and where
they are plentiful are easy to catch in the follow-
ing way : Select a dark night. Have ready some
mosquito-netting tied on a wire hoop for a net. In
the centre of this secure a lump of lead and a
piece of fresh liver. Attach your net to a pole by
means of three cords extending from it to the cir-
cumference of frame of the net, and sink it in the
spot where you have reason to suspect the exist-
ence of these crayfish. Every now and then lift
it suddenly, and you will find sometimes half a
dozen crayfish at a time feeding on the liver. Of
course if you have half a dozen nets to attend to,
so much the better.
Frogs are specially good bait for bass. They
are most useful when young, about an inch long,
and can be kept an indefinite time in a cool place
154 AUTUMN ANGLING
in grass ; but you must be careful not to allow the
least chink of light, if you would save them from
vain efforts to escape. They should be hooked
under the skin of the back. A little fold only
need be pierced, and the frog will live a long time.
TROUT FISHING WITH THE GRASSHOPPER AND
CRICKET.
All through the summer and autumn the angler
can find the bass and perch ready for his lures ;
and amid such a wealth of sport he must not for-
get that the trout fishing closes long before the
bass ceases to feed. A few golden days are there
on most streams containing the " Apollo of the
fountains," when the grasshopper and cricket are
a delicious bonne bouche to the trout. At such
times let my pupil collect a goodly number of
the real-legged grasshopper (for he it is who is
the prime favorite), and also a goodly number of the
black field-cricket. He can get the former with a
butterfly net wherever they abound, and the latter
are to be got in this wise. Strip off any pieces of
loose bark from dying trees, and lay it near to
fences where the crickets can crawl, and there be
discovered. Let the wood remain overnight, and
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 155
go early in the morning, and underneath will be
found some of the plumpest of the black crickets.
An old Vermont trout fisherman told me this, and
I have verified it. A small fine hook, very sharp,
is the best for grasshopper fishing, size No. 6 (Fig.
33).
There is one little hint in connection with this
fishing that needs imparting. When the trout
seizes the bait, he usually does so savagely, and
only to crush it. Consequently, wait until he turns
again to swallow it before you strike, and you will
catch your fish. Otherwise you will not. A dis-
abled " hopper " cast on the stream once in a
while will set the fish feeding on your hook that
is baited.
One other form of fun-making fishing occurs to
me before I close this chapter. All through the
early summer and late fall both bullheads and eels
will take a bait ; but as they are nocturnal in their
habits, it is only at night one gets really good
sport with them. Bullhead fishing is usually
practised on a dark night preferably, just after a
heavy warm rain, and the lines are primitive
enough. Large sized eyed hooks are tied to
lines, of which two are enough for each angler.
156 AUTUMN ANGLING
These lines are linen braided, and have a sinker
attached to each, a loop being tied in the end.
The hook snell is also linen ; and in fishing it is
best not to wait to take the hook out of the fish,
for the reason that a nasty wound may come of
handling the spiny, slimy bullhead, and a sore fore-
finger will certainly result from your efforts in un-
hooking him, if you persist in doing so. Therefore,
I suggest tying the snell hook each time with the
tie shown (Fig. 73). The free end at A can be
Fig. 73. Attaching Loop and Knot for Night Fishing.
drawn out with the teeth every time, and the fish
dropped into the receptacle minus handling, which,
let me assure you, if the fish run large is no small
consideration. Eels can be caught in precisely the
same way, and with the same tackle ; and if you are
careful not to let the tail of the fish curl around
anything, he can be released at once.
Bobbing for both bullheads and eels is another
good way of fishing. A " bob " is made by taking
a darning-needle and some worsted yarn, and
BASS FISHING WITH THE MINNOW 1$?
threading large worms on it, making a loose tie at
intervals, and so continuing till a large, hideous
squirming mass of worms is formed, more or less
in the form of a ball. This is thrown overboard,
attached to a stout line, and, as the fish bite, is
hauled up quickly, but not too hurriedly. The
fish are too voracious to let go, and, their teeth
being sharp, they are drawn up, and can be lifted
into the boat. Of course a lantern is necessary
in all these night excursions. I cannot say I par-
ticularly care for this kind of sport, but it is some-
times amusing when no other is available.
PART IV
WINTER ANGLING
CHAPTER IX
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE
WHEN the ice king has clothed every lake and
stream, and the ordinary styles of fishing can no
longer be indulged in, fishing through the ice be-
comes at once a healthful sport, and one produc-
tive of palatable food, and possibly of a little fish-
ing-tackle money to the juvenile angler from the
sale of his superfluous capture. For this style of
fishing is well fitted for the strong, healthy boy
when no other occupation demands his attention.
He has the glorious sunshine sparkling on the
white snow; with his skates firmly attached, he
can glide from tip-up to tip-up, breathing in great
volumes of oxygen in the cold air ; and besides
this, he is catching fish, for sure, if he will
go about it as I am about to direct.
In the first place, it is necessary to provide the
tackle. The most interesting form of ice-fishing
is by means of the " tip-up ; " and the simplest
form of this is a twig set up at an acute angle to
161
1 62
WINTER ANGLING
9
4-1
...D
Fig. 74.
Improved ' ' Tip-Up . ' '
the ice, and on the tip of this is
hung the line, to which a piece
of red stuff has been attached.
When the fish takes the bait, it
pulls the piece of flag off the
twig, and the angler knows at
once that a fish has been at
work, and runs to the hole to
superintend the allowance of
line the fish requires whilst
pouching or swallowing the
minnow. There are various
reasons why the primitive form
of "tip-up," however, should
give place to one of more cer-
tain usefulness ; and the appa-
ratus I am about to describe
out-distances the twig, as the
split cane rod goes beyond the
" pole " cut from the brush
alongside the water.
Get some half-inch deal board
and cut out pieces, as many as
you require, in the shape of an
outline of Fig. 74. There is
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE 163
no difficulty about this. Next, with a brace and
bit bore two holes, one at each end, at A ; then
with a chisel take out the middle of each board,
as shown. Now procure some stout iron wire ;
but previously to bending it there is a lead
sinker to go on the upper end, at B. This
sinker is best made by boring into the end of
a piece of green hard wood, and driving a nail
down into the centre of the hole for a cylindrical
mould. One mould will cast a dozen or more
sinkers, and the lead can be melted in a ladle over
the cook-stove fire without causing inconvenience.
The wire now is cut into lengths exactly the
length of the space in the middle of the board,
and one loop is twisted at C. Through this a
nail is driven, including both sides of the board ;
and the wire should now swing freely round and
round on this nail, as on an axle. A lead is now
slipped on the upper arm of the lead (B), and a
hook is formed in the wire (D). To the end of
the other arm is tied a piece of old red cotton or
woollen cloth, and about forty feet of stout braided
linen line should be attached to the middle of the
"tip-up " at E. To the other end of the line, of
course, the hook is tied, which is preferably a Vir-
164
WINTER ANGLING
ginian hook not less than one-half inch across
opposite the barb, and as large as No. i % (Fig.
33). The tip-up is set in ice-fishing as shown
(Fig. 75). A is the line on which the hook and
Fig. 75. Tip-Up set on the Ice.
bait, plumbed so as to be sustained about one foot
from the bottom, are let down through the ice ; B
is the " tip-up," set obliquely, held by the chunks
of ice cut out of the hole ; C is the line coiled.
Observe how it works. As soon as a fish takes
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE 165
the bait he pulls on the line A, which pulls down
the wire hook at D. This throws the line loose,
so that the fish can uncoil and take what it wants
of C, whilst the lead sinker slides down to the
hook on the wire (a), and up flies the red pen-
nant, telling to everybody interested that a fish
has bitten. (The dotted lines indicate this mo-
ment). The angler's duty now is to proceed as
fast as his legs will carry him to the tip-up, care-
fully ease out the line, so that the fish be not
checked, and after waiting five minutes by the
watch proceed to haul in the fish.
If these " tip-ups " are set for any length of
time, and if they be left, they will certainly be
frozen in ; and no one can do less or more than
cut them out with an axe, or wait till spring
comes. Even during the day's fishing we are
supposing, it becomes necessary to incessantly
keep the ice from accumulating or freezing in
the hole that is cut. To obviate this, and even
allow of the tip-up being set for days, I have
found the following device quite successful ; and
as it invariably happens that a fish gets on dur-
ing the night or early morning, it is sometimes
quite desirable to keep the tip-ups set all the
1 66 WINTER ANGLING
time. Get a number of stout sticks about eigh-
teen inches long, and boring through the centre
of each at right angles, thrust about one foot of
thick iron wire through, and turn a loop in the
end (Fig. 76). When this line is set, the stick is
laid crosswise over the hole, with the rod and loop
downward (Fig. 76). Of course if the ice is
likely to be thicker than a foot, this wire ought to
be longer. It should reach into the water at least
three inches. To it is attached the line, which,
when you are setting it, is first wound up round
your thumb and finger in a figure 8 fashion, and
then attached, as shown (Fig. 77), to the pieces of
wire shaped as in Fig. 78. I think the diagrams
quite explain themselves.
The ice-fishers in Canada, and on Champlain
and the other large lakes, make a large revenue ;
but it is not to that class that I am addressing
myself. On Champlain, when fishing for perch,
the eye of the fish is used almost exclusively ; but
for ordinary fishing for ling, burbot, wall-eyed
pike, perch, and pickerel, small fish are the bait
and very excellent bait they prove to be. Spear-
ing and netting through the ice are also practised ;
but I find little sport or pleasure in this, and do
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE
I6 7
Fig. 76. " Tip-Up " Stick.
Fig. 77. Parts of "Tip-Up. 1
Fig. 78. Parts of " Tip-Up.
1 68 WINTER ANGLING
not recommend my young friends to pursue it. I
want them all to be true sportsmen first, last,
and all the time ; and so I have been careful that
not one word in all this book gives a hint of any-
thing but angling with a hook and line, so that
the quarry the angler is pursuing for food and fun
may have a good chance for its life every time.
The other forms of winter fishing possible in
the South and in Great Britain are not described
in this chapter. They are essentially similar to
those referred to in the earlier pages ; for the sea-
sons, of course, vary according to the latitude.
What is true of the East and North, however, is,
in the main, true *of the West and South ; and
the same methods apply pretty generally all over
the country, taking into account the differences
of temperature. A lengthened experience has
shown me that a good fisherman in England is a
good fisherman on the American continent, and a
good angler in the East is a good one in the West.
I shall, therefore, not enlarge further on winter
fishing as it is in latitudes other than the one in
which I am writing:.
o
There is, however, yet one other kind of winter
fishing that may be spoken of here. I refer to
PISHING THROUGH THE ICE 169
that pleasant outing we all may have in imagi-
nation, sitting before the blazing winter fire or
heated stove whilst the winter gale blows snow-
laden in the outer darkness. Or when busily re-
pairing our rods, making new leaders, snelling
more hooks, or neatly constructing that feather-
poem, the dainty artificial fly ! And how pleas-
ant to recall the help one has been to the others
because of the knowledge acquired in the ways
taught by this book !
And one other instructive amusement can be
followed, even in winter, beside fishing through the
ice and recalling past experience I refer to
amateur fish-culture. The time will surely come
when every farmer will be as fully prepared to
breed fish as cattle. In the chapter on the sub-
ject included in this little book I have written
with the idea bf introducing trout-culture to my
young readers as intensely interesting and in-
forming, and possibly useful to them in after
life. It certainly will fill up the dead season of
fishing, if practised as I have laid down.
I/O WINTER ANGLING
CHAPTER X
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER
THAT grand old angler and good Christian,
George Dawson of Albany, has put it on record
that "it is not all of fishing to fish." Similarly, I
may say, " It is not all of fish to fish." I mean,
of course, that there are many interesting points
about the fish themselves that become apparent,
aside from the actual operation of fishing. It is a
poor angler that passes his days by the waterside
intent only on filling his basket, and on simply the
capture of the fish. To him the best pleasures of
the pastime are sealed and unknown. He should
not be counted with the true disciples of the
sainted Izaak Walton ; nor is he to be considered
a true member of the "gentle craft." To such an
one fishing is fishing and nothing more. He is
like Peter Bell : " A primrose by the river's brim,
a yellow primrose was to him, and it was nothing
more." But how different with the observant fish
lover ! Every denizen of the water is to him an
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER Ijl
object of observation and delight. He not only
delights in their capture as a tribute to his own
prowess, but he is an admiring possessor of the
beautiful piece of watergoing architecture, than
which there is no more perfect example than the
trout or salmon. Taking one step farther, what
could be more interesting to my young readers
than the care of either of these beautiful fish from
the egg up to vigorous trouthood or salmonhood ?
The task proposed may look a 'difficult one, but it
really is not, as I shall demonstrate. As a boy I
have done precisely as I shall describe, and subse-
quent experience has confirmed some conclusions
which were at first tentative.
To go back to my own earliest knowledge of
the subject. One of my most pleasant recollec-
tions is that of the late Mr. Frank Buckland
(author of " Curiosities of Natural History," etc.)
amongst his beloved infant trout at the Mu-
seum of Fish Culture, South Kensington, Lon-
don, Eng. With fatherly assiduity would he at-
tend on them ; and as he brought to bear on the
tiny entities the resources of his great and ingen-
ious mind, one almost wished himself a fish, were
it only to be brought within the tender care of such
172 WINTER ANGLING
a fond foster-parent. Mr. Buckland's success in
the breeding and rearing of fish was, as a conse-
quence, very pronounced ; and his charming lec-
ture before the London Royal Institution, on the
subject of fish culture (which was afterwards pub-
lished in book form), proves to any one that, so far
from the subject being a dull one, it is replete with
remarkable interest, and far from difficult of prac-
tice.
Of course, however, it is impossible for boys in
general to undertake the artificial spawning, im-
pregnation, rearing, feeding, etc., on the scale car-
ried out in the various State hatcheries ; but, as I
shall explain in the following pages, it is quite
within the means of my readers to artificially hatch
and rear a few dozen of trout or young salmon ;
and what can be a prettier or more interesting
amusement for the student of fish-life, apart from
the knowledge it imparts of the natural history of
the most important family of fishes in the world ?
Boys breed and rear canaries and other birds, rab-
bits, guinea-pigs, mice, and dogs ; why, therefore,
should fish be neglected, when they are really
easier to breed and keep than any of those just
named ? And are they not far more beautiful ?
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 173
What can form a more lovely pet than a tame car-
mine-spotted trout taking its food from your fin-
gers ? I intend, therefore, giving plain directions,
by means of which any one possessed of ingenuity
and a little careful patience may satisfactorily be-
come a trout and salmon breeder on a small scale
at a very little cost ; and, as the chief part of the
operations will be carried out during the winter,
when outdoor sports are few, I feel sure my in-
structions will not fall to the ground.
First, I must recapitulate briefly the natural his-
tory of the salmon family. Now, all this family,
which consists of several species of trout and the
lordly salmon himself as the head, have habits as
regards food, places of habitation, spawning, feed-
ing, etc., very similar to each other. As winter
approaches, unlike many other fish of our rivers,
which spawn in summer, the trout or salmon as-
cends the river and proceeds to make a nest in the
gravel. " Fancy," I think I hear some one say,
"a fish making a nest. I thought it was only
birds did that." Quite incorrect, my young friend ;
the trout and salmon make a distinct nest in the
gravel, not of fibres it is true (the stickle-back
does that, however), but by turning up the stones
1/4 WINTER ANGLIIVG
by means of a sort of undulating movement from
head to tail. Both male and female assist in this ;
and when a suitable cavity is formed, the female
deposits the eggs, which are about the size of a
small pea, and of a beautiful salmon-flesh color.
The male then impregnates them, and they both
set to and cover them up. After about a hundred
days the eggs burst, letting out the tiny fish, which
for a considerable time lie helpless, feeding only
by absorption from an oil-bag, or vesicle, which in
time becomes the stomach of the perfectly formed
fish. After this it feeds, and takes its chance in
the struggle for existence.
Such is a short history of the natural process of
breeding. The artificial method, of which the la-
mented Seth Green and his yet living brother and
others were and are apostles, consists in taking
a fish full of spawn and catching the eggs from it
in a suitable vessel. These are then impregnated
and passed on in an artificial stream of water until
they hatch, after which, as soon as they can feed,
they are fed, and so grown on. It is a part of the
artificial method I am going to explain.
The artificial spawning of fish is manifestly im-
practicable for most of my readers ; but as there
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 1/5
are many gentlemen who sell ova, or eggs, they
may be procured without difficulty, 1 and I will
therefore commence from the period when the
eggs are actually in progress towards hatching.
The apparatus first commands our closest atten-
tion. A constant stream of water is indispensable
at the outset, and the next requisite is a suitable
box or boxes for the reception of the ova and the
fry when they appear. Neither of these is diffi-
cult to obtain.
As to the water. If it be possible to join on a
pipe to the water-works' supply, and regulate the
stream of water by means of a tap, then half the
battle is won ; but as it is not likely that boys will
care to purposely go to this expense, some other
device must be thought of. A cistern, or even
tub, if clean and sweet, will do to store the water
in, if the latter is pumped from a well ; and it
should be indoors, out of the reach of frost, and
raised above your boxes or troughs. It need
not necessarily be very near, for a small India-
rubber pipe will convey all the water.
I have said that it should be indoors ; that?* is, in
1 J. Annin, Jr., Caledonia, Livingstone Co., N.Y., supplies
eggs and fry in the proper season.
1/6 WINTER ANGLING
an out-house or cellar, of course, because if it were
out the frost might stop the supply of water dur-
ing the night, and kill all your fish in a few hours.
I will suppose you have a tool-shed, or part of
a barn, therefore, at your disposal. Of course a
good and reliable stove must be fixed ; that is a
prime essential. This is how I would go to work
in the very cheapest way. Fix in one corner, at
about five feet from the floor, two stout iron
brackets. Procure a cask ; a molasses cask will
do. Have the head knocked in, and the inside
thoroughly cleansed with boiling water, and after
that deeply charred ; the charcoal thus formed
clears the water of impurity. The charring is
done with hot embers from the stove. Set the
barrel upon your brackets securely, and be sure
they are strong enough to bear the weight of the
water. You have thus your water receptacle,
which will, of course, require refilling as it empties
(Fig. 79). Now, before going farther, just let me
make two or three remarks on this important sub-
ject of water supply. Of course, when advising
the ptirchase and fixing of a barrel, I am suppos-
ing that no house-tank is accessible, and that my
reader depends upon an artificial supply. Of
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER
177
course, also, a zinc or lead, or even wood, tank
would do better, though not much. Besides, the
barrel is always useful long after my experimen-
talist has given up fish-breeding. Just, however,
as it is certain a kennel is necessary for a dog, or
a hutch for rabbits, so is the barrel or reservoir
Fig. 79. Water Cask.
necessary for the fish, and, as I have recom-
mended, does not come very high.
We will now suppose the cask is fixed ; the next
thing is a covering or lid to keep out the dust.
Anything that suggests itself as suitable will do
WINTER ANGLING
for this, so nothing further need be said about
it. The arrangement for an outlet must now be
made. An ordinary wooden faucet will do capi-
tally ; but you must boil it in water for some time
before using it, in order to extract any sap, etc.,
in the wood likely to taint the water. When dry,
drive it into a hole previously bored at a distance
Fig. 80. Filter.
of about six inches from the bottom. An India
rubber pipe will connect this with your next
necessary article, namely, a filter ; for trout must
have the purest water when they are very young.
Now, the filter (Fig. 80) is very easily made in
this wise. Procure a large flower-pot, the largest
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 179
you can get. Make a wire tripod stand for it of
about a foot in height. Into the hole at the
bottom of the pot insert a cork, through which a
glass pipe (easily procurable at your drug-store) of
about three inches long has been inserted. You
can bore the cork through with a red-hot iron,
and be careful that it is a good sound one ; also
be very sure that it fits the aperture exactly, so
that no water can escape except through the pipe.
The latter should be at least three-eighths of
an inch in diameter, inside measurement, or the
supply of water will be inadequate to the de-
mands of health in the fish. When the cork is
inserted, the glass pipe should be flush or even
with that part of it inside the flower-pot, and the
rest outside. On the outside length your India-
rubber piping will be attached.
The making of the filter, from which we have
slightly digressed, is as follows : Having arranged
the cork and glass as I have directed, immediately
above the latter, inside the pot, a piece of well-
washed, fine sponge, not larger than a slice from
an orange of say half-inch thickness, should be
placed. Immediately on this a half-inch layer of
well-washed stones of not more than three-eighths
ISO WINTER ANGLING
of an inch in diameter are placed ; they may grad-
uate, of course, to lesser sizes. Thereafter follows
a layer of at least an inch and 'a half of smaller
stones, the limit of size being a pea, and the min-
imum being a mustard seed. Next a layer of
wood charcoal, broken up into small pieces ; next
a layer of sand, well washed before using, and
finally a piece of coarse muslin. Another piece
of sponge may be placed at the top to break the
fall of the water from the cistern. Here, there-
fore, is a splendidly efficient filter, which will,
however, I must say, require cleaning out occa-
sionally, more or less frequently, in fact, according
to the purity or impurity of the water. In view
of this, perhaps it is well to make two or three
others at the same time, so that the fish may
never have impure water.
The stream of water is now assured, and its
purity certain. The next concern, of course, is
the troughs or tanks in which the eggs are to be
kept and matured into life. These are constructed
of various materials, and so used by the professed
fish culturist, slate, glass, earthenware, and wood
being chiefly in requisition. For the present
purpose wood is quite good enough. Let me
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER l8l
first, however, describe what the trough is when
adapted for its use. It consists of a receptacle,
say, six inches deep, of a rectangular shape, in
which the ova are stored, fitted to receive water,
and also furnished with a spout from which the
overflow emerges. This is how it is made, and I
do not think I can be too terse and practical.
Take (for our present purpose) three lengths of
well-seasoned pine plank half an inch thick by
three feet long by ten inches for one, and the
others nine inches broad. The ten-inch wood
plank will form the bottom, and the other two
the sides. Two other ten-inch-by-nine pieces of
the same kind of wood are necessary to form the
ends. These parts should be put together with
copper nails such as boat-builders use, and no
corrosion in consequence ensues, as would be the
case were iron nails employed. Iron nails will do,
however, if the copper are not available.
After the box has been made so securely that
no water can escape, the next operation is that of
charring the interior. It is a well-known fact
amongst pisciculturists that the charred wood box
or trough presents more lively fish than any other
kind of apparatus. Well, the charring process is
1 82 * WINTER ANGLING
easy enough. Take out the red-hot embers of a
good coal fire and place them in a box, moving
them as it is found the wood ignites. Some care
and perseverance are necessary to char the in-
terior properly ; but it can, of course, be done
without more difficulty than a certain amount
of patience and dexterity in themselves indicate.
The idea is to make the inside of the trough a
perfect lining of charcoal, so that no fungus or
other impurity can exist. Curious, isn't it, that
carbon, or charcoal, is one of the most powerful
antiseptics of nature, and that vegetable growths
and all impurities will not attach themselves to it ?
or, if the latter do, they lose all their vicious char-
acter and become innocuous. Mr. Monroe Green
of the Caledonia Hatchery, N.Y., uses a coating of
coal-tar only, and finds it all that is required.
Thus your trough is finished, excepting the
all-necessary outlet. In order to make this, bore
a hole seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and
with a cement of white lead introduce a short
length of lead pipe. Now, the white lead must be
used sparingly, and as little as possible should be
allowed to appear on the water side of the trough.
It must also be allowed to become hard before the
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER
183
receptacle is put in use ; and if sufficient care be
exercised in this, there is but little fear of the
lead proving deleterious to the fish. A slanting
section of the pipe may be cut off by means of a
good sharp knife or saw ; and trough, spout, and
all is then furnished with sufficient complete-
ness to rear the most delicate of all fishes
(Fig. 8 1).
Fig. 81. Trough.
In large fish-breeding establishments a series of
troughs, either of slate, glass, earthenware, or, as
I have just described, of wood, is usually erected,
and the water passes, by means of the spouts, from
end to end of each. This series may, and often
184 WINTER ANGLING
does, number ten or a dozen troughs, and, of
course, admits of a great number of fry being
hatched. I am, however, writing for boys here,
and I do not advise a larger receptacle than that
described, for an initial experiment. Such a
trough will accommodate some thousands of ova at
a pinch, though I advise the learner not to, in any
case, overcrowd. The fewer the eggs under care,
the easier is each individual looked after, and the
easier is it to remove dead matter, debris, and the
ordinary flotsam and jetsam inevitable on an as-
semblage of living beings.
The trough I have described should be placed
on either trestle, or on stakes driven into the
ground, to a height which, whilst it admits of a
fairly good fall from the cistern to the filter, is not
too low so as to be inconvenient. In my fish-
breeding experiment nothing has seemed to con-
duce to the lack of patient, absorbed observation
of the eggs and embryos like the backache engen-
dered by reason of the inconveniently low troughs ;
therefore, be particular when making your trestles
not to make the legs too short. The trough can
be nailed (copper nails preferable) to the stakes or
trestle for security's sake ; in fact, it is advisable
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 185
this should be done. I once had a terrible disas-
ter when I first began, as a boy, to artificially hatch
fish. My coat happened to catch in a corner of
the trough, and the whole bag of tricks came
splash over me, costing me the death of at least
a hundred young fish. As these were worth about
two cents each, I can leave my reader to imagine
the lesson it taught.
The tank which is to receive the young fish
when their period of absorption-feeding is past,
and when they begin to eat with their mouths,
when, in fact, they are to be fed and brought up
till of sufficient age to be transported to the aqua-
rium, pond, or stream, must be of larger dimensions
than the hatching-trough. I recommend, there-
fore, that it be made of deal, as before, which can
be charred or not, and of these dimensions : one
foot deep, four feet broad by six feet long. Six
clear inches of water is quite sufficient for these
young gentlemen ; and an outlet, as recommended
for the hatching-trough, which communicates with
a drain, is necessary. Before and over both the
openings in the trough, and that in this "stew," or
tank, it is important to bear in mind that a zinc-
wire covering must be fixed at some distance from
1 86 WINTER ANGLING
both. The object of both these contrivances is to
keep the tiny embryos and fry from passing away
from their allotted dwelling-places, which, with a
perverseness of all young organisms, they would
inevitably do were they left to their own devices.
Coverings of wood must also be provided for
both these receptacles ; for it is found that eggs
hatch better in darkness, and the young alevins
are intolerant of light. With the fry the precau-
tion is not so necessary, except for the purpose of
keeping away all nocturnal enemies. An old cat
once played me a pretty trick, catching and eating
a lot of my two-inch fry ; and a rat once did worse
than that, he simply gnawed a hole in the bot-
tom of the tank, and when it was empty hopped in
and devoured the lot of fish, remaining high and dry.
I have now described the chief apparatus, which,
to recapitulate, consists of a reservoir, a filter, a
hatching-trough, and a "stew," or tank, for the fish
when they have arrived at the feeding-age. Place
them in order, and turn on your water for a day or
two to sweeten the whole affair. This done, it be-
comes necessary to see about stocking the hatch-
ing-trough. First, however, procure some nice
sharp gravel ; the stones should not be larger than
TROUT r B REEDING IN WINTER l8/
peas, and as uniform in size as possible. They
should be boiled (not to render them soft, of
course), to clear off and kill any impurity. Having
thereafter washed them carefully in several waters,
spread a layer of about an inch in thickness over
the bottom of your two receptacles. It is not
really necessary to do this in the "stew" until you
are ready to receive the fry in it. However, as it
is scarcely necessary to take two bites off one
cherry, it may be better, perhaps, to do both at
the same time. Having done this, obtain some
larger stones, ranging from the size of a filbert to
that of a plum, and place these sparely, so that,
as the water passes over them, tiny eddies may
be formed. These are of very salutary value to
young trout or salmon, and serve the purpose of
shelter and quietude.
I have said that the art of spawning and im-
pregnating is impracticable for most boys. This
being so, and as there are gentlemen who make
a business of supplying eyed ova, I can only re-
peat my advice as to the purchase of the eggs from
a reliable fish culturist. As a rule, the eggs are
retained by the vendor until the two eyes of the
little fish, which are large and unmistakable,
1 88 WINTER ANGLING^
can be seen through the shell of the egg. If the
ova are removed before this the chances of their
dying are very great ; and when " eyed/' however,
the chances are just oppositely small, insomuch as
that as many as ninety-five per cent may be safely
received off a journey of one hundred miles if they
have been packed with judgment and care.
Let us suppose the tyro has purchased, say, one
thousand eyed eggs, and has his apparatus in order,
with a gentle stream dribbling into his hatching-
trough. The eggs will, doubtless, come to him in
damp moss, and no time should be lost in introdu-
cing them to their future home. This is done in
no extraordinary manner ; the ova being only
turned in and distributed over the gravel by means
of a feather. Be careful in doing this to spread
the tiny opaline beads so that they do not bunch,
but are well apart. Having done this, replace
the cover of your trough, and let them have
twelve hours clear rest before you again look at
them.
On again closely scanning them you may per-
chance notice one or two of a different color to
the rest ; that is, they are whitish, as if addled.
These are dead, and must be removed. To do
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER
189
this a new piece of apparatus is brought into
requisition. This simply consists of a glass tube
Fig. 82. Tube for Siphon.
of about half an inch inside diameter, bent to an
obtuse angle (Fig. 82). The thumb is placed on
WINTER ANGLING
the top of the longer leg, and the tube is then
forced down into the water near the egg desired to
be brought up. Of course but little water can enter
the tube whilst the air is retained by the ball of
the thumb ; but as soon as the latter is removed
the air rushes out, and the water passing in with
great swiftness carries with it the egg or eggs you
wish to examine. If now the tube be held with its
contents between the eye and the light, the egg
which is dead will be seen to contain an immov-
able, mouldy-looking creature ; whereas, should
there be a live egg in its company, the embryo
will be seen to incessantly wriggle and move about
within its shelly covering.
It will be well to* watch incessantly for the insect
enemies which, in spite of all care, will sometimes
creep into the trough. The larvae of all water-flies
and beetles are inimical to the well-being of both
the egg and alevin. If reasonable precautions be
taken, such as I have suggested, however, the tyro
need not fear such visitants.
Our experimentalist will have had no opportu-
nity of watching the gradual development of the
ova from the moment of their impregnation to the
time they become " eyed ; " because, of course, he
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 19 1
will not have received them till this period, and so
he has missed a very interesting part of the fish's
history. To supply, in some part, this omission, I
will give just those little details which can be seen
by the aid of a good lens, which, by the by, should
find a place in every naturalist's outfit.
" For some time," says Mr. Francis Francis in
his "Fish Culture" (after impregnation), "little
change is observable in the ova ; but at length
little globules of an oily looking substance are
formed. By degrees these densify, and by the aid
of a strong glass a thin, whitish line may be traced
coiled within the egg. This is the earliest devel-
opment of the spinal column, and, of course, it
becomes more distinct as the animal becomes
more formed. And about the fifth or sixth week
(in water of moderate temperature we may say
usually from the thirty-fifth to the forty-fifth day)
a small dark speck, probably, on examination, two
black specks, will be observable. These are the
eyes of embryos, the form of which may now be
traced almost by the naked eye. In a few days
the eyes become distinct, and the embryo may
now be discerned without the aid of a glass, mov-
ing and turning round the egg."
1 92 WINTER ANGLING
This is how Mr. Francis speaks of the period in
the existence of the ovum between its birth and
the time it comes into possession of our tyro.
The by far most interesting part of its nonage,
however, lies before us. By means of our glass
siphon and lens you will perceive through its
transparent walls the gradual growth and definition
of the tiny fish. You will perceive the pink lines
hereafter to become arteries, the ruddy spot pres-
ently to form the heart, and which even now does
elementary duty in circulating the vital fluid. All
this can be seen without injury to the egg or its
contents ; and marvellous and altogether beautiful
is the gradual development of this germ of life,
which in its full maturity will, perhaps, arrive at
the "lusty" life and glorious symmetry of a four-
pound trout or a twenty-pound salmon. By-the-
by, let it be clearly understood that the ova of
salmon are equally interesting with those of trout.
For my part, I advise a half-and-half mixture.
The salmon could be reared to two and three
pounds' weight in fresh water if land-locked, that
is, kept in a lake and fed ; otherwise they seek the
sea, to reascend in spawning-time. While young,
however, both trout and salmon are very lovely,
and can be rendered quite manageable.
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 193
It is well if the buyer of the eggs inquires when
they are expected to hatch. After the eyes
appear, however, three weeks or a month sees
this important change, according to temperature.
One morning, as usual, you go to see what prog-
ress your ova have made, when you perchance
perceive a tiny speck of bright red amongst the
eggs of pale coralline tint. On looking closer,
and taking this up with a siphon, you are amazed
to see that the fish has thrown off the egg and
emerged into active, vigorous, energetic life. See
how he kicks in the glass with frantic endeavors to
get away somewhere. Now it is quiet, and what
a wondrous little fellow it is ! What does it look
like ? See, there is a thin streak of almost trans-
parent substance with a huge belly, larger, appar-
ently, than the egg it has just emerged from.
And its length is nearly an inch over all. The
stomachic appendage seems composed of some
gelatinous liquid, in which the tiny oil globules
before referred to seem to float. And see the
bright red spot near the head. What is that ?
It is the heart, dear reader, that as we look at it
through our lens is visibly pumping the life fluid
through these tiny coral-like veins, that ramify
194 WINTER ANGLING
from it. And this fish is the one that hereafter
shall make the blood thrill with an exquisite pleas-
ure as it bounds and flies up and down and across
the stream, securely hooked by the deft hand of
a piscator. How glorious are the works of the
Creator ! This tiny entity is, perchance, a young
salmon, for whose family miles and miles of paper
have been inscribed with laws, on whose flesh
hundreds of thousands have been fed, and whose
members have given health-bringing joy on the
salmon rivers of the world.
Turn it back into the trough. See its huge, dis-
proportionate eyes, which shall be in future years
as brilliant and keen of sight as those of the
mountain eagle, dislike the light, and it "wab-
bles " to the bottom behind some sheltering stone,
there to mature its vitalized, but as yet unformed
and ungainly, body.
As you are looking at this, your welcome homely
first-born, you perhaps may remark the frantic
movements which seem to be going on inside an
egg near, and should turn and watch the antic-
frolic. Pick it up with the siphon and hold the
glass with your warm hand a second, and see!
The shell has burst, and a pair of wide-open eyes
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 195
are protruding. Replace the egg in the water
very gently, and watch the operation of hatching.
With two or three frantic struggles the shell splits
open, and the captive is free. See how he exults
in this new found world and freedom ! Up to the
surface he wriggles ; and after splashing there-
abouts some little time his strength is exhausted,
and he falls prone on his side beside some shelter-
ing stone.
Should the struggler have difficulty in separat-
ing from the shell, take your feather and gently
aid nature in her work. Not infrequently are
there cases of strangulation owing to difficulty in
this process. The hatching will now go on with-
out intermission till all will have emerged. After
you know the hatching has begun, it is as well
to keep the fish in darkness. Of course you can,
if you wish, take a few of the eggs likely to
break through, into the drawing-room in a dish
with plenty of water, that such friends as you
may have present may see the wonderful sight.
This change will do the fish little harm, provid-
ing they are returned to the hatching-trough in
a reasonable time. There is no more beautiful
study in the world than one of the newly hatched
196 WINTER ANGLING
fry placed in an ordinary microscopical tank and
viewed with medium powers.
Hitherto the care of the tyro has been directed
to the supply and temperature of the water ; now,
however, these cares increase in gravity and num-
ber. The water supply must on no account fail,
and it should be more plentiful than before. The
zinc guard to the outlet must be seen to, so that
none of the little fish can struggle against it and
get stuck there, which would be the case if it were
placed too near the aperture. My plan is to bend
the zinc netting into a square form, and place two
pieces of wood, like rafters, as it were, between
the two sides of the trough to keep it close. No
accident will then ensue, because the draught of
water is not sufficient to overcome the natural
vigor of the fish. The filters must be changed
and cleansed often. The same materials will do
again and again ; and as soon as it is judged that
all the eggs have hatched, the feather must be
used gently to agitate the water, so that the egg-
shells may be taken out by means of a little fine
muslin net, which can be easily made. Perfect
cleanliness is your most important consideration,
or there is a strong probability of a fungoid
T&OUT-BKE&D1NG IN WINTER 197
disease attacking the gills of the little fellows ; and
this seems to be entirely without remedy when
it-gets a distinct hold.
In about another six or seven weeks you will
observe your fry have grown larger, and have
nearly, if not quite, lost the umbilical bag or vesi-
cle on which they had previously fed by absorp-
tion. They must now be removed to the tank or
cistern, and in a short time you will perceive they
are getting remarkably lively, and dart hither and
thither as if in search of food. You can now dis-
connect the hatching trough from the reservoir,
and allow the water to fall not too lavishly from
the filter into the larger tank. Your fish now
require feeding, and the all-important question of
food now presents itself. At one time grated
liver that is, liver that had been boiled and
grated I almost entirely used ; but it was found
to sometimes remain in the water, rendering it
impure. However, it will do very well if used
sparingly.
In feeding it is absolutely necessary that no
refuse be allowed to sink to the bottom uncon-
sumed, and so remain to putrefy. I should rec-
ommend that, whatever food be given, a good
198 WINTER ANGLING
lookout be kept to avoid this nuisance. Feed the
little fellows very often, not with an excess in
quantity, but let "little and often " be your motto.
You cannot overfeed them ; and it will be quite as
well if you use them to the broad daylight instead
of covering them up, except at night, of course.
Small worms and maggots are a good food.
Now, when they arrive at the time at which
they feed greedily, I would advise the introduction
they can be procured from aquarists of some
of the fresh-water shrimp (Pulcx gammarus), to be
found in some gravelly streams under the stones.
These little crustaceans (albeit they are not shrimps
at all, but belong to the flea family) are capital scav-
engers of the water. You cannot make a mistake
as to which they are, if you notice their very active
movements and shrimp-like character ; and they
are easily caught in a muslin net, which you can
easily make. Turn over the stones, and, as they
seek to get away, dexterously put your net
beneath, and so secure them.
At three months old a salmon or trout fry is
over an inch long, and a very bright, voracious
little "cuss" he is! By this time you had better
look out for other quarters for him. If you have
TROUT-BREEDING IN WINTER 199
anything like good fortune, which you can alone
have, by-the-by, by following the directions I have
laid down, out of fifty eggs you will have at least
twenty-five young fish, lovely, bright, go-ahead
little fellows, who will recognize you by this time
if you have fed them regularly. An aquarium, or
a little clear adjacent stream preferably, should
now be their destination ; but mind, I do not say it
is impossible to keep them much longer in their
tank aforesaid. However, you must please your-
self.
Coarser food may be given to your fish as soon
as you find they are strong enough and large
enough. By the time they are six or seven
months old this diet should be regular. Small
pieces of fresh meat, tadpoles, flies, the tiny fry of
coarse fish, are all food, and will tend to the tam-
ing of the trout if you feed yourself. The brook
trout is the boldest in this wise.
I have inferred that salmon can, as well as
trout, be hatched and cultured. This is most
certainly true, and I know of no prettier fish,
till it gets impatient at its twelve months' birth-
day with the restraints put upon it. Seaward its
instincts impel it ; and though I have grown them
200 WINTER ANGLING
up to a couple of pounds, I prefer the Salmo fario
or brown trout, or the Salmo fontinalis referred
to above (American brook trout), both on account
of beauty and docility.
In the foregoing chapter I have, I think, com-
pletely demonstrated the possibility of the breed-
ing of trout. The winter days are often vacant of
sports ; and if any one derives amusement or in-
struction from these teachings, I am amply paid
for the trouble I have taken to make the process
clear.
<
LEE AND SHEPARD'S ILLUSTRATED JUVENILES 27
GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE'S BOOKS
HEROES OF HISTORY. 6 volumes.
The Voyages and Adventures of Vasco da Gama. By
GEORGE M. TOWLE. Illustrated. $1.25.
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Pizarro: His ADVENTURES AND CONOJJESTS. By GEORGE M.
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Pizarro was heroic in the indomitable energy with which he pursued his end,
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As Vasco da Gama found the water-way to Asia around the Cape of Good
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In this volume the old narrative of " Marco Polo " is transformed into an
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The book is full of adventures spiritedly told.
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Mr. TOWLE'S book will be fascinating to young people who have not yet
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34 OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
All-Over-the- World Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. First
Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25.
1. A Missing Million ; OK, THE ADVENTURES OF Louis BELGRAVE.
2. A Millionnaire at Sixteen ; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE GUARDIAN
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entirely smooth sailing. In the first place, there was a rascally stepfather
whom he h;id to subjugate, a dear mother to protect and care for, and the miss-
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accomplished at last, and there was plenty of excitement in the doing of them.
The cover design shows many things, a globe, the Eiffel Tower, mountains,
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(Other volumes in preparation.)
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ADVENTURE IN FOREIGN LANDS. By OLIVER OPTIC. Illus-
trated by NAST and others. First Series. Six volumes.
Any volume sold separately. Price per volume, $1.50.
1. Outward Bound; OR, YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT.
2. Shamrock and Thistle; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN IRELAND AND
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3. Red Cross; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
4. Dikes and Ditches; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN HOLLAND AND
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5. Palace and Cottage; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN FRANCE AND
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6. Down the Rhine; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY.
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American boys. What a fine holiday present either or both series of ' Young
America Abroad ' would be for a young friend ! It would make a little library
highly prized by the recipient, and would not be an expensive one." Provi-
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1. Up the Baltic; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND
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" OLIVER OPTIC is a nom de plume that is known and loved by almost every
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1. Taken by the Enemy. 4. Stand by the Union.
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which makes it a most attractive volume." Boston Budget.
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as many of us have been; boys in the true, unvarnished sense of" the word;
boys with hopes, ideas, and inspirations, but lacking in judgment, self-control,
and discipline. And the book contains an appropriate moral, teaches many a
lesson, and presents many a precept worthy of being followed. It is a capital
book for boys."
LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE.
36 OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
The Great Western Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. In six vol-
umes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per
volume, $1.50.
1. Going West; OR, THE PERILS OF A POOR BOY.
2. Out West; OR, ROUGHING IT ON THE GREAT LAKES.
3. Lake Breezes; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
4. Going South; OR, YACHTING ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.
5. Down South; OR, YACHT ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA.
6. Up the River; OR, YACHTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
"This is the latest series of books issued by this popular writer, and de:iN
with life on the Great Lakes, for which a careful study was made by the author
in a summer tour of the immense water sources of America. The story, which
carries the same hero through the six books of the series, is always entertain-
ing, novel scenes and varied incidents giving a constantly changing yet always
attractive aspect to the narrative. OLIVER OPTIC has written nothing better."
The Yacht Club Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. In six volumes.
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume,
$1.50.
1. Iiittle Bobtail; OR, THE WRECK OF THE PENOBSCOT.
2. The Yacht Club; OR, THE YOUNG BOAT BUILDERS.
3. Money-Maker; OR, THE VICTORY OF THE BASILISK.
4. The Coming Wave; OR, THE TREASURE OF HIGH ROCK.
5. The Dorcas Club; OR, OUR GIRLS AFLOAT.
6. Ocean Born; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE CLUBS.
" The series has this peculiarity, that all of its constituent volumes are inde-
pendent of one another, and therefore each story is complete in itself. OLIVER
OPTIC is, perhaps, the favorite author of the boys and girls of this country, and
he seems destined to enjoy an endless popularity. He deserves his success,
for he makes very interesting stories, and inculcates none but the best senti-
ments, and the 'Yacht Club' is no exception to this rule." New Haven
Journal and Courier.
Onward and Upward Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. In six
volumes. Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price
per volume, $1.25.
1. Field and Forest; OR, THE FORTUNES OF A FARMER.
JJ. Plane and Plank; OR, THE MISHAPS OF A MECHANIC.
3. Desk and Debit; OR, THE CATASTROPHES OF A CLERK.
4. Cringle and Crosstree; OR, THE SEA SWASHES OF A SAILOR.
5. Bivouac and Battle; OR, THE STRUGGLES OF A SOLDIER.
6. Sea and Shore; OR, THE TRAMPS OF A TRAVELLER.
" Paul Farringford, the hero of these tales, is, like most of this author's
heroes, a young man of high spirit, and of high aims and correct principles,
appearing in the different volumes as a farmer, a captain, a bookkeeper, a
soldier, a sailor, and a traveller. In all of them the hero meets with very
exciting adventures, told in the graphic style for which the author is famous."
The Lake Shore Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. In six volumes.
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume,
$1.25.
1. Through by Daylight; OR, THE YOUNG ENGINEER OF THE LAKE
SHORE RAILROAD. ]
55. "Lightning Express; OR, THE RIVAL ACADEMIES.
3. On Time; OR, THE YOUNG CAPTAIN OF THE UCAYGA STEAMER.
4. Switch Off; OR, THE WAR OF THE STUDENTS.
5. Brake Up; OR, THE YOUNG PEACEMAKERS.
6. Bear and Forbear; OR, THE YOUNG SKIPPER OF LAKE UCAYGA.
" OLIVER OPTIC is one of the most fascinating writers for youth, and withal
one of the best to be found in this or any past age. Troops of young people
hang over his vivid pages ; and not one of them ever learned to be mean, ignoble,
cowardly, selfish, or to yield to any vice from anything they ever read from his
pen." Providence Press.
LEE AND SHEPARD. BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE.
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS 37
Army and Navy Stories. By OLIVER OPTIC. Six volumes.
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume,
$1.50.
1. The Soldier Boy; OR, TOM SOMERS IN THE ARMY.
2. The Sailor Boy; OK, JACK SOMERS IN THE NAVY.
3. The Young Lieutenant; OR, ADVENTURES OF AN ARMY OFFICER.
4. The Yankee Middy; OK, ADVENTURES OF A NAVY OFFICH.R.
5. Fighting Joe; OR, THE FORTUNES OF A STAFF OFFICER.
6. Brave Old Salt; OK, LIFE ON THE QUARTER DECK.
"This series of six volumes recounts the adventures of two brothers, Tom
and Jack Somers,one in the army, the other in the navy, in the great Civil War.
The romantic narratives of the fortunes and exploits of the brothers are thrill-
ing in the extreme. Historical accuracy in the recital of the great events of
that period is strictly followed, and the result is, not only a library of entertain-
ing volumes, but also the best history of the Civil War for young people ever
written."
Boat Builders Series. By OLIVER OPTIC. In six volumes.
Illustrated. Any volume sold separately. Price per volume,
$1.25.
1. All Adrift; OR, THE GOLDWING CLUB.
2. Snug Harbor; OR, THE CHAMPLAIN MECHANICS.
3. Square and Compasses; OR, BUILDING THE HOUSE.
4. Stem to Stern; OR, BUILDING THE BOAT.
5. All Taut; OR, RIGGING THE BOAT.
6. Ready About; OR, SAILING THE BOAT.
" The series includes in six successive volumes the whole art of boat building,
boat rigging, boat managing, and practical hints to make the ownership of a
boat pay. A great deal of useful information is given in this Boat Builders
Series, and in ach book a very interesting story is interwoven with the infor-
mation. Every reader will be interested at once in Dory, the hero of ' All
Adrift,' and one of the characters retained in the subsequent volumes of the
series. His friends will not want to lose sight of him, and every boy who
makes his acquaintance in ' All Adrift' will become his friend."
Riverdale Story Books. By OLIVER OPTIC. Twelve vol-
umes. Illustrated. Illuminated covers. Price : cloth, per
set, $3.60; per volume, 30 cents; paper, per set, $2.00.
1. Little Merchant. 7. Proud and Lazy.
2. Young Voyagers. 8. Careless Kate.
3. Christmas Gift. 9. Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
4. Dolly and I. 1O. The Picnic Party.
5. Uncle Ben. 11. The Gold Thimble.
6. Birthday Party. 12. The Do-Somethings.
Riverdale Story Books. By OLIVER OPTIC. Six volumes.
Illustrated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price per volume, 30
cents.
1. Little Merchant. 4. Careless Kate.
2. Proud and Lazy. 5. Dolly and I.
3. Young Voyagers. 6. Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
Flora Lee Library. By OLIVER OPTIC. Six volumes. Illus-
trated. Fancy cloth and colors. Price per volume, 30
cents.
1. The Picnic Party. 4. Christmas Gift.
2. The Gold Thimble. 5. Uncle Ben.
3. The Do-Somethings. 6. Birthday Party.
These are bright short stories for younger children who are unable to com-
prehend the Starry Flag Series or the Army and Navv Series. But they
all display the author's talent for pleasing and interesting the little folks. They
are all fresh and original, preaching no sermons, but inculcating good lessons.
LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE.
LEE AND SHEPARD'S ILLUSTRATED JUVENILES
J. T. TKOWBRIDGE'S BOOKS
'he Fortunes of Toby Trafford. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
Illustrated. $1.25.
"If to make children's stories as true to nature as the stories which the
masters of fiction write for children of a larger growth be an uncommon
achievement, and one that is worthy of wide recognition, that recognition
should be given to Mr. J. T. TKOWBKIDGK for his many achievements in this
difficult walk of literary art. Mr. TKOWHKinrni has a good perception of char-
acter, which he draws with skill; he has abundance of invention, which he
never abuses; and he has, what so many American writers have not, an easy,
graceful style, which can be humorous, or pathetic, or poetic." R. H. Stoddard
in New York Mail.
THE START IX LIFE SERIES. 4 volumes.
A Start in Life : A STORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. By
J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.00.
In this story the author recounts the hardships of a young lad in his first
endeavor to start out for himself. It is a tale that is full of enthusiasm and
budding hopes. The writer shows how hard the youths of a century ago were
compelled to work. This he does in an entertaining way, mingling fun and
adventures with their daily labors. The hero is a striking example of the
honest boy, who is not too lazy to work, nor too dull to thoroughly appreciate
a joke.
Biding" His Time. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.00.
" It is full of spirit and adventure, and presents a plucky hero who was willing
to ' bide his time,' no matter how great the expectations that he indulged in
from his uncle's vast wealth, which he did not in the least covet. . . . He was
left a poor orphan in Ohio at seventeen years of age, and soon after heard of a
rich uncle, who lived near Boston. He sets off on the long journey to Boston,
finds his uncle, an eccentric old man, is hospitably received by him, but seeks
employment in a humble way, and proves that he is a persevering and plucky
young man." Boston Home Journal.
The Kelp Gatherers: A STORY OF THE MAINE COAST. Bj
J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.00.
This book is full of interesting information upon the plant life of the sea-
shore, and the life of marine animals; but it is also a bright and readable
story, with all the hints of character and the vicissitudes of human life, in
depicting which the author is an acknowledged master.
The Scarlet Taiiager, AND OTHER BIPEDS. By J. T.
TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.00.
Every new story which Mr. TROWBRIDGE begins is followed through succes-
sive chapters by thousands who have read and re-read manv times his preceding-
tales. One of his greatest charms is his absolute truthfulness. He does not
depict little saints, or incorrigible rascals, but just boy*. This same fidelity to
nature is seen in his latest book, "The Scarlet Taiiager, and Other Bipeds."
There is enough adventure in this tale to commend it to the liveliest reader,
and all the lessons it teaches are wholesome.
LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE,
40 J. T. TROWBRIDGE'S BOOKS
THE TIDE-MILL STORIES. 6 volumes.
Phil and His Friends. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated.
$1.25.
The hero is the son of a man who from drink got into debt, and, after having
Siven a paper to a creditor authorizing him to keep the son as a security for
is claim, ran away, leaving poor Phil a bond slave. The story involves a
great many unexpected incidents, some of which are painful, and some comic.
Phil manfully works for a year, cancelling his father's debt, and then escapes.
The characters are strongly drawn, and the story is absorbingly interesting.
The Tinkham Brothers' Tide-Mill. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
Illustrated. $1.25.
" The Tinkham Brothers " were the devoted sons of an invalid mother. The
story tells how they purchased a tide-mill, which afterwards, by the ill-will and
obstinacy of neighbors, became a source of much trouble to them. It tells also
how, by discretion and the exercise of a peaceable spirit, they at last overcame
all difficulties.
11 Mr. TKOWBRIDGE'S humor, his fidelity to nature, and story-telling power
lose nothing with years ; and he stands at the head of those who are furnishing
a literature for the young, clean and sweet in tone, and always of interest and
value." The Continent.
The Satin-wood Box. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated.
$1.25.
" Mr. TROWBRIDGE has always a purpose in his writings, and this time he
has undertaken to show how very near an innocent boy can come to the guilty
edge and yet be able by fortunate circumstances to rid himself of all suspicion
of evil. There is something winsome about the hero; but he has a singular
way of falling into bad luck, although the careful reader will never feel the
least disposed to doubt his honesty. ... It is the pain and perplexity which
impart to the story its intense interest." Syracuse Standard.
The Little Master. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
This is the story of a schoolmaster, his trials, disappointments, and final
victory. It will recall to many a man his experience in teaching pupils, and
in managing their opinionated and self-willed parents. The story has the
charm which is always found in Mr. TROWBRIDGE'S works.
" Many a teacher could profit by reading of this plucky little schoolmaster."
Journal of Education.
His One Fault. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
"As for the hero of this story, ' His One Fault' was absent-mindedness, lie
forgot to lock his uncle's stable door, and the horse was stolen. In seeking to
recover the stolen horse, he unintentionally stole another. In trying to restore
the wrong horse to his rightful owner, he was himself arrested. After no end
of comic and dolorous adventures, he surmounted all his misfortunes by down-
right pluck and genuine good feeling. It is a noble contribution to juvenile
literature." Woman's Journal.
Peter Budstone. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
" TROWBRIDGE'S other books have been admirable and deservedly popular,
but this one, in our opinion, is the best yet. It is a story at once spirited and
touching, with a certain dramatic and artistic quality that appeals to the literary
sense as \vell as to the story-loving appetite. In it Mr. TROWBRIDGE has not
lectured or moralized or remonstrated; he has simply shown boys what they
are doing when they contemplate hazing. By a good artistic impulse we are
not shown the hazing at all; when the story begins, the hazing is already over,
and we are introduced immediately to the results. It is an artistic touch also
that the boy injured is not hurt because he is a fellow of delicate nerves, but be-
cause of his very strength, and the power with which he resisted until overcome
by numbers, and subjected to treatment which left him insane. His insanity
takes the form of harmless delusion, and the absurdity of his ways and talk
enables the author to lighten the sombreness without weakening the moral, in
a way that ought to win all boys to his side." The Critic.
LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE,
J. T. TROWBRIDGE'S BOOKS 41
THE SILVER MEDAL, STORIES. 6 volumes.
The Silver Medal, AND OTHER STORIES. By J. T. TROW-
BRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
There were some schoolboys who had turned housebreakers, and among- their
plunder was a silver medal that had been given to one John Harrison by the
Humane Society for rescuing from drowning a certain Benton Barry. Now
Benton Barry was one of the wretched housebreakers. This is the summary
of the opening chapter. The story is intensely interesting in its serious as
well as its humorous parts.
His Own Master. ByJ. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
" This is a book after the typical boy's own heart. Its hero is a plucky young
fellow, who, seeing no chance for himself at home, determines to make his own
\yay in the world. . . . He sets out accordingly, trudges to the far West, and
finds the road to fortune an unpleasantly rough one." Philadelphia Inquirer,
" We class this as one of the best stories for boys we ever read. The tone is
perfectly healthy, and the interest is kept up to the end." Boston Home
Journal.
Bound in Honor. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
This story is of a lad, who, though not guilty of any bad action, had been an
eye-witness of the conduct of his comrades, and felt " Bound in Honor" not
to tell.
" The glimpses we get of New England character are free from any distor-
tion, and their humorous phases are always entertaining. Mr. TROWBRIDGE'S
brilliant descriptive faculty is shown to great advantage in the opening chapter
of the book by a vivid picture of a village fire, and is manifested elsewhere with
equally telling effect." Boston Courier.
The Pocket Rifle. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
"A boy's story which will be read with avidity, as it ought to be, it is so
brightly and frankly written, and with such evident knowledge of the tempera-
ments and habits, the friendships and enmities of schoolboys." New York
Mail.
"This is a capital story for boys. TROWBRIDGE never tells a story poorly.
It teaches honesty, integrity, and friendship, and how best they can be pro-
moted. It shows the danger ot hasty judgment and circumstantial evidence;
that right-doing pays, and dishonesty never." Chicago Inter-Ocean.
The Jolly Rover. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illustrated. $1.25.
"This book will help to neutralize the ill effects of any poison which children
may have swallowed in the way of sham-adventurous stories and wildly fictitious
tales. 'The Jolly Rover' runs away from home, and meets life as it is, till he
is glad enough to seek again his father's house. Mr. TROWBRIDGE has the
power of making an instructive story absorbing in its interest, and of covering
a moral so that it is easy to take." Christian Intelligencer.
Young" Joe, AND OTHER BOYS. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. Illus-
trated. $1.25.
" Young Joe," who lived at Bass Cove, where he shot wild ducks, took some
to town for sale, and attracted the attention of a portly gentleman fond of shoot-
ing. This gentleman went duck shooting with Joe, and their adventures were
more amusing to the boy than to the amateur sportsman.
There are thirteen other short stories in the book which will be sure to please
the young folks.
The Vagabonds: AN ILLUSTRATED POEM. By J. T. TROW-
BRIDGE. Cloth. $1.50.
" The Vagabonds " are a strolling fiddler and his dog. The fiddler has been
ruined by drink, and his monologue is one of the most pathetic and effective
pieces in our literature.
LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON, SEND THEIR COMPLETE CATALOGUE FREE,
RETURN TO:
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
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Books may be renewed by calling 642-3405.
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW.
*EB 5 2003
FORM NO. DD6 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
50M 5-02 Berkeley, California 94720-6000
