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ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY
NEw York STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HomME ECONOMICS
AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
THE GIFT OF
WILLARD A. KIGGINS, JR.
in memory of his father
Cornell University
Library
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www. archive.org/details/cu31924050307390
AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
"LIQNDISSIGIN FHL NO SIIVA anvud
THE
AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK:
EMBRACING
The Hatural Pistory of Sporting Sish,
AND
THE ART OF TAKING THEM.
WITH INSTRUCTIONS IN
FLY-FISHING, FLY-MAKING, AND ROD-MAKING;
AND
DIRECTIONS FOR FISH-BREEDING,
TO WHICH IS APPENDED,
DIES PISCATORLA:
DESCRIBING NOTED FISHING-PLACES, AND THE PLEASURE OF
SOLITARY FLY-FISHING.
LUlustrated with Gightp Gngrabings on Wood.
Bones ee,
ime Ay
By THAD. NORRIS.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY E. H. BUTLER & CO.,
LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON & CO.
1864. »
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
E. H. BUTLER & 00.
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania.
MEARS & DUSENBERY, ASHMEAD,
STEREOTYPERS & ELECTROTYPERS. PRINTER.
THE
FOLLOWING PAGES ARE DEDICATED
TO
Dhe Bittle Glub
OF
“HOUSELESS ANGLERS;’
AND TO
* ALL THAT ARE LOVERS OF VIRTUE, AND DARE TRUST IN PROVIDENCE,
AND BE QUIET, AND GO A-ANGLING.”
TO THE READER.
In offering this book for the perusal of those who may feel suff-
ciently interested in the subject to read works on Angling, I deem it
an act of courtesy to say a few words in explanation of the motives
which prompted me to commence, and then drew me on in the prose-
cution of a work involving, as it has proved, no small amount of time
and labor.
Every true lover of angling knows that the pleasure it brings with
it, does not end with the day’s sport; that besides being ‘a calmer
of unquiet thoughts,” for the time, it impresses happy memories on
the mind; and he looks back to many a day, and many a scene, as
an oasis by the wayside in the rough journey of life; and like Dog-
berry’s friend Verges, ‘‘ he will be talking” when he finds an interest-
ed hearer, and may be tempted, as the author of these pages has
been, to write of it.
Notwithstanding the many books on angling by British authors,
but few American works on the subject have yet been offered to the
(7)
Vili TO THE READER.
reading public; and this in the face of the fact that we are an
angling people, and that our thousands of brooks, creeks, rivers, lakes,
bays, and inlets abound in game-fish.
The best informed of those who have written on American fishes,
have omitted many important species, and treated slightingly of
others which are worthy of a more extended notice. Since the pub-
lication of Dr. Bethune’s “ Walton,” and subsequently Frank For-
ester’s “ Fish and Fishing,” sporting-fish have decreased in some
parts of the country where they were once abundant. In the mean
while, the opening of new lines of travel has brought within reach
of the angler many teeming waters that were then almost inaccessible.
With a view of filling up the blank left by my predecessors, of
correcting some erroneous ideas that have been imparted, not only
concerning fish, but the adaptation of English rules and theories,
without qualification, to our waters; and with the object of making
the angler self-reliant, and to encourage him as much as possible to
make the best of such resources as may be within his reach, espe-
cially as regards his tackle, I have devoted many spare hours to the
following pages; in writing which, to use the words of Isaac Walton,
“T have made a recreation of a recreation ;”’
and as reminiscences of
my boyhood or maturer years have come back to me, and the mood
was on me, I have at times indulged my sense of the ludicrous or the
ridiculous ; and, again adopting the words of Walton in- his address
to his readers, “I have in several places mixed not any scurrility, but
some innocent harmless mirth, of which, if thou be a severe sour-
complexioned man, then I here disallow thee to be a competent judge,
for divines say there are offences given and offences not given, but
offences taken.” But I am sanguine enough to hope that my simple
narrations or allusions to such incidents will touch a chord of sym-
pathy in the breasts of good-natured readers “who love to be quiet
and go a-angling.”
I had collected most of the matter contained in this book—much
of it as the reader finds it, but a greater portion in rough notes—
when the present unhappy rebellion broke out. I then thought it
doubtful whether the following pages would ever be printed, but
TO THE READER. ix
some of my angling friends, one or two of whom had read parts of
my manuscript, urged me to publish, and overcame my scruples ag
to my short-comings as a writer, for I profess to be only an angler.
One of these, who regards the author and his project perhaps in too
favorable a light, addressed me a letter on the subject. I conceive it
to be so strong an argument in favor of angling, and so much more
to the point than I could express it myself, that I insert it here.
My Dear Frienp: Several times you have told me that you entertained
the idea of writing a treatise on angling. Let me beg of you not to suffer
this “ good intention” to be turned into a paving-stone for that locality into
which all unfulfilled good intentions are dumped for cobble.
I feel great confidence that if you can impart to beginners but a share
of the practical knowledge and insight of the gentle craft which you have
obtained by years of patient, observant, and appreciative practice, or can
imbue them with a part of that genuine love for the sport which has grown
into and with you, then you will be doing the youth of our country a real
service.
Perhaps few people claiming to be civilized have greater need than we
Americans to be taught the necessity of innocent out-door recreations, for
the healthy development of mind, body, and spirit. To the struggle for
wealth, and place, and fame, we devote such unremitting ardor, that we
are too apt to overlook the simple and innocent joys which a kind Father
has so bountifully placed within our easy reach; by neglecting which, we
miss the natural means for renewing the spring of life, and keeping fresh
and green in our memories the happy days of boyhood.
I have ever felt grateful that asa boy I imbibed a love for angling, for
in my maturer years it continues to afford me a keener enjoyment than
any other recreation. Nothing has survived to me of my boyish days
which has the peculiar abandon and charm of boyish joy like this. At
each returning season, when the warm breath of spring flushes the maples
with the ruddy glow of budding leaves, what can equal the angler’s de-
light, as, rigged out in sober woollen suit and hob-nailed wading shoes,
with creel o’er his shoulder and pliant rod in his grasp, he is permitted to
revisit the bright familiar stream (scene of his former triumphs), to listen
to the music of its flow, and to try once more if his right hand has lost its
cunning, or his flies their attraction.
Though I have always loved angling, I think if I had known you earlier
I should have loved it even better. I realize how much I have learned
TO THE READER.
. from you in the few years we have fished together, and I look back with a
kind of regret that I did not have the benefit of your kindly teaching ear-
lier. Many a one who has the true love of angling in him, comes so far
short of the enjoyment he could have, for want of willing and faithful
teaching at the commencement, from those whose experience and skill
are above his own. Some anglers do not think enough of their duties to
their juniors in this respect. I reckon among the chiefest of your qualities
as an angler, the sincere sympathy you have always manifested towards
any novice who showed that he had a love for the art, and your willingness
to teach to such what you knew. Why not manifest this on a more ex-
panded field, and speak through a book to all who are seeking knowledge
upon angling, and are disposed to avail themselves of your experience ?
There is one department of the school for anglers in which I think you
are qualified to speak ex cathedra. I mean the mechanical; if you will
undertake to teach what you know upon this branch, you can enable an
angler, who has any aptitude for mechanism and a reasonable facility of
manipulation, to manufacture for himself, his own rod, flies, and tackle, ofa
quality for service and effectiveness, which will not suffer in comparison
with those to be procured inany good tackle-store in the country. Noone
has a better right than I to bear this testimony to your handicraft, for my
favorite fly-rod and book of flies are the product of your skill.
We have a good many fishermen in this country, and too few anglers ;
we are apt to value more a glut than a quiet day’s sport, where skill and
painstaking will reward us with a moderate sufficiency. Catching fish is
not necessarily angling, any more than daubing canvas with paint is paint-
ing. If you write, you could not help giving aid to the attainment of a
truer and juster perception of the delights and uses of angling; and aid
your reader, if he has a sympathetic soul, in the attainment of that
“sweet content” which can be drawn from all the accessories of the art,
and the beauties of nature amid which it is practised.
I say, therefore, write. The labor will not only pleasantly recall many
scenes of your piscatorial experience, and memories of the choice spirits
with whom you have taken your diversion, but will make you to be re-
.membered with gratitude by those to whom your labor of love will bring
an innocent pleasure.
Truly your friend and fellow-angler, J.
Most of the engravings of fish in this book are from nature. The
iwarine species, found in the chapter on salt-water fishing, are reduced
TO THE READER. x]
copies of those found in Dr. Holbrook’s work. The vignettes are the
production of the pencil of a good brother of the angle, an amateur,
drawn mostly for his own amusement and occasionally for mine, as
the subjects have been presented to his appreciative eye during the
last ten or twelve years. Many of them are his earlier sketches. He
has expressed an unwillingness that I should reproduce them, after
finding that I was in earnest in doing so in this work ; but I have, in
most cases, so intimately associated them with the subjects or topics
to which they serve as vignettes, that, I cannot oblige him by relin-
quishing my purpose.
Most of the tackle and diagrams, and a few of the fish, were drawn
by the writer; I confess with some labor, for they are purely
mechanical productions.
All of the drawings on wood, with the exception of the plate of
hooks and Salmon-flies by Mr. Wilhelm, are by D. Gordon Yates, of
this city, and were cut by himself or under his supervision.
I have received so many useful hints from Dr. Bethune’s notes to
his edition of Walton, and from English works on angling during the
last fifteen or twenty years, that I am at a loss to whom to accredit
any particular item of information; having so entirely appropriated
such knowledge, and stored and mingled it with whatever necessity
and some aptness of my own has taught me, as to consider all alike
my own property.
Tackle-making I have learned as a pleasant recreation. My tactics
and rules are based on my own experience and upon that of brethren
of the rod with whom I have angled. So also is my knowledge of
fishing-grounds.
Anglers are all more or less conceited, or, to say the least, self-
opinioned, and I may at times have given directions or laid down
rules contrary to the views or practice of the reader, or may not have
expressed myself as plainly as I endeavored to do; but
“What is writ is writ;
Would it were worthier.”’
And I only ask the same indulgence of opinion I am willing to extend
to those who hold opposite notions.
xu TO THE READER.
To the living, with whom I have enjoyed long days of unalloyed
pleasure in boyhood, by the dear old mill-pond, and in manhood by
the mountain stream, on the sylvan lake, or within sound of “ the
warning off the lee shore, speaking in breakers,’”’ I send these pages
as a reminder of the past. In reference to those who are no more on
earth, I quote as applicable those simply beautjful lines of Walton,
and say that my allusion to some of the incidents herein contained,
“is, or rather was, a picture of my own disposition, especially in such
days as I have laid aside business, and gone a-fishing with honest Nat
and R. Roe; but they are gone, and with them most of my pleasant
hours, even as a shadow that passeth away and returneth not.”
CONTENTS.
Apprgss TO THE READER ae a ee . Page 5
CHAPTER I.
ANGLING.
Its harmonizing influences.—Recollections of Angling in boyhood, its
after influence on manhood.—Its social tendency.—What and Who
is an Angler ?—Different kinds of Anglers.—The Snob Angler.—
The Greedy Angler.—The Spick-and-Span Angler.—The Rough-
and-Ready Angler.—The Literary Angler.—The Shad-roe Fisher-
man.—The English Admiral, an Angler.—The True Angler . 27
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH.
Definition.—Origin and order in creation.—Natural mode of propaga-
tion.—Habits as regards maternity.—Migration.—Vitality.—Ex-
ternal organs.—Internal organization.—Ichthyology e . 39
CHAPTER III.
TACKLE IN GENERAL.
Hooks. — Sinkers. — Swivels. — Gut. —— Leaders.— Snoods.— Lines.—
Reels.—Rods.—Bow Dipsys_ . 3 bye ole, ce ae 68
(13)
XiV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV
THE PERCH FAMILY—PERCIDA.
General Remarks on the Percids.—Great number of American
genera and species.—Paucity of European species.—Distinguish-'
ing marks.—Their abundance and variety in the Valley of the
Mississippii—Migratory habits.—The Rockfish or Striped Bass,
Labrax lineatus. Rockfish Tackle. Rock-fishing on the lower
Rappahannock.—The White Perch, Labrax pallidus. Perch-fish-
ing.—The White Bass of the Lakes, Labrax albidus. White Bass
taken with the artificial fly.—Fresh water Bass of the South and
West, (frystes salmoides. , Bass-fishing. Bass Fly-fishing.—Black
Bass of the Lakes, Grystes nigricans. Trolling for Black Bass with
spoon, and with artificial flies—The Striped Bass of the Ohio,
Perca chrysops.—The Short Striped Bass.—Oswego Bass.—The
Crappie or Sac-a-lai, Pomoxis hexicanthus.—-The Yellow Barred
Perch, Perca flavescens.—The Sunfish or Sunny, Pomotis vulgaris.—
Bream, Ichthylis rubricunda. Bream-fishing on Bayou La Branch.—
The Pike Perch or Ohio Salmon, Lucioperca Americana.—The
Buffalo Perch, Ablodon grunniens
CHAPTER V
THE PIKE FAMILY—ESOCIDA.
Remarks on the Pike Family.—Mascalonge pictured by Cuvier.—
European species.—American species.—The Garfish ; manner of
taking it.—Dr. Bethune’s remarks on Pikes.—Their introduction
into England.—Pliny’s Pike.—Gesner’s Pike——The Great Lake
Pickerel, Esox lucioides. Trolling from a boat for Pickerel.—The
Mascalonge, Hsox estor. Angling for Mascalonge.—The Pond
Pike, Esox reticulatus. Pike-fishing. Trolling for Pike with the
gorge-hook. Pike-fishing in Eastern Virginia.—The Great Blue
Pike.—The Little Pike of Long Island.—The Streaked Pike of the
Ohio. Story told about a Pike taken in the Kanawha .
CHAPTER VI.
THE CARP FAMILY—CYPRINIDA.
Remarks on the Cyprinide.—The Sucker, Catostomus —_
Buffalo Fish, Catostomus babulus. Buffalo Fish as an article of
17
. 127
F : CONTENTS. Xv
diet.—The Chub or Fallfish, Leucosomus nothus. Errors of Ameri-
can writers in regard to the size of the Chub. Chub an annoyance
to fly-fishers. Chub-fishing on the Brandywine. Umbrella invented
by a Chub Fisherman.—Roach, and Roach-fishing 3 : . 153
CHAPTER VII.
THE HERRING FAMILY—CLUPEIDA.
Remarks on the Herring Family, from the “Iconographic Encyelo-
peedia.” Their abundance in the waters of the United States.
Great numbers of them taken in the Potomac. Herring-fishing
with the artificial fly—The Shad, Alosa prestatilis. Its delicacy
and value as food. Migratory habits. Shad taken with the min-
now. Shad-roe as bait . 3 : é : : ‘ . . 165
CHAPTER VIIL.
CATFISH AND EELS.
Catfish, Siluride. Extract from Iconographic Encyclopedia. Cat-
fish of the Atlantic States and Western waters.—Hels. Observations
on the Petromyzontide (Lamprey Eels), on the Murenide (Common
Eels), and on the Gymnotide (Electric Eels)—The Common Eel,
Anguilla vulgaris. \Fishing for Kels. Migratory habits. Young
Eels as bait. Eels not hermaphrodites . ‘ «
CHAPTER IX.
THE SALMON FAMILY.—SALMONIDZ.
Remarks on the Salmonidz.—The Brook Trout. Scientific descrip-
tion. Habits and manner of breeding. Growth. Difference in
size between Trout of still waters and those of brisk streams.
Effect of light and shade, and bright or dark water, on the color
of Trout. Errors as regards new species. Food of the Trout. Its
greediness. Its geographical range. Former abundance and causes
of decrease. Size of Trout in the regions of Lake Superior and
State of Maine. Size in the preserved waters of England, and size
the angler is restricted to in rented waters.—The Salmon. Former
abundance in the rivers of New York and the Hastern States.
Great numbers in California, Oregon, and British Possessions.
XV CONTENTS.
Decline of the Salmon-fisheries in British Provinces. Scientific
description. Natural process of propagation. Their growth. Parr,
Smolt, and Grilse. Mature Salmon. Size of Salmon. Instinct.
Restocking depleted rivers, and introducing Salmon into new waters.
Their migration from sea to fresh rivers, and gradual preparation
for their change of habitat. Salmon-leaps. Food of Salmon at sea.—
The Canadian Trout, or Sea Trout, Salmo Canadensis. Error in
referring it to the species Salmo trutta of Europe; their dissimilar-
ity. Its affinity to Salmo fontinalis (Brook Trout). Sea-Trout
fishing in the Tabbisintac. Mr. Perley’s and Dr. Adamson’s account
of Sea-Trout fishing. Their abundance in the rivers falling into
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and annoyance to Salmon-fishers.—The
Schoodic Trout, or Dwarf Salmon ef the St. Croix, Salmo Gloveri.
Account of three summers’ fishing in the Schoodic Lakes.—The
Great Lake Trout, Salmo namaycush. Manner of taking them.—
The Lesser Lake Trout, Salmo Adirondakus. Trolling for Lake
Trout.—-Back’s Grayling, Thymailus signifer. Dr. Richardson’s
remarks on the Grayling.—The Smelt, Osmerus viridiscens. Their
great numbers along the northern part of our coast. Smelt in the
Schuylkill. Quantity sent south from Boston. Smelt used as a
fertilizer—-The Capelin, Mallotus villosus—The Whitefish, Co-
regonus albus.—Trout Bait-fishing .
CHAPTER X.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING.
Introductory Remarks.—The Sheepshead.—The Weakfish, or Salt-
Water Trout.—The Barb, or Kingfish—The Spot, Pigfish, or
Goody.—The Croaker.—The Redfish of the Gulf of Mexico.—The
Bluefish, or Snapping Mackerel.—The Spanish Mackerel.—The
Pompano (Southern).—The Drumfish—-The Flounder.—The Sea-
Bass.—The Blackfish —_The Mullet.—The Tom Cod, or Frostfish.—
The Porgy
CHAPTER XL.
TROUT FLY-FISHING.—OUTFIT AND TACKLE.
Wading-Jacket.—Trousers.—Boots.—Creel or Basket.—Landing-Net.
—Rods.—Reels.—Lines.—Leaders.—Flies.—The Whip
. 191
. 277
. 305
CONTENTS. Xvil
CHAPTER XII.
TROUT FLY-FISHING.—THE STREAM.
Casting the Fly.—Theory of strict imitation.—Striking and killing a
Fish.—Likely places, how to fish them . F . ; : 327
CHAPTER XIII
SALMON-FISHING.
Tackle used in Salmon-Fishing.—Rods.—Reels.—Reel-lines.—Cast-
ing-lines.—Salmon-flies—Materials required for Salmon-flies for
American rivers.—Salmon-flies for the rivers of New Brunswick
and Canada.—Theory and practice of Salmon-fishing—Salmon-
fishing compared with Trout-fishing.—Casting the fly —The straight-
forward cast, casting over the left shoulder, casting in difficult
places, explained by diagrams.—Casting in an unfavorable wind—
Striking.— Playing a Salmon.— What a Salmon will do or may do.—
Gaffng.—Camping on the river—Camp equipage.—Protection
against mosquitoes, plack-flies, and midges.—Clothing, &e.—Cook-
ing utensils.—Stores.—Cooking Salmon on the river.—To boil a
Salmon.—To broil a Salmon.—Cold Salmon.—Soused Salmon.—
To bake or steam a Grilse under the coals and ashes.—Kippered
Salmon.—Smoked Salmon.—Law and Custom on the river . . 34
CHAPTER XIV.
SALMON-RIVERS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES.
Salmon-rivers of Lower Canada.—Salmon-rivers emptying into or
tributary to rivers flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence ——Salmon-
rivers of New Brunswick.—Mirimichi.—Ristigouche.—Metapediac.
—Cascapediacs.—Bonaventure.—Tittigouche.—Nipissiguit . . 379
CHAPTER XV.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS.
Repairs.—To wax silk, thread, or twine.—Tying on hooks and making
loops, illustrated.—Splicing a line and splicing a rod, illustrated —
Knots.—The angler’s single and double knot, and knot used in
2
xvii CONTENTS.
tying on drop-flies, illustrated——A gang of hooks, illustrated.—
Receipts.—For making wax.—For dyeing gut.—For dyeing feathers
and dubbing F x
CHAPTER XVI.
FLY-MAKING.
Implements.—Hand-Vice, Spring-Pliers, &c.—Book for holding mate-
rials.—Materials— Hooks. —Gut.—T insel.—_Dubbing.—Hackles.—
Wings.—To tie a plain Hackle.—To tie a Palmer.—To make a fly
with wings .
CHAPTER XVII
ROD-MAKING.
Woods used in making rods.— Wood and Malacca cane for fly-rods.—
Materials used by amateur rod-makers.—To make a fly-rod of three
pieces.—To make a tip.—To stain a rod.—Oiling and varnishing.—
Wrapping splices and putting on rings.—To make a “rent and
glued,” or quarter-sectioned tip.—Draw-plate and V tool illustrated
and explained.—Manner of splitting cane and joining the pieces of
a quarter-sectioned tip described by diagram.—Making middle
pieces and tips without splices—Manner of making a fly-rod to be
adjusted to light or heavy fishing.—Ferule-making
CHAPTER XVIII.
FISH-BREEDING.
Causes of the decrease of Salmon and Trout.—Remarks on fish-ponds
and the manner of stocking them.—Artificial Fish-Breeding—with
illustrations, showing the manner of expressing the ova and milt,
the arrangement of hatching-troughs, and the growth of the fish ;
from “ A Complete Treatise on Artificial Fish-Breeding,” by W. H.
Fry, Esq., with some remarks of the author of this work.—The
Aquarium—its appropriate size and form, and manner of stocking
it with fish and introducing suitable aquatic plants
. 405
. 419
44)
459
CONTENTS. XIX
DIES PISCATORI.
Tae “ Housetess ANGLERS” : ; : : ‘ Page 489
Tux Noonpay Roast . ; ‘ : 2 . 497
First Nooning—Trout-fishing in Hamilton County, New York . 503
Second Nooning—Trout-fishing in New Hampshire . . 513
Third Nooning—Trout-fishing in the regions of Lake Superior . 531
Fourth Nooning—Trout-fishing in the Adirondacks . : . 547
Fiy-Fisoine ALONE . ‘ : : : ‘ ‘ ‘ 567
Tue ANGLER’s SaBBATH. : i ; ; ; . 589
ConoLusion 2 3 d 2 4 : 2 . 599
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FRONTISPIECE—VIEW OF THE GRAND FALLS ON THE NIPISSI-
GUIT, From a Puorogrars sy RussEL, or Sr. Joan, N.B.
RIVER SCENE”. z : ‘ 3 F Pace 5
MALACOPTERYGII AND ACANTHOPTERYGII—POSITION OF FINS
IN THE TWO ORDERS. ; 57
POSITION OF TEETH AND GILL-COVERS : 58
HOOKS AND SWIVELS ; ‘ : ; . 65
ROCKFISH, OR STRIPED BASS . : : 81
UNCLE ROLLY . : : 89
WHITE PERCH.—GRAY PERCH : . 90
FRESH-WATER BASS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST . ‘ 99
BLACK BASS OF THE NORTHERN LAKES , ; 103
CRAPPIE, OR SAC-A-LAI : . . iW
YELLOW-BARRED PERCH : ‘ : 114
SUNFISH, OR SUNNY . ; ; ; ; . 15
FISHING FOR SUNNIES , : : 117
GREAT NORTHERN LAKE PICKEREL 3 t . 131
CANADIAN BOATMAN . ; . ‘ 3 ; 134
MASCALONGE . : ; ; ; , ; 135
POND PIKE ae os , : 3 é 138
GORGE-HOOK : : . : ; 139
THE MAJOR ; ; ; ; : 146
THE HOSTLER TELLING A FISH STORY . d 150
THE CHUB-FISHER’S IMPROVED UMBRELLA . : : 160
GIRL FISHING FOR ROACH : . 162
(xxi)
xxii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
BROOK TROUT. z s : : : . 194
SALMON : ; . « 205
GROWTH OF THE YOUNG SALMON : : 224
SALMON-FRY.—PINK AND SMOLT . é : “ « 227
GUIDE ; : : : 247
GREAT LAKE TROUT . 249
LESSER LAKE TROUT : : . : ‘ 255
GANG OF HOOKS, BAITED . . ‘ 5 - 258
SMELT : ‘ ‘ . ; 263
CHILDREN ON A TROUT STREAM . : ‘ ; . 274
SHEEPSHEAD 3 ‘ ; : i : 280
WEAK-FISH z 3 : . 283
BARB OR KINGFISH . ; : : ‘ 286
SPOT, PIGFISH, OR GOODY , 2 289
CROAKER . ; : 3 : 291
REDFISH OF THE GULF OF MEXICO : . 293
BLUEFISH OR SNAPPING MACKEREL . 294
SPANISH MACKEREL : ? : . 296
POMPANO.—CREVALLE : : : ; 298
BOAT . ‘ : : . : . 302
TROUT-FLIES F . ‘ 305
LANDING-NETS FOR FLY-FISHING . e ; . 307
HEAD OF A TROUT ‘ ‘ ; : 325
THE OLD SPRING BY THE ROADSIDE ; : : . 842
REEL FOR SALMON-FISHING . : . : : 348
SALMON-FLIES ; . 353
RIGHT AND LEFT-SHOULDERED, AND DIFFICULT CASTING 362
BARK-PEELER’S HORSE AND STABLE : j : . 376
CANOEMAN . : : F : 402
TYING ON HOOKS AND LOOPS . : : : . 406
SPLICING LINE AND ROD : ; . : 408
KNOTS . y ; : ; 4 : . 409
GANG , 5 ‘ ‘ 4 F 409
SETTLER’S CABIN ; : ; 2 . 416
PIN-VICE AND SPRING PLIERS . : . , 420
FLY-MAKING . : : : : : . 429
FEATHER CUT FOR WINGS : . , 434
“PLEASE, SIR, GIVE ME A FLY-HOOK?” . : 7 438
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ROD-MAKING—V TOOL AND DRAW-PLATE
MAKING QUARTER-SECTIONED TIPS
MALACCA CANE . 5 . 5
FISH-BREEDING—HATCHING TROUGHS
EXPRESSING THE SPAWN
OVA AND YOUNG SALMON .
SCIENTIFIC ANGLING
SAW-MILL ON TROUT STREAM
AFTER THE ROAST : .
“THEE MUSN’T GO THROUGH THAT RYE!”
A THIEF’S PORTRAIT
UNCLE LOT
BLACKSMITH’S BOY . i
DISCUSSING THE DRAFT ‘ ‘i .
OFF FOR A DEER DRIVE .
WATCHING FOR DEER
STONE THROWER . : ‘ : .
SAND-PIPERS . . . . .
RIVER SCENE é : By .
CHAPTER I.
ANGLING.
“QuivERING fears, heart-tearing cures,
Anxious sighs, untimely tears,
Fly, fly to courts,
Fly to fond worldlings’ sports,
Where strained Sardonic smiles are glosing still,
And grief is forced to laugh against her will;
Where mirth’s but mummery,
And sorrows only real be.
“Fly from our country pastimes, fly,
Sad troops of human misery :—
Come, serene looks,
Clear as the crystal brooks,
Or the pure azured heaven that smiles to see
The rich attendance on olir poverty;
Peace, and a secure mind,
Which all men scek, we only find.” “
Watton.
CHAPTER I.
ANGLING.
Its harmonizing influences.—Recollections of Angling in boyhood, its after
influence on manhood.—Its social tendency.—What and Who is an
Angler ?—Different kinds of Anglers.—The Snob Angler.—The Greedy
Angler.—The Spick-and-Span Angler.—The Rough-and-Ready Angler.
—The Literary Angler.—The Shad-roe Fisherman.—The English Ad-
miral, an Angler.—The True Angler.
IT is not my intention to offer any remarks on the
antiquity of Angling, or say much in its defence. Dame
Juliana Berners, Isaac Walton, and more recent authors,
have discoursed learnedly on its origin, and defended it
wisely and valiantly from the aspersions and ridicule of
those who cannot appreciate its quiet joys, and who know
not the solace and peace it brings to the harassed mind,
or how it begets and fosters contentment and a love of
nature.
I ask any caviller to read Dr. Bethune’s Bibliographical
Preface to his edition of Walton; and then Father Izaak’s
address to the readers of his discourse, ‘‘but especially to
THE HONEST ANGLER,” and accompany him in spirit, as
Bethune does, by the quiet Lea, or Cotton by the bright
rippling Dove; and if he be not convinced of the blessed
influences of the “ gentle art,” or if his heart is not warmed,
or no recollections of his boyish days come back to him, I
give him up without a harsh word, but with a feeling of
regret, that a lifetime should be spent without attaining so
much of quiet happiness that might have been so easily
(27)
‘
28 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
possessed, and quoting a few sad words from Whittier’s
Maud Muller, I only say “it might have been.”
Many anglers, such as Sir Humphrey Davy and Sir Joshua
Reynolds, besides some of my own acquaintance, have sought
its cheering influences in advanced life. I know of one whose
early manhood and maturer years were spent on the boister-
ous deep, and who, though now past eighty, is still an ardent,
but quiet angler; and when no better sport can be found,
he will even fish through the ice in winter for Roach. No
doubt his days have been lengthened out, and the burden of
life lightened, by his love of angling.
But how sweetly memories of the past come to one who
has appreciated and enjoyed it from his boyhood, whose
almost first penny, after he wore jacket and trowsers, bought
his first fish-hook; whose first fishing-line was twisted by
mother or sister; whose float was the cork of a physic vial,
and whose sinkers were cut from the sheet-lead of an old tea-
chest! Thus rigged, with what glad anticipations of sport,
many a boy has started on some bright Saturday morning,
his gourd, or old cow’s horn of red worms in one pocket, and
a jack-knife in the other, to cut his alder-pole with, and
wandered “free and far” by still pool and swift waters,
dinnerless—except perhaps a slight meal at a cherry tree, or
a handful of berries that grew along his path—and come
home at night weary and footsore, but exulting in his string
of chubs, minnows, and sunnies, the largest as broad as his
three fingers! He almost falls asleep under his Saturday
night scrubbing, but in the morning, does ample justice to
his “catch,” which is turned out of the pan, crisp and brown,
and matted together like a pan-cake.
In my school days, a boy might have been envied, but not
loved for proficiency in his studies; but he was most courted,
who knew the best fishing-holes; who had plenty of powder
ANGLING. 90
and shot; the best squirrel dog, and the use of his father’s
long flintlock gun. And I confess, as I write these lines with
my spectacles on, that I have still a strong drawing towards
this type of a boy, whether I meet him in my lonely rambles,
or whether he dwells only in my memory.
Sometimes the recollection of our boyish sports comes back
to us after manhood, and one who has been “addicted” to
fishing relapses into his old “ ailment ;” then angling becomes
a pleasant kind of disease, and one’s friends are apt to
become inoculated with the virus, for it is contagious. Or
men are informally introduced to each other on the stream,
by a good-humored salutation, or an inquiry of “ What luck?”
or a display of the catch, or the offer of a segar, or the flask,
or a new fly; and with such introduction have become fast
friends, from that affinity which draws all true anglers
together.
But let me ask what is an angler, and who is a true angler?
One who fishes with nets is not, neither is he who spears,
snares, or dastardly uses the crazy bait to get fish, or who
catches them on set lines; nor is he who is boisterous, noisy,
or quarrelsome; nor are those who profess to practise the
higher branches of the art, and affect contempt for their more
humble brethren, who have not attained to ¢heer proficiency,
imbued with the feeling that should possess the true angler.
Nor is he who brings his ice-chest from town, and fishes
all day with worm or fly, that he may return to the city and
boastingly distribute his soaked and tasteless trout among
his friends, and brag of the numbers he has basketed, from
fingerlings upwards.
Anglers may be divided into almost as many genera and
species as the fish they catch, and engage in the sport from
as many impulses. Let me give, “en passant,” a sketch of a
few of the many I have met with.
380 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
There is the Fussy Angler, a great bore; of course you will
shun him. The “Snob” Angler, who speaks confidently and
knowingly on a slight capital of skill or experience. The
Greedy, Pushing Angler, who rushes ahead and half fishes the
water, leaving those who follow, in doubt as to whether he
has fished a pool or rift carefully, or slurred it over in his
haste to reach some well-known place down the stream
before his companions. The company of these, the quiet,
careful angler will avoid.
We also meet sometimes with the “Spick-and-Span” Angler,
who has a highly varnished rod, and a superabundance of
useless tackle; his outfit is of the most elaborate kind as
regards its finish. He is a dapper “well got up” angler in
all his appointments, and fishes much in-doors over his claret
and poteen, when he has a good listener. He frequently
displays bad taste in his tackle, intended for fly-fishing, by
having a thirty dollar multiplying reel, filled with one of
Conroy’s very best relaid sea-grass lines, strong enough to
hold a dolphin. If you meet him on the teeming waters of
northern New York; the evening’s display of his catch,
depends much on the rough skill of his guide.
The Rough-and-Ready Angler, the opposite of the afore-
named, disdains all ‘“tomfoolery,”
and carries his tackle in
an old shot-bag, and his flies in a tangled mass.
We have also the Literary Angler, who reads Walton and
admires him hugely; he has been inoculated with the
sentiment only ; the five-mile walk up the creek, where it has
not been fished much, is very fatiguing to him; he “did not
know he must wade the stream,” and does not until he slips
in, and then he has some trouble at night to get his boots off.
He is provided with a stout bass rod, good strong leaders of
salmon-gut, and a stock of Conroy’s “journal flies,” and
f
ANGLING. 31
wonders if he had not better put on a shot just above his
stretcher-fly.
The Pretentious Angler, to use a favorite expression of the
lamented Dickey Riker, once Recorder of the city of New
York, is one ‘that prevails to a great extent in this com-
munity.” This gentleman has many of the qualities attri-
buted by Fisher, of the ‘‘ Angler’s Souvenir,” to Sir Humphrey
Davy. If he has attained the higher branches of the art, he
affects to despise all sport which he considers less scientific;
if a salmon fisher, he calls trout “vermin;” if he is a trout
fly-fisher, he professes contempt for bait fishing. We have
talked with true anglers who were even disposed to censure
the eminent Divine, who has so ably, and with such labor of
love, edited our American edition of Walton, for affectation,
in saying of the red worm, “our hands have long since been
washed of the dirty things.” The servant should not be above
his master, and certainly ‘Iz. Wa.,” whose disciple the Doctor
professed to be, considered it no indignity to use them, nor
was he disgusted with his “ horn of gentles.” But the Doctor
was certainly right in deprecating the use of ground bait in
reference to trout, when the angler can with a little faith and
less greed soon learn the use of the fly.
The Shad-roe Fisherman.—The habitat of this genus (and
they are rarely found elsewhere) is Philadelphia. There are
many persons of the aforesaid city, who fish only when this
bait can be had, and an idea seems to possess them that fish
will bite at no other. This fraternity could have been found
some years back, singly or in pairs, or little coteries of three
or four, on any sun-shiny day from Easter to Whitsuntide,
heaving their heavy dipsies and horsehair snoods from the
ends of the piers, or from canal-boats laid up in ordinary—the
old floating bridge at Gray’s Ferry was a favorite resort for
32 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
them. Sometimes the party was convivial, and provided with
a junk bottle of what they believed to be old rye.
Before the gas-works had destroyed the fishing in the
Schuylkill, I frequently observed a solitary individual of this
species, wending his way to the river on Sunday mornings,
with a long reed-pole on his shoulder, and in his hand a tin
kettle of shad-roe; and his “ prog,” consisting of hard-boiled
eggs and crackers and cheese, tied up in a cotton bandana
handkerchief. Towards nightfall “he might have been seen”
(as James the novelist says of the horseman), trudging home-
ward with a string of Pan Rock and White Perch, or
“ Catties” and Eels, his trowsers and coat sleeves well plastered
with his unctuous bait, suggesting the idea of what, in vulgar
parlance, might be called ‘a very nasty man.”
But let us not turn up our scientific noses at this humble
brother; nor let the home missionary or tract distributor rate
him too severely, if he should meet with him in his Sunday
walks; for who can tell what a quiet day of consolation it
has been to him; he has found relief from the toils and cares
of the week, and perhaps from the ceaseless tongue of his
shrewish “old woman.” If his sport has been good, he
follows it up the next day, and keeps “‘ blue Monday.”
We have seen some very respectable gentlemen in our day
engaged in fishing with shad-roe at Fairmount Dam. The
bar even had its representative, in one of our first criminal
court lawyers. He did not ‘dress the character” with as
much discrimination as when he lectured on Shakspeare, for
he always wore his blue coat with gilt buttons: he did not
appear to be a successful angler. “ Per contra” to this was a
wealthy retired merchant, who used to astonish us with his
knack of keeping this difficult bait on his hooks, and his skill
in hooking little White Perch. Many a troller has seen him
sitting bolt upright in the bow of his boat on a cool morning
ANGLING. 33
in May, with his overcoat buttoned up to his chin, his jolly
spouse in the stern, and his servant amidship, baiting the
hooks and taking off the lady’s fish. The son also was an
adept as well as the sire. Woe to the perch fisher, with his
bait of little silvery eels, if these occupied the lower part of
the swim, for the fish were all arrested by the stray ova that
floated off from the ‘ gobs” of shad-roe.
As we love contrasts, let us here make a slight allusion to
that sensible “old English gentleman,” the Admiral, who
surveyed the north-west coast of America, to see, if in the
contingency of the Yankees adhering to their claim of “ fifty-
four forty,” the country above Vancouver's Island was worth
contending for. He was an ardent angler, and it is teported,
that on leaving his ship he provided stores for a week, which
comprised of course not a few drinkables, as well as salmon
rods and other tackle, and started in his boats to explore the
rivers and tributaries, which, so goes the story, were so
crammed in many places with salmon, that they could be
captured with a boat-hook; and still with all the variety of
salmon flies and the piscatory skill of the admiral and his
officers, not a fish could be induced to rise at the fly. He
returned to his ship disheartened and disgusted, averring
that the country was not worth contending for; that the
; but it would be inde-
corous to record the admiral’s mild expletive.
Yankees might have it and be
The Zrue Angler is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
gentle old Izaak. He has no affectation, and when a fly-cast
is not to be had, can find amusement in catching Sunfish or
Roach, and does not despise the sport of any humbler brother
of the angle. With him, fishing is a recreation, and a
‘calmer of unquiet thoughts.” He never quarrels with his
luck, knowing that satiety dulls one’s appreciation of sport
as much as want of success, but is ever content when he has
3
b+ AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
done his best, and looks hopefully forward to a more pro-
pitious day. Whether from boat or rocky shore, or along
the sedgy bank of the creek, or the stony margin of the
mountain brook, he deems it an achievement to take fish
when they are difficult to catch, and his satisfaction is in
proportion. If he is lazy, or a superannuated angler, he can
even endure a few days’ trolling on an inland lake, and
smokes ‘his cigar, chats with the boatman, and takes an
occasional “nip,” as he is rowed along the wooded shore and
amongst the beautiful islands.
A true angler is generally a modest man; unobtrusively
communicative when he can impart a new idea; and is ever
ready to let a pretentious tyro have his say, and good.
naturedly (as if merely suggesting how it should be done)
repairs his tackle, or gets him out of a scrape. He is
moderately provided with all tackle and “fixins” necessary
to the fishing he is in pursuit of. Is quietly self-reliant and
equal to almost any emergency, from splicing his rod or
tying his own flies, to trudging ten miles across a rough
country with his luggage on his back. His enjoyment con-
sists not only in the taking of fish: he draws much pleasure
from the soothing influence and delightful accompaniments
of the art.
With happy memories of the past summer, he joins to-
gether the three pieces of his fly-rod at home, when the
scenes of the last season’s sport are wrapped in snow and ice,
and renews the glad feelings of long summer days. With
what interest he notes the swelling of the buds on the maples,
or the advent of the blue-bird and robin, and looks forward
to the day when he is to try another cast! and, when it
comes at last, with what pleasing anticipations he packs up
his “traps,” and leaves his business cares and the noisy city
behind, and after a few hours’ or few days’ travel in the cars,
ANGLING. 35
and a few miles in a rough wagon, or a vigorous tramp over
rugged hills or along the road that leads up the banks of the
river, he arrives at his quarters! He is now in the region
of fresh butter and mealy potatoes—there are always good
potatoes in a mountainous trout country. How pleasingly
rough everything looks after leaving the prim city! How
pure and wholesome the air! How beautiful the clumps of
“sugar-maples and the veteran hemlocks jutting out over the
stream; the laurel; the ivy; the moss-covered rocks; the
lengthening shadows of evening! How musical the old
familiar tinkling of the cow-bell and the cry of the whip-poor-
will! How sweetly he is lulled to sleep as he hears
‘The waters leap and gush
O’er channelled rock, and broken bush!”
Next morning, after a hearty breakfast of mashed potatoes,
ham and eggs, and butter from the cream of the cow that
browses in the woods, he is off, three miles up the creek, a
cigar or his pipe in his mouth, his creel at his side, and his
rod over his shoulder, chatting with his chum as he goes;
free, joyous, happy; at peace with his Maker, with himself,
and all mankind; he should be grateful for this much, even
if he catches no fish. How exhilarating the music of the
stream! how invigorating its waters, causing a consciousness
of manly vigor, as he wades sturdily with the strong current
and casts his flies before him! When his zeal abates, and a
few of the speckled lie in the bottom of his creel, he is not
less interested in the wild flowers on the bank, or the scathed
old hemlock on the cliff above, with its hawk’s nest, the lady
of the house likely inside, and the male proprietor perched
high above on its dead top, and he breaks forth lustily—the
scene suggesting the song—
‘The bee’s on its wing, and the hawk on its npst,
And the river runs merrily by.”
36 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
When noon comes on, and the trout rise lazily or merely
nip, he halts “sub tegmine fagi,” or under the shadow of the
dark sugar-maple to build a fire and roast trout for his
dinner, and wiles away three hours or so. He dines sumptu-
ously, straightens and dries his leader and the gut of his
dropper, and repairs all breakage. He smokes leisurely, or
even takes a nap on the green sward or velvety moss, and
resumes his sport when the sun has declined enough to shade *
at least one side of the stream, and pleasantly anticipates the
late evening cast on the still waters far down the creek. God
be with you, gentle angler, if actuated with the feeling of our
old master! whether you are a top fisher or a bottom fisher;
whether your bait be gentles, brandling, grub, or red worm;
crab, shrimp, or minnow; caddis, grasshopper, or the feathery
counterfeit of the ephemera. May your thoughts be always
peaceful, and your heart filled with gratitude to Him who
made the country and the rivers; and “may the east wind
never blow when you go a fishing!”
CILAPTER IT.
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the word was God. * * * All things were made by him; and without
him was not any thing made that was made.”
CHAPTER IL
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH.
Definition.—Origin and order in creation.—Natural mode of propagation. —
Habits as regards maternity.—Migration.—Vitality.—External or-
gans.—Internal organization.—Ichthyology.
A Fis, according to the definition of naturalists, is a
vertebrate animal with red blood, breathing through water
by means of branchie, generally called gills. The term fish
is frequently applied by unscientific persons, to animals not
of the ichthyic class, as in the case of the Whale, which is a
true mammal, but resembling the fish in many respects,
although its tail is placed horizontally instead of in an upright
position. Crustacea and Molluscs (Crabs, Lobsters, Oysters,
Clams, and Muscles), are also erroneously called “shell-fish.”
In the records of Creation, as shown by Paleontologists,
the remains of the éarliest fishes appear in the upper Silurian
system, immediately beneath the Old Red Sandstone. They
were the first vertebrate animals, and were cotemporaneous
with the earliest terrestrial vegetation. These fish were all
of one order, and are termed Placoids by Professor Agassiz.
They had internal cartilaginous frames, and an external
armature of plates, spines, and shagreen points. This order
has representatives at the present day, in the Sharks and Dog-
fish of our salt-water bays and inlets. Some of the ancient
Sharks had a mouth terminal at the snout, and not under-
neath as our man-eater, and instead of sharp incisors, the
(39)
40 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
interior of the mouth and throat was thickly studded with
hard, crushing teeth.
Next to the Placoidal order, and before they had dimin-
ished in number, came the Ganoids, whose covering consisted
of a nearly continuous armor of hard bone with an enamelled
surface. One of the few representatives of this order, known
to us, is the ‘ Lepidasteus” (the Gar-fish of the South and
West), whose coat of mail appears to be made of diamond-
shaped pieces closely joined with sutures between. Hugh
Miller says, “ with the Old Red Sandstone, the Ganoids were
ushered upon the scene in amazing abundance, and for untold
ages, comprising mayhap, millions of years; the entire Ichthyic
class consisted, so far as is yet known, of but these two
orders (Placoids and Ganoids). During the time of the Old
Red Sandstone, of the Carboniferous, of the Permean, of the
Triassic, and of the Oolitic systems, all fishes apparently as
numerous as they now are, were comprised in the Ganoidal
and Placoidal orders. At length during the ages of the
Chalk, the Cycloids and Ctenoids were ushered in, and
gradually developed in Creation until the human period, in
which time they seem to have reached their culminating
point, and now many times exceed in number all other
fishes.”
The “ Ctenoids,” here mentioned by Miller, as the third in
order of Creation, is one of the four orders erected by Agassiz,
and comprise all of those fishes, the free edges of whose
scales are serrated or pectinated like the teeth of acomb. To
this order belong the whole family of Perch, and other
families which have sharp spinous dorsal fins. Amongst the
Cycloids, are contained all those whose scales have smooth
continuous margins; these are generally or entirely soft-
finned fish, as the salmon, shad, herring, carp, chub, &c.
In describing the fishes of the earlier periods, Hugh Miller
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 41
continues in his earnest manner: “The dynasty of the Ganoids
was at one time co-extensive with every river, lake, and sea;
and endured during the unreckoned eons, which extended
from the time of the lower Old Red Sandstone until those of
the Chalk. I may here mention, that as there are orders of
plants, such as the Rosacew, and the grasses, that scarce
preceded man in their appearance; so there are families of
fishes that seem to belong peculiarly to the human period.
* * * * * The delicate Salmonids and Pleuronectides
families to which the Salmon and Turbot belong, were
ushered into being as early as the times of the Chalk; but the
Gadidee or Cod Family did not precede man by at least any
time appreciable to the geologist.” We might follow Miller
further in his remarks, and might show the reptilean and
ichthyic characteristics in the same animal; a fish apparently
approaching the reptile, and the reptile the fish.
We do not intend here to go into a lengthy or scientific
description of the roe as it exists in the female; its ejection
and impregnation by the milt of the male; its progress in
incubation, and the production and growth of the young ; but
refer the reader to our article on Pisciculture, for all essential
information on so interesting a subject.
All observing anglers know that the roe is contained in
two sacks; this, as well as the milt of the male, is gradually
formed and developed as the fish arrives at the age of
puberty, and the same rule of formation, and growth of the
roe or milt, is repeated in the same individual after it recu-
perates from the exhausting effects of spawning.
Fish of the genus Salmo, which includes our Brook Trout,
are amongst the few that spawn in autumn. The ova of
these require water highly aerated, much oxygen being
needed in the incubation. These select the gentle current
of the streams, but if this is not accessible, as is the case in
42, AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
sluggish trout rivers and lakelets, they find some pool with
gravelly bottom where a cool spring enters. They generally
spawn in pairs or communities. After preparing the bed, by
displacing the gravel with their noses, and excavating an
oblong furrow of a few inches in depth, the female deposits
her spawn in the trench, and the male ejects his milt over it,
when fecundation ensues and the gravel is replaced. Another
‘furrow is then made; the spawn and milt cast; the ova
covered over as before; and the process repeated until the
roe and milt are exhausted.
The time required for hatching out the spawn, is various
with the different orders and families. In the same genera,
or even in the same species, the time may vary. Much de-
pends’ on climate and the temperature of the water; the
warmer streams hatching out the eggs before those of a lower
temperature. The spawn of the Trout, which is deposited from
the middle of September to the first of November, produces
the young from the first of December to the first of March,
and in artificial ponds, if protected from the cold winds, the
young fish are produced sooner, and grow faster than in
streams of the forest. I have seen young Trout taken below
an artificial pond, near Philadelphia, two inches long, in the
latter part of April.
Fish that spawn in still water generally deposit their ova
on plants, which give out sufficient oxygen to promote fecun-
dation.
It is seldom that the young of any fish are taken by the
angler during the first summer, as they avoid the waters
where he finds his sport, and seek smaller streams, and
shallower water, to escape the larger predatory fish; the fact
of their being of the same species as the destroyer, is no pro-
tection to the small fry.
It is unnecessary to go into an account of the mode of pro-
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 48
- duction of viviparous fish, the Shark, for instance, and others
that produce their young alive, as they are of little interest
to the angleppas far as sport is concerned.
Natura#ists who confine themselves closely to in-door studies,
sometimes adopt general rules and construct theories, to which
observers of less scientific knowledge, but with more frequent
opportunities for observation, find many exceptions.
One would conclude from the writings of ichthyologists,
that fish always desert their ova after fecundation, and, with
slight precaution against enemies or accident, leave them to
their fate; never caring for, or protecting their ova. It is
true that many families, including the Salmonidz, are reck-
lessly improvident of their fecundated spawn; male Trout have
been found with their stomachs full of the roe of their asso-
ciates on the same spawning-bed. But to the rule which in-
door naturalists suppose to be general, there are many excep-
tions; some of them interesting cases of provident care in the
protection of the impregnated spawn, and even of maternal
solicitude for their young. We might instance that of the
little Sunfish, which spawns in the month of June, around
the gravelly shores of mill-ponds, removing the pebbles and
twigs to the margin of its bed, which is frequently two or
three feet in diameter, piling them up a few inches as a ram-
part to its fortress, driving off all intruders, and keeping
watch and ward until the young are hatched. The little Red
Fin, which spawns in communities, is frequently observed
by the trout fisher constructing its mound of pebbles with
skill and care. Scores or hundreds of them may be seen work-
ing together assiduously, piling up alternate layers of gravel
and impregnated spawn, until the top of the heap is some-
times twelve or fifteen inches high, and its base three or four
feet in diameter, leaving it a mass teeming with embryo life.
The common Catfish of our mill-ponds and ditches may fre-
44 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
quently be seen with her family around her, protecting and
seeking feeding grounds for her dusky progeny. The Stickle-
back builds a nest, mounts guard, and pugnaciously warns
off all intruders of like, or even larger size.
All fish, in spawning, instinctively seek water containing
more or less atmospheric air; Carp, and other Cyprinide
requiring less for the vivification of their eggs than other
fresh-water species.
Griffith, in his Animal Kingdom, says some of the Pelagian
geuera spawn amongst floating grass and sea-weed, and says
that broad bands of fish-spawn have been seen south of the
equator, producing mile-long patches of unruffled surface.
I doubt whether this can be so; if true, such instances are
rare exceptions to the general rule of spawning on the bottom.
The family of Gaddide, which includes Codfish, it is sup-
posed spawn in deep water, though this cannot be at any con-
siderable distance beneath the surface, as the solar light,
which is necessary to the hatching of the ova, does not
penetrate many fathoms.
The knowledge attainable respecting the haunts, habits
and breeding of Pelagian fish is necessarily limited.
Oviparous animals are the most prolific, and of these, fish
excel all others. A full-grown Carp is said to produce from
one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand eggs, a Perch
thirty thousand, a Pike from thirty to eighty thousand, and a
Codfish a half a million. It is said that a single pair of
Herrings, if allowed to reproduce undisturbed and multiply
for twenty years, would not only supply the whole world with
abundance of food, but would become inconveniently numerous.
The average number of ova in a Salmon is stated at twelve
thousand; if it were possible that all these eggs produced fish,
and they arrived at maturity, there would be twelve thousand
Salmon, or six thousand pairs, whose produce, at the same
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 45
rate, would be seventy-two millions. At an average of ten
pounds, these fish, of the third generation, would weigh seven
hundred and twenty million pounds, or enough to load three
hundred and twenty-two ships, of a thousand tons each.
Some fish produce large ova, covered with horny shells.
Some few, including the true shark, are viviparous, producing
their young alive; the eggs, of course, being fecundated in
the abdomen; but with all fish which contribute to the sport
of the angler, the female casts her roe, which is impregnated
by the milt of the male being cast over it.
There are no hermaphrodites amongst fish, as has been
supposed by some ichthyologists, who cite the Lamprey as
one. It has been satisfactorily ascertained, that amongst all
the vertebrates, on land or in the water, there are no such ex-
ceptions.
There are immutable laws in God's providence, which
compel the migration of fish as well as of birds. Some
species are anadromous, as the Salmon, Sea Trout, Smelt,
Shad, and River Herring; these change their habitation
annually from the sea to fresh rivers, which they ascend
for the purpose of spawning; most of them with wonderful
instinct returning, if there be no obstructions, to their native
streams, and in their course supply us with food, when in
their greatest physical perfection. After propagation, in
meagre, lank condition, they seek the sea again, where, from
the abundance and great nutritive quality of their food, they
recuperate and grow rapidly. The young fry that go seaward
diminutive in size, return the following spring or summer
adult fish, perfect in their powers of reproduction.
Some of the species common to the long rivers and great
lakes of our interior, also change their abodes, traversing
perhaps as great an extent of water as the Shad and Salmon,
though not for the purpose of spawning.
46 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
That law of nature, though, which impels the migration of
some genera to distant waters of the ocean is most wonderful.
Many Herring and Codfish come to us from the Arctic seas,
the former are the surplus production of that great storehouse
thrown off, never to return; furnishing in their distant jour-
ney, food to the barbarians of the coast, and wealth and occu-
pation to vast numbers of civilized men; and their yearly
advent is looked for, and depended upon, with as much confi-
dence as the return of summer.
The Scombride, embracing the different species of Mack-
erel, come to our latitudes from the south; their natal shores
and waters unknown; they come all of them adult fish, fur-
nishing food and employment to thousands, as well as a great
maritime school for seamen; it is most likely that most of
these also never return to the regions from which they mi-
grated,
Many fish which are bred in the Gulf of Mexico, and the
bays and inlets of our southern coast, arrive in our waters
mature fish, and are found all summer in our markets.
Amongst these are the splendid Spanish Mackerel, the
Sheepshead, Croaker, Barb, Spot, and Mullet. Theso we may
reasonably set down as the surplus production of the waters
where they breed, and probably never return from their long
northern journey. They are not known to us before the age
of puberty, while their young are found in great shoals in the
shallows of the Gulf of Mexico and our southern bays.
The Sheepshead, in the New Orleans and Mobile markets,
are most of them pan-fish, from a half-pound to a pound and
a half in weight, while they are seldom found in this latitude
below four or five pounds. From any point of the southern
coast which approaches the Gulf Stream, fish, by coming up
with its current, would be sensible of little or no change of
temperature. One cause of the migration of southern fish
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 47
may be attributed to the sea-weed which comes northward
with the Gulf Stream; floating on its surface, and amongst,
and in it, are found small Crustacea, minute Mollusca, gelati-
nous animals, and the small fry, which many species follow to
feed upon.
It was supposed at one time that Shad and Herring, which
enter our rivers for the purpose of spawning, migrated from
the south, where it was thought they hibernated. Such sup-
position was based upon the fact that these fish are found at
an earlier period of the season in the bays and rivers of a
more southern latitude on our coast. But it is now thought,
with much greater show of reason, that they enter those waters
earlier only because the season for spawning there, precedes
that of our more northern rivers, and that these fish, as well
as Salmon, do not wander any considerable distance from
the mouths of rivers and bays from which they migrated the
preceding summer or autumn.
We should not omit, in these general remarks, to mention
the peculiar powers given to some fish of existing for a time
out of their natural element, and retaining their vitality when
animation is apparently suspended; and also the wonderful
vitality of the impregnated spawn.
It is well known by many of our city anglers, that the little
Roach, which is taken in winter, and thrown upon the ice or
snow, even if it is entirely frozen, will become quite lively
if placed in hydrant water of ordinary temperature; this is
also said to be the case with the Trout, which, if transported
in winter when frozen, will swim about, if placed in spring
water. It is said, however, that fish once frozen, lose their
sight; the delicate organization of the eye being destroyed by
its liquids having been congealed; if this be a fact, it may
prevent their breeding, on being transferred to other waters,
in such condition.
48 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
When the temperature of the air is below sixty-five, it is
very easy to wrap a Roach or Chub of six inches long, in a
wet handkerchief, and bring it home alive. White Perch,
Labrax pallidus, taken towards sundown in cool weather, if
placed carefully in a basket, will live more than an hour, and
be as lively in a few minutes in a tub of hydrant water as in
the river.
A friend assured me that once, when a boy, during a driz-
zling rain, he got up into a cherry tree, and in order to keep
his string of Catfish, which he had lately caught, from the
depredations of some hogs beneath, he took them up also,
while he got his fill of cherries, and that he forgot his fish
in his hurried departure, but found on going back for them
the same afternoon, that they were nearly all alive, and evinced
it by flapping their tails. Here was an instance of fish living
out of water with a switch thrust through one cf their gills.
It is stated on good authority, that in Germany, Carp are
even kept in a basket or net in a damp cellar, through winter,
with the snout protruding through wet moss, and fed with
crumbs of bread, and fattened after the manner of cramming
poultry.
In China, the spawn of fish is a regular article of traffic,
and is exported from one part of the country to another, after
being impregnated with the milt.
It is an established fact, that on draining Carp ponds in
Germany, to cultivate the soil, which had been flooded and
made a fish-pond of, for the purpose of enriching it, that the
spawn of the Carp, left after drawing off the water, does not
lose its vitality, though exposed for two or three years to
the heat of summer and frost of winter; and that, when the
field is again converted into a pond, there is no necessity for
restocking it with Carp, but the ova remaining beneath the
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 49
surface of the ground produces a stock of Carp; thus keeping
up an alternation of crops—fish and vegetables.
The ability of a fish to return to its vitality out of water,
depends in a great degree on keeping the delicate tissue of its
gills wet. For this reason, a few of them have a peculiar
construction in the head, in which water is retained after
leaving a river or lake; the gills being kept wet by percola-
tion from this reservoir. Such fish sometimes have also the
power of using the lower fins as feet or legs, and are enabled,
by these two singular gifts of nature, to pass over land from
one body of water to another. Incredible as it may appear,
it is even said, that in India, there is a species of fish that by
an extraordinary use of its fins can climb trees. A friend,
who is curious on such subjects, has handed me the following
account of those that travel over land; it was clipped from
one of our daily papers.
“Sir Emmerson Tennant’s account of fishes walking across
the country, has excited much astonishment and no little
incredulity in England. The following passage from the
Penang Gazette, is singularly corroborative of that gentleman’s
statement :—
“«A correspondent in Province Wellesley informs us that
while passing along during a shower of rain, the wide sandy
plain which bounds the sea-coast in the neighborhood of
Panaga, he witnessed a singular overland migration of Ikan
Puyu (a fish much resembling the Tench in size, form, and
color), from a chain of fresh-water lagoons lying immediately
within the sea-beach, toward the second chain of lagoons, about
a hundred yards distant inland. The fish were in groups of
-from three to seven, and were pursuing their way in a direct
line towards a second chain of lagoons, at the rate of nearly a
mile an hour. When disturbed they turned round and endea-
vored to make their way back to the lagoon they had left, and
4
50 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
would very soon have reached it, had they not been secured
by the Malays who accompanied our correspondent, and whe
looked upon the migration as an ordinary occurrence at this
season of the year. Upwards of twenty were thus taken
during a walk of about half a mile, and no doubt many more
could have been obtained had the Malays been allowed a
little delay. The ground these fish were traversing was
nearly level, and only scantily clothed with grass and creeping
salolaceous plants, which offered very slight obstruction to
their progress. This singular habit will account for the
rapidity with which the paddy fields in Province Wellesley
become stocked with fish when they are flooded by the rains.
The lagoons from which they come contain water throughout
the year, while those toward which they are going are mere
hollows, filled by the late rains.’ ”
Although digestion in fish is rapid, they are capable of
living longer without food than land vertebrates, and appa-
rently suffer little from an abstinence of many days. Fish of
quick growth digest food rapidly. It is said that a Pike will
digest a fish of one-fourth its length in forty minutes. If this
be so, it sufficiently accounts for the circumstance of this and
other predatory species being found so often without food in
their stomachs, and little or nothing in their intestines.
It is yet a mystery, how Shad fatten and increase in flavor
after their appearance in fresh water; no food ever having
been detected in their stomachs after leaving salt water. The
same emptiness of stomach is also common to the Salmon
when taken in fresh water: this peculiarity appears to prevail
with anadromous fish.
The several species of the genus Coregonus (Whitefish)
of our northern lakes, are also said to be found generally
with empty stomachs. There is a theory adopted by many,
that such fish as the last mentioned, as well as the Shad, live
GENERAL REMARKS ON SISH. 51
on the animalcule retained in the passage of the water
through their gills.
Shad caught in the salt water of the Chesapeake Bay and
brought to this city, have been found with small fish in their
stomachs, but they were of species known only in salt water.
All fish are more or less omnivorous. I have opened Rock-
fish, which are known to be predatory in their habits, and
found the tender shoots and stalks of aquatic grasses in the
throat and pouch. |
The fish which furnish sport to the angler, have generally
eight fins; two pectorals, two ventrals, one anal, two dorsals,
and one caudal. ;
The pectorals, as the term implies, are the breast fins, and
project from the humeral bones; they are homologous to the
arms in man, or the fore legs of quadrupeds. The ventrals,
named from being attached to the belly, in most spine-rayed
fish, are immediately or nearly under the pectorals; in soft-
finned fish, about midway between the head and tail. The
anal is immediately behind the vent; the dorsals on the
back; and the caudal, which is generally called the tail, is
the hindmost fin. This last fin is the chief motor; it is used
as an oar in sculling, and acts also as a rudder: the dorsals
and anal preserve the equilibrium, or, in nautical phrase,
keep the fish on an “even keel.” The ventrals are used
principally in rising, and the pectorals in backing, and keep-
ing the fish stationary ; when they are used alternately, and
not simultaneously, as any other pair of fins.
The eye of the fish has no lids, as land animals have, but
a very thin transparent membrane drawn over it, which does
not give it the power of excluding the light; hence the eyes
are always open, whether awake or asleep—if a fish can be
said to sleep. By the prominence of its eyes it is able to
direct its sight, somewhat backward and downward, as well
52 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
as forward and upward. The iris is capable of no contraction
or expansion, and in order to avoid an objectionable degree
of light, it seeks greater depths, or the shady banks of the
stream. As the fish may be said to have no neck, its head
being set immovably on its shoulders and spine, it is neces-
sary to change the position of its whole body, in order to
obtain much variety in the direction of its vision.
The nostrils are situated between the eyes and the snout;
they are double, and not constructed in such manner as to
allow the water to pass through them in breathing, that func-
tion being performed entirely by the gills. Notwithstanding
this, smell appears to be the most acute of all the senses in
fish, and one which contributes much to procuring their food.
The gill-covers, in the generality of fish, are divided into
four parts: the preopercle, the opercle, or gill-cover proper,
the subopercle, and the interopercle. The opercles are in-
tended as a protection to the delicate organization of the
gills and branchiostegous rays, and open and close as the
water passes through them.
That brilliant substance which imparts a metallic lustre of
so many hues to fish, is secreted in the dermis or skin,
beneath the scales; the scales themselves are transparent, and
are formed of a horny substance, though, in some families,
the outer covering is of a bony substance, and frequently
covered with an enamel. The “lateral line,” is a series of
perforated scales, which extend in most fish from the gill-
cover to the root of the tail.
The gills consist of series of leaflets, suspended to certain
arches, termed “Os hyodes;” each leaflet is covered with a
tissue of innumerable blood-vessels. The water which enters
the mouth escapes through the gills posteriorly, and the air
contained in the water acts on the blood, which is constantly
impelled through the gills from the heart. The venous blood,
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 53
after being changed into arterial, by its contact with the air
in its passage through the gills, passes into the arterial trunk,
situated under the spine, and is dispersed by diminishing
blood-vessels, through the body, whence it returns by the
veins to the heart.
As Fish breathe through the intervention of water alone,
and restore to their blood its arterial qualities, by means of
the oxygen which is suspended in the water, their blood is
naturally cold, often below the temperature of the water they
inhabit. Immediately under the back bone is the air-bladder,
divided into two lobes or parts, which, by expansion or
compression, enables the fish to change its specific gravity,
and maintain any desired elevation in the water. In con-
nection with the gills, the air-bladder is homologous to the
lungs in land animals.
There is no outward ear in fishes; internally there is a
sack representing the vestibule, filled with gelatinous fluid.
By frequent experiments, Mr. Ronalds, the author of “The
Fly-Fisher’s Entymology,” ascertained that trout are not dis-
turbed by frequent and heavy discharges of firearms, if the
flash of the gun is concealed, and justly holds in derision, the
notion, that fish are frightened by persons talking on a
stream. They are more easily startled by the sudden jar of a
heavy tramp on an overhanging bank, or a thump on the
bottom of a boat; the vibration from either of these causes,
acting on the nerves generally, rather than on the ear of the
fish. There are instances recorded, however, where fish have
been called by the ringing of a bell, or a familiar voice.
There are no organs of voice in fish; though some,—as the
Weakfish, Croaker, Catfish, and Drum, make a croaking
noise when taken from the water, but these sounds are en-
tirely ventral.
The sense of taste is necessarily deficient, or wholly want-
54 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
lig; the tongues of some species are nothing more than hard
cartilage, in others the tongue is armed with teeth. None have
the salivary glands to lubricate the parts with the moisture
necessary to the sensation of taste.
The sense of feeling is confined almost entirely to the nose ;
most fish being covered with scales, which are of a horny or
bony substance, with as little sensation as a man’s finger-nails.
In some, as the southern Garfish, the scales are enamelled, and
it is said, resist a bullet if not fired point blank. The Catfish,
and also the Barb (a species of Umbrina) have barbels or
cirri, by which they appear to detect the nature of substances
and whether they be food or not. These organs of touch, as
they may be termed, are provided by nature to assist them in
their nocturnal search, or groping in deep water for food.
Yarrell, in his work on the Fishes of Great Britain, says:
“There are external openings to each nostril, surrounded by
several orifices, which allow the escape of a mucous secretion.
These apertures are larger and more numerous about the
heads of fishes generally, than over the other parts; the
viscous secretion defending the skin from the action of the
water. Whether the fish inhabits stream or lake, the current
of the water in one instance, or progression through it in the
other, carries this defensive secretion backwards, and diffuses
it over the whole body. In fishes with small scales, this
secretion is in proportion more abundant.”
The latter part of the above quotation sufficiently explains
the presence of a large supply of this mucous secretion on
Trout and Catfish, and the increased quantity of slime on Eels.
Teeth, with which fish are generally well supplied, are not
not only serviceable in seizing their prey, but by their
peculiar position and form assist them in swallowing it.
Teeth are found in many genera on the maxillaries, inter-
maxillaries, palatine, vomer, and tongue; sometimes also on
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. ae
at
the arches of the gills, as in the Pike; but only on the pha-
ryngeal bone of the Chub—apparently backing the assertion
of the little boy, who said it had “swallowed its teeth.”
Teeth are of some importance to the naturalist, in deter-
mining genera and species. The observing angler will know
from them, the habits of fish, whether they are predatory, or
live on vegetable substances, or by crushing molluscs and
crustacea.
Fish shed their teeth, the new coming up beneath the old
and displacing them, or the new tooth appears at the side,
pushing out the old one and occupying its place.
The fish being so different in its structure and internal
organization from land vertebrates, and inhabiting a cold, dense
element, must necessarily differ also in its emotional nature.
It is coldly obtuse in its sexual emotions, and in its cares or
joys of maternity; no feeling of friendship attaches it to a
higher being, as with the dog. With blunted sense of hear-
ing and voiceless, no call of mate attracts it, or draws
forth response, as in the bird. And in the dense medium
through which it looks, no object delights its lidless eye.
Reproducing its species, or migrating in obedience to a law
of its nature, it appears with many families, as if condemned
to roam the wastes of ocean, or lie torpidly in silent depths,
until storm or hunger or enemy incites it to activity.
Yet this class of animals, so cold, so dull in its sensations;
is one of the most beautiful and wonderful of the Almighty’s
creations—nothing exceeds it in its symmetrical propor-
tions; no form so well adapted for motion through the
element it inhabits; no organs of motion so well contrived
for imparting rapid and easy progress as its fins; no bur-
nished or molten silver, or gold, more brilliant than the
varied reflections of its sides; no armor so light, or so well
adapted to its wearer, as its lustrous scales. It will always
56 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
remain an object of interest to man, from its beauty, the
strangeness of its habits, the mystery of its haunts, and its
trackless wanderings.
IcHTHYOLOGY.—To the angler, this is the most interesting
of the natural sciences. It received little attention until the
time of Linnzus. Afterwards Cuvier, by a more natural and
judicious classification, divided the Ichthyic class into Orders,
Families, Genera, and Species, which has been adopted in the
main, by all ichthyologists who have succeeded him.
Of the four orders established by Professor Agassiz, already
mentioned in reference to palzeontology; the two last, Ctenoids
and Cycloids only, come properly within the scope of the
angler’s ichthyology.
The Ctenoids are those whose scales are pectinated on the
edges; these comprise all the Acanthoptherygii, which em-
brace the Perch family; and a few of the Malacopterygil.
The Cycloids have scales with a continuous margin, and
include most of the Malacopterygii, or at least those with
which the angler has to do.
The term “ Acanthopterygil” is derived from the Greek
words, acantha, a thorn, and pterrugion, a little feather.
“ Malacopterygii” has its origin in the Greek word malacos
soft. The wood-cut on the next page is introduced to elucidate
the difference between these two divisions, and to explain at
the same time the position of the different fins, and their
scientific names.
The upper figure represents the outline of a Trout, one of
the Malacopterygil; the lower, that of our White Perch, one
of the Acanthopterygii. The first fin on the back of either
figure is the first dorsal; the second back fin is the second
dorsal; the fins just behind the gill-covers are the pectorals ;
the ventral fins in the Malacopterygii are about midway on
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH.
cr
“tr
the belly; in the Acanthopterygii, they are just below the
pectorals, or very near them; the anal fin in both is just
behind the anus or vent; the caudal, the hindmost fin, is
commonly called the tail.
Of fish that come under the notice of the angler, the Mala-
copterygil embrace those that are called “abdominal,” from
having the ventral-fins on the belly. The Acanthopterygii
include the “thoracic,” which have the ventrals near the
throat. Some families of the former division have only one
dorsal fin, others two, and some even three, as the Codfish.
The Acanthopterygii have either one or two dorsals; if only
one, the anterior rays are spinous, and the posterior soft and
flexible; if they have two dorsals, the first is composed of
sharp spines, and the second of rays, or one or two spines
followed by soft rays: this division has also one or more
spines on the pectorals and on the anal fin. With the excep-
tion of the Salmonide and Hsocidw, nearly all of the game-
fish the angler meets with, belong to the Acanthopterygii.
The Acanthopterygii belong to the order of Ctenoids, and
the Malacopterygii mostly to the Cycloids.
58 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The reader will observe the peculiar shape of the second
dorsal of the first figure; it is one of the characteristic marks
of the Salmonide. No other family the angler meets with,
has it except the Saluride (Catfish). This fin is adipose,
generally opaque, and without rays—being nothing more
than a flexible cartilage.
The first figure of the annexed wood-cut represents a front
view of the open mouth of one of the species of the Salmon
family, and shows the position of the teeth. Those along the
centre of the roof of the mouth above 1, are on the vomer ;
those on the sides above 2, are on the palate; those around 3
are the pharyngeal teeth ; those on the edge of the upper jaw,
are the upper or super maxillaries; and, those on the edge
of the lower jaw, the lower or inferior maxillaries. -
The second figure of the same plate shows the anatomical
structure of the head, including a side view of the teeth.
1 is the preopercle or fore gill-cover; 2, the opercle or gill-
cover proper; 3, the subopercle or under gill-cover; 4, the
interopercle or intermediate gill-cover; and 5, the branchios-
tegous rays, or, as they are more generally termed, the
branchial rays. .
By reference to the foregoing wood-cuts, and reading with
some care, scientific descriptions of fish, an angler may be
able to describe any species, which may be unknown to him,
GENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 59
with sufficient accuracy, for the naturalist to refer it to its
family, genus, and species.
Any description of a fish, is of course rendered more intelli-
gible by an accompanying sketch, even if it is rudely done.
And if the angler will describe, as accurately as he can,
the general outline and forni; the proportions of the length
of the head to that of its body (exclusive of the tail); its
breadth, as compared with its length; its color, markings, and
the course of the lateral line; the gill-cover and fore gill-
cover, whether either or both have scales, and on which they
are largest—mentioning also, if the gill-cover has spines on
its posterior margin; the number of branchial rays, fin rays,
and spines, also the color of the fins; the dental arrangement,
and then the general local names: he may contribute much
that will be interesting to others, while it will be a source
of satisfaction to himself.
Linnzus received his description of American fishes from
Dr. Gordon, of South Carolina. Bloch, and Schoef (who
was a surgeon in the British army, during the American
Revolution), as well as Catesby, contributed, though meagrely,
to our ichthyology. The descriptions of the latter were
mostly of the fish of the Caribbean Sea, and our Southern
coast. In 1820, Rafinesque, a French naturalist, published at
Lexington, Kentucky, an account of the fishes of the Ohio
and its tributaries. His nomenclature, as well as his mode of
description and classification, differs from that of Cuvier; his
descriptions, generally, are not minute, but some of them are
interesting. His work is not illustrated by drawings. Bose
gave Lacepede descriptions of some species found in our
waters. In 1814, Dr. Mitchil, of New York, entered with
some zeal into the work; and, in periodicals, described more
species than had been before noticed.
In 1836, Dr. Richardson produced his “Fauna Boreali,”
60 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
which includes some of our Northern genera. Dr. Storer, in
1839, published an able report of the fishes of Massachusetts.
De Witt Clinton, Mr. Wood, of Philadelphia, Redfield and
Haldeman, also contributed to this branch of natural science.
It was reserved, however, for Dr. De Kay to give the first
elaborate description of American fish, which he did by
authority of the state of New York in 1842; his work is
illustrated by engravings that are badly colored, and some of
them are incorrectly drawn. He enumerates thirty-two fami-
lies, one hundred and fifty-six genera, and four hundred and
forty species. His description includes the Lacustrine genera,
as well as those of the coast of New York. Amongst the
latter are many that are emigrants from Southern waters,
which fact he fails to note. Dr. Holbrook, of Charleston, has
recently published an interesting work on the fishes of South
Carolina, which is of much interest to the angler, as it con-
tains an account of the habits, as well as scientific descrip-
tions of many game-fish, common to this latitude and the
Western States. His work is beautifully illustrated with
colored engravings. Girard, Gill, and Professor Spencer F.
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute, have recently made
valuable additions to American ichthyology.
In closing these observations on the natural history of fish,
it is proper to remark, that they are those of a mere angler,
who aspires to no place amongst the learned doctors, and who
has picked up such information, as he has imparted to the
general reader, from the books of the Academy of Natural
Sciences, and from his own observations noted here and
there, as any fish that takes a bait has interested him. He
presents what is here written with the hope of inciting other
anglers to a study of the fishes that afford so much pleasure
in the taking of them.
CAAPTER III.
TACKLE IN GENERAL.
“Let me tell you, Scholar, that Liogenes walked on a day, witb a
friend, t» see a country fair; where he saw ribbons, and looking-glasses,
and nut-crackers, and fiddles, and hobby-horses, and many other gim-
cracks; and having observed them, and all the other finnimbruns that
make a complete country fair; he said to his friend, “ Lord, how many
things are there in this world of which Diogenes hath no need!”
WALTON.
CHAPTER III.
TACKLE IN GENERAL.
Hooks.-—Sinkers.—Swivels.—Gut.— Leaders.—Snoods.—Lines.—Reels.—
Rods.—Bow Dipsys.
In these observations it would be well to have some set-
tled plan or order in which Tackle should be mentioned;
T have, therefore, thought it better to commence at the bot-
tom and go upwards.
Hooxs.—Of the various kind of hooks sold in this country,
the Kirby is mostly used. The point of this hook is not
in the same plane with the shank, but is bent to one side,
and is there-fore less apt to draw from the mouth of the
fish without hooking, than the Limerick. There are several
varieties of the Kirby; those made with short shanks and
of stout wire (some of which have flattened heads), are most
appropriate for fishing with dead bait, or where the fish are
large, or their mouths hard.
The long-shanked Kirby is to be preferred for live-bait
fishing, or where much nicety is required in putting on a
worm, brandling, or grasshopper: they are made of fine wire,
and the barb not so rank as the Limerick. These are some-
times called “Weak Trout Hooks” by tackle venders.
Limerick hooks, although preferred by many on account
(63)
64 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of their superior temper, are better adapted to tying flies on,
than for bait-hooks.
The O'Shaughnessy differs materially from the common
Limerick, in the shape of the bend, and in the direction
of its point, which sets out at a slight angle from the
shank; it is much surer of hooking than the old Limerick,
and is preferred by all anglers who tie their own flies.
Salmon hooks of this shape, some of which are hammered
after being bent, are highly esteemed by Salmon fishers.
Trout hooks of the O’Shaughnessy shape, are sometimes made
of very fine wire, lightness being a desideratum in artificial
flies, particularly in droppers.
The Limerick hook, as its name implies, as well as the
O'Shaughnessy, which bears the name of its original maker,
were made first in Limerick, Ireland. They have since been
imitated and made at a much lower price in England,
where most of the hooks known by these names are now
manufactured; they are not as well tempered, though, as the
Trish hooks.
The “Sneck bend” is much used by fly-fishers in Scotland,
though I have failed to discover its merits. The peculiarity
of this hook consists in its bend, which assumes more the
form of the three sides of a square than a continuous curve.
I have never heard or read of any plausible reason for its
shape.
The “Virginia hook,” it is said, was first made by a black-
smith named Rivere, in the lower part of Virginia, and at
one time was held in much esteem by bait fishermen, on
account of its strength and supposed adaptability to fish of all
sizes. Its peculiarity consists in its shape and the tapering
of the steel from the top of the shank to the bend. I have
reason for doubts as to the person and place of its invention,
TACKLE IN GENERAL.
65
TACKLE IN GENERAL. 67
as 1 have found them common at Mackinaw amongst the old
habitans, at an early period of my fishing experience.
Iti is said, that Prince Rupert first taught the art of tem-
pering “hooks, to a fish-hook maker of London by the name
of Kirby, who transmitted the art to his descendants, and his
name to the hook now so commonly used. Sir Humphrey
Davy and other English anglers in later years, have suc-
ceeded in making hooks which did them good service.
There are other hooks kept by the tackle stores which we
think it unnecessary to describe here; as, double-hooks, eel-
hooks, snap-hooks, sockdolagers, &c., most of which are not
worth the notice of the angler.
On the plate of hooks on the opposite page,* the top row
represents the O’Shaughnessy. Commencing on the right,
the first size is No. 2, and then 4, 6, 8, and 10, in succession
towards the left.
In the second row, No. 1 is a short-shanked Kirby; No. 2
the old style Limerick; No.3 a Sneck bend; No.4 an Aber-
deen.
The third is a row of Salmon hooks, the sizes according to
the standard adopted by the author of “The Book of the
Salmon ;” the largest is No. 4, the next No. 6, the next
No. 8, and the smallest No. 10. There are intermediate sizes,
as well as three sizes larger than No. 4, viz.: 8, 2,1; but
they are seldom, if ever, used on this side of the Atlantic.
Nos. 7 and 8 being the principal sizes.
Of the lower row, 5 is a “Shanghai,” 6 a long-shanked
Kirby, 7 a Virginia hook, and 8 a stout short-shanked Kirby.
The two remaining figures are Swivels; the one to the
* I am under obligations to Mr. John Krider (Gun and Tackle Store,
corner of Second and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia), for this handsome
woodcut of Hooks, which he had prepared expressly for this bovk.
638 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
right is a “hook” Swivel, and that on the left a “box”
Swivel.
SinxeRs.—In bottom or bait fishing, sinkers of various sizes
and shapes are used; the weight proportioned to the ‘tide or
current. Those in general use are split shot. The sliding-
sinker is oblong with a hole running longitudinally through
the centre. The advantage of this is, that the bait may drift
off with the tide while the sinker is comparatively at rest.
The swivel sinker is a combination of sinker and swivel,
which allows the snood and bait to revolve; it is seldom used.
In bottom fishing or trolling deep, where the bottom is
rocky, the sinker is apt to be caught foul. To provide
against loss of leader and hooks, in such cases, it is better to
have the sinker attached, where the leader joins the line, by
apiece of weak gut or thread; so that the angler, if he is
obliged to pull away at the risk of losing some of his bottom
tackle, may only lose his sinker.
Swivels are necessary when the bait is required to spin
or revolve. The box-swivel is used by looping the leader or
bottom through one ring and the line through the other. When
it is necessary to disengage the bait and snood from the leader,
as in trolling for Pike, the hook-swivel is convenient, and in
many cases indispensable. All bottom fishers and trollers
should be well supplied with ‘hese useful little articles; steel
swivels should be used for fresh-water, and brass swivels for
salt-water fishing.
Fioats are made of cork, hollow wood, or quills, of a great
variety of shapes and sizes. The quill is preferred for Roach,
Chub, and other fish that bite delicately. The size of the
float should always be regulated by the weight of the sinker ;
the shape is a matter of fancy. I have whittled shapely floats
out of the bark of a pine tree.
Gut LEaDERs, Snoops, Tracss, &.—Silk-worm gut, which
TACKLE IN GENERAL. 69
forms so important a part of the angler’s outfit, is the sub-
stance of the worm in an immature state, and is made by
steeping the insect in vinegar or some other acid, a short
time before it is ready to commence spinning its cocoon,
stretching it to the required length, and securing the ends
until the strand is dry. It is then divested of any ex-
traneous substance by rubbing. It is imported from China,
Spain, and Italy, in hanks of a hundred strands, and sold by
all the tackle stores, the price varying according to its size,
length, and roundness, A scientific friend informed me once,
that he had produced the veritable article, by stretching out
the worms after steeping them in vinegar, and securing the
heads and tails in notches made in each end of a shingle.
Gut is considered a superfluity by most rustic anglers.
Though not always essential, in fine angling it is indispensa-
ble. Its strength is astonishing, as every angler knows from
experience. It is almost transparent in water, when dyed of
a neutral tint. This color is to be preferred to any other,
a receipt for dyeing which will be found in another part of
this book.
LeapERS.—Although double gut and twisted gut leaders
are recommended, I have found the single, when stout, round,
and of the best quality, to answer every demand made on it
by the strength of the fish. Single gut is certainly neater,
and when it is borne in mind that the spring of the rod, and
the judicious use of the reel, contribute so much to lessen the
strain on line and leader, one must reasonably conclude, that
gut which will bear a strain of five pounds would secure a
fish of any size he may be lucky enough to hook.
For fly-fishing, the gut lengths of a leader should always be
joined by a neat knot; the double knot is preferable. The
leaders sold at the tackle stores, generally have the ends of
the gut secured with silk lashings, which are liable to fray
70 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
out, and being usually of some bright tint, deceive the fish
into rising at one of these frayed lashings for a fly, and indis-
pose them to take the cheat you intended for them.
On a subsequent page, the reader will find directions for
making leaders and tying gut, with descriptions of the knots
used by anglers and tackle makers.
Leaders, bottoms, and snoods, are made also of horsehair
and sometimes of “gimp” (the article of which the coarse
strings of violins are made). The latter is used for Pike,
Bass, Sheepshead, Bluefish, or where gut is liable to be
frayed by coming in contact with sharp rocks, or to be bitten
off by the fish.
Anglers who have not the skill or patience to tie on their
own hooks, purchase them already snooded at the tackle
stores. A more economical and convenient way for one who
can tie them himself, is to cut up a gut length into pieces of
two or three inches—short refuse pieces will answer as well—
and forming a short loop, seize it on to the shank of the
hook.
In leaders for fly-fishing, the gut nearest the line should
be stout, each length diminishing in size to the finest that
can be procured, where it is tied to the stretcher fly.
Linus are made of flax or plaited silk for bottom-fishing ;
flax is preferred when it is necessary to make a long cast, as
in Bass or Pike-fishing, as it runs more freely through the
rings or guides, and the end of the tip.
Plaited silk is to be used invariably for trolling from a
boat, as it does not kink in passing through the water, as a
twisted line is apt to do. ;
The best lines for fly-fishing are made of silk and hair;
they taper gradually from the end which you attach to the
axle of the reel, to the end which joins the leader. I would
here remark, that in fly-fishing, the usual clumsy loop, or a
TACKLE IN GENERAL. 71
knot in the end of a reel-lne should be dispensed with, by
seizing on a length of stout gut to the end of the line, to re-
main there permanently ; the leader should be attached to this
piece of gut with a neat knot. By this contrivance, you
avoid the contingency of having fish rise at the loop, as they
will at a bit of frayed silk, as mentioned on the preceding
page.
A bait or trolling line should have a gut-loop seized on
the end, which loop is fastened to the leader by a similar
loop in t#s end, as described in our article on tackle-making.
Oiled-silk plaited lines are frequently used for trolling, but
more generally for Salmon-fishing.
REELS.—Many innovations have been made on the old
English Reel by American anglers and mechanics; some of
these, it is contended, are not improvements.
The balance-handle, patent-check, and jewelled bearings of
the modern multiplier, are certainly desiderata in reels used
for Bass, and are now considered indispensable by crack
fishers; but the simple reel with a click, and without the
balance-handle, is to be preferred for fly-fishing; it is less
liable than the multiplier to get out of order, and the line
is not so apt to be caught by the handle or crank. An im-
provement in English Salmon-reels has been lately intro-
duced, which precludes the possibility of the latter contin-
gency: it is the insertion of a short handle or pin in a disk,
revolving parallel to, and against the outer plate; this im-
provement is applicable only to simple reels for fly-fishing.
The reader will find a wood-cut of one, in a subsequent article
on Tackle for Salmon-fishing.
Some anglers prefer the multiplier even for fly-fishing, on
account of its enabling them to shorten line faster, if a trout
on being hooked should run towards them. This seldom
happens in wading a brook or creek; but in deep, still waters,
\
72 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
where the angler fishes from a boat, and large trout endanger
his tackle, such a necessity sometimes arises.
Whether it be a multiplier or simple reel, in fly-fishing for
Trout, it should be small; for a greater length than twenty
yards of line is seldom if ever required.
By the aid of the balance-handle (an American inven-
tion which helps to keep up the momentum when the bait
is cast), reels have been made to run with so little friction,
that the motion imparted by a whirl of the crank, with the
hand, causes the spool to revolve for two minutes. The
bearings of the more costly reels are made of jewels. I know
of one made by an amateur mechanic, without the jewels,
which will run for a minute and a half. Reels of this kind
are used mostly by Bass-fishers, who make long casts, when
it is desirable that the line should run out as freely as
possible.
In all reels a short axle is to be preferred, as it enables one
to wind up the line quicker and more compactly on the
spool.
A well-made reel does not jar or clatter, but while the
journals fit nicely, they run easily in their bearings, and the
inner plates of the spool revolve without friction in the outer.
Rops.—Although rods are still imported from England,
and those made by her celebrated tackle-makers are thought
by many to possess some qualities not found in American
rods, the latter as a general rule are equal to the English,
and in many respects better adapted to the requirements of
our anglers; the metallic tip and guides being preferred by
all (in any but fly-rods) to the English mode of having rings
for the line to pass through, and the usual wire loop at the
tip. In bass, pike, and trolling rods, they are now con-
sidered indispensable, as the line passes through with less
friction, and in casting, the line is less apt to get foul.
TACKLE IN GENERAL. 73
There is a diversity of opinion as to the weight and length
of rods for various kinds of fishing; it is much a matter of
fancy.
The woods in general use are ash for the butt, hickory for
the second and third joints, and lance, iron-wood, or bamboo
for the tips; of course they should be well seasoned.
The best materials for a fly-rod, are ash for the butt, iron-
wood for the middle joint, and bamboo for-the tip.
Fly-rods in three pieces are to be preferred, as they require
fewer ferules, and distribute the spring of the rod more equally
through its whole length. It is better for those who have
patience and knack, to join the tip to the middle piece with a
neat splice, wrapped with coarse, well-waxed silk, making
only one ferule necessary.
The angler whose park of artillery consists of one piece of
ordnance, should possess himself of a general rod with a
hollow butt, in which he may keep his tips of various lengths
and sizes; this rod with its variety of pieces, may be put
together for trolling, for bait-fishing, and should occasion call
for it, may even be used as a fly-rod, although it is a kind of
a makeshift. A general rod, if made in pieces of two feet,
can be conveniently carried in a travelling trunk; in joints
of this length the ferules should be short, fit well, and with-
out the usual wooden sockets. By dispensing with the latter
and having the ferules short, the elasticity of the rod is less
impaired.
I shall give my notions of the rods appropriate for differ-
ent kinds of fishing, as I describe each fish and the manner
of angling for it; and advise that the best rod should be
bought for any or each kind of fishing; though, let me here
say, the most expensive is not always the most suitable.
Tue Bow Dipsy.—A friend has lately shown me a Chinese
contrivance, which was brought over many years since by an
74 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
old East India merchant; it may have caused the introduc-
tion of the “bow-dipsy” in Philadelphia. This isa piece of
whalebone bent at right angles, each side or arm being fifteen
to eighteen inches in length, with a snood attached to the
ends. It is lowered to the bottom by means of a hand-line,
and a conical leaden sinker fastened ten or twelve inches
beneath the angle. It is well adapted for taking small fish
in any rapid tideway (especially White Perch), where they
collect in schools and bite rapidly. It is braced by lateral
pieces of cord, which cause the whalebone to give and resume
its position as the fish takes the bait—making it almost sure
to hook him. I have heard of forty dozen White Perch
being taken in the Delaware by three fishermen, in the last
two hours of an ebb-tide, with this strange-looking con-
trivance.
The tackle used exclusively in fly-fishing, I will mention
under its appropriate head, in a subsequent article.
There is a great deal of superfluous tackle pictured and
described in English books on angling. There is the clearing
ring, the angler’s friend (a curved blade sharpened on the
inner edge), baiting-needle, disgorger, paternoster, kill-devil,
a plummet to get the depth of water, &., &., which would
better grace the window of a tackle shop, or a museum
of useless tackle, than an angler’s wallet. It is amusing and
even wonderful, what an amount of such stuff an ardent, green
angler, with a flush pocket, can collect. As he grows older
in the art, of course he throws it away, or imposes it as a
present on some one no less verdant than he was himself a
few summers before, exclaiming with that ancient philoso-
pher: “Lord, how many things there are in this world of
which Diogenes hath no need !”
CHAPTER IV.
THE PERCH FAMILY
“ As inward love breeds outward talk,
The hound some praise, and some the hawk:
Some better pleased with private sport,
Use tennis, some a mistress court:
But these delights I neither wish,
Nor envy, while I freely fish.
“Who hunts, doth oft in danger ride;
Who hawks, lures oft both far and wide;
Who uses games, shall often prove
A loser; but who falls in love,
Is fettered in fond Cupid’s snare;
My angle breeds me no such care.
“Of recreation there 1s none
So free as fishing is alone:
All other pastimes do no less
Than mind and body both possess:
My-hand alone my work can do,
So I can fish and study too.”
WALTON.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PERCH FAMILY—PERCID.
GuneraL Remarks on THE Percip#. Great number of American genera
and species.—Paucity of European Species.—Distinguishing marks.—
Their abundance and variety in the Valley of the Mississippi.—Migra-
tory habits.
Tue RockrisH or Srripep Bass. Labrax Lineatus.—Rockfish Tackle.—
Rockfishing on the lower Rappahannock.
Tue Wurtz Percu. Labrax pallidws.—Perch Fishing.
Tue Waite Bass or tHE Lakes. Labrax albidus—White Bass taken
with the artificial fly.
Fresh Water Bass or tHe Sourn anp Wust. Grystes salmoides.—Bass
Fishing.—Bass Fly Fishing.
Brack Bass or taz Laxes. Grystes nigricans.—Trolling for Black Bass
with spoon, and with artificial flies.
Tue Srrirep Bass or THE Onto. Perca chrysops.
Tat SHorr Srrirep Bass.
Osweco Bass.
Tue Crappie or Sac-a-Lal. Pomoxis hexicanthus.
Tue YeLLow Barred Percu. Perca flavescens.
Tus Sunrise or Sunny. Pomotis vulgaris.
Breau. Ichthylis rubricunda.—Bream Fishing on Bayou La Branch.
Tue Pixe Percu or On10 Satmon. Luctoperca Americana.
Tus Borrato Perc. Ablodon grunniens.
Dz Kay, whose work on ichthyology was published in 1846,
says, there were more than sixty genera and six hundred
species of Percide known at that time. How many new
77)
78 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
species have been added to the number since, it would be
difficult to say.
It is somewhat remarkable, that in British works on
angling, we find only one species of this family described ; it
is a barred Yellow Perch, resembling our Perca jlavescens.
Cuvier describes comparatively few as being found in Kurope;
while here the Percide include as many fresh-water species
of game-fish, as all the other families combined. And our
anglers of the Atlantic States are not generally aware of the
great variety found in the Southern and Western States, and
the sport they afford to the fishers there.
The distinguishing marks of the Percide are, edges of gill-
cover or fore gill-cover, and sometimes both, denticulated or
pectinated like the teeth of a comb, or armed with spines.
Both jaws, the vomer and palatine, armed with teeth. First
rays of the dorsal, or entire first dorsal (if there be two),
armed with sharp points; the first ray of the anal-fin being
always spinous; and the ventrals with one or more spines.
The free edges of the scales are pectinated, and the ventral-
fins under the pectorals. From this latter peculiarity, the
ventral-fins being in close proximity to the throat, earlier
ichthyologists termed them Thoracic fishes. The sharp spines
of the fins have caused the Percide to be placed amongst the
Acanthopterygii. According to Professor Agassiz’s classi-
fication in reference to paleontology, they belong to the
Ctenoids—the third order of fishes in creation.
The Yellow-barred Perch, although the type of the family,
is its least worthy representative. The splendid Rockfish,
and the Southern Bass belong to other genera. The latter,
which is found in all the Southern and Western States,
’ furnishes great sport to the angler. It is taken with minnow,
shrimp, spoon-bait, bob, and artificial flies. If by any dis-
THE PERCH FAMILY. 79
pensation of Providence the Percoids should become extinct,
there would hardly be sport left to the anglers, who fish the
numerous creeks, rivers, and lakes where they now abound.
I have alluded on another page, to the replenishing of the
lakelets, found so abundantly scattered along the margin of
the Mississippi, through its alluvial bottom lands, by the
occasional overflow of that river. This phenomenon is
strongly presented to the notice of observing anglers in the
neighborhood of St. Louis, and one is apt to wonder where
the great numbers and varieties of the Perch family come
from, to stock these sluggish waters. In thinking over the
matter I have fallen back on my favorite theory, the instinctive
migration of surplus production, as applicable to fresh-water
fishes, as well as to salt water or pelagian gerftra.
If the reader will take the trouble to look at a good map,
he will see that the states north and west of the confluence
of the Mississippi and Ohio, are threaded for thousands of
miles by rivers of gentle flow, and dotted with innumerable
lakelets, which, to a great extent, are the feeders and sources
of the Mississippi. These are the breeding places of Bass,
Crappie, and other Percoids; most of them spawn early in
the spring, soon after the ice has left the lakelets; and as
most fresh-water species instinctively run down stream after
spawning, it is easily conjectured how large schools of these
fish are hurried along by freshets, and deposited in the ponds
that are fed by the overflow of the great river.
After a rise in the Mississippi, the lakes and ponds that
skirt its course, above the mouth of the Ohio, and down
through the regions of cotton and sugar, are filled with fish
of this family.
In the ponds which have been replenished in this way in
the neighborhood of St. Louis, their numbers decrease very
little the first summer; the second season they spawn and
80 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
breed, as in their native waters, but if the ponds are not
refreshed by an overflow of the river every two or three
years, the waters lose the chemical condition necessary to
the reproduction of fish, from a continued infusion of de-
cayed vegetable matter, and the lakes become barren, until
another overflow of the mighty river comes rushing through,
clearing them of foul, and filling them with fresh water ; and
restocking them at the same time with fish, and most nume-
rously with Percoids.
Below its junction with the Ohio, the Mississippi has made
in the course of time, many a “cut off,” forcing its way in
times of flood, across the neck of a peninsula or a bend, in
seeking a more direct course, and leaving considerable bodies
of water, of a*horse-shoe shape, as the old channel closes.
These are fed by the annual or occasional overflow of the
river, and their waters refreshed and restocked with fish, as just
described. Bruin Lake, opposite Grand Gulf, Mississippi, is
a water of this kind, and is said to contain Bass (or as they
are there called Trout) of immense size. I have been told
by an angler, that he has taken there, in a day’s fishing?>
thirty of these fish, whose aggregate length was sixty feet.
THE ROCKFISH—STRIPED BASS.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 81
THE ROCKFISH, OR STRIPED BASS.
Labrax Lineatus : Cuvimr.
The following description is taken from a fish of stout
proportions, weighing four pounds; its length nineteen
inches, exclusive of its caudal, breadth five inches.
Form elliptical, compressed; length of head compared with
body, as 54 to 19; tail slightly forked; head opercle and
preopercle scaly ; two flat spines on the posterior margin of
the opercle, with a membrane between and extending beyond
them—the lower spine the longer. The eye is about one-
third of the distance between the tip of the snout and
posterior angle of opercle; irides light yellow. Teeth on the
maxillaries and palatines, also on the sides of the tongue,
which is soft, and on the arches of the gills; the lower jaw
is the longer.
Color; bluish green on the back, shading gradually lighter
to the lateral line, which commences above the superior spine
of the opercle, curves slightly upwards for a short distance,
and is thence straight to the centre of the caudal; belly
white. There are eight dusky stripes, the four above the
lateral line extending to the tail. The lower margin of the
preopercle and the chin are roseate white ; caudal and dorsals
dusky lead color; pectorals roseate at the roots and greenish
yellow on the rays; ventrals roseate white in front, shading
to a light lead color posteriorly. Scales on the roots of the
caudal fin.
6
82 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The first dorsal has nine stout spines; the second one spine
and twelve soft rays; pectorals seventeen rays; caudal six-
teen; ventrals one spine and five rays; anal three spines and
eleven rays.
Rockfish are not plentiful in the Gulf of Mexico, but are
abundant along the whole coast, from Georgia to the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, and are found in larger numbers from the
Chesapeake Bay to Nantucket, than in any other part of their
geographical range. They have been known to reach the
weight of ninety pounds, and have been taken with rod and
line as high as forty or fifty,—though one of six or eight
pounds affords the angler sport enough. As far as game
qualities are concerned, it is the finest fish the American
angler meets with, south of the regions of the Salmon.
In the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, they leave the salt
water as soon as the ice disappears from the rivers, and have
been taken in the Schuylkill, at Fairmount dam, as early as
the 20th of March, by trolling with a minnow, or roach, or a
small pickled eel, kept from the previous season. The first
Rock-fishing of the season, on the Potomac, is at the Falls
above Georgetown, where great numbers, and large ones, are
sometimes killed; and there is no doubt that they can be
taken in this latitude, as early as April or May, on any
river communicating with salt water, where the tide is
obstructed by a dam or impassable fall. At Newport and
Narragansett Bay, they are caught from June to November, by
baiting with a small species of herring called Manhaden.
Along the sedgy creeks and inlets, from Cape Henlopen to
Sandy Hook, they are taken with soft crabs and shrimps,
during the months of August and September. Large Rock-
fish are frequently caught in nets, when they are following
a school of herrings on the fishing grounds, where they cause
THE PERCH FAMILY. 83
much annoyance to the fishermen by tearing their nets, and
allowing the shad and herring to escape.
An erroneous opinion prevails, that Rockfish ascend fresh
rivers above the head of tide to spawn; but food is their only
object. They generally spawn in tidal creeks and rivers,.
where smaller streams of fresh water enter. When they
are taken in the Delaware and Hudson above tide, they are
generally of large size, and are caught mostly on set lines
and in fish-traps.
Rocx-Fisnine.—The first dash of a Rockfish is terrific to a
novice. Thirty yards are frequently spun off the reel before
a large fish can be checked. At the Falls of the Potomac, or
in the rapids of the Susquehanna, his play is not less vigor-
ous than a Salmon’s; his runs are much longer, and he
frequently escapes by chafing or cutting the line or leader
against the sharp edges of rocks, being assisted in his
desperate struggles by the strong current. Still, though
sturdy, he is a fair fighter, and where there are no such
obstructions, a gentle hand, a taut line, and a steady pull
secures him.
You must not be too anxious when playing him, to get a
first sight of your prize, or be too familiar by bringing him
close to the boat or shore, until he is well tired out. When
he gives in at last, and lies exhausted on his broad side, you
may, in absence of a gaff or landing-net, put your thumb in
his open mouth, and your fingers under his chin, and lift him
in—being careful at the same time of the sharp flat spine on
his gill-cover.
Rods of various lengths are used in angling for Rockfish.
In bottom-fishing in a tideway, one of twelve feet with a
stiff tip is necessary. When using a float, one of greater
length and more pliability affords better sport; but in
casting a minnow over a bold, rocky stream, which is the
84 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ne plus ultra of Bass fishing, a stout salmon-rod, or a bamboo,
or a native reed pole of eighteen feet, fitted with reel and
rings, is more appropriate.
In all cases a good multiplying reel should be used, with a
hundred yards of well-laid hemp line, which should pass
through metallic guides, and a metallic tip at the top of the
rod. The crack Bass fishers of New York are so fastidious,
as even to have the tip (the end-piece through which the line
passes) jewelled, in order to lessen the friction as the line
runs out, when casting.
Many anglers do not feel secure unless the leader be of
double gut, which is entirely unnecessary, unless there are
sharp rocks on the bottom; fora single strand of the best and
stoutest gut, when wet, will bear nearly as much strain, as an
ordinary hemp line. Stout-wired Kirby hooks, long or short
shanks, from No. 1 to 00, are preferable; they are much more
certain of hooking than the Limerick.
The weight of the sinker should be proportioned to the
depth of the water or force of the tide. In bottom-fishing, an
oblong sliding sinker may be advantageously used. In
trolling or casting over rapids, a bullet, from the size of a
buckshot to a half ounce, is best; then, also, one or more
swivels should be looped on, to insure the spinning of the
ninnow. ;
The usual mode of using the minnow, when trolling, is to
“bridle” it, which is done in several ways. The easiest is, to
put the hook in at the mouth, out through the gill, and then,
after taking a half hitch around the head, to pass it through
the side of the back; so that the bend of the hook may set
upwards, with the point towards the head of the bait.
Another and a better plan, is to have a small hook (size 2)
on the snood, about three inches above the larger; the smaller
hook is passed through the under, and out through the upper
THE PERCH FAMILY. tofa)
lip of the minnow; and the larger hook, as just described,
through the back. To increase the spinning or twirling of
the bait in its passage through the water, it is better to put
on the minnow slightly bent, which is done by passing the
larger hook through the back nearer to the tail than you
would when you intend the minnow to swim straight, and
then doubling it a little.
In baiting with shrimps, which are good in some waters,
and at certain seasons, a float should be used, if the tide is
not too strong; this bait should not touch the bottom, as
Rockfish are not in the habit of looking for them there; it
should also be kept in motion by occasional short jerks or
twitches of the rod. Soft crabs are always found on the
bottom by the fish, when feeding on them, and, of course, in
using crab-bait, you should fish near the bottom, whether it
be with or without a float. I have sometimes found Rock-
fish so well on the feed, as to take a slice or oblong piece of
fish-bait, readily striking at it, if it is white and well put on;
for, like other fish, they have not the delicate sense of taste,
that anglers give them credit for.
The pearl minnow, or a tuft of raw cotton, or a white rag
tied on a hook, will frequently take small Rockfish, where a
strong tide sweeps under a bridge, or around the corner of a
pier. The fish wait in. the eddies on the lee side of the tim-
bers of the bridge, or angles of the pier, for minnows or
shrimp; and seize any small object having the appearance of
life. There is no doubt that at such times, a light colored fly,
particularly the white moth, would be taken greedily, though
a white rag answers the purpose as well. Half flood is the
best time of tide for such fishing. The pearl minnow should
‘ve drawn against the current, a few inches below the surface,
and near the edge of the eddy; the angler being careful to
keep out of sight and not to cast his shadow over the swim.
86 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
At the Rancocas bridge, a few miles above Philadelphia, some
years ago, a party of three anglers, on a day in the latter part
of June, took fifteen dozen Rockfish, from ten to fourteen
inches long, with the pear] minnow.
In strong tideways, or deep water, the last half of the ebb,
and the first half hour of the flood tide is generally consi-
dered the best time for taking this fish. In the shallow bays
and sounds extending along our coast, there are thoroughfares
between the low grassy islands, which are almost dry at low
water. Here crabs are found in great numbers, and the Rock-
fish come in with the flood tide in search of them. In such
places, the last half of the flood and high water are the proper
times. The most famous place along the coast for catching
these fish, is Narragansett Bay. JI have heard stories of the
Bass fishing there, that it is not prudent to repeat.
The American Angler's Guide, by J. J. Brown, Esq., of
New York, has an excellent article on Striped Bass asring1 in
the waters around New York.
Frank Forester, in speaking of this fish, says, “The. fly
will take them brilliantly, and at the end of three hundred
yards of line, a twelve-pound Bass will be found quite suffi-
cient, to keep even the most skilful angler’s hands, as full as
he can possibly desire.” The author in question must have
delighted in “magnificent distances”; for a line of three hun-
dred yards, with a Bass at the end of it, would certainly be
“playing at long taw,” and is suggestive of “shooting with a
long bow.” Most anglers will kill a Bass of any size, and
not give him fifty yards of line. Frank Forester’s idea of
trolling for Rockfish, as some anglers fish for Pike, with a
leaded gorge hook, from the shore, even if successful, would
be dull sport compared with the usual mode of taking them.
It would moreover be degrading to the bold Rockfish, to
place him iu the same category with a sneaking Pike.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 87
Flies are not the natural food of this fish, though they may
be of the Southern Bass or the Black Bass of the great lakes;
still it is not an uncommon thing to take Rockfish with a
large gaudy artificial fly, at the Falls of the Potomac; though
a hook wrapped with a piece of yellow, or sometimes with
red flannel, will answer the purpose. This fish follows and
seizes the fly under rather than on the surface, and does not
start from the bottom with a spring, as the Trout or Salmon.
Rock fish below twelve inches, are not good, the flesh ap-
pearing to be wilted and immature, bearing the same relation
to that of a four-pounder, as veal does to beef. When of two
or three pounds, they should be split and broiled, they are
then very good; above this size, they are generally boiled.
They are better though, cut into steaks,—that is, in transverse
slices—and broiled, and served with melted butter and parsley.
The flesh of overgrown Rockfish is said to be coarse, and is
not esteemed. eS
Most tidewater anglers have pleasant reminiscences of this
fish, but no recollection of Bass fishing comes back to me
with greater pleasure, than my first essay amongst the “big
ones.” It was many years ago, in the month of June,
when on a visit to a relative—an ardent though not a scien-
tific angler—who lived on the banks of the broad Rappahan-
nock, near its mouth. On the morning after my arrival, my
host improvised a bout with the Rockfish; and I saw from
my chamber window, a negro boy, with no other implement
than a four-pronged stick, capture as many soft crabs as
sufficed for bait and breakfast. Our canoes were staked out
some distance from the margin of the sandy beach, which
made it necessary to be carried to them. This task was
speedily accomplished by a sturdy little negro; who with
trousers rolled up on his sable drumsticks, dumped the
whole cargo—bait, rods and four anglers—into two “dug
88 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
outs.” We were soon staked down on the flats, a half mile
from the shore, where the water was six feet deep. Our ob-
ject was, to place the boats in such a position, as to fish intu
the “galls,” or bare places, where there was no grass; these
were of various sizes, from three rods square to half an acre.
The rods, reels and scientific tackle of the city anglers, ex-
cited the wonder, and no doubt the silent contempt of the
native fishermen; who were rigged, one with a,hand-line, and
the other with a stout cedar pole, with a line attached to it,
that might have held a Shark. My host, a staunch Democrat
and anti-bank man, dubbed my rod, which was not over stout
and fifteen feet long, “The Nick Biddle pole,” and assured
me it was all well enough for White Perch, but would not
hold a Rockfish, such as he could bring with a strong pull,
and a “whop,” right into the canoe.
It was my good fortune to hook the first fish, a fine fellow
of six pounds. There was much laughter, of course; Uncle
Rolly declared I would never get him in. “See how your pole
bends! Why he’s way off in the middle of the gall already!
Why don’t you pull him in?” The old man was here inter-
rupted by the disappearance of his pine-bark float, and in less
time than it takes to tell it, he had his fish flapping in the
bottom of the canoe. “There!” said he, “I can catch ten to
your one. I tell you, your Nick Biddle pole will never do
here!” By this time I had my fish pretty well in hand, and
after a dash or two more, Jordan, the negro boy, put a wide
crab-net under him, and lifted him in. The next fish Uncle
Rolly hooked broke his hold; so did a good many more, and
large ones too; while every fish struck by the dandy pole.
was killed artistically, though the old man thought with
much unnecessary ceremony. At the ebb of the tide science
had told. We had a good time of it, and the owner of the
“Biddle pole” felt great confidence in his fine tackle, and
THE PERCH FAMILY. 89
much quiet satisfaction in his first success with it; while
Uncle Rolly laughed at his tactics. We went home and ate
the stewed head and shoulders of a large Rockfish and soft
crabs for dinner. Next day we tried our luck again with
equal success; and before leaving for home one of the town
anglers killed a Rockfish of twenty-five pounds, which Uncle
Rolly would certainly have lost.
Besides the fishing in this part of the Old Dominion, I have
vivid recollections of the hat, hair, and hospitality of
**Uycue Rony.”
90 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
WHITE PERCH. GRAY PERCH.
Labrax pallidus: Dr Kay.
Color—back, bluish gray; sides, silvery gray ; belly, white ;
body compressed, elliptical; breadth, one-third of its length ;
head not quite a third; eye one-third distant from snout;
opercle and preopercle scaly, a single flat spine on the
opercle, with a membrane extending beyond; preopercle
serrated on lower margin. Branchial, and fin rays. B 6;
D 9,1,12; C 16; P14; V 15; A 3,10. Compared with
Labrax rufus of De Kay, this fish is of a more lustrous
silvery hue; its fins longer and more transparent; the
rays more delicate’; spines longer and sharper, some of the
dorsal spines with a sabre-like curve. The facial line is
more depressed, eye full, mouth larger, and bearing all the
marks of a game predatory fish. It is seldom found north
of the Delaware.
De Kay’s specific appellation “Pallidus” denotes the color,
and marks the difference between this and his Labraax rufus,
or Ruddy Bass. I believe as he did, that the two are distinct
THE PERCH FAMILY. 91
species. Holbrook, quoting Gmelin, calls it Labrax Amert-
canus, and falls into the same error as Cuvier and Storer,
making no specific difference between the two.
Labrax rufus is a northern fish, seldom if ever found south
of New York. Its habits differ from those of Pallidus, being
found mostly on flat clayey and muddy bottoms, and in shal-
lows, and in some of the fresh-water ponds of the New Eng-
land states and New York. It has not the game qualities
of Pallidus.
The White Perch is a congener of the magnificent Rockfish,
and is frequently found feeding in the same place and in his
company. Its average length is eight or nine inches; it is
not often more than twelve, though in rare instances it is
found fourteen inches long.
This beautiful, free-biting little fish, which affords so
much sport, and, which is found in all the fresh and brackish
tide-waters, from Cape Hatteras to Sandy Hook, does not
receive that favorable notice from writers ‘on ichthyology
and angling which it merits. De Kay, in speaking of it, after
describing the Ruddy Bass, says: “Like the preceding species,
it inhabits salt and brackish waters; but as far as my observa-
tions have extended, it is invariably a small fish, and rarely
brought to market for food. The Little White Bass, or
White Perch, may be readily distinguished from the other,
by its light color, small size, and very compressed body.”
I am disposed to object to its being called a salt-water fish.
Its most natural habitat is fresh tidal-rivers. It is frequently
found far above the terminus of the tide, and they are even
more abundant in fresh than in brackish waters, at the season
of the year when they are sought for by anglers. This fish
when found in salt-water creeks, is darker in color, but there
is no specific difference.
The remark above quoted, that it is “rarely brought to
92 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
market for food,” is an error so glaring, as to cause one to
suppose, that the explorations of the naturalist in qitestion,
could not have extended south of New York. The same
author also says or implies, that its average size does not
exceed six or seven inches; by which he also evinced
his slight knowledge of this fish. Frank Forester,,in his
book on angling, after a slight notice, dismisses it, as “not
sufficiently important to merit more particular notice.” The
latter gentleman missed much, by not becoming acquainted
with our little friend Pallidus. In season, the White Perch
is the pan fish (and there is none better) of the Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk, and Richmond markets.
And as for sport; should it be said that a man or boy has no
sport, or is not an angler, because he does not use reel or
gut? Did not Billy Jones, the chair-maker, down town,
go a Perch-fishing four or five times every summer; shut-
ting up his shop for the day, and taking his wife, children,
and apprentices in his sailboat down the river—or in a
furniture car down the “Neck;” and with his brandling-worms
in an old coffee-pot, and his minnow-net and frying-pan, and
store of bread and butter and bottled ale, make a day of it?
Did not “our Johnny” shoulder his reed-pole every Saturday
morning, when there was a run of Perch at Fairmount dam;
and return at night with a string of them as long as his leg,
and his trousers smeared with shad-roe? Is not Uncle Jim—
a respectable colored gentleman—who lives in a quiet nook
by the Curratoma, down in Old Virginia, always sure of a
mess of them? And Old Davy, whose shanty is on the high
bluff, by the mouth of the Sassafras, does he not “count on
‘em?” And still the learned De Kay, and the eloquent Frank
Forester speak disparagingly or hardly notice this game
little fish, so intimately associated with the early, and happy
THE PERCH FAMILY. 93
recollections of every angler, of the waters that find their way
into the Chesapeake and Delaware.
White Perch hybernate in the deep salt water of our bays,
and ascend the fresh tide-rivers soon after the ice and snow-
water have run off. They feed greedily on the spawn of other
fish, particularly that of the shad; on insects, grubs, minnows,
and on the migratory schools of young eels, which are found
in the months of April and May, in great numbers, at any
rapid or dam obstructing the upward flow of the tide. Perch
usually spawn in May, and then resort to deeper waters to
recuperate, and all summer long, are found by the angler,
ever swimming around the deep sunken pier, or the timbers
of the rickety old bridge, snapping at shrimp, or chasing the
minnows on the flood-tide high up amongst the water-lilies ;
and never refusing a bait, if of the right sort, and properly
presented.
The first Perch-fishing of the season, is always at the
terminus of a tideway, as just mentioned. Through the
summer, they are taken on the ebb-tide in deep water, on
sandy or rocky bottoms or muscle-beds, or around stone
piles or sunken hulks; and on the flood-tide, along the
margins of rivers, or creeks, where the long grasses or water-
lilies afford a home for the minnows.
In brackish water, shrimps are decidedly the best bait; in
deep holes, in fresh tide rivers, brandling-worms; on the flood-
tide, along the margin of the grass or water-lilies, minnows
are good, or a wedge-shaped fish-bait is greedily taken, if the
Perch are well on the feed. This last should be cut with the
skin adhering, which makes the bait so tough, that six or
eight fish may be taken before renewing it. For early
fishing, young eels, spawned the preceding autumn, which are
beautifully transparent and not larger than a darning-needle,
are the most attractive. These, as I have just said, are to be
had where the tide is impeded by dam or rapid. Here
94 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
the Perch and Rockfish devour immense numbers of them,
and it is only at such places that these fish look for them.
The vitality of these little animals is wonderful; and if the
hook is passed through them below the vitals, which are
easily seen, they remain alive for some time. 'T'wo or three
eels are put on each hook. This bait is found in small pools
left by the ebb of the tide, and can be easily secured with a
small net of sea-grass skirting.
The first catch of Perch, with Philadelphia anglers, is, or
was, below the dam at Fairmount waterworks; beginning in
April with young eels, and occasionally small minnows for
bait. Early in the season, the most likely places are where
the rapid subsides into deep, still water; in May they are
found more in the rapids and nearer the fall of the dam.
The tackle which affords the best sport is a common native
reed pole, of twelve or thirteen feet, not thicker at the butt
than the thumb, and tapering to a fine point, which can be
rendered still finer and stronger by splicing on a tip of lance
or iron-wood. The same rod may also be used with a reel,
by putting on rings, and a metallic tip at the end for the line
to pass through.
A fine line of flax or silk should be used, with a gut leader
of three or four feet, with two hooks, one at the end, and
one eighteen inches or two feet above. The best hooks when
baiting with little eels, are those termed “weak trout” hooks.
They are long in the shank, which facilitates baiting and
taking off the fish; the wire is also delicate, mutilating the
bait less than a coarser hook, and being more elastic, or at
least more flexible, lets go its hold more easily when caught
on the bottom. If in pulling it away, the hook should
straighten to any extent, it may be easily restored to its
shape, by pressing the bend together between the fore teeth.
With delicate handling, these hooks are strong enough to
ceure a three-pound Rockfish, if he should take your bait.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 95
The sinker, conical or round, should be in size from a buck-
shot to a half ounce bullet. Its weight must depend on the
depth and force of the current; it should be attached by a
weak piece of gut or thread at the junction of the leader with
the line; so that in case of its being caught between the
rocks, you may lose only the bullet, and not your leader and
hooks.
When fishing in slack water, especially by the edge of the
water-lilies or grass, it is advisable to use a float; the Perch,
like other predatory fish, seldom taking a bait on the bottom,
unless it is in motion. The distance between the hooks and
the float should not be more than two-thirds or three-fourths
the depth of the water.
Where the tide sweeps around the end of a pier, or the piles
of a bridge, Perch frequently are found in the eddies on the
edge of the current, waiting for minnows or shrimp; then a
short line (without a reel) is preferable. In such places they
can at times be taken with a pearl minnow. Ina tideway or
lively water, always fish down stream, to prevent the current
bringing your line home to you, and so as to allow it to lift
the sinker and leader from the bottom, and veer it about in
such way, that the bait will appear attractive. In fishing
from a boat, anchor just far enough above the desired place
to fish into it, occasionally trying either side. If you are in
the right place, and the fish are on the feed, there is no ne-
cessity for striking, if the line is kept taut, for they generally
hook themselves at the first pass they make at the bait.
If the angler is not greedy for a large catch, and the fish are
found near the surface, and on the shallow rapids, as they
sometimes are on a warm day in May, a stout fly-rod and
light tackle might be used, baiting with a single eel, and
without using a sinker, casting and drawing as with a heavy
fly. Of course it takes longer to secure a fish by such means,
but the sport is heightened.
96 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Perch-fishing in the month of May, in brisk water, where
the run of fish is from nine to twelve inches, is not a whit
inferior to bait-fishing for Trout. I prefer the former, because
Perch, by such appliances as I have described, are taken in a
sportsmanlike manner, and Trout (which should be taken
only with a fly) are not. Sometimes in deep holes at the
head of tide-water, when fishing with a minnow, the broad-
sided Shad will take the bait; or a three-pound Rockfish will
come into your swim; then if you have no reel, or your hand
be not gentle, and if you do not grasp your rod by its extreme
butt, and give him the whole spring of your fragile reed, you
are a ruined angler ; and you may not forgive yourself for a
week, for lack of skill or precaution.
Many anglers object to a reed rod, on account, as they say,
of a feeling of insecurity in its use. But for Perch-fishing,
its lightness, and graceful bend, when a fish is on, commend
it; and the very objection that is urged increases the sport to
one who is fond of fishing fine.
The Perch is decidedly a pan-fish; and when rolled in
grated cracker, or coarse corn meal, and moderately browned,
is better fried than broiled. To a man of wholesome, un-
pampered appetite, it is hard to serve up a better dinner than
fried Perch, with good bread and butter, and a little claret;
or what is still better, though more homely, a bottle of
Philadelphia ale. Large White Perch are sometimes boiled,
and served up with egg sauce.
A piquant dish may be made as follows :—Cut off the heads
and tails, and fry the fish enough to lay them open, and take
out the backbone and ribs, dividing each fish into two slices;
then put them in the pan again, and brown them in coarse
corn meal; pouring over them, when nearly done, a little
Worcestershire sauce, or walnut catsup, and serve them up
with drawn butter and an additional quantity of either sauce
or catsup.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 97
THE WHITE BASS OF THE LAKES.
Labrax allidus: Dr Kay.
De Kay says: “This fish is bluish white above the lateral
line, a few narrow dusky parallel streaks above and beneath
this line; sides and belly white; pupils black; irides white
intermixed with a little brown; dorsal, caudal, and anal fins
brownish, tinged with blue; pectoral fins whitish, tinged with
olive green; ventrals light transparent blue, tipped with
white. Length 5°10, depth 3-0. Fins, dorsal. 9, 1, 13; pec-
torals 17; ventrals 1, 5; anal 3,12; caudal 17. This isa
very common fish in Lake: Erie, and is known at Buffalo
under the name of White Bass.”
In the year 1844, J made an appointment with a fine old
gentleman of the medical profession, known and loved by
all Philadelphians, who had taken up an idea that I was
something of an angler, to meet him at Mackinaw, on my
return from a western tour. We were to have gone to
Sault St. Marie, where he had renewed his early love for
angling, by taking some of the large Trout in the rapids, the
previous summer, with an outfit which I had furnished him.
Much to my regret I received a letter from him, when |
reached Mackinaw, telling me that his presence at home was
indispensable, and requesting me to call at Detroit and spend
a few days with his son, then a lieutenant in the U.S.
Engineer Department, who had charge of the construction of
a fort there. I stopped, and we spent two long days angling
4
98 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
in Detroit River. Our success was varied. On the afternoon
of the first day, near sundown, we took twenty-five White
Bass, with the artificial fly, in a creek on the Canada side
opposite the town. They were all of a size—eight of them
weighing just seven pounds. The fly was a rough affair of
my own make, the wings being of the end of a peacock’s tail
feather. We afterwards learned that we had been fishing in
preserved waters; the Canadian fishermen, who supplied the
Detroit market, had caught the fish with a net in the river,
and had turned them loose in the back-water of the creek and
placed some brush across, so as to have them ready when
there was a demand for them.
I have passed Detroit since, and tried to identify the place ;
I think the railroad depot at Sandwich, on the Canadian side,
is near it; the creek has been drained off, or has become a
mere ditch or uninhabited water, and the lieutenant, in the
course of promotion, has become a great general. I wonder
if, amidst the arduous duties of the present, he ever thinks
of that quiet afternoon?
THE PERCH FAMILY. 99
FRESH-WATER BASS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST.
Grystes salmoides: Cuvisr.
This fish is known under various names, through the wide
extent of its habitat. In the neighborhood of Richmond, it
is called the James River Chub, sometimes Bass. In its more
southerly range, it goes by the names of Trout, Black Trout,
and Brown Trout, and is seldom called Bass, except in the
Northwestern States. Although it is called “Trout,” at the
South, there is no family or generic affinity between it and
our northern Trout.
The following is an abridgment of Holbrook’s description,
connected with a few observations of the writer. Head and
body, dusky olive above, sometimes with a yellowish tint,
lighter on the sides. Belly white; opercles light green or
greenish yellow; first dorsal fin, nine spines and eighteen
soft rays; pectorals, fifteen; ventrals, one spine and five rays;
anal, three spines and twelve rays; caudal, nineteen rays.
Body elongated oval, straight on the belly. Hye large.
Mouth very large, lower jaw longer. The vomer has brush-
100 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
like teeth in front. Teeth on the palatines and pharyngeal
bones. Tongue smooth, without teeth in front.
They are found in the James River, in the lagoons of the
Dismal Swamp, in the Roanoke, and in every fresh-water
stream of any size in the Southern Atlantic States; in the
streams and lakes of Florida, and in all the rivers which flow
from the north into the Gulf of Mexico along its whole ex-
tent. All the creeks and bayous are stocked with them; so
are the lakes formed in the old bed of the Mississippi, wher-
ever the river has made a cut-off, though they are seldom or
ever taken in the river itself—the fish of most families only
using it as a high road or thoroughfare from one lake to
another. They are also found in the Cheat, Holston, Green,
Kentucky, Alabama, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Ohio, and
in their tributaries, to their very sources in the highlands and
mountains. They are not so plentiful in the streams or their
tributaries that fall into the Mississippi on the western side;
but the long still lakes of the alluvial bottom lands on the
east side, from the Ohio to Rock River, are stocked with this
and other percoids by the occasional overflow of the Mis-
sissippl.
The rivers of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and the streams
and clear lakes of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, also sup-
ply them, with a little variety in form and color.
This fish is taken generally by still fishing, with a live
minnow, and it is only of late years in the Southern States,
that anglers have used the spoon, which is found to be very
destructive. An accomplished angler of the “Houseless,” gave
me a glowing description of a party who started from Colum-
bia, South Carolina, to fish the Edisto River, in the month of
May 1860; they used the spoon bait, trolling near the bank
under the overhanging branches, each angler occupying a
boat paddled by his servant. They collected at night on
THE PERCH FAMILY. 101
board of the flat-boat which accompanied them down the
river, with stores, cooking utensils, and bedding. They fished
fifty or sixty miles of the river, and had a glorious time of it,
taking Bass weighing as high as eight pounds.
In the states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, this fish is
taken with the minnow, shrimp, and bob; the latter is an arti-
ficial bait, made of gaudy feathers and tinsel (on two or three
hooks); it is as large as a humming bird. It is said that
the tip end of a buck’s tail answers the same purpose in
Florida. The bob is used from a boat, with a long rod and a
short line ; the boat is paddled silently along, at a convenient
distance from the shore, while the angler is dapping his bob
along in likely places near the bank; or, if he “paddles
his own canoe,” the end of a long reed with a short line
projects beyond the bow of the boat, the bob just touching
the water. When the fish seizes it, which is always with a
bold rush and a spring, a short and decisive tussle ensues, in
which the fish is taken by the angler or the rod is carried
away by the fish.
I have taken this Bass in the vicinity of St. Louis, on a
moonshiny night, by skittering a light spoon over the surface
of the water, while standing on the shore. In the South, a
minnow or shrimp is considered the best bait, and a float of
suitable size is used on such occasions.
The anglers of New Orleans who have summer residences
on the Gulf coast between the latter city and Mobile, formerly
enjoyed Bass-fishing to its full extent; many of them were
ardent and skilful anglers.
I have often thought that this fish would take a large arti-
ficial fly well, and give great sport, on a stout trout rod, and
corresponding tackle. My belief has lately been verified by
an account given me of an English or Scotch angler, who
spent last summer at the town of Rock Island, Illinois. He
102 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
waded Rock River and fished for Bass as for Trout or Salmon,
and killed a great many, some of which were of very large
size. I hope he did not take the chills and fever home with
him, to disturb his pleasant reminiscences of his sport.
The rod used is generally a springy weapon of fourteen
feet for bait-fishing, and a lighter one with the bob. A good
reel, and stout line and gut are required; the hook from No.
1 to 00; the latter size is preferable, as the Bass has a large
mouth. Z
This fish is unsurpassed in flavor by any of the Perch
family. The smaller are broiled or fried, the larger should
be boiled and served up with egg sauce.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 103
BLACK BASS OF THE NORTHERN LAKES.
Grystes nigricans: AGassiz.
The color of this fish (which appears to vary with locality,
or the season) is generally dark olive-green on the back,
shading gradually into a brownish yellow on the sides; belly,
opaque white. Body compressed, oval; back arched; belly
less curved than the superior outline; breadth as two to seven.
Lateral line concurrent with back. Head small, little less than
one-fourth the length of the body; preopercle covered with
small scales, scales larger on opercle. The eye is on a line
between the snout and posterior angle of opercle, one-third
distant from the snout, and is about five-eighths of an inch in
diameter ; the irides are dark brown above, and pale yellow
below. Nostrils small, double. Tongue toothless; both jaws
with small brushlike teeth, small patches of the same on
each side of the pharynx, as well as on the branchial arches.
Branchial rays seven. The first dorsal fin has ten sharp
spines, the anterior ray being short; the second dorsal is
104 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
covered at its base with scales, and has fifteen rays, preceded
by an obtuse spine of half their length; this fin is arched, and
rounded posteriorly. The pectorals beginning immediately
beneath the point of the opercle are yellow, nearly obovate
in shape, and have eighteen rays. Ventrals commencing
slightly posteriorly, have five branched rays. The anal
terminating beneath the posterior point of the second dorsal,
has two sharp, and one longer obtuse spine, and twelve
branched rays. The caudal is very slightly forked, and has
eighteen rays.
The specimen which the wood-cut at the head of this
article represents, and from which my description was taken,
was caught early in September near Rouse’s Point, on Lake
Champlain. I have been particular in my description, and
find it differs from that of Agassiz and De Kay; from the
former, in the color, spines, and fin rays. The difference of
color I attribute to the season of the year, or some local cause.
I regret that my sketch, which is accurate as regards
proportions, does not do justice to the original in other
respects. The specimen was fourteen and a half inches long,
and about two pounds in weight; one of four pounds taken
on the same day, measured only eighteen inches.
There is some difference between this fish and his Southern
congener; he is much stouter, and not as symmetrical in his
proportions; his habits and manner of taking the bait are
much the same, but his haunts—from the difference in the
waters which he inhabits—are necessarily unlike the lurking-
places of the Southern Bass. The Black Bass of the Lakes
loves the rocky shores of the islands, the sand-bars, and reefs.
He takes a live minnow in still-fishing, which is by far a
more sportsmanlike mode of capturing him than trolling
with the spoon,* though the latter is the method most in
* Buel’s pélentde is most spniell y used.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 105
vogue. He is also trolled for with large gaudy flies—sold at
the tackle stores expressly for the purpose—from four to six
of them being attached by single lengths of gut to a long
salmon casting-line. But the neatest.way of taking these fish is
practised by a veteran angler, who spends part of his summers
in Trout-fishing on Manitoulin Island ; to vary his amusement
he takes Black Bass from the shore; with a stout trout-rod.
They rise so readily at the artificial fly, that it is almost
unsportsmanlike to kill them in any other way. In trolling
for these fish, a stout rod of ten feet and a good multiplying
reel, containing from fifty to a hundred yards of plaited silk
line, are required ; a pair of swivels are necessary when using
the spoon, but may be dispensed with if trolling with flies.
Written directions for trolling from a boat are hardly
necessary, as the boatman, who is generally acquainted with
the feeding-grounds, rows over the most likely places. When
a Bass is struck, the boatman should cease rowing, and as the
fish is generally securely hooked if trolling with the spoon,
there is little chance of his escape, except from undue excite-
ment, or unskilful handling on the part of the angler. In
trolling with a gang of flies, it is best to have a landing-net
about eighteen inches in diameter.
With all the game qualities of the Black Bass, his capture
by trolling with spoon or flies does not afford the pleasure
that taking fish from the shore does; there is no skill
required in finding the game, for that is done by the boat-
man; striking is not necessary, as the fish hooks himself, and
as for killing him, you must take him, to get him off the
hook. So, in going out with a boatman who knows the
waters, it necessarily follows that the merest bungler is as
apt to have as good a catch as an expert angler. It is
exciting certamly, when trolling with flies, to have two or
three plucky fish on at the same time, fighting hard, and
106 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
leaping above the water; but like all trolling from a boat,
one has little else to do than wind up his line. How different
from putting on a brace of light hackles, and going at sun-
down to try “a comfortable conclusion” with a Trout that
refused your fly at midday!
Before the introduction of the spoon, the best fish were
taken with the minnow, by still-fishing, from a boat anchored
in some favorable place, a long rod without a reel being used,
or a shorter one with the reel, and a good-sized float. This
we consider far preferable to trolling with that deadly and
unsportsmanlike implement, the spoon, as a fish will always
give more sport, and has a better opportunity of displaying
his pluck when he commences the fight at close quarters, and
increases the distance by bold dashes and desperate leaps,
obliging the angler to give and take line, and deal promptly
aud coolly with his adversary ; while in trolling, you strike
him at a long distance, and though he veers from side to side,
leaps high, and fights hard, there is much of a dead pull in
winding in so long a line, while it strains your rod, and is
distressing to the works of a good reel.
Black Bass were once abundant in Lake George, but the
steady demand for them at the watering-places has almost
depopulated that beautiful water, and those that remain are
mostly small fish, taken by deep still-fishing with a drop-line.
They are still plentiful at the northern end of Lake Cham-
plain. Alburg Springs is a favorite place for an angler’s
sojourn. They are found in abundance at many places on
the shores of Lake Ontario, at Cape Vincent, and Alexandria
Bay, opposite the Thousand Islands; also in the Niagara and
Detroit Rivers, and in Lake Erie. Squaw Island, near San-
dusky City, Ohio, is a noted place for them. They are found
likewise in Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron.
The usual route for anglers of the Atlantic cities who visit
THE PERCH FAMILY. 107
the Thousand Isles, is by the New York Central Railroad to
Rome, thence to Cape Vincent, and early next morning by
steamboat to Alexandria Bay; where Rowe Brothers have
quarters that would have delighted Father Izaak himself, and
where boats and oarsmen can always be procured. Anglers
from all the towns of New York on the Central Railroad
come in large numbers to this place, and have immense sport
amongst the Bass, Pickerel, and Mascalonge.
Like the other fish of this genus, the Bass is esteemed for
the excellence of its flesh, though I think it is somewhat
overrated.
This fish differs from the Oswego Bass, to which it bears
so close a resemblance, in having a smaller head, and its
belly less protuberant, though the position of the fins, their
shape, and number of spines and rays, are almost identical.
It spawns in the spring on the breaking up of the ice, when
many of the largest fish are speared on their spawning-beds.
An officer of the United States Engineer Department, who
had charge of the construction of a fort or lighthouse on Lake
St. Clair, some twenty years ago, informed me that on several
occasions he took scores of Black Bass by trolling with a
hand-line from a boat; the average size was four pounds; he
showed me the artificial bait he used, which was a large Lim-
erick hook about an inch and a quarter across the bend, with
a white feather whipped to the back of it.
108 AM@RICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE STRIPED BASS OF THE OHIO.
Perca chrysops : Ra¥FINEsQue.
I adopt the scientific name given by the naturalist above
quoted, with a condensation of his description.
Body oblong, silvery, with five parallel longitudinal stripes
on each side, two of which reach the tail. Lateral line diag-
onal, but straight. Head brown above. Mouth large. First
dorsal fin eight spines; second, one spine and fourteen rays;
pectorals, sixteen rays; ventrals, one spine and five soft rays;
anal, one spine and fourteen rays; branchiostegous rays, six.
The tail is forked, roseate, tipped with brown.
Though this fish is longer in its proportions, it may be the
same species as the Striped Bass found at the mouths of the
fresh-water bayous and rivers that fall into Lakes Ponchar-
train and Borgne, and along the Gulf coast; the latter being
modified by a change of its habitat, becoming deeper and
more compressed. This species was called “ Rockfish” by the
early settlers of Kentucky, who supposed it to be identical
with the Rockfish of the Atlantic States. It differs, however,
in the number of stripes on its sides; the Rockfish has eight
and this only five; the other has two spines on the opercle,
and this only one; there is also a difference in the number
of spines and rays of the fins.
This fish has been taken in the Mississippi above its june- ;
tion with the Missouri, weighing as much as six pounds
though that size is extremely rare. I have never taken it
above a pound. The largest are taken with a live minnow,
and no doubt afford excellent sport.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 109
THE SHORT STRIPED BASS.
I regret that I have no engraving or ichthyological account
of this pretty fish, but if the reader will imagine our White
Perch with stripes on its sides resembling those of the Rock-
fish, though not so many of them, he will have this Bass in
his mind’s eye.
There is also a variety called the “Broken Striped Bass,”
which I have no doubt is of the same species ; for we frequently
find individual cases in which the stripes on the Rockfish are
not continuous, but irregular and broken.
The Short Striped Bass of both of these varieties are found
frequently in great abundance in Lakes Ponchartrain and
Borgne, and along the Gulf coast, where fresh-water bayous
and rivers come in. They are most abundant in Lake Pon-
chartrain when the Mississippi is high, and discharges some
of its water by crevasses or smaller channels into that lake.
I have taken fifteen pounds of them before breakfast, off the
pier of the New Orleans and Ponchartrain Railroad. With
a neat rod, a float, and small hooks, they afford fine sport.
The best baits are shrimp, the head and legs taken off, and
the hooks baited with only the white meat of the body. They
are not inferior to the White Perch of this latitude, and
resemble them much in flavor and firmness of flesh.
The creoles of Louisiana sometimes call these fish “ Pattisa ;”
this name, however, is applied by them indiscriminately to
any small pan-fish. They are taken from seven to twelve
inches in length, and sometimes longer; though nine inches
is a good average size.
119 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
OSWEGO BASS.
This fish resembles the Black Bass so closely, that few
anglers have any appreciation of the difference. It is taken
on the same feeding-ground, and in the same way; it leaps
from the water when struck, though perhaps not as often as
the latter, and is almost as game; its flesh is said to be inferior
to that of the Black Bass.
The only difference perceptible to the angler, is the greater
bulk of this fish in proportion to its length, a greater pro-
tuberance of belly, and larger head.
I counted nine spines and fifteen rays on the dorsal fin, the
pectorals had sixteen, anal thirteen, preceded by two short
obtuse spines detached from each other. The specimen I
examined weighed three pounds, was sixteen inches long
thirteen in girth, and five and a half broad. There is cer-
tainly a specific difference between the two, though natu-
ralists, as far as I have been able to ascertain, have failed to
notice a fact which is apparent to anglers.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 111
CRAPPIE, SAC-A-LAI, OR CHINKAPIN PERCH.
4 Pomozis hexicanthus : Cuvier.
Form—body oval, much compressed; breadth compared
with length as 3 to 7. Lateral line concurrent with the back.
Head small, facial line much depressed; small scales on
preopercle, but larger on the opercle, which is without a
spine; nostrils small and double; a few denticulations at the
lower posterior angle of opercle ; branchial rays seven ; dorsal
fin seven spines and sixteen soft rays; pectorals twelve;
ventrals one spine and five rays; anal large, with six spines
and eighteen rays; caudal eighteen rays.
There are five indistinct dark lines above the, lateral line
in the fish of Louisiana, but wanting in those of Illinois; I
have found dark transverse markings on the latter. The back
is yellowish blue; sides silvery; belly white, tinged with
yellow. The pectorals carnate nearest the humeral bone, with
a light shade of orange at the tips; ventrals pink, tipped with
112 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
black ; dorsal, anal, and caudal, with dark irregular transverse
markings. Teeth on vomer, tongue, and palatines acute, they
are small, and recurved on maxillaries.
The specific name, Heaicanthus, is significant; its anal fin
being armed with six spines, which number of anal spines
exceeds that of any other percoid,—at least as far as the writer
has observed.
This graceful fish is known by the créoles of Louisiana as
the “Sac-d-Lai,” where it is also sometimes called “ Chinkapin
Perch.” In the neighborhood of St. Louis, Mo., 1t was called
originally “Crappie,” by the old French habitans, and still
bears that name. It is known in some of the north-western
lakes as “Grass Bass.” It is found in the Atlantic States
south of Cape Hatteras, in the bayous in the vicinity of New
Orleans, and all the creeks, lakes, and ponds, fed by the over-
flow of the Mississippi, from Louisiana to Minnesota. It
abounds particularly in the lakelets of what is termed the
“ American Bottom,” extending along the Illinois side, oppo-
site St. Louis.
The lakes, as they are called (though they are more properly
ponds), along the alluvial banks of the Mississippi, become
very low after a succession of dry seasons, and the fish cease
to breed in them; this, with excessive fishing with nets and
hooks, almost depopulates those waters ; but when a good rise
in the river overflows the bottom lands, the ponds are swept
of the foul water and replenished with fresh ; and, at the same
time, restocked with fish. Then it appears almost miraculous
where the vast numbers of Crappies, Bass, Perch, and other
fish come from, and there is no other way of accounting for
this fact, than by supposing that all the lakelets and streams
of Wisconsin and Minnesota to the north, have thrown off
their surplus production, which they appear to have garnered
up.
THE PERCH FAMILY. L13
As soon, then, as the water becomes clear in the lakes and
ponds, there isa great turnout amongst the fishermen of St.
Lonis. But to have good sport with the Crappies, one should
get on the right side of Squire Cogswell or of Uncle George
Matlack’s boys, who think it a small matter to hitch up their
team, and stowing in tent, ice-box, minnow-kettle, frying-pan,
and provender for men and horses, are ready at almost any
time for a start to Long Lake; or thirty miles away to Mur.
dock’s Lake, for Bass and Crappies.
Crappies are frequently taken in company with Bass. They
love to lie in the brushwood, and about the bushy tops of
trees that have fallen in the water; a sultry showery day is
most favorable for them.
A live minnow, hooked below the back fin, is the best bait ;
a substitute for which may be found in a wedge-shaped piece
of fish, with the smaller end pendent from the hook ; in fish-
ing with the latter, the bait should be kept in motion.
Worng are objectionable, as “they attract the smaller fish,
while they are not fancied by Crappies. Shrimp are generally
used by the New Orleans anglers.
Whatever be the depth of the water, the float (which is
generally used) should not be more than three or four feet
above the hook. Asthe mouth of the Crappie is large, a
Kirby hook, No. 1 or 0, is to be preferred. The dangerous
vicinity of brushwood makes the use of the reel objectiona-
ble; for then it is necessary to secure them as soon as pos-
sible after being hooked.
Holbrook states the extreme length of this fish to be
twelve inches. I have seen it, in the vicinity of St. Louis, as
long as fifteen, and in one instance, seventeen inches.
8
Lid AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
YELLOW BARRED PERCH.
Perca flavescens: Cuvier.
Back yellowish green; sides yellow, with six or seven
dark vertical bands; body compressed, elongated; back
slightly arched and tapering towards the tail, it is quite slim
between the second dorsal and caudal fin; the anal and
pectoral fins are of a yellowish red, or bright orange; the
first dorsal has twelve or thirteen spinous rays; the second,
two spinous and fourteen soft rays; ventrals, one spine and
five soft rays; anal, two spines and eight soft rays; caudal,
slightly concave, with seventeen rays. There are some beau-
tiful tints about this fish.
Yellow-barred Perch are found in most of the large north-
ern lakes, and with some other species which they closely
resemble, as far south as Carolina, inhabiting tidal waters or
lakes indiscriminately. They are easily taken with minnows
and worms. In trolling the lakes for Black Bass, the angler
is frequently annoyed by the great numbers of these Perch,
and holds them in small esteem when in search of nobler
prey
THE PERCH FAMILY. 115
SUNFISH.
Pomotis vulgaris: Cuvier.
There are several species of Pomotis, and even fish of
other genera known as “Sunfish.” A diminutive species
of the "genus Centrachus is constantly called by that name.
I have taken a synopsis of a description of the true Sunfish
(Pomotis vulgaris), from Holbrook, one of the most exact
ichthyologists of our day.
Body ovoidal in form, convex above and below, but straight
on the belly; color of body brown, with a greenish tint
above, with pale blue, waving, horizontal lines on the preo-
percle and opercle. Opercular appendix dark, with a bright
red blotch on its posterior margin. The dorsal fin has ten spines
and eleven rays; pectorals, thirteen rays; ventrals, one spine,
and five rays; anal, three spines and ten rays; caudal, seven-
teen rays. Mouth small, rather protractile, and armed with
small thickly-set teeth. Extreme length eight inches.
This beautiful little fish, associated in the minds of all
anglers with the first rudiments of a piscatorial education, is
‘known in the Middle and Southern States as the Sunfish or
116 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
“Sunny.” Yankee boys call them “ Punkin Seeds,” or by the
more euphonic though appropriate name of “ Kivers;” prob-
ably from their appropriate shape for the cover of a tea-cup
or pickle jar.
It is a bootless task to describe the manner of taking
Sunnies; any incipient angler of twelve summers would beat
Theophilus South or Sir Humphrey Davy at catching them.
It would be hard to tell the amount of early Saturday
morning digging for earth-worms; or how much bark-peeling
of old logs for grubs; or how much anxious search for wasps'
nests, they have occasioned. Or how many long sunshiny
Saturdays have been spent in search of them; or, when alternat-
ing swimming with fishing, and starkly skirting the edge of
the mill-pond, how often the youthful “sans culotte” has
dropped his bait before their noses, beside the old stump or
big rock, and “ whopped them out.”
Many an angler will remember the untiring patience with
which, in boyhood, he has displayed his worm-covered hook
before a half score of these pretty fish, and seen the larger
(dua gregis) separate himself from the rest and come towards
the bait, sail majestically around, backing and filling, eager,
though doubtful of the cheat, and glaring on it with his big
permanent eye, and, at last, just as the little angler gives up
the game, and is despairingly drawing it away, with a bold
rush, the Sunny seizes the barbed hook, and in a trice he is
bouncing on the grass, and a hand is on him that relaxes
not its grasp till the cruel switch is thrust through his gill.
Sunfish are extremely predatory in their habits, and the
tyrannical little fellow of Our aquarium, whom we have
dubbed “Captain Walker,” is dearer to us, because he is a
representative of those we were accustomed to fish for in our
schoolboy days. i
In preparing their bed for spawning, a pair of Sunfish will
THE PERCH FAMILY. 117
clear a place a foot or two in diameter, piling up the gravel,
chips, and twigs on the margin; at such times they refuse a
bait, remove anything offensive as soon as it drops in, and
pugnaciously drive off all intruders.
A neat line, small float and hooks, number six to ten, are
appropriate tackle.
I have a valued friend, who, although long since passed the
meridian of life, will still roll up his trousers, and angle for
this attractive little fish, with all the ardor of his youthful
days.
118 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
BREAM.
In the Southern States this fish is called “Bream,” from some
fancied likeness to the European fish of that name, which
it resembles only in its outline. The true Bream belongs to
the peaceable family of Cyprinidae, and our rapacious little
friend to the Percide. The first attains a weight of five or
six pounds, in England, and the latter is seldom taken over
eight or nine inches long. It is found in nearly all of the
Atlantic States, and generally in the small streams and lake-
lets through the whole length of the Mississippi valley,
decreasing in size as its range extends northward. It is an
excellent pan fish, its flesh being firm, crisp, and well flavored.
I have been told that the Red-Bellied Bream is taken of a
pound weight in the still waters of North and South Carolina.
There are two species of Bream described by Dr. Holbrook.
The one he describes as “ Ichthylis incisor,” is the Blue Bream,
or Copper-Nosed Bream; it seldom exceeds eight inches in
length. The other, “ Ichthylis rubricunda,” is the Red-Bellied
Perch, or Red-Tailed Bream.
There is yet another Percoid, with brilliant sides and dark
ereen mottled back, known as the Goggle-Hye, or War-Mouth
Perch. Its shape is different from either of the first named,
carrying its oval form no farther than the anal fin, where
it falls off suddenly, and is thence very small to the caudal.
I have never seen a description of it in any work on ichthy-
ology. These three species are frequently called Sunfish, or
Sun Perch, and are taken in the same company.
THE PERCH FAMILY. 119
Bream are taken with shrimp, minnows, crawfish, red worms,
or a wedge-shaped fish-bait. They should be fished for with
a slight reed rod, short line, and a No.8 Kirby hook; the
bait from fifteen to twenty-four inches below the float, what-
ever be the depth of the water. They haunt the mouths of
small branches that put into creeks, ponds, or bayous, and are
found around old stumps and logs, and love to lie beneath
the scum or drift of sluggish waters.
In fishing the bayous in the South, the angler frequently
pushes aside the light drift with the end of his rod, and drops
his bait into an opening not larger than the crown of his hat,
and in a short time has captured a hatful of them. They are
the delight of all juveniles; a little urchin of ten years
frequently catching a string of them as long as himself, and
when Bass are not on the feed, they are the dernier ressort of
the more ambitious angler.
I have taken all three of these species in Bayou La Eranel
about thirty miles north of New Orleans, on the Jackson
Railroad, going and returning the same day. With a pleasant
companion, a bottle of claret, ice, and cold fowl, the day would
pass pleasantly enough. In the month of April the black-
berry bushes that grew along the banks of the bayou were
laden with fruit, and when we could not reach them from the
pirogue, we were sometimes tempted to go ashore for them,
at the risk of meeting an alligator in its journey from the
bayou to its nest in the canebrake. It was a dismal water,
with long weepers of gray moss drooping from the trees;
and when a solitary fisherman paddled his canoe over the
dark, waveless bayou, his form in the distance would suggest
the idea of Old Charon. It certainly was a river of “ sticks,”
if not of Acheron.
Will I ever wet my seagrass line in Bayou La Branch
again? I think not.
120 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
PIKE PERCH. OHIO SALMON.
Lucioperca Americana: Cuvier.
Of the many misnomers given to fish, that of “Salmon,” as
applied to this, is the most inappropriate. It has as few of
the characteristics of the true Salmon as the Southern Bass
has of the Trout. Still we are not disposed to find fault with
rustic anglers because, in the absence of scientific knowledge,
they have given what seemed to them the most fitting name
for it.
Anglers who look into books on ichthyology are at a loss
to know why this fish, with its elongated body and general
appearance so unlike the Perch, should have been placed in
the family Percide. The scientific name “ Lucioperca” (Pike
Perch), adopted by Cuvier, indicates its affinity to the Pike
as well as the Perch. Recent ichthyologists, however,
amongst whom is Mr. Theodore Gill, are in favor of placing
it in a sub-family, “ Percinez.”
Having no specimen at hand, we copy from Mr. Gill’s
“Synopsis of the sub-family Percinze,” and his description of
this genus :—
“Body slender, elongate, fusiform, covered with scales
arranged in oblique rows. Head semiconical, quite broad,
with cheeks and opercles generally covered with scales;
isolated patches of scales on the sides of the posterior part
of the head; rest of the head covered with naked skin. Pre-
opercle serrated. Opercle armed with from one to five spines.
THE PERCH FAMILY, 191
é
Dorsal fins two, the first supported by from twelve to fourteen
spines. This genus is peculiar to fresh-water streams, rivers,
and lakes of North America.”
There are several species of this genus found in Europe,
where it is known as the Sandre.
I have seen this fish as far south as Memphis, Tennessee.
It is common, though not numerous, in all the tributaries of
the Ohio and Mississippi. It is taken in Lake Champlain,
where it is called Pike, in contradistinction to the Pickerel
found there. It is remarkable that the Susquehanna and
Juniata are the only rivers on the eastern slope of the Alle-
ghanies where it is found; but it is not as abundant as it once
was. There also, as west of the mountains, it is called
“Salmon.”
Its flesh, which is perfectly white, is highly esteemed by
the residents along the Ohio River. It is said that it does
not bite freely at a bait. When fished for, a live minnow is
generally used; a float and large hook are required in still-
fishing. It is sometimes taken in trolling with the spoon in
Lake Champlain. It is taken in the Alleghany from one to
four pounds in weight, by trolling with a minnow at the foot
of the rapids.
122 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
BUFFALO PERCH. WHITE PERCH OF THE OHIO.
Abloden grunniens: RaFinesque.
.
Although this fish is known by the above common names,
it is not a species of Percide, but belongs to an entirely different
family, that of Scienidew. It is the only Scienoid found in
our rivers, and is confined to those on the western side of the
Alleghanies, which flow into the Gulf of Mexico. I have
placed it amongst the species of this family, only because it
has the common name of Perch.
Rafinesque’s description of this fish, which was published
nearly half a century ago, is quite interesting. I quote from
his work on the fishes of the Ohio :—
“Entirely silvery, upper lip longer, lateral line curved
upwards at the base, bent in the middle and straight poste-
riorly, tail lunate, first dorsal fin with nine rays, the first
very short, the second with thirty-five rays, the first spiny
and short.
“The vulgar names of this fish, are White Perch, Buffalo
Perch, Grunting Perch, Bubbling Fish, Bubbler, and Muscle
Hater. It is one of the largest and best found in the Ohio,
reaching sometimes to the length of three feet, and the weight
of thirty pounds, and affording a delicate food. It is also one
of the most common, being found all over the Ohio, and even
the Monongahela, and Allegheny, as also in the Mississippi,
Tennessee, Cumberland, Kentucky, Wabash, Miami, and
all the large tributary streams, where it is permanent, since it
is found in all seasons except in winter. In Pittsburgh it
appears again in February. It feeds on many species of
THE PERCH FAMILY. 123
fishes; suckers, catfishes, sunfishes, &c., but principally on
the muscles, or various species of the bivalve genus Unio, so
common in the Ohio, whose thick shells it is enabled to crush
by means of its large throat teeth. The structure of those
teeth is very singular and peculiar; they are placed like
paving-stones on the flat bone of the lower throat in great
numbers, and of different sizes; the largest, which are as big
as a man’s nails, are always in the centre; they are inverted
in faint alveoles, but not at all connected with the bone:
their shape is circular and flattened, the inside always hollow
with a round hole beneath: in the young fishes they are
rather convex, and evidently radiated and mamillar, while in
the old fishes they become smooth, truncate, and shining
white. These teeth and their bone are common in many
museums, where they are erroneously called teeth of the
Buffalo-tish, or of a Catfish. I was deceived so far by this
mistake, and by the repeated assertions of several persons, as
to ascribe those teeth to the Buffalo-fish, which I have since
found to be a real catostomus; this error I now correct with
pleasure.
“A remarkable peculiarity of this fish consists in the
strange grunting noise which it produces, and from which I
have derived its specific name. It is intermediate between
the dumb grunt of a hog and the single croaking noise of the
bull frog; that grunt is only repeated at intervals and not in
quick succession.
“This fish is either taken in the seine or with the hook
and line; it bites easily, and affords fine sport to the fisher-
men; it spawns in the spring, and lays a great quantity of
eggs.”
The fish here described, though quite common in the Ohio
River, my own observation leads me to suppose is compara-
tively scarce in the Mississippi, above its junction with the
former river.
124 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
At the time of the Sauve Crevasse, in the Mississippi
above New Orleans, about fifteen years since, it found its way
into Lake Ponchartrain, and thence into Lake Borgne, and
the brackish and salt waters along the Gulf coast, where it is
now permanent. It is very prolific and has improved in its
flavor and appearance, having an increased silvery brightness,
is more elongated in form, and of more graceful proportions.
These changes are no doubt owing to the greater abundance
of moluses and crustacea found in its new habitat. It has
the true characteristics of the Scienoids, which are molusc-
eating fishes, indigenous to shoal salt water. It is not very
unlike the Croaker in shape; it makes a similar noise, and is
sometimes taken in company with that fish. The pharyn-
gal bones, with their peculiar crushing teeth, closely resem-
bles those of the Drum-fish.
When young this is one of the most beautiful of the
Acanthopterrt. I have never seen it larger than five pounds in
the New Orleans market,—there it is generally of a good size
for the pan. In the Ohio it attains four or five times that
size, ten or twelve pounds not being uncommon. This is no
doubt the fish referred to in the “American Angler's Guide,”
(page 220), in these words :—“ OF THE CATFISH.—This is the
common fish of the western waters, and is taken by western
sportsmen by squid and fly-trolling, and affords capital
amusement. They take their name from the noise they
make, similar to the purring of a cat.”
T have never heard them called “Catfish” along the Ohio
or Mississippi,—that name being applied only to the big-
mouthed fish, known all over the South and West by that
appellation; they do not take a squid or fly. Mr. Brown has
doubtless been imposed upon, by some person addicted to
telling “fish stories.”
CHAPTER V
THE PIKE FAMILY.
1
“GREEN air thy waters—green as bottle glass
They lay stretched thar;
Fine Muscalongy and Oswego Bass
Are ketched thar;
Wonst the red Injuns thar took their delights,
Fisht, fit and bled;
Now the inhabitants is mostly whites
With nary red.”
From “A Node to Lake Ontario,’ found in the
“K WN Pepper Papers,”—quoted trom memory.
CHAPTER V.
THE PIKE FAMILY—ESOCIDA.
Remarks on THE Pixe Famity. Mascalonge pictured by Cuvier.—Eu-
ropean species.—American species.—The Garfish; manner of taking
it.—Dr. Bethune’s remarks on Pikes.—Their introduction into Eng-
land.—Pliny’s Pike.—Gesner’s Pike.
Tue Great Laxe Picxerer. Esox lucioides.—Trolling from a boat for
Pickerel.
Tue Mascatonce. sox estor.—Angling for Mascalonge.
Tue Ponp Pixs, sox reticulatus.—Pike-fishing.—Trolling for Pike with
the gorge-hook.—Pike-fishing in Eastern Virginia.
Tue Great Buve Pixs.
Tue Lirrie Pixx or Lone Isuanp.
Tue Srreaxep Pixs or tar Onro.—Story told about a Pike taken in the
Kanawha. !
In Cuvier and Valenciennes’ great work, the only fish of
this family I find pictured is our Mascalonge, Hsow estor.
The figure is incorrectly colored, and in its markings re-
sembles the Great Northern Pickerel, Hsox lucioides, rather
than the fish it is intended to represent. ‘There are but few
species of Pikes found in Europe. Hsox lucius, which is
common both to England and the Continent, is a handsome
fish and grows to a large size.
I think it quite likely that there are American species of
this family which have not yet been described. De Kay,
Richardson, and Holbrook, jointly, do not mention more than
six or seven. Besides the Mascalonge and Great Northern
(127)
128 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Pickerel, I am impressed with the idea that there are two
other species in Lake Ontario. The large fish called the
“Blue Pike” or “Black Pike,” found in Pennsylvania and
Virginia, west of the Alleghanies, which equals the Masca-
longe in size, and another species found in the Ohio and its
tributaries, I have never seen properly described or pictured.
Frank Forester, in his remarks on the Hsocide, assigns the
Great Garfish of the Southern and Western States to this
family, calling it “ Hsox osseus.” There can be no generic
affinity between the two. The Gar (Lepidosteus), as I have
remarked on a preceding page, is one of the few representa-
tives of the ancient order of Ganoids remaining at the present ;
while the Pikes, according to Hugh Miller, were not ushered
into existence until perhaps millions of years after. Even if
they had been cotemporaneous in Creation, the two orders,
being so entirely different, would not admit of such classifi-
cation.
In the waters along the Gulf of Mexico, Gars are frequently
an annoyance to the fisherman; they appear sometimes in
numbers, scaring away other fish, taking off one’s bait, and
often cutting the line with their sharp teeth, while there is
hardly a possibility of hooking them in their hard bony jaws.
I have tried frequently to secure one, but was never success-
ful. A friend has since told me of a way of taking them, in
which he says the negroes are more fortunate; he describes
it thus:—A noose is made by passing a string through a fish
of suitable size, say of seven or eight inches, lengthwise,
which can be done with a long baling-needle, and then
through a loop at the other end of the string, where it is tied
to the tip of a long pole or stout reed. The fish is adjusted
so as to form the base of a triangle, the slip-knot being at the
upper angle, nearest the pole. This triangular snare is then
displayed on the surface of the water, and dabbled up and
THE PIKE FAMILY. 129
down to attract the notice of the Gar, which soon appears,
and as it seizes the fish crosswise (which is its custom) it
runs its long upper jaw or rather its bill into the noose, when
the string is tightened by lifting the pole, and the Gar drawn
ashore. I have heard it said that the Alligator Gar has been
taken as long as eight feet.
Dr. Bethune in his notes to his edition of Walton, says:
“The name Hsox is first used by Pliny, who describes a great
fish in the Rhine, which attained the size of a thousand
pounds (!!!), was caught with a hook attached to a chain
(catenato hamo), and drawn out by oxen (bowm jugis).” Of its
introduction into England he remarks: “The Pike is said to
have been brought into England about the time of the
Reformation, according to a distich erroneously quoted by
Walton, when speaking of the Carp, from Baker’s Chronicles
(p. 317, ed. 1665), where it is,
‘Turkeys, Carps, Hoppes, Piccarel, and Beer,
Came into England all in one year ;’
i. e., the fifteenth year of Henry VIII. This is, however, all
error. Pike or Pickerel were the subject of legal regulations
in the time of Edward I. Turkeys were brought from
America about 1521. Hops were introduced about 1524.”
The Doctor says that Pliny, in his description of the thou-
sand pounder, wrote only from hearsay. In alluding to
Gesner’s Pike, he quotes Bloch, the ichthyologist, who says:
“This Pike was fifteen feet long, and weighed three hundred
and fifty pounds. His skeleton was for a long time preserved
at Manheim.”
Pickering, in his Piscatorial Reminiscences, speaks of a
Pike killed (caught) in Loch Spey that weighed one hundred
and forty-six pounds. Of another of twenty-eight pounds, in
9
130 AMERICAN AN@GLER’S BOOK.
which the cook found a black ribband and keys. Quoting
Dodsley’s Register, 1765, he says: “In emptying a pool
which had not been fished for ages, at Lilleshall Lime Works
near New Port, an enormous Pike was found, weighing one
hundred and seventy pounds.”
It is said that Pikes will eat all the smaller fish in a con-
fined pond, and then the larger will devour the smaller, until
at last only the largest remains, a solitary proprietor of the
domain.
After being so amiable as to quote the foregoing “fish
stories,” without openly expressing a doubt as to the truth of
them, it would hardly be fair in the reader to doubt the story
of a large Pike on a subsequent page, which was told to me
by the hostler of a hotel in Wheeling, twenty years ago.
The term “Pickerel” is applied to all fish of this genus,
with the exception of the Mascalonge, by the people of New
York and the astern States. In the Middle States they are
called “Pike,” and in Virginia and further South they go by
the name of “ Jackfish.”
THE GREAT NORTHERN LAKE PICKEREL
THE PIKE FAMILY. 181
GREAT LAKE PICKEREL.
Esoz lucioides.
The body of this fish presents the characteristics of all the
Pike Family, carrying the breadth of body well aft, even to
the anal fin; its section is almost rectangular. Length of
head compared with body as seven and a half to twenty-eight;
breadth one-seventh ; back one-twelfth.
Color, dark bluish-green above, with a lighter tinge of the
same on the sides. Belly white. The markings are white,
irregularly shaped on the back, but rectangular on the sides,
and twice or thrice as long as they are wide.
The head is long, depressed between the eyes, with a slight
upward curve of the snout. The under jaw has also an
upward curve, and projects beyond the snout; it is armed on
each side with seven long sharp teeth projecting forward, but
with the points curved somewhat back. The teeth of the
upper jaw are shorter and inverted. The palatine teeth are
gradually larger towards the vomer. The vomer, pharynx,
and branchial arches have teeth which are shorter, but not
less keen.
The eye has its posterior margin nearly half way between
the snout and angle of opercle, and is slightly below the
facial line; its diameter is about one-tenth the length of the
head.
The specimen I examined exhibited a deficiency in the
number of fin-rays as compared with Frank Forester’s de-
132 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
scription. There are fourteen branchial rays. The dorsal fin,
which is one-eighth the length of the body, has eighteen rays ;
pectorals fifteen ; ventrals(midway between snout and end of
the caudal), fifteen rays; anal (slightly posterior to the dorsal),
fifteen. The caudal is bilobed, rather than forked; it has
eighteen rays reaching the posterior margin, and two or
three stout rudimentary rays above and below them; the
upper lobe of the caudal is the longer.
For want of a better artist, I was induced five or six years
since, when on a visit to the Thousand Isles, to try my hand
for the first time on this fish; and with the aid of an inch
measure—for it is a purely mechanical production—made as
correct a drawing asI could. The figure at the head of this
article is a reduced copy of it. As J had never seen the pecu-
liar markings of this fish correctly drawn, I took some pains to
do so. My description is from one taken at the same time.
This fish is known about the Thousand Isles as the Marsh
Pickerel, and is found more generally in the coves and on the
flats than in the deep water. The “Channel Pickerel,” which
I suppose to be another species, is a more symmetrical fish,
with less fulness of body between the dorsal fin and the tail.
It has a yellow instead of a leaden tinge. The markings are
three times as numerous and about one-third the size, though
of the same shape as those of the Marsh Pickerel; it is found
generally in deep water. There is a third variety, which is
shorter in the body than either of these, but the color and:
markings the same as the Marsh Pickerel; some of them,
though, are the shape of the letter L, with the lower limb
elongated. It is called the “Short Pickerel.”
The larger species (the Marsh Pickerel) grows to the
weight of twenty-five pounds; it is even said that it has been,
taken as high as thirty-eight. It is common in the St. Law-
rence and Lake Ontario, and all of their connecting waters,
THE PIKE FAMILY. 133
and in Lake Champlain. It has been introduced into Lake
George within the last seven or eight years.
Pickerel are taken almost entirely by trolling with some
artificial spinning bait; of these the murderous implement
called the spoon is in general use. A stout trolling-rod of ten
feet, a multiplying-reel with a hundred yards of plaited-silk
line, and the spinning bait, attached by one or two swivels,
completes the troller’s outfit. A gaff is sometimes used; but
as the fish, when he is drawn up to the boat, has generally
two or three hooks in his jaws, it is not required.
Alexandria Bay, near the Thousand Isles of the St. Law-
rence, is a favorite resort for those who fish for Pickerel. In
trolling for them, when the angler takes his seat in the boat,
he generally finds his oarsman supplied with one or two
stout cedar poles, which by your permission he will rig out
on one or both sides, like studding-sail booms. Trailing
from each of these poles, there will be thirty or forty yards
of strong hemp line, with a spoon attached by a swivel; and
while he looks after them, he leaves you to the enjoyment of
your jointed rod, your multiplying-reel, and your pipe, in the
stern. When a fish is hooked the boatman slacks his speed,
keeping easy way to prevent the lines on the other rods from
becoming. entangled, or the spoons from. sinking to the
bottom. If the fish be on the line attached to the native rod,
you throw the point forward, grasp the line, and pull in the
victim hand over hand. As he nears the boat, he will
perhaps raise his head out of the water and rattle the spoon
(in the oarsman’s vernacular, “ring the bell”). By the time
you get him alongside he is generally docile; when you put
your hand over and grasp him by the nape of the neck, bring
him on board, disengage the hooks, give him a few taps on
the head with a stick kept in the boat for that purpose, and
the drama is played out. When you strike a fish with your
134 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
own rod, if you request it, the boatman will cease rowing,
draw his lines in, and let you fight your adversary in your
own way, which after all is not much of a fight, and after a
steady strain on your rod and reel, he is drawn in and
knocked on the head, as just described. ©
The number and weight of Pickerel taken in a day’s fishing
in this way is considerable; though I cannot see that the
wear and tear of fine tackle expended on them is justified by
trolling for them, with any other than that used by the natives.
But to one to whom angling is really “the contemplative
man’s recreation,” the fairy boat, the clear deep water, and the
beauty of the Thousand Isles, are suggestive of the far-off
times, when the Indian in his bark canoe, the early explorer,
the devout Jesuit missionary, and hardy voyageurs passed
over the great inland seas and their connecting waters; and
strange legends, traditions, and history almost forgotten come
up before him.
MASCALONGE.
THE
THE PIKE FAMILY. 135
MASCALONGE.
Esox estor: Cuvier.
Body elliptical, elongated ; section oval, not quadrangular
as in the Pickerel. Color green, with a tint of steel blue on
the back, shading lighter and into a bluish pearl color on the
sides; the body is covered with round or ova! spots of much
darker color. Belly white; the whole body has a pearly
lustre. Head not quite one-fourth of its length, and very
slender, causing it to appear much longer in proportion to
length of body than it really is; the skull depressed between
the eyes, and the profile concave between the eyes and snout ;
upper part of preopercle and opercle covered with small deep
green brilliant scales, those on opercle are the larger. Hyes
large, near the top of the head, and midway between snout
and angle of opercle. Irides light yellow. Cheeks and gill-
covers resembling gray pearl, with four or five clouded spots
on preopercle, and one or two on opercle. Upper jaw broad,
verging to a point; under jaw terminated with an upward
curve. Branchial rays seventeen, the series extending high
up against the opercle. The arrangement of teeth similar,
but not quite the same as in the Pickerel. Fins all covered
with dark spots half the size of those on the body. I counted
in my specimen seventeen rays in the pectoral fins, which are
pinnate in shape, and situated beneath the extremity of the
gill-cover. Ventrals slightly posterior to its mid-length, with
twelve rays. Anal seventeen. Dorsal two-thirds length
136 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
from the snout, twenty-two rays. The caudal, which is
deeply lunate, has twenty-eight rays; the six in the centre
are branched.
The specimen from which Frank Forester’s drawing was
taken must have been unusually stout; a fish of eighteen
pounds should measure over three feet, instead of two and a
half. My representation is a drawing of a smaller specimen;
like the picture of the Great Northern Pickerel, it is an attempt
of my own, which, though rude, is mathematically correct in
its proportions.
The Mascalonge differs materially from the Pickerel de-
scribed on a preceding page; the head is extremely small, a
section of the body presenting almost an oval; the mouth is
smaller, not opening so far back; the color of its body much
more silvery, the spots being dark instead of white, also of
different shape, and much larger than in the Pickerel. The
tail of the Pickerel is bilobed; while that of the Mascalonge
is deeply lunate.
It is said that this fish is found in the Wisconsin and
Upper Mississippi, about the Falls of St. Anthony. It is
generally sought for in the upper waters of the St. Lawrence,
and the smaller lakes on the Canada side, by anglers from the
Eastern cities. From all accounts they were never numerous ;
the angler who captures four or five of fair size in a day’s
fishing at Alexandria Bay, is considered in luck. Rice Lake,
farther west on the Canada side, is said to afford them in some
abundance, though twelve or fifteen of six or seven pounds
weight is reported to be a good day’s fishing even there.
This fish is said to attain a weight of sixty or seventy
pounds, but generally it does not exceed the size of the Blue
Pike taken in the rivers and small lakes of Western Penn-
sylvania. Its size varies from three to thirty pounds; a few
have been taken as high as forty; one or two instances only
THE PIKE FAMILY. 137
are spoken of where the weight was as much as seventy
pounds.
Angling for Mascalonge is the same as for Pickerel, the
spoon being almost universally used. They are active, and
have more pluck than the large Pickerel; though any'angler
who holds a stout trolling-rod, with a good multiplying-
reel and a hundred yards of good line, if he is cool and waits
assiduously on his enemy, is sure of him. I had rather trust
to a good grip on the nape of the neck, than to a gaff-hook in
getting one into the boat.
I know of old anglers who have experienced better things,
who make long excursions in pursuit of Mascalonge, who will
sit on a cushioned seat with a cushioned back in the stern of
a boat, and suffer themselves to be pulled about all day, with
a trolling-rod extended from each side. I never could appre-
ciate this inactive mode of taking fish, which is little better
than cockney punt-fishing, and does not require one-tenth the
skill. If spoon-fishing had been practised in Maelzel’s day,
and that ingenious man had been an angler, no doubt he
would have constructed an automaton Pickerel-fisher.
138 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE POND PIKE, OR COMMON PIKE.
The smaller species of Pikes are confined almost exclusively
to the streams on the eastern slope of the Alleghanies. There
is much resemblance in their general appearance. I give the
wood-cut at the head of this article, as a general representative
of the whole. ;
The Pond Pike is not often taken above five pounds, its
average being less than a pound and a half. They are seldom
if ever captured by trolling with a spoon; I suppose, for the
reason that they are not fished for in that way. The live
bait is used in still-fishing, when the Pike generally takes
it near the bank, where he is in the habit of looking
for small fish. In fishing a pond, where there are water-
lilies, grass, or other aquatic vegetation, it is generally from
a boat, with a long light rod, the bait a minnow, frog’s leg,
a piece of the Pike’s belly, or a strip of pork.
The Pike of England is larger than our common Pond
Pike, and doubtless more worthy of the elaborate tackle and
scientific angling used in its capture. And, although there
is a prevalent indisposition amongst our anglers to learn any-
thing out of a book, there are still a few who have profited
by the lessons taught in English books, and use the leaded
gorge-hook, with much advantage over the usual manner of
THE PIKE FAMILY. 139
fishing for them here. The tackle and the mode of taking
them, described with so much minuteness by Hofland and
Salter, are seldom resorted to in this country. Our anglers
having so many fish amongst the Perch and Salmon families,
and salt-water species, affording an infinite deal more sport,
the Pike of our ponds are considered fish of secondary or
third-rate importance.
When fishing a pond from a boat, the snood should have
two hooks, the smaller about two inches above the larger;
the end of the bait or head of the minnow being held by
the upper, while the lower hook is passed through it mid-
way. When the Pike takes the bait he should be allowed to
run a short distance; the line should then be tightened and
the angler strike, and get the fish into the boat as soon as
possible, never allowing him any slack line.
TROLLING FOR PIKE wiTH 4 GorRGE-Hoox.— Where there
are deep holes close in by the bank, trolling with the gorge-
hook is far more successful than any other mode. <A good
bass rod of twelve feet, with metallic guides and tip, and an
easy-running reel with forty yards of plaited-silk line, are
then required: a tin bait-box, carried at one’s side like a
powder-flask, is best to hold the minnows used for bait; they
should have bran, coarse meal, or saw-dust put in with them,
to prevent their rubbing or bruising. A piece of gimp of
twelve inches is attached by a box-swivel to the line, and a
hook-swivel is fastened at the other end of the gimp, for the
purpose of taking off or putting on the bait after it is placed
on the
GORGE-HOOK.
140 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The disgorging-hook and baiting-needle are considered
superfluous by American trollers, a forked stick being used
to disengage the bait when it is far down the fish’s throat.
In putting on the minnow for a bait, the twisted wire to
which the leaded hook is fastened is put—small end foremost
of course—into the mouth of the bait, and worked along the
backbone until it comes out at the tail, when it is drawn
entirely through, the lead lying in the belly of the minnow.
The tail and back fins are then nipped off with a knife, or
with the thumb and finger-nails, and the minnow bent slightly
near the tail to insure its spinning or twirling, and attached
to the gimp by the hook-swivel. In trolling, the minnow is
drawn through the water tail foremost. If you cast much
among weeds and grass, it is necessary to tie the tail of the
bait to the wire of the gorge-hook, with a few turns of coarse
thread ; it is perhaps better in all cases. English anglers are
sometimes so nice as even to sew up the mouth of the
minnow.
With a line of convenient length, not longer than the
rod, approach the bank carefully, casting close in shore,
dropping the bait in softly, and by successive short pulls,
raising and lowering the point of your rod, draw it towards
you. You will notice that as you lower the point of the
rod, the bait shoots forward and downward with a spiral
motion, assisted in its twirling by the easy turning of the
swivels and its having been_bent, and that it spins or
twirls ‘in the same way as it is drawn towards you. When
you have drawn in the bait sufficiently near you by these
short pulls, raise it gently from the water, and cast and draw
as before. If your bait is not taken near the bank, extend
“your cast up and down, and across towards the opposite bank,
and towards the water-lilies, brush-wood, and under-bushes,
and around and about old stumps, being careful not to be
caught by roots or brush.
THE PIKE FAMILY. 141
As the length of the cast is increased, draw a proportionate
length of line from the reel, holding part of it in a coil
in your left hand, and letting it go as you cast; the
impetus acquired by the leaded bait will not only take the
coil held in your hand, but an additional quantity from the
reel, if it runs freely. The extra length of line is recovered
by winding up; or gathering at each raising, and lowering
of the point of the rod, a foot or two at a time, with the left
hand, holding it in coils ready for the next cast. Jt is said
that English Pike-fishers are able to cast thirty yards or
more, when they cannot approach a desirable spot.
It is well to draw the bait well home between each cast, as
a Pike will occasionally follow it for some distance, when he
is not hungry, as a cat does a mouse, and seize it only when
he finds that it is about to escape, as you draw it from the
water. When your bait is arrested, or you feel a tug, lower the
point of the rod, and give the fish as much line as he wants;
he will take it to his haunt, or some place near at hand, and
swallow, or, as the English anglers say, “pouch it;” for the
Pike seizes his prey crosswise in his long jaws, and taking it
to his haunt, turns it and swallows it head foremost. As this
requires some moments or perhaps minutes, the angler is
kept in hopeful ‘suspense, and in the meanwhile his line
should remain perfectly slack: but as soon as the fish has
pouched the bait, the hook pricking the sides of his stomach,
causes him uneasiness and he starts off; then give him a yard
or so to run, and winding up the slack strike sharply, for in
nine cases out of ten he is:-hooked beyond all peradventure
of escape. If he is a fish of moderate size, reel him in and lift
him ashore, or catching hold of the gimp trace, throw him out.
Tf he is large and requires line, give it grudgingly, and keep
him away from all places that would endanger your tackle,
or enable him to get your line foul; if you do so, there is
142 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
little chance of losing him, for he pulls as steady as a
Conestoga wagon-horse, and knows few of the wiles of the
Trout or Bass.
If, after seizing your bait and making his first run, he
appears long in pouching it, you may feel him gently, by
winding up the slack slowly and bearing on him slightly.
If he is still there, he will resist or signify his dissent by a
shake or another tug, when the line must be again slacked,
and more time given him.
On certain kinds of days a Pike will seize the bait, make his
first run and then drop or only chew it, as if he was overfed
or indifferent. Then it is better to use hooks, as described
for pond-fishing on a preceding page, putting the smaller
through the lips of the minnow, and the larger through the
back, just behind the dorsal fin, and fish as there directed.
Much depends on the day in Pike-fishing, some persons
say even on the quarter the moon may be in. Ona cloudy
day, if not too warm, I have found them to take a bait from
sunrise to ten o’clock, or from four in the afternoon until dark,
though sometimes they are on the feed all day.
The Pike spawns in this latitude in the latter part of
February, or early in March, or directly after the ice is gone,
and soon recovers condition. He may bé taken by snap-
fishing at almost any season after spawning. Trolling with
the gorge-hook is not successful until later in the season—
from August until November is considered the best time, or
even later if the weather is warm. They may be taken all
winter in open weather by trolling, and numbers of them are
caught by fishing through holes cut in the ice.
Trolling from the bank is the most sportsmanlike way of
taking the Pike; and, as will be observed, is very different
from trolling or rather trazling the bait from a boat, as it is
rowed along. Still, after one has taken the magnificent
THE PIKE FAMILY. 143
Striped and Fresh-water Bass, Trout, W eakfish, Barb, and Red-
fish through the summer, at the end of a long line, he is apt
to think trolling for Pike stupid sport, notwithstanding the
importance attached to it by English anglers. There is one
recommendation to it, however; it is apt to fill the creel, in
parts of the country where diminutive streams and ponds
furnish no other than small or worthless fish. 7
It is scarcely necessary to say to a sagacious angler, that
the larger the run of Pike, the larger the bait to be used, and
as a consequence the larger the hook. When the fish are
small—from three-quarters to a pound and a quarter—a
minnow the size of one’s little finger is large enough; if they
run two pounds and upward, a roach or chub of four or five
inches is better. A pike of four pounds will readily take a
roach of six inches.
Pike-fishing is enjoyed much by the anglers of Virginia,
between tidewater and Blue Ridge, in the fall of the year.
The usual method is to bait one or more holes for Carp, as
they are called there (though truly Suckers). A half-peck
or so of coarse corn meal is made into a stiff dough, and
thrown in at intervals of two or three days, for a week or so,
to attract the Carp, which are fished for before breakfast, and
late in the afternoon. This food also draws the minnows,
and the small fry of course attract the “Jackfish,” as the
Virginians call the Pike.
Early on some frosty morning, then, the angler of the Old
Dominion may be seen wending his way to a baited hole,
preceded by a negro boy, with four or half a dozen pine poles
on his shoulder, and a chunk of corn bread in his hand, the
use of which I will mention anon. When he gets to the
baited hole, he proceeds deliberately to bait his Carp-hooks
with earth-worms, and drops them quietly in, some distance
out from the shore. Then with a small hook and line he
144 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
catches his minnows, baits his Jack-hooks (which are sus-
pended to the ends of stout lines two feet or so below large
corks), and ranges them in a line close to the bank, where
the Pike are most likely to lie in ambush for the minnows,
as Captain Walker used to wait in the chaparral for the
“ Greasers,” down on the Rio Grande.
After he sets his poles he then ‘sets himself,” on a stump,
or log, or on a bench made for that purpose, and for the use of
all anglers who fish that hole, and waits patiently for a bite.
When there is a tremulous motion of his Carp-corks, the
angler shows a disposition to rise, as if to discuss an “ abstract
question ;” but if a school of minnows skip suddenly along
the surface, mention of the John Brown raid could not arouse
him so thoroughly—Jack are about! his middle cork sails
away and disappears; he gives him a little time, then pulls
with all his might, and the fish is landed. He places
the toe of his boot under the abdominal fins, and sends
Johannis Esox some ten paces farther inland, and leaves him
flouncing and rustling in the dry leaves. Then baiting his
hook again, he “sets his pole,” and takes his seat on the
bench to wait for another bite.
If there are no signs of Jack, after awhile he crumbles up
a little piece of the corn bread his black adjutor has brought
along, strews it over the water to attract the minnows, and
sits down again, perhaps rising occasionally to land a Carp—
but look out! the minnows skip again! there, the cork
nearest the alders! jerk—he has missed him—he pulled too
soon. Perhaps he “cusses” a little, but baits his hook again,
resets his pole, and once more takes his seat on the bench.
If the Jack bite well, he resigns the capture of the less noble
game—the Suckers—to his henchman, who has been standing
all the time with his hands in his pockets, rubbing one foot
over the other to keep them warm, and shivering as a negro
THE PIKE FAMILY. 145
boy always will on a frosty morning, whether he is cold or
not. As the day advances, he wiles the minnows with the
crumbs of corn bread, and the minnows attract the Jack-
fish. At last, after more or less sport, he strings his fish on
a dogwood switch, hands them to Casar, goes home, takes a
honey dram, or, if he has taken the temperance pledge lately,
compromises on a mug of persimmon beer, which he calls
“36.30,” and sits down to breakfast; and such a breakfast as
is seldom found outside of the Old Dominion.
On such excursions, when I have been with “the Major,”
minnows would be scarce, and the Jackfish would keep their
hiding-places; then with my trolling-rod and gorge-hook, I
have forced from him acknowledgment of the superiority of
science over native aptness. But he always viewed trolling
in the light of some new-fangled “Northern heresy ;” and
when I have attempted to drill him in my tactics, he would
make a few casts and return to his big cork lines; and still
adheres to their use with as much pertinacity as he does to
the “political teachings of Thomas Jefferson,” or the doctrine
of State Rights.
I would not imply from the foregoing, that the anglers of
the Old Dominion are solitary or unsocial in their sports; on
the contrary they are gregarious, and consequently convivial.
A fishing-party, if stationary, sometimes lasts all day, and is
apt to draw an occasional passer-by; when a game of “seven-
up” or a tune on a fiddle is interluded. “The Major” says, a
cockfight sometimes varies the amusements of the day; and
that he has even known a quarter race to come off in an
adjoining lane, by way of finale to the day’s sport.
[Since penning the foregoing sketch of an old friend, the
besom of war has swept over the broad fields along the upper
Rappahannock, where he lived; crops have been destroyed,
10
146 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
farm stock driven off, servants scattered, and many a hos-
pitable home, that was open to all comers, has been desolated.
I prefer not altering what I have written, for I love to think
of that part of the country and its people as they were, and
indulge the hope that when our Union is restored, I shall
again behold “the Major” as I last saw him after returning
from Jack-fishing—warming himself before his big log-fire.]
THE PIKE FAMILY. 147
GREAT BLUE PIKE.
This fish has a broad short snout, which is very different
from the ducklike bill of the Pond Pike; its head resembling
what one might imagine the produce of the bulldog and
greyhound would be. It has a formidable array of broad
lancet-looking teeth. I have the head of a specimen, sent
from Meadville, Pennsylvania, in a jar of alcohol, which
measures twenty-five inches in circumference; after large
slices of it being cut off, to get it into the jar.
Mr. Wilson, who keeps the gun and fishing-tackle store in
Chestnut Street below Fifth, Philadelphia, has the dried head
of a Pike of the same species in his window, with its two
rows of teeth all complete; it is worth examining.
This fish is found in the lakelets and in the streams that are
tributary to the Ohio, in the south-western part of New York,
Pennsylvania, and North-western Virginia. A friend tells me
it takes a live bait nine or ten inches long, and pulls like
a Shetland pony. It has been taken weighing as much
as eighty pounds in Connaught Lake in Bradford County,
Pennsylvania.
THE LITTLE POND PIKE OF LONG ISLAND.
In olden times on Long Island there was a small Pike
which bothered the fly-fisher a great deal, rising at the fly
and insisting on being caught. Frank Forester describes
it at length in his book as Hsox fasciatus.
148 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE STREAKED PIKE OF THE OHIO.
Esox vittatus : RaFINEsQue.
Of the Pikes found in the Ohio, Rafinesque says :—“ There
are several species of Pikes in the Ohio, Mississippi, Wabash,
Kentucky, &. I have not yet been able to observe them
thoroughly. I have, however, procured correct accounts, and
figures of two species; but there are more. They appear to
belong to a peculiar subgenus distinguished by a long dorsal
fin, a forked tail, and the abdominal fins anterior, being
removed from the vent. It may be called Picorellus. The
French settlers of the Wabash and Missouri call them Piconeau,
and the American settlers Pikes or Pickerels. They are
permanent but rare fishes, retiring however in deep waters in
winter. They prefer the large streams, are very voracious,
and grow to a large size. They prey on all the other fishes
except the Garfishes, &. They are easily taken with the
hook, and afford a very good food, having a delicate flesh.
“STREAKED PIKE. sox vittatus. Brochet raye.
“White, with two blackish longitudinal streaks on each side,
back brownish ; jaws nearly equal, -very obtuse, eyes large
and behind the mouth; dorsal fins longitudinal between the
abdominal and anal fins; tail forked.
“This fish is rare in the Ohio, (although it has been seen at
Pittsburgh), but more common in the Wabash and Upper
THE PIKE FAMILY. 149
Mississippi. It is called Piconeaw or Picaneau by the Cana-
dians and Missourians. It reaches the length of from three
to five feet. The pectoral and abdominal fins are trapezoidal,
the anal and dorsal longitudinal, with many rays and nearly
equal. It is sometimes called Jack or Jackfish. Lateral line
straight.”
IT saw an account, and an engraving of a fish of this species
in some scientific journal a few years since, at the Academy
of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and fully, intended to have
referred to it in this work; but on looking for it recently—
having forgotten the title of the periodical—much to my
regret I was unable to find it, even with the assistance of the
librarian.
I have been told by Kentucky anglers that this Pike takes
a Chub or a Sucker a foot long, and prefers a bait of that size
to a smaller one; and that in setting night-lines for it, the
usual way is to go in a boat to pools which it frequents, and
tie the line to the limb of a tree, extending over the water.
When the fish takes the bait, the branch giving, allows him
to run a little with his prey, and when he is securely hooked,
it also acts as a rod, yielding, though still holding him.
Miraculous stories are told of the size of a Pike found in
the Kanawha and other tributaries of the Ohio, below Wheel-
ing, Virginia, which must be of the species referred to above.
If these accounts are to be credited, it is the largest Pike
ever taken with hook and line—excepting, always, Pliny’s
and old Gesner’s.
One of the stories alluded to, I heard many years ago, when
detained at Wheeling, Virginia, waiting for the Cincinnati
packet. It was from the hostler of the hotel opposite the
steamboat landing. He told me that the proprietor, who was
then on a fishing excursion to the Kanawha, on a former trip
150 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
had taken a Pike which reached clear across the dining-table
after its head and tail were cut off; and that it was necessary to
have a tin boiler made expressly to cook it. He did not say
how much wood was consumed in boiling it; probably some-
thing less than a cord. From his “dare-devil” air, and the
leer in his eye I had a faint impression that he was quizzing
me. But he affirmed positively as to the length of the fish,
as he sat in his shirt-sleeves, with his thumbs under his sus-
penders, and a very long native segar in his mouth.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CARP FAMILY.
“Let me live harmlessly, and near the brink
Of Trent or Avon, have a dwelling-place;
Where I may see my quill or cork down sink
With eager bite of Perch, or Bleak, or Dace,
And on the world and my Creator think;
Whilst some men strive ill-gotten goods to embrace,
And others spend their time in base excess
Of wine, or worse, in war and wantonuess.
“Let them that list, these pastimes still pursue,
And on such pleasing fancies feed their fill,
So I the fields and meadows green may view,
And daily by fresh rivers walk at will,
Among the daisies and the violets blue,
Red hyacinth, and yellow daffodil,
Purple narcissus like the morning rays,
Pale gander-grass, and azure culverkeys.”
Jo. Davors, Eso.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CARP FAMILY—CYPRINIDE.
REMARKS ON THE CYPRINIDA.
Tue Sucker. Catostomus communis.
Burrato Fisu. Catostomus babulus.—Buffalo Fish as an article of diet.
Tue Cuup or Faturisu. Leucosomus nothus.—Errors of American
writers in regard to the size of the Chub.—Chub an annoyance to
fly-fishers.—Chub-fishing on the Brandywine.—Umbrella invented by
a Chub Fisherman.
Roacu, and Roach-fishing.
THis family furnishes but few species that may be called
game fish. The more ambitious angler who has access to
Trout-streams or waters where Bass and Pike are found,
seldom fishes for them in this country. As food they are not
esteemed, and in warm weather are scarcely edible.
There are pleasing associations, however, connected with
some of the fish of this family. To many an angler they
have furnished the means of a rudimentary knowledge of the
gentle art, while the pursuit of them along the streams that
flow through green meadows, has likely fostered a love of
quiet pastoral scenery; and if, in after years, he reads the
lines attributed by Walton to “Jo Davers, Esq.,” quoted on
the preceding leaf, he will more thoroughly appreciate the
character of our simple-hearted, though strong-headed Father
(153)
15+ AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Izaak, as in his fancy he hears him discourse with his pupil,
under a honeysuckle hedge during a shower.
The characteristics of this family are: the mouth slightly
cleft; weak jaws, most frequently without teeth; margin
of the jaws formed by the intermaxillaries. Pharyngeals
strongly toothed; lips fleshy. Branchial rays few. Body
scaly. One dorsal fin. Belly not compressed; never serrated.
Intestinal canal short, The least carnivorous or predatory
of all fishes. There are nearly thirty genera, and over two
hundred species.
THE SUCKER.
Catostomus communis: De Kay.
There are several species of the genus Catostomus known
by this common name; they appear to be ubiquitous in the
streams of the Northern, Middle, and Western States, are less
numerous in the Southern, and are seldom found in those
states that border on the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sucker cannot be called a sporting fish, yet the diffi-
culty of taking it with hook and line, and the nicety required
in fishing for it, makes the taking of it a matter of interest to
those who like to accomplish something difficult in angling.
As an article of food it is only esteemed when other fish are
scarce.
When fly-fishing in the month of June, I have frequently
found them to collect in large numbers in some gentle current
to spawn; then Trout are apt to lie at the lower end of the
school to catch the ova as it, drifts down stream. At such
places the angler is sure of a good catch of Trout, which will
rise readily at the fly although they may be gorged with the
spawn of the Suckers.
THE CARP FAMILY. 155
In Eastern Virginia the Sucker is called “Carp,” and they
are fished for in the same manner as the Carp in England;
this mode of angling having no doubt been handed down by
the early settlers. A hole in the creek, river, or mill-pond
is baited every evening for a week or ten days with coarse
corn-meal dough, and is then fished early in the morning and
late in the afternoon; the season of the year, April, October,
and November.
In still water a float is used, and a small hook with an
earth-worm put on so as to let it crawl on the bottom; 1f is
sucked in by the fish; the motion of the cork is slight, the
angler striking as it moves off, or as it is drawn gently
under.
BUFFALO FISH.
Catostomus babulos: RarinEsQueE.
In mentioning the specific characteristics of this fish, Rafi-
nesque says: “Diameter one-fifth of the total length; oliva-
cious brown, pale beneath, fins blackish, pectoral fins brown
and short; head sloping, snout rounded, cheeks whitish;
lateral straight, dorsal fin narrow, with twenty-eight equal
rays, anal trapezoidal with twelve rays.” “It is called every-
where Buffalo Fish, and ‘Piconeau’ by the French settlers of
Louisiana. It is commonly taken with a dart at night when
asleep, or in the seine; it does not bite readily at the hook.
It feeds on smaller fishes and shells,* and often goes in shoals.”
This is a true Sucker, though his proportions are very
unlike the elongated friend of our youthful days. Its shape
* An error. None of the Catostomi feed on molluscs; their weak jaws
and peculiar mouth render it impossible.
156 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
resembles what a huge Perch might be, if inflated; for its
body is not only very deep, but thick and full, and is puffed
up to the very tail; a fish of thirty inches, weighing almost as
many pounds. It is seldom taken with a hook and line, and
is of little interest to the angler. I notice it here, only
because it is never seen by the angler of the Atlantic States,
though it is common to all the waters that connect with the
Ohio and Mississippi. Its flesh is gross and unpalatable.
At St. Louis I have seen a dray-load of these unwieldy, mis-
shapen fish, brought on board of a steamboat bound for New
Orleans. Although kept in ice, they would get rather stale
by the time the boat reached the cotton and sugar regions.
Billy Clark, an assistant clerk on one of these boats, who was
somewhat of a wag, would write them down at the head of
the bill of fare “ Mississippi Salmon 4 la tartare,” but quietly
remarked, he would as soon eat a piece of the Ohio Fat Boy.
Some of the natives though, who came aboard, apparently
from inland, on our passage down, seemed to relish them
hugely. I remember one of these, a short, pot-bellied, bald-
headed little man, with low-quartered shoes, short trousers,
and a brown linen jacket, an outline of whose figure closely
resembled the fish in question. There used to be some fast
eating on western steamboats in those days. I have seen all
the courses from “soup,” down to “almonds and raisins,”
done in twenty minutes: but when this piscivorous little
gentleman sat down to boiled Buffalo, it was astonishing to a
man accustomed to slow eating. The mention of this fish
brings up other ludicrous reminiscences ; but
“Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been—
‘A sound which makes us linger—yet, farewell !”’
The Sunny South—farewell, great Babulus, and all the
minor Catostomi.
THE CARP FAMILY. 157
THE CHUB, OR FALLFISH.
Leucosomus nothus.
There are several species of the genus Leucosomus found in
the Hastern and Middle States. I therefore omit a descrip-
tion of any one species as a representative of the fish called
“ Chub.”
The Chub is a persecuted individual in a Trout-stream;
one whose name is cast out as a reproach amongst fly-fishers ,
whose head is knocked off, or he is thrown ashore on a sun-
shiny day to linger and die on the pebbly beach, like an
Ishmaelite in the sands of the great Sahara. Every man’s
hand is against him.
Dr. Bethune, in a note to his edition of Walton, says:
“The Chub in this country is the scorn and vexation of the
angler, and, except when large, is by no means the shy fish
that Walton and other English writers describe him to be;
on the contrary, he is a bold biter, more ready than welcome
at any bait offered him.” Mr. Brown, in the “ American
Angler’s Guide,” says, “Their length is not usually over ten
inches ;” and Frank Forester writes, ‘The American Chub
never exceeds ten inches.”
The writers last quoted could not have fished many of the
tributaries of the Delaware and Susquehanna, or they never
would have recorded so gross an error. The Upper Dela-
ware, the Beaverkill, Schuylkill, West Canada Creek, and
many other streams, abound in large Chub, and any urchin
who wets his clumsy line, with a white grub at the end of it,
knows better. Immediately below Frank Forester’s remark
just quoted, I find (in a copy of his book in my possession)
the following note by the president of our little club: “A
158 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
mistake—I have taken them twenty-two inches long and
weighing three pounds; common in the Schuylkill, eighteen
inches.”
Dr. Bethune is unnecessarily disparaging in his remarks
on this fish. In many sections of the country it furnishes
excellent sport, especially in those streams where Trout have
been fished out, or have disappeared from other causes; ‘it
takes a grasshopper at midwater or on the surface, and on a
warm day rises freely at the fly, and shows much pluck when
. hooked. But when fly-fishing for Trout, in some streams
they are so numerous as to be deservedly considered a nui-
sance; for it is a severe trial of the angler’s patience, when
he hooks a good Trout in a rift, and as he gets him into still
water and has almost drowned him, to have a big Chub with
his fresh vigor seize the other fly, and be held tight by his
leathery mouth, while the chances for the escape of the Trout
are augmented. Then again they will be jumping at your
flies, frequently getting the start of a shy Trout, or, after
being hooked, swim deep and strong, and encourage the vain
hope that it is a stout, steady-pulling Trout; but one glance
at the back fin or his forked tail as he gives in, dispels the
illusion. They prefer a fly with a big red body, and in such
streams those who fish for Trout should avoid a dubbing of
that color.
Some years back I was one of a party on the Beaverkill,
when an incipient fly-fisher hooked a large Chub, and played
it some minutes, supposing it to be a Trout; on landing it,
he looked at a veteran native angler, as if to solicit his
approval, but “Uncle Peter,” turning over the Chub with
the toe of his boot, remarked in his quiet way, “why, he’s as
big as a lamb.” There was a laugh, and of course the angler
was chagrined, when he was told the Chub was never
basketed there.
THE CARP FAMILY. 159
A friend who is a veteran Chub-fisher, and who stands up
for his favorite, writes thus in his defence; I insert his
remarks, word for word :—
“T suggest that the mistake of Frank Forester arises from
the fact of a fish with a clumsy, horny head, which is washy
and worthless, and rarely attains a greater length than ten
inches, is frequently found in Trout-streams, and is called
‘Chub.’ But the fish in question, which is known in Chester
county and in many other parts of the state as ‘the Fallfish,’
probably from his being in the best condition and most
readily taken in the autumn months, is a shapely, cleanly
fish, with a white, silvery belly, and when well grown is shy
and requires careful and quiet fishing. The sides and heads
of those above twelve inches are often colored with a pink
tinge.”
From the above it will be seen that the Chub is much
esteemed in many streams for the sport he affords in bottom-
fishing. The best season of the year is September; a grass-
hopper or grub-worm, or a small cube of tough cheese, is a
good bait; the bottom-tackle should be neat, as he bites
delicately ; a long, light cane rod, a small float, and a No. 1
Kirby hook, are appropriate tackle.
Some anglers now residents of the “Quaker City,’ who
came from an adjoining county, as our friend just quoted, are
expert Chub-fishers. I am acquainted with a retired mer-
chant, a neat, dapper old gentleman, who fishes the Brandy-
wine, and has all kinds of contrivances pertaining to catching
them. To be appreciated, he should be seen with his tin
bait-box strapped before him, his portable stool, and his im-
provement for holding his umbrella without the use of his
hands; the latter invention is a long pocket, two inches
wide and twelve inches deep, down the back of his coat, into
which he slips the staff of his umbrella, and waits patiently
160 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOXx.
for a bite, regardless of April showers or July’s scorching
sun. When the mild Indian summer is over, he greases his
long reed pole with linseed oil, and lays it carefully away ;
viewing it now and then with the same satisfaction that
Gloster did his “bruised arms hung up for monuments.” I
have suggested to him the use of the artificial fly, but he
believes not in things ethereal, or things ephemeral, but has
more “confidence in the flesh,” viz. red worms and white
grubs. Long may he live to fish for Chub, chewing “the
cud of sweet and bitter fancy,” as well as his Bologna
sausage at noon, while he contemplates the beauties of nature
by the peaceful Brandywine.
“ CAVEAT ENTERED.”
THE CARP FAMILY. 161
THE ROACH.
Of course no angler will fish for Roach when better sport
can be had; but as they are only in season when all other
fish refuse a bait, and thus act as a palliative to one who
suffers from “ Anglo-Mania,” they deserve some notice.
On any warm day from October to April, the angler may
unite recreation with exercise, by taking his walking cane
rod in his hand, and with a lump of tough dough or a few
small wood-worms, have an hour’s sport with these pretty.
little fish. If he has some juvenile friend with him, the
pleasure is enhanced. I have taken scores of them during
the winter, from seven to nine inches in length, at Gray’s
Ferry, also in Cooper’s Creek, and at Red Bank below the
city. They are generally found on the lee side of a pier
stretching into a fresh-water creek or river; and sometimes
in the dock itself.
When fishing for Roach I have frequently laid them on
the snow or ice, when they would become frozen; but on
taking them home carefully, and putting them in hydrant
water, would have the whole catch swimming about. There
is some nicety required in taking Roach artistically, which
is not attained by bunglers, and this fact adds to the pleasure
of this kind of winter angling.
The rod should be slight and from eight to ten feet long
the line of fine silk; bottom of fine gut; hooks No. 12,
Kirby, one of which should be seized to the extreme end,
and three others to short pieces of gut, diverging at intervals
11
162 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of eight inches; float, a neat quill; the sinker should be just
heavy enough to sink half or two-thirds of the float; the
bottom hook should touch or be near the bottom.
The bait, if paste, should be rolled in small pellets, not
larger than a No. 1 shot, between the finger and thumb; it
should merely cover the point and barb of the hook. When
they bite freely, a small mite of the tough skin of a chicken’s
leg will obviate the necessity of baiting often. Worms ob-
tained by peeling the bark from rotten logs, are generally
used in winter. On a cold day a bite is almost imperceptible
to a novice, but a little observation will soon teach him when
to strike, which should be done by a quick but slight motion.
Roach will not rise at a fly in winter, but I have caught them
when casting for Trout on a pond in March. They are soft,
and have a muddy taste.
CHAPTER VII.
.THE HERRING FAMILY.
Quulir Lady (raising the window). I say, man—thee with the wheel-
barrow—what does thee ask for shad?
Colored Fishvender. Hay dar! (turning quickly round and touching
the rim of his bellcrowned hat) From three fips, marm, to a quarter
and a fip, ‘cordin’ to de size of °em.—None of your grass-fed shad, marm,
but ra’al fat corn-fed fellows. ——Sha-a-ad, 0 shad! Jet go my knife and
fork, fresh shad !——Whih! here dey go!
Old Times in Philadelphia.
CHAPTER VII.
THE HERRING FAMILY—CLUPEIDA.
Remarks on tHe Herrine Famity, from the “Iconographic Encyclo-
pedia.”—Their abundance in the waters of the United States.—Great
numbers of them taken in the Potomac.—Herring-fishing with the
artificial fly.
Tue Swap. Alosa prestatilis.—Its delicacy and value as food.—Mi-
gratory habits.—Shad taken with the minnow.—Shad-roe as bait.
ALTHOUGH this family of fishes is of little interest to the
angler, as far as sporting qualities are concerned, its import-
ance in an economic and commercial point of view is so great,
that I am induced to copy at length an interesting article
from the “Iconographic Encyclopeedia of Science, Literature,
and Art,” a work which has been translated from the German,
and edited by our countryman, Professor Spencer F. Baird,
of the Smithsonian Institute, and published by the Messrs.
Appleton, of New York.
“CLUPEIDZ. The fishes of this family exhibit considerable
analogies to the Salmonoids, differing, however, in the absence
of an adipose dorsal. Both maxillaries and intermaxillaries
are employed in forming the margin of the upper jaw, instead
of the usual introduction of the latter alone. The body is
well scaled, the scales sometimes very large. Bones of the
mouth variously provided with teeth, these occurring some-
times on the pectinated tongue.
“The fishes of this family are among the most useful and
indispensable to man. It includes the Anchovy, the Sardine,
(165)
166 AMERICAN ANGUER’S BOOK.
the Sprat, the various Herrings, and the Shad. The Anchovy,
Engraulis encrasicholus, is a small fish, a few inches in length,
distributed throughout Europe, and especially abundant in
various parts of the Mediterranean. It is distinguished, as a
genus, by the projecting and pointed upper jaw, and the long
anal. The top of the head and back is blue; irides, sides, and
belly, silvery white. This fish was well known to the ancient
Greeks and Romans, who prepared from it a sauce called
garum, held in great favor. They are taken in countless
numbers on the coast of Sardinia, 400,000 having been
caught at a single haul. The fishing is highly successful by
night, when the Anchovies are readily attracted by the glare
of fire-pans. In preparing them for purposes of commerce,
the head and viscera must be removed; the former being
bitter, and for this reason called Hnerasicholus by Aristotle.
The Anchovies, after being washed clean, are placed with the
belly upwards in vessels, a layer of fish alternating with one
of salt, until the whole is full. Pressure must be exerted to
drive out the oil as much as possible. A hole is left in the
top of the vessel, which is then exposed to the sun. After
‘fermentation has commenced, the hole is stopped up, and the
vessel removed to a storehouse. The operation is not com-
pleted until the following year. The Anchovy is taken from
December to May.
“The Clupeide, with non-projecting upper jaws, are divided
into various genera, as Clupea, Sardinella, Harengula, Pellona,
Meletta, Alosa, and others. A distinction was formerly made
between a genus Alusa, characterized by an emargination of
the upper jaw, and Clupea, with the border of the jaw con-
tinuous or entire. This division, however, has been found
to be inadequate to the wants of the present system.
“Alosa vulgaris, a Kuropean species, is represented in
America by one of much finer flavor, the A. sapidissima, or
THE HERRING FAMILY. 167
common American Shad. This well-known species com-
mences its entrance into our rivers, at periods varying from
January to May, according to the latitude. It penetrates all
the Atlantic streams, and when unobstructed by dams or
other impediments, travels to a considerable distance from
the mouth for the purpose of depositing its spawn. They
are taken in great numbers, especially in Chesapeake and
Delaware Bays, by various means, the most conspicuous of
which are large seines and gill-nets. The price varies from
five to fifty dollars per hundred, according to the abundance
or size. As already remarked, various Herrings occur in
immense numbers. Conspicuous among European species,
in this respect, is the Sprat, Harengula spratius; but vastly
more so the common Herring, Clupea harengus. The true
abode of the immense hordes of Herring is not, even at this
day, definitely ascertained, the fish being scarcely known,
except in its wanderings. Some naturalists suppose it to
come from the high north to deposit its spawn upon the
shores of the North Sea; others, again, consider the bottom
of the North Sea to be its home, since it is first visible at the
Shetland Islands in April. Here myriads of Herrings com-
bine into armies many miles in length, and then pass on to
the coasts of Norway, England, Germany, and the Nether-
lands. From the main army, branches go off in various
directions, supplying almost the whole coast of Europe, and
possibly extend their migrations even to the northern coast
of North America. They have never been seen to return to
the north, and their migrations themselves occur neither at
perfectly reguiar intervals nor in the same direction. The
density of the columns also varies much in different parts of
the army. In some seasons the numbers are countless, in
others very limited; at one time the individuals will be fat
and large, at another very lean. By the end of August they
168 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
are no longer seen. The Dutch, who, since 1164, have pro-
secuted the Herring-fishery with the greatest success, some-
times employ whole fleets of boats in the pursuit. At no
very remote period, the number of boats annually leaving
the Texel, under the protection of vessels of war, amounted
to not less than eleven or twelve hundred. This trade was
at its highest state of prosperity in the year 1618, at which
time the number of boats employed was 3000, manned by
fifty to sixty thousand men. Since that time the trade has
passed out of the hands of the Dutch, to a certain extent, and
is carried on by many nations of northern Europe. Accord-
ing to Black, the fishermen of Gothenburg alone, in his time,
took upwards of 700,000,000 Herrings. More than 180,000
barrels have been exported from Bergen in Norway; the
amount consumed in the entire land exceeding double this
number. At the present day, the largest quantities are taken
on the shores of England. Recent investigations have ren-
dered it probable that the Herring actually does live within
a moderate distance of the localities where it is caught,
coming in from the deep water for the sake of depositing its
spawn.
“ A beautiful spectacle is seen when the Herring approach
the shores; the rays of the sun are reflected from myriads of
silver scales, and above the army may be seen hovering hosts
of gulls, terns, and other sea-birds. Behind and alongside are
numerous rapacious fish, which, with seals, porpoises, and
other marine animals, devour immense numbers. The water
is filled with loose scales, rubbed off by their close proximity.
On account of their vast numbers, these fish are very easily
captured. This is done by means of nets, either on shore or
at sea. Every Dutch smack has four smaller boats along
with it, to carry fresh fish to the sea-ports, and for other pur-
poses. They use nets of 500 or 600 fathoms in length, made
THE HERRING FAMILY. 169
of coarse Persian silk, as being stronger than hemp. These
are blackened by smoke, in order that the fish may not be
frightened by the white thread. The nets are set in the
evening, buoyed by empty barrels, and stretched by weights;
they thus rest at the surface of the sea. In the morning they
are drawn in by means of a windlass. The Herrings are
sometimes attracted within reach of the nets by lanterns
suspended at various intervals. But a faint idea can be
formed of the actual number of these prolific fishes, which
exists at one time in the ocean. When we remember, how-
ever, that an annual consumption of over two thousand
millions in Europe, not to mention the myriads devoured by
fishes, birds, and various marine vertebrata, scarcely appears
to affect their number, we may obtain an approximate con-
ception of what that number must be to which the sum of
those annually destroyed is in such small proportion.
“As the Herrings are so abundant, and the flesh at the
same time so excellent, various modes have been adopted to
preserve them for a certain length of time. Even at sea
many are salted down, and sold in this state. This is called
by the French saler en vrac. To keep them longer than is
permitted by this method, two other ways are made use of:
they are called white-salting and red-salting (saler en blanc
and saurer). To white-salt Herring, they are gutted on being
caught, and packed in barrels, with a thick brine poured over
them. They are there retained, until it is convenient to give
them a final packing. After the bustle of the fishing is over,
the smacks or busses run in and discharge their cargoes, when
the barrels are inspected, and the fish sorted under the in-
spection of official authorities. They are then repacked with
fresh lime and salt, and the particular quality marked on the
barrel by the brand of an inspector. The red-salting is
effected by allowing fat Herrings to lie for a considerable
170 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
time in the brine, then arranging them on hurdles, and
placing them in ovens holding from ten to twelve thousand,
for the purpose of being dried and smoked. The invention
of pickling, as applied to Herring, has been ascribed to
Wilhelm Béekelson, or Beukelson, a fisherman of Viervliet
in the province of Zealand (about 1440): he, however, only
improved an art known before his time. The Emperor
Charles V. eat a herring over his grave, in thankful acknow-
ledgment of his worth, and erected a monument to his honor
in 1556.
“Several species of Herring are caught in vast numbers on
the coast and in the Atlantic rivers of the United States.
The principal of these is the Clupea elongata, the representa-
tive of C. harengus. Besides Alosa sapidissima, or Shad,
already mentioned, Alosa tyrannus and A. menhaden are of
economical value, the former as an article of food, the latter
for manure. Immense numbers are taken and spread on
poor lands, to which they impart a fertility not inferior to
that produced by guano.”
In the United States, Herrings are most abundant in the
rivers that flow into the Chesapeake. In Maryland and
Virginia they have even been used as manure, as the small
species known as “ Manhaden” and “ Mossbunkers” have been
farther north. In Virginia and North Carolina, the custom
of visiting the “fishing-shores” annually for a supply of
Herrings to salt down, still exists as an “institution,” and
the inhabitants for many miles back from the rivers that
furnish these fish, come every spring and take away immense
numbers of them.
One of the greatest hauls with a seine that I ever heard of,
was made by a fisherman on the Potomac near Dumfries, Va.
With one sweep of his long net he encompassed a school
which supplied all applicants. He sold them as long as they
THE HERRING FAMILY. 171
woultl bring a price, and then, after furnishing them to the
people of the immediate neighborhood without charge, lifted
his net and allowed the remainder of the imprisoned fish to
escape.
The Herring will occasionally take a bait, and on a sun-
shiny day in May, when the wind is from the south, will jump
at a piece of red flannel tied to a hook. An old Scotch
merchant of New York—a superannuated Trout-fisher—some
years back was in the habit of fishing for them with a fly,
from the decks of vessels in the Hast River.
THE SHAD.
Alosa prestibilus: Dr Kay.
The Shad is held in greater estimation by the epicure than
by the angler. When properly in season, it is considered by
many the most delicious fish that can be eaten. Fresh
Salmon, or a Spanish Mackerel, or a Pompano may possibly
equal it; but who can forget the delicate flavor and juicy
sweetness of a fresh Shad, broiled or “planked;” hot from
the fire, opened, salted and peppered, and spread lightly with
fresh May butter.
There is one peculiarity of the Shad, which some of its
advocates of our city claim for it, which is, that the longer it
remains in fresh water up to the time of spawning, the fatter
and more juicy it becomes. This is seemingly paradoxical,
as the Shad is never found in fresh water with any food in its
stomach or intestines. What then does it feed on; or how does
it grow fatter as it gets towards its place of spawning? Is the
theory, or more properly the ‘hypothesis, that it “lives by
suction,” correct? That is, that it retains animalcula and
172 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
microscopic animals contained in the water as it passes
through its gills in breathing, and appropriates such food to
its sustenance.
It is hardly worth while to go into a description of this
fish, or give a portrait of it; for the outline of its form and
general appearance is as familiar to us all, as the cut of the
coat worn by “one of our oldest and most respectable
citizens,” to which coat the Shad has given a name—may
his tribe decrease not, nor his fatness and flavor diminish
with each vernal return of his Shadship!
Yarrell says the Alice Shad, a European species, also
improves the higher it ascends the rivers. It is admitted,
however, by Englishmen, that the flesh of the Shad he men-
tions, bears no comparison to ours; nor does it attain more
than one-third the size.
Shad ascend all our rivers, from Georgia to Maine, in the
spring, for the purpose of spawning, and at one time every
tributary of the larger rivers, that had depth enough to float
these deep-bodied fish, were annually visited by them, until
mill-dams, tanneries, and other obstructions and nuisances
prevented their return to their native waters and spawn beds.
They entered the various creeks and brooks that feed the
Susquehanna, away up amongst the mountains, hundreds of
miles from their marine feeding-grounds, where they had spent
the winter in attaining that increase in size, which is only
exceeded by the almost miraculous growth of the Salmon.
It is hardly to be wondered at, that many of the old settlers
on the streams in the interior, opposed the introduction of
canals and slack-water navigation, when these improvements
were at the expense of the annual visits of the Shad, which
not only furnished them an article of luxurious diet until the
month of June, but gave them a stock of smoked and salt fish
for the winter.
THE HERRING FAMILY. 173
Shad are taken at Savannah in the latter part of January.
As the season advances, they enter the rivers successively
along the coast towards the north, and are not found in the
waters near Boston until about May.
It was supposed at one time that Shad, as I have already
remarked, were of southern birth, and that the same great
migratory shoal gradually found its way along the coast. It
has since been pretty clearly ascertained that this is not the
case; and it is now thought, with much show of reason, that
they do not wander far from the mouths of the bays and
rivers from which they migrated the preceding summer or
autumn.
In more than one respect there is a close analogy between
the Shad and Salmon; both are anadromous fishes, changing
their habitat annually from salt to fresh water to spawn;
both present the same phenomenon of never having any food—
in whatever process of digestion—in their stomachs, after
reaching fresh water; and both are not only fish of extremely
rapid growth in salt water, but present the same peculiarity
of proportions, that is, a remarkably small head and deep
fleshy body.
Frank Forester’s idea that the Shad habitually takes a bait
or an artificial fly is an erroneous one; it is not a predatory
fish, and it is to be feared that his impression, or hope of its
being classed among game fish at some future day, will
never be realized ; though there may have been rare instances
in which it has been taken with a fly, and occasionally with
asmall silver minnow. I was once fortunate enough to hook
three in succession, when fishing for Perch with a bright
little minnow below Fairmount Dam, and secured two, the
third was lost for want of a landing-net, for the mouth is
extremely delicate. They have also been taken, though
rarely, with shad-roe. A friend of the writer, a novice in
174 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
angling, some ten or twelve years ago went to Fairmount,
and in the course of a morning’s fishing caught three with
this bait. He has never been fishing since to my knowledge,
and I have no doubt, he is thoroughly convinced that they
can be taken in the same way at any time, and perhaps even
in the water above the dam.
I have had young Shad to leap into my boat in the twi-
light, pursued, likely, by Rockfish; they were not as long
as the blade of a breakfast-knife and not much thicker. One
of these I examined carefully; but a slight handling of the
silvery delicate thing destroyed the young life, which next
season after its return from sea would have made a meal for
two or three hungry men.
After spawning, the Shad, in Salmon-fisher’s parlance, is a
kipper, and has lost nearly half its weight; it then finds its
way to the sea, and next season returns with its accustomed
size and fatness.
The roe of the Shad is a tempting bait to all fish, and is
much used by Philadelphia fishermen; great care is required
in attaching it to the hook by means of the slight membrane
that envelops it. Each ova as it is washed from the baited
hook and floats off down the tide, is greedily swallowed by
any fish, small or large, and he is toled along until he finds
the “placer,” when the “nugget” is swallowed at a gulph, if
his mouth is large enough. Then if the fisher strikes at the
particular time he hooks his prize; but an inexpert person
will lose a half dozen baits for every fish he catches, and will
bedaub the but of his rod, hands, and coat sleeves. until he
presents anything but the appearance of a well-dressed
angler.
CHAPTER VIII.
CATFISH AND EELS.
“Cats and EELs, and sich as that.”
“ONE Sat’day night
De niggas went a huntin’,
De dogs dey run de Coon,
De Coon he run de Wolver,
De Wolver run de Stiff-leg,
De Stiff-leg run de Devil,
Dey run him up de hill,
But dey cotch him on de level.
“Sat’day night come arter,
De niggas went a-fishin’,
Dey call for Billy Carter,
"Case he want to go a-cattin’,
Dey filled de jug an’ started
For de Pocomoka river,
Chicken-guts wus better bait,
Dey dug a gourd o’ wurrims.”
Fron a song of the “ Peasantry of the South”—banjo
accompaniment omitted.
CHAPTER VIII.
CATFISH AND EELS.
Carrisn, Stluride.—Extract from Iconographic Encyclopedia.
CatrisH oF THE ATLANTIC SraTEs AND WESTERN WATERS.
Eets.—Observations on the Petromyzontide (Lamprey Eels), on the
Murenide (Common Eels), and on the Gymnotide (Electric Eels).
Tae Common Exx. Anguilla vulgaris—Fishing for Eels.—Migratory
habits.—Young Eels as bait.—Eels not hermaphrodites.
CATFISH and EELS are so closely associated in the minds
of anglers, that I have thought it proper to include them in
the same chapter. In treating of them I give a brief but
comprehensive article from the Iconographic Encyclopedia
on the Siluride, as well as an account of the different fami-
hes of anguilliform fishes known as Hels, from the same
work.
“SaLuRip#.—Fishes of this family have the skin either
naked, and covered with a slimy secretion, or provided with
osseous plates of various number and shape. The head is
usually depressed, and provided with a variable number of
barbels. In most, there is a second and adipose dorsal, some-
times confluent with the caudal. The first rays of the dorsal
and pectoral fins are generally enlarged into strong spines;
and the pectoral spine is capable of being inflexibly fixed, by
peculiar mechanism, in a direction perpendicular to the axis
of the body. The edge of the mouth is formed by the inter-
12 (177)
178 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
maxillaries suspended from the sides of the ethmoid, which
enters into the outline of the mouth, forming the superior
median portion. The suboperculum is absent in the whole
family.
“Species of this polymorphous family are found distributed
throughout the globe. In Hurope, however, there is found
but one species, the Silurus glanis, or Sheat Fish. This
species, interesting from the fact of its being the largest fresh-
water fish in Europe, the Sturgeons excepted, is most abund.
ant in Central Europe, its existence in England being hypo-
thetical. The weight has been known to exceed 100 lbs., in
this respect equalling some of the American Stluridxe. It
differs from the North American species in the absence of a
posterior adipose dorsal, in the very small true dorsal, and in
the very long anal. Other species of this restricted genus,
Stlurus, are found in various parts of Asia, and perhaps
Africa, but not in America. The American forms are highly
varied, those of the northern continent, however, being quite
uniform in structure. The two most conspicuous fresh-water
genera are Pimelodus and Noturus ; the former with a distinct
adipose dorsal, the latter with this dorsal confluent with the
caudal. Numerous species of Pimelodus (Catfish, Horned-
Pout, Bull-Head) occur in the various waters of North
America, some of which acquire a large size. One species,
from the Mississippi, has been known to weigh over 100 lbs.
The flesh of many species is highly prized, owing to its
sweetness and freedom from bones. The genus Noturus,
known provincially as Stone Catfish, embraces but few species,
found in the Atlantic streams south of New York, and in
those of the Mississippi valley. They will probably be dis-
covered in the eastern rivers (in the Hudson at least), when
their ichthyology has been more fully studied. Marine forms
CATFISH AND EELS, 179
are met with in Galeichthys, Arius, and Bagrus, the former
characterized by the high dorsal and pectorals.
“South America exhibits some Stluroids of especial inte-
rest. Conspicuous among these are Arges cyclopum, or Pime-
lodus cyclopum of Humboldt, and Brontes prenadilla, which
inhabit the highest regions in which fish are known to live.
They are found in Quito, at elevations of more than 16,000
feet above the level of the sea, living in the streams running
down the sides of Cotopaxi and Tunguragua. The most
interesting fact in the history of these fishes is, that they are
frequently ejected from the craters of the above-mentioned
volcanoes, in immense numbers; the supply being probably
derived from the subterranean lakes in the body of the
mountains. Our space will not permit us to mention any
other members of this interesting family, excepting the Ma-
lapterus electricus, the Stlurus electricus of older authors.
This species is characterized generically by the absence of
the first dorsal, the adipose dorsal alone existing, as also by
the possession of an electric apparatus or battery, somewhat
intermediate in character between those of Gymnotus and
Torpedo, although of much finer texture. The whole body
beneath the integuments is enclosed by the apparatus in two
layers of great compactness, and at first sight suggesting a
deposit of fat. A dense fascia separates the battery from the
muscular system. The cells, formed by transverse and longi-
tudinal fibrous partitions, are rhombic in shape, and exceed-
ingly minute. The nerves of the outer organ come from
branches of the fifth pair of nerves, the inner organ is sup-
plied by the intercostal nerves. The direction of the current
is probably from the.head to the tail; the cephalic extremity
being positive, and the caudal negative.”
180 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
CATFISH OF THE ATLANTIC AND WESTERN
WATERS.
No artist, not even Landseer himself, could give a correct
picture of this familiar old friend. A profile does not convey
a correct idea, and a perspective view won't do; sol give it
up in despair, believing that photography would even fail in
its likeness.
It is not necessary to tell the angler that there are many
species of Catfish in this latitude. There is the Catfish of
our sluices, meadow-ditches, and ponds. The less ugly White
Catfish, of rare excellence for the pan, which comes up our
rivers in April, stays all summer, and goes back to brackish
or salt water in winter. And there is the great “Sockdologer”
of the Mississippi and its tributaries, with a mouth large
enough for a little boy to get his head into, and a throat big
enough to thrust his leg down. Old Jack, a “short-haired
brother” of the angle, down in Mississippi, has declared to me
he has seen one “as long as a cotton bale.” I have, myself,
seen one carried through the streets of New Orleans, tied by
the gills toa fence rail, with a negro man supporting each
end, and the tail of the fish touching the ground. I have
heard of them weighing one hundred and twenty pounds;
but I forbear, lest the reader should think I exalt this fish
above measure. At the cabarets along the levee at New
Orleans, I have heard the music of the frying-pan, as steaks
of these “ whoppers” were cooking, and have seen the laborers
eat them with an appetite, but never had the curiosity to taste
of them.
CATFISH AND EELS. 181
There are two varieties of these monsters in the Ohio and
Mississippi: the “Mud Cat,” with a broad flat head, and the
“Channel Cat.” The latter is far more active and stronger
than the former.
In my boyhood, I frequently went Catfishing with a rustic
angler, whom J shall never forget. After breakfast, one of
the servants would appear with a gourdfull of worms, and we
would proceed to his favorite pool, and “set our poles,”
sticking the buts, which were sharpened, into the muddy
bank, and resting them on forked sticks. Ponto, an old bob-
tail pointer, would be one of the party, and appeared to enjoy
the sport as much as his master; at the slightest tremor of
the cork, he would become restless; when it disappeared he
would come to a stand; and when the fish was landed, he
would seize it or keep it away from the water with as much
assiduity as he would look for a wounded partridge. “Aunt
Bett,” the cook, one day docked Pont’s tail with a cleaver, for
some depredation, as he was retreating from the kitchen; and
it is said, the neighbors could always tell when “ Uncle Tom”
had been at his favorite fishing-hole, by the impression that
Pont’s tail left in the mud, as he sat on his hurdies.
As an expedient, on one occasion, when we forgot the
gourd of worms, and were waiting while the boy had gone
back for it, we shot a squirrel, and a small bait of its entrails
appeared perfectly acceptable to our friends of the muddy
water.
When the negroes went “a catting” at night, they not
unfrequently supplied themselves with chickens’ entrails, as
well as worms, averring that the former took the largest Cat-
fish.
In regard to the question whether any fish manifest a care
for their young after the latter are hatched from the spawn,
Iam informed by a brother angler—the same who writes in
182 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK,
defence of the Chub, and on whose statement I can rely
with entire confidence—that in his younger days, when going
toa large mill-pond to bathe, he was struck with the move-
ments of a Catfish some ten to twelve inches long, which was
swimming near the bank, in water about twelve or fifteen
inches deep, making circuits round and round a mass of dark
specks, which were lying huddled together in a space about a
foot in diameter. Upon lying down on the bank and parting
the sedge and long grass which overhung the water, he dis-
covered that the dark specks were young Catfish, about
one-half to three-fourths of an inch in length, while the
maternal anxiety manifested by the parent fish was ex-
plained by his observing at a short distance a number of
hungry Sunfish, who were hovering round, and with greedy
eyes watching their chance to make a dash at the young
innocents. Whenever any of the heedless brood would show
an inclination to swim away from the flock, the old one would
head them off and drive them back to the fold, and protecting
them from the maw of the spoilers so long as my friend
watched this curious exhibition of an instinct which till then
he had supposed all kinds of fish to be wholly devoid of.
It is hardly necessary to describe the tackle and manner of
taking the Catfish: either or both must be suited to the
water and size of the fish.
The smaller species are favorite pan-fish in the Atlantic
States, from Delaware to Georgia. The larger, particularly the
White forked-tail Catfish of tide-water, makes an excellent
stew. They should not be skinned, nor the heads taken off;
but well scraped and washed, then seasoned with onions and
other pot-herbs, and smoked bacon-flitch: a little rich milk
should be poured in the stew before it is taken off the fire.
CATFISH AND EELS. 188
EELS.
Observations from the “Iconographic Encyclopsedia.”
“PETROMYZONTIDH. This family, the last of the Der.
mopteri, is also without lateral fins: a continuous median mn
is formed by the coalescence of the dorsal, caudal, and anal.
Respiration is generally performed by means of fixed gills,
the lateral openings to which are seven in number on each
side. A single nostril is placed on the top of the head. The
principal forms belong to the genera Petromyzon or true
Lamprey Hel, and Ammocetes, or Sand Lamprey. The former
have a circular mouth provided with numerous teeth, and
fringed with ciliz to assist the animal in attaching itself to
the bodies of its prey. The mouth is a true sucker, adhesion
being effected by atmospheric pressure. Fishes of various
kinds are not unfrequently caught bearing the bloody circular
scar produced by the bite of the Lamprey, and quite often
the Lamprey itself. The Catfish, or Pimelodus, appears to be
especially liable to such attacks.. The Lampreys attain to
great size, and are highly prized by some nations. The love
borne them by the ancient Romans is a matter of classical
history, and at the present day they are the favorite food of
epicures.
“The Murenide or Eels, with the normal structure of
the gill apertures, yet have them very small and capable
of being completely closed. The body is serpentiform,
and although provided with scales, these are scarcely ap-
parent, being embedded in a thick mucous skin. The air-
bladder is polymorphous, and the intestines without cceca.
The Hels, in their different species, are inhabitants of both
184 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
fresh and salt waters; those living in the former belong-
ing generally to the restricted genus Anguilla. Species of
Anguilla occur in greater or less number throughout the
United States, being, however, very rare in many if not most
of the waters of the Mississippi basin. Popular opinion
assigns to these species a viviparous reproduction, owing to
the apparent absence of individuals containing eggs. The
ova are yet, probably, present in, a due proportion of the
supposed males, escaping observation by their diminutive
size. The Hel hardly yields to any other fish in the power
of sustaining a deprivation of its proper element for a con-
siderable length of time. To transport these animals over a
considerable space, all that is necessary is to pack them in
damp grass or some similar substance. They even leave the
water spontaneously at mght in search of food, or of a body
of water better suited to their convenience than the one in
which they may happen to be placed. Hels are said to be
very susceptible to magnetic or galvanic influence: the sim-
ple contact of a knife being sufficient to paralyze them.
When a magnet is presented to the dish in which the living
animal may happen to be, violent contortions, a painful
gasping after breath, and other signs of inconvenience, are
reported to be exhibited.
“The Gymnotide, highly interesting on account of their
electrical properties, are characterized by the anterior position
of the anus, the entire absence of dorsal fin, the extent of the
_anal, and the position of the gill-opening. The best known
species, Gymnotus electricus or Electric Kel, is a native of the
tropical portions of South America. It attains to a great
size, being sometimes over six feet in length, and almost a
full load for a strong man to carry. The electric or galvanic
apparatus consists of four longitudinal bundles, disposed in
two pairs, one larger above, and a smaller below, against the
CATFISH AND EELS. 185
base of the anal fin. The fasciculi are divided by longitudi-
nal partitions into hexagonal prisms, and transverse divisions
separate these into small cells. The cells are filled with
a gelatinous matter, and the whole apparatus is abundantly
supplied with nerves from the spinal marrow. In the Tor-
pedo, these nerves come directly from the brain.
“The amount of electricity furnished by the Gymnotus is
enormous. Faraday made.a calculation in regard to a speci-
men of ordinary size examined by him, that a single medium
discharge was equal to that from a battery of 3500 square
inches charged to its maximum. It need not then be a
matter of surprise that the Gymnotus is capable of killing a
horse by repeated discharges; which it does by applying its
whole length aléng the belly of the animal when in the
water. The method of capturing the Gymnotus made use of
by the South American Indians, consists in driving a number
of horses and other cattle into the muddy pools in which the
Electric Eels abound. Roused from their retreats in the mud,
the Gymnoti emerge into the water, and gliding in among
the animals, give to them violent shocks. A succession of
discharges results in weakening the Hels to such a degree, as
to make it a matter of little danger or difficulty to capture
them. The voltaic pile, formed by the electric apparatus of
the Gymnotus, is much like that of the Torpedo; the column
being longitudinal, however, in the natural position of the
animal, instead of vertical. The anterior or cephalic extrem-
ity is positive; the caudal negative; and the animal is
capable of discharging any portion of its column. The sub-
stance occupying the cells is a dense albuminous liquid, with
a small amount of common salt. Each cell is separate and
independent, answering to the cell of the galvanic battery.
186 AMERICAN ANGLERB’S BOOK.
THE COMMON EEL.
Anguilla communis.
I cannot say that Mr. Billy Allen, who kept a tavern at
Culpepper Court House, Virginia, many years ago, had a
very extensive knowledge of the natural sciences; but he
sagely remarked on one occasion, that a Mink was “a great
incendiary to a hen-house!” Quoting the aforesaid authority,
I might pronounce the Kel a great incendiary to a fishing-line.
Knots and slime! how often he has brought the youthful
angler to grief!
It is astonishing how many knots a nimble little Hel, of a
half yard long, can tie in a boy’s line, from the time he is
landed, until he is taken off the hook, or until his head is cut
off. There are hard knots and bow knots, single knots and
double knots, all cemented with the pervading slime. The
last resort of the little angler is, to do as Alexander the
Great did with the Gordian Knot; and take out his jack-
knife and cut his line; thus reducing the many knots to one.
Albeit the Hel is a “ shippery fellow,” there are several facts
in its natural history which are interesting. One is, that it
spawns in salt or brackish water, and migrates to fresh water ;
the very reverse of Shad, Herring, and Salmon.
Young Hels are found all along shore in fresh tidewater
streams, in this latitude, in April or May, by turning over a
stone, when they shoot out and seek another hiding-place for
the time; at that season of the year they are not larger than
a darning-needle and quite transparent, showing their vital
CATFISH AND EELS. 187
organs plainly. They collect at the head of tidewaters in
great numbers, endeavoring to surmount falls or rapids, and
many perish in the attempt or are devoured by fish. They
may be taken, in such places, with a small scoop-net made
of sea-grass skirting, or other open fabric, and used with
great effect as bait for Perch and small Rockfish.
I have seen no less than a barrel of these silvery, trans-
parent little animals congregated in a pool at low tide, below
the western angle of the dam at Fairmount, waiting to renew
their efforts to get over the fall at high water; and any little
boy will go in and dip up a quart of them for the asking, or
for a half dime.
In the fall they descend our rivers and are taken in weirs,
traps, and eel-pots in immense numbers; in the Susquehanna
a single weir sometimes produces two barrels of Hels in a
night. They are speared at night in the upper Delaware;
the reflection from the torch giving them a white, glaring
appearance.
T used to bob for them from a boat, when a boy. Imagine
three or four urchins, barefooted, with trousers rolled up to
their knees, and occasionally a cold slimy Eel of larger size
than common, gliding over their feet or around their ankles.
There was some screaming and laughing on such occasions,
which did not accord with the general idea of a fishing-party;
and there was also some scraping of dry slime from jackets
and trousers next morning.
Eels are speared in winter, on the salt flats along our coast,
at low water; the harpooner judges by certain indications
what hole to drive his implement into, without seeing
them, and draws it out with the impaled Hels writhing and
squirming.
These fish are not viviparous or hermaphrodites, as some
suppose, but the spawn is impregnated by the male after
188 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ejection, as is the case with other oviparous fishes. They
spawn in salt or brackish water, and the vernal migration
to fresh-water streams commences at an early period of their
existence. The autumnal journey towards the sea begins
in September in this latitude.
It would appear without reflection that it is strange that
there are no Hels in the Mississippi and its thousands of
miles of tributaries, at least I have never seen one there;
but if we look at the immense distance upward and down-
ward, and the time it would occupy, it would seem that
instinct or some wise law of Providence annuls the rule
which obtains in the tidal streams of the Atlantic States.
Although a prejudice exists against Hels, on account of
their reptilian form, they are excellent eating. Sometimes,
when taken in a muddy creek or mill-pond, they are purified
by putting them in a box with holes bored in it, in a spring
branch, when they rid themselves of any strong taste they
may have acquired in their former home.
CHAPTER IX.
THE SALMON FAMILY.
* ABUSED mortals, did you know
Where joy, heart’s ease, and comforts grow,
You’d scorn proud towers,
And seek them in these bowers;
Where winds sometimes our woods perhaps may shake,
But blustering care could never tempest make,
Nor murmurs e’er come nigh us,
Saving of fountains that glide by us.
* Blest silent groves, oh may you be
For ever mirth’s best nursery!
May pure contents
For ever pitch their tents
Upon these downs, these meads, these rocks, these mountains,
And peace still slumber by these purling fountains,
Which we may every year
Meet when we come a-fishing here.”
‘WaLton,
CHAPTER IX.
THE SALMON FAMILY.—SALMONIDA.
REMARKS ON THE SALMONIDA.
Tax Broox Trovr.—Scientific description.—Habits and manner of breed-
ing.—Growth.—Difference in size between Trout of still waters and
those of brisk streams.—Effect of light and ‘shade, and bright or dark
water, on the color of Trout.—Errors as regards new species.—Food of
the Trout.—Its greediness.—Its geographical range——Former abund-
ance and causes of decrease.—Size of Trout in the regions of Lake
Superior and State of Maine.—Size in the preserved waters of England,
and size the angler is restricted to in rented waters.
Tne Satmon.—Former abundance in the rivers of New York and the
Eastern States.—Great numbers in California, Oregon, and British
Possessions.~-—Decline of the Salmon-fisheries in British Provinces.—
Scientific description.—Natural process of propagation.—Their growth.
—Parr, Smolt and Grilse.—Mature Salmon.—Size of Salmon.—Instinct.
—Restocking depleted rivers, and introducing Salmon into new waters.
—Their migration from sea to fresh rivers, and gradual preparation for
their change of habitat.—Salmon-leaps.—Food of Salmon at sea.
Tue Canapian Trout, or Sea Trout. Salmo Canadensis.—Krror m
referring it to the species Salmo trutta of Europe; their dissimilarity.—
Its affinity to Salmo fontinalis (Brook Trout).—Sea-Trout fishing in
the Tabbisintac.—Mr. Perley’s and Dr. Adamson’s account of Sea-Trout
fishing.—Their abundance in the rivers falling into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and annoyance to Salmon-fishers.
Tue ScHoopic Trout, or Dwarr Saumon or THE St. Croix. Salmo Gloveri.
—Account of three summers fishing in the Schoodic Lakes.
Tue Great Lake Trout. Salmo namaycush.—Manner of taking them.
Tar Lasser Laxe Trout. Salmo Adirondakus—Trolling for Lake Trout.
Bacx’s Gravuine. Thymallus signifer—Dr. Richardson’s remarks on the
Grayling.
(191)
192 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Tue Smutt. Osmerus viridiscens.—Their great numbers along the north-
ern part of our coast.—Smelt in the Schuylkill.—Quantity sent south
from Boston.—Smelt used as a fertilizer.
Tue Caretin. Mallotus villosus.
Tur Wuirterisa. Coregonus albus.
Trout Balt-FIsHING.
Tue family of Salmonide embraces many genera, of which
the genus Salmo furnishes nearly all the species that contri-
bute to the sport of the angler, or that may properly be called
game fish.
Of the genus Salmo, the following species are herein
described :—
The Brook Trout, or Speckled Trout. Salmo fontinals.
The Salmon. Salmo salar.
The Canadian Trout. Salmo Canadensis. Known as the
Sea Trout.
The Schoodic Trout. Salmo Gloveri. Of the St. Croix River.
The Great Lake.Trout. Salmo namaycush.
The Lesser Lake Trout. Salmo Adirondakus.
There are other species than these, described by ichthyolo-
gists as being found in the rivers and lakes of that vast extent
of country on our north, known as the British Possessions,
and in the rivers on the Pacific coast; but as the object of
this work is to interest the angler rather than the naturalist,
I mention only those that are accessible and furnish sport to
the brethren of the rod.
Of the genus Thymallus, to which the Grayling of England
belongs, we have only two species, as far as has been ascer-
tained. I only give an account of one, Thymallus signifer,
the Standard Bearer, Back’s Grayling.
Of the genus Osmerus, we have only one acknowledged
species in this country, O. viridiscens, the Smelt.
Of the genus Coregonus, we have ten species described by
THE SALMON FAMILY. 198
v
ichthyologists, and perhaps several more of which no descrip-
tion has yet been given. As none of this genus are sporting
fish, I have only referred to C. albus, the large Whitefish.
Of the genus Mallotus, we have only one species, IL villosus,
the Capelin or Sparling, which is found on our north-east
coast.
One of the characteristic marks, by which the most careless
observer can distinguish any species of Salmonida, is the
second dorsal fin, which is always adipose, a mere carti-
lage, wanting in the usual fin-rays. Any fish that one meets
with having it, except a Catfish, may safely be set down as
one of the Salmon Family.
The Salmonide delight in cold waters,’and their geo-
graphical range, whether inland or on the sea-coast, seldom
extends below the thirty-eighth parallel. Their value as an
article of food, and importance in a commercial point of view,
can hardly be appreciated, unless one enters into an investi-
gation of all the statistical information on record.
13
194 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
BROOK TROUT. SPECKLED TROUT.
Salmo fontinalis: Murrcnin.
Form elliptical, elongated. Color, olive on the back, shad-
ing gradually lighter to the lateral line; sides still lighter,
with roseate pearly reflections; belly white and rose-tinted,
sometimes shaded with yellow, and occasionally a deep orange.
The markings of this fish are beautiful; the sides are covered
with yellowish spots of metallic lustre interspersed above and
below the lateral line with smaller spots of bright vermilion ;
the back is vermiculated, that is, marked with dark tracings
of irregular form, many of which run into each other. The
dorsal fin has five or six lines of dark spots; the pectorals
are olive, with the exception of the two anterior rays, which
are black and much stouter than the others; the anterior ray
of the ventrals and anal is white, the next black, and the re-
maining rays a deep orange; the caudal is slightly concave,
with dusky markings on the upper border of the rays. The
head is rather more than one-fifth the length of the body,
exclusive of caudal; breadth one-fourth.
There are ten branchial rays: the first dorsal fin has eleven
rays; the second dorsal being adipose is without rays; the
pectorals have twelve rays; the ventrals eight; anal nine;
caudal nineteen.
No fish affords as much sport to the angler as the Brook
Trout; whether he is fished for by the country urchin, who
ties his knotted horsehair-line to his alder-pole, and “snakes
THE BROOK TROUT.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 195
out” the speckled fellows by the caving-bank of the meadow
brook, and from under the overhanging branches of the
wooded stream; or by the scientific angler, who delivers his
flies attached to his nine-foot leader—straight out and lightly
—from his well-balanced rod, and kills his fish artistically.
He is as game as a bantam cock, and with a pliant rod and
fine tackle, a twelve-incher gives as much sport as most
other fish of four times his size, on a stout rod and coarse
tackle. But let us begin with a slight glance at his habits
and natural history; his unnatural death we will speak of —
afterwards; though the angler may think it more natural
that the Trout should die by his hands, than in any other
way.
Towards the end of August, if you loiter along a Trout-
stream, and look into a pool with smooth gliding current,
where a spring branch enters; or wander along the banks of
some clear, cool tributary of the main brook, you may find 4
dozen Trout congregated—sometimes a half dozen or a single
pair—and if not disturbed by a freshet, caught by the angler,
or snared by the villanous poacher, with his wire-loop, they
will remain there until October or November, when the
female will cast her spawn—some say in a furrow, made
longitudinally or diagonally in the bed of the stream, by
rooting with her nose; others say, more after the manner of
broadcast. Whichever it be, the male fish follows imme-
diately, ejecting his milt over it. The parents of the future
progeny then, as a usual thing, take their course down stream
to some deep pool, and there remain in winter quarters,
recovering strength and flesh until the ensuing spring, when
they move up stream with every rise of water, always on the
lookout for something to eat, and ever eager to take a bait
or rise at a fly, and reproducing in autumn as before.
After fecundation the ova assumes a somewhat brownish
196 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
*
transparent hue, each egg showing in its centre a small dark
spot, which is the embryo of the future fish. The young fish
are hatched out in two or three months, and appear somewhat
larger than the little wriggle-tails in a barrel of stale rain-
water. They have large prominent eyes and little pot-bellies,
ichthyologically termed “umbilical bladders,” in which is
stored the sustenance left from the egg, and which lasts three
or four weeks, or until they commence seeking their own
food. By this time they have grown to an inch and a half
long; they then seek the shallows and gentle margins of the
brook, or smaller rills, and commence feeding on minute
aquatic insects and the larva of flies.
It is surprising how small a quantity of running water will
sustain a school of young Trout. J have seen a half dozen
in a track left by a horse’s foot, in a mossy spring branch.
Trout have the same dusky patches or finger-marks, that all
their congeners have, when young. As far as I have observed,
they rarely attain a size beyond four or five inches during the
first summer in our mountain streams. They seldom venture
into the larger waters until the second summer, when they
are the little fingerlings that jump at one’s droppers, as he is
killing their progenitor on the stretcher-fly.
At our noonings, when we have emptied our creels to
select the larger fish for a roast, or a bake under the ashes, I
have placed the whole catch in a row, the smallest at one end,
increasing in size to the largest at the other end, and en-
deavored to theorize as to their ages, or separate the year-
lings from the two year old, and those of three from those of
four years; but have never been able to draw a line separating,
with any degree of certainty, the fish of a year from those of
two, or those of two from those of three years, and so on to
the largest. No general rule as to their growth could be
laid down, unless all the fish of one year had been hatched’
THE SALMON FAMILY. 197
€
out at the same time, and enjoyed the same advantages of feed
and range of water, up to the time of being caught. Still,
in a brisk stream, I have generally considered a Trout of
seven inches as being in its second summer; one of nine or
ten in its third summer; a fish of twelve or thirteen in its
fourth ; and so on.
The Trout found in the deep still waters of the state of
New York, though a variety of this species, are a third, or
one-half larger at the same age, than the fish of our clear
rapid streams; and as the rivers and lakelets there are less
fished than the tributaries of the Delaware, Hudson, and
Susquehanna, the Trout have a chance of growing older, and
consequently larger. From my own observation, the average
size of the adult fish in northern New York is at least double
that of the fish taken in the streams flowing into the rivers
named above.
Some years ago, I had an afternoon’s fishing in Hamilton
County, when the catch was forty-five pounds. The fish
averaged fourteen inches in length, and not less than a pound
in weight. A friend on whose word I can rely, tells me he
has taken three Trout of two pounds each, at a single east, in
the Raquette River, and repeated it several times in succes-
sion; and that he took off his drop-flies, to prevent a surfeit
of sport, or too much strain on his light rod.
I have achieved something in the way of taking large
Trout in Hamilton County, but after a man has satisfied the
sentiment of camping out, and been bitten to his heart's
content by mosquitoes and punkies, he prefers sleeping on a
good straw bed, and enjoying the comforts of civilization,
where although the fish are smaller, the streams are livelier
and clearer, and it requires finer tackle and greater skill to
take them.
There is a specific difference between our Brook Trout and
198 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
the Common Trout (Salmo fario) of Great Britain. The
Brook Trout when taken in its natural habitat (the clear
rapid mountain stream), is a more symmetrical fish ; its spots
more brilliant; its sides of a brighter silvery hue; its flesh
of finer flavor, though of lighter color; and its average
size much smaller. The Trout of Hamilton and Franklin
Counties, New York, are, as a general rule, not inferior in size
to the Trout of England; their average is larger than those
of the ponds of Long Island, and about equal to those taken
below the ponds, where the fish have access to salt water.
I cannot agree with Frank Forester, that the Trout of Long
Island are superior to those of our inland brooks and rivers;
on the contrary, I think the pond Trout of Long Island much
inferior in delicacy and flavor, though I admit, that those
which have the run of both fresh and salt water are at least
equal to those taken in mountain streams.
Fish inhabiting still, sluggish waters, dams, and lakelets,
are of stouter proportions than those of rapid, tumbling
streams. The difference is remarked by anglers who have
fished the waters of Hamilton County; those of the lakes
being deep of body and proportionately short, while those
taken in the outlets are longer, and afford more sport when
hooked. In some of the ponds of Long Island they are
extremely stout; a Trout of twelve inches weighing a pound,
which is four ounces more than one of the same length taken
in a mountain stream would weigh.
I would here say, from personal knowledge of the fish, that
the “Silver Trout” mentioned by Frank Forester as being
taken in Green’s Creek, on Long Island, is in every respect
the same as those of the neighboring ponds. The lighter
and more pearly hue is to be attributed entirely to the bright
open creek flowing through a meadow, unshaded by trees,
and communicating directly with the salt water of the bay.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 199
All observing anglers have noticed the effect of water and
light on the color of Trout; those taken in streams discolored
from having their fountains in swamps, or flowing through
boggy grounds where hemlock and juniper trees grow, are
invariably dark, their spots less brilliant, and their sides and
bellies frequently blurred; while those of bright streams
flowing through open meadows or cultivated fields, are as
remarkable for the deep vermilion of their spots, their light
color, and delicate shading. Anglers who have fished the
Tobyhanna and Broadhead’s Creek, in Pennsylvania, will
remember the color of the fish of these two streams; the
former is boggy, much shaded, and the water almost the color
of brandy; while the latter is clear, open, bright, and rapid.
The Trout of the former are almost black, while those of the
latter are light of color, and brilliant. I have seen anglers
who could identify the Trout belonging to the different
streams in the vicinity, when one turned out his catch from
the creel.
Mr. Brown, in his “American Angler’s Guide,” says:
“The Silver Trout or Common Trout is found in almost all
of our clear, swift-running northern streams, and weighs
from one to fifteen pounds. A splendid specimen of this
species of Trout is found in Bashe’s Kill, Sullivan County,
New York.” Mr. Brown was imposed on by the person on
whose authority he makes this statement, for they are
seldom if ever taken in Sullivan County above the weight of
four pounds. Nor does an average catch in that or the
adjoining counties exceed four or five ounces; nor is there
any species called the “Silver Trout.” The Black Trout
also, which he describes as “found in muddy, sluggish streams
with clay bottoms, in the roughest and wildest part of our
country,” is also nothing more nor less than our ordinary
Brook. Trout (Salmo fontinalis), which, as already stated, be-
200 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
comes dark from inhabiting water discolored by vegetable
infusion.
Frank Forester’s strictures on this disposition to claim a
difference of species, on account of local or accidental causes
producing a difference in size, condition, or color, are entirely
appropriate, and he had good reasons for saying that the
“Sea Trout” claimed by Mr. Smith of Massachusetts as a
new species, was none other than a well-fed Brook Trout
that had access to salt water, where its greater variety and
abundance of food produced a brighter hue and deeper-
colored flesh.
Mr. Brown, after quoting Mr. Smith’s observations on the
fish just referred to, says: “The last-mentioned species, Le
pomis salmonea, is common in our Southern rivers, and with
many Southerners goes under the name of Trout Bass, or
Brown Bass.” Mr. Brown here takes an error of Mr. Smith
as a basis, and piles an error of his own, or that of his
informer, on top of it, making “confusion worse confounded.”
Let me assure the reader that the so-called “Southern Trout”
is not a Trout, nor has it the least generic affinity to it; it is
a fresh-water Bass, Grystes salmoides, and belongs to the
Perch family ; and let me further say that there are no Trout,
or any species of the Salmon family, found south of Virginia.
Foop or Trout.—Flies, beetles, bugs, caterpillars, grass-
hoppers, in fact all manner of insects that are so unlucky as
to touch the surface of the water, are arrested by the vigilant
Trout; and little stonefish, minnows, and shiners are chased
and devoured by them at night, in shoal water. I once
opened a Trout of eleven inches, which appeared rather stout,
and took from its pouch eight small shiners, which equalled
nearly a fourth of its own weight. At another time, in a
dark, still water, I took a Trout of twelve inches, which had
nearly swallowed a water-lizard of six inches, the head of the
THE SALMON FAMILY, 201
victim protruding from the mouth of the fish; choked as he
was with the lizard, he seized my fly. The little worm
hatched from the egg of the fly (which a few days before,
as she dapped on the surface of the water, she deposited at
the risk of her life), is devoured with its little house of sand,
"in which, by the aid of its gluten, it encases itself. Hence
the quantity of sand found in a Trout’s stomach, in the early
months of fly-fishing. The grasshopper is a good big mouth-
ful; and sometimes as the angler grasps his prize, to disen-
gage the hook, he feels them crush like rumpled paper, as if
wings and legs were cracking beneath his fingers.
In watching the glassy surface of pools in the still.of the
evening, we see Trout dimpling the water with diverging
circles, as they rise and suck in the little midge, or gray guat,
too small-to be seen in the distance by the human eye. In
every still water, or eddy, or hurrying rift, or under the
shelving edges of stones, he searches for larva, diligent in
earning his living “by the small;” or from his lair under
ledge of rock or overhanging bank, he watches for larger
prey as it floats past, selzing it with unerring and lightning-
like rapidity. ;
Concerning the disposition of Trout to rise at a fly after
having previously escaped from the angler with a hook
fastened in its mouth, I would say that some years ago I
took a Trout of ten inches out of a tumbling little hole
under some alder-bushes, and to my surprise found what I
thought to be a bristle sticking out of its mouth. On pulling
hard on it, I drew the stomach of the fish up into its throat,
and found the supposed bristle to be a stout piece of silk-
worm gut, four or five inches long, and a pretty ginger
hackle on the end of it. I disengaged it, and on showing it
to my fishing companion, he recognised it as his own drop-fly
which a fish had broken from his leader, in the hole I
202 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
described to him, three or four days before. He supposed
the fish to have been at least twelve inches in length, when
he lost his dropper. Only last summer a young fly-fisher of
my acquaintance caught a Trout with a hook in his mouth,
to which was fastened a gut-leader two feet long, and three,
good-sized shot on it, and yet the fish rose greedily at his
red hackle. On returning to the house and showing the
leader, it was claimed by a bait-fisherman, who had lost it the
day before.
Brook Trout were once abundant in all the clear, rapid
streams on the eastern side of the Alleghanies, from the
Arctic regions to the thirty-eighth parallel, and even below
it in the mountains of Virginia; in the upper tributaries of
the Ohio, as well as in many of the northern streams flowing
into the Mississippi; also in the smaller rivers which flow
into the great chain of lakes from the north, and in many
of those coming in from the south. They are taken fre-
quently along the shores of Lake Superior, and in the more
southern lakes, where creeks and brooks of a lower tem-
perature than the lake itself fall in, and im the rapids at the
great outlet of Lake Superior, known as Sault Ste. Marie.
Most of the beautiful lakelets of New York, Maine, New
Hampshire, and the Canadas, abound in Brook Trout of
large size.
They are found also in many of the streams that flow east-
ward and southward from the Rocky Mountains; in the great
basin between the latter range of mountains and the Sierra
Nevada; and are numerous in the waters of the whole Pacific
coast, as far down as the Bay of San Francisco, though per-
haps with some distinction in variety, and, it may be, in
species also.
In the rivers and brooks of the more settled part of the
country, Trout have decreased both in numbers and size.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 208
This is to be attributed to many causes; to the clearing up
of forests, exposing the surface of the ground to the sun,
which has dried up the sources of sylvan brooks, or increased
their temperature, and consequently that of the larger waters
which they feed, rendering them less suitable for Trout, and
promoting the introduction and increase of coarser families
of fish. Streams which once had few fish besides Trout in
them, now abound with Chub and other inferior fish. The
saw-mill, with its high dam obstructing the passage of fish,
and its sawdust filling the pools below; the tannery, with its
leached bark, and the discharge of lime mixed with impure
animal matter extracted from the hides, flowing in and
poisoning the Trout, have done more to depopulate our
waters in a few years, than whole generations of anglers. It
is an old story everywhere along our mountain streams, of
how abundant Trout once were; and the angler is shocked
and disgusted on every visit, with the unfair modes practised
by the natives and pot-fishers in exterminating them.
Trout were probably more abundant in our mountain
streams at the time of the early settlement of the timber
regions by the whites, than they were during the time of
occupation by the Indians; for the red man, although he
took no more than he could consume at the time, was a
destructive fisher; his weirs and traps at the time of their
autumnal descent, the spear on the spawning beds, and his
snare or loop, were murderous implements; the proximity to
good fishing-grounds was always a desideratum in placing
his wigwam.
The rivers flowing into Lake Superior, as well as the outlet
of that water, the Sault Ste. Marie, contain Brook Trout
of large size. A friend who was on a north-west tour,
during the summer of 1860, brought me the profile of a
Trout, cut out of brown paper, with the following memoranda
904 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
on it:—“Taken by J. E. Cady, of Sault Ste. Marie, July 30th
1858. Weight six and a quarter pounds, length twenty-four
inches, circumference thirteen inches; at the same time took
seven Trout from the same pool weighing thirty-one and a
quarter pounds; taken in Batchewaunaung River, Canada
West.” This may appear improbable, but the gentleman
who presented it, and the captor, are both truthful men.
I have lately been shown a letter which stated that a party
of three anglers went last summer from Chicago by rail and
boat, to the town of Green Bay, and there packed their lug-
gage on mules and travelled a distance of forty miles to a
stream not over twenty feet wide, within twelve miles of
Lake Superior. They fished two pools where there was
neither tree nor bush to interfere with their fly-cast, and
during their stay of ten days, each of them killed from fifty
toa hundred pounds of Trout per day; the fish weighing
from two to four pounds each. In the state of Maine, Lake
Umbagog and Moosehead Lake have great reputation. The
tributaries of the St. John and Mirimichi have many and
large Trout; and from all accounts they fairly swarm in Lake
Nipissiguit, at the head of the river of that name, in the
British Province of New Brunswick.
Mr. B., an angler of this city, a few years ago, brought home
from Maine, where he had been on a fishing excursion, the
skin of a Trout, which he has since had stuffed; the weight
of the fish exceeded eight pounds.
The following was clipped from the “Saturday Evening
Post” last summer, and handed to me by a friend :—
“Enormous Trout.—Mr. George 8. Page, of the firm of
George 8. Page & Brother, of this city, has shown us a basket
of Trout, caught—he says it does not matter where, and he
would rather not disclose the precise locality—but which are
by far the largest of their kind we have ever seen. In the
basket before us the heaviest fish weighs eight pounds and
THE SALMON FAMILY. 205
three-eighths ; another weighs eight pounds and a quarter;
and another, seven and a quarter pounds. Two others
weighed six pounds and a quarter and six pounds; one
weighed five and a half, and two five pounds each.
“These fish are all the catch of two gentlemen, Mr. Page
and Mr. R. O. Stanley, of Maine, in the early part of the
present month. In eight days they caught two hundred and
seventy-three pounds, steelyard weight, and the fish caught
averaged three and a half pounds each.
“Mr. Page desires us to say that all these fish were caught
in fair play, with the fly. Trout-fishermen must look out
for their laurels.”
If these fish were caught in the St. Croix River or its
tributaries in Maine, they may have been the Schoodic
Trout, Salmo Glovert. One who is not accustomed to mark
specific differences, may easily have been deceived, though
there are some instances of Brook Trout exceeding even the
sizeof the Schoodic Trout.
Sir Humphrey Davy, in his “Salmonia,” gives the reader
the impression that in strictly preserved streams in England,
Trout under two pounds are not basketed, but returned to
the water. This is by no means a general rule. Last sum-
mer, in looking over an English angler’s fly-book with him,
he produced his written authority, signed by the steward of
some nobleman, I think the Duke of Northumberland, to fish
a certain water. The paper specified that the catch of the
angler should at any time be subject to the inspection of the
gamekeeper, and that he should basket no fish under four
inches.
206 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE SALMON.
Salmo salar: Linnavs.
This magnificent fish has been the exalted theme of all
writers on angling, from the time of Walton to the present.
It is said that two or three varieties of the true Salmon are
found on the eastern coast of America, while there are several
described as distinct species by Dr. Richardson, in his
“Fauna Boreali-Americana,” existing in the Arctic regions,
and as many more mentioned by Dr. George Suckley, U.S. A,,
in his report upon the fishes of the Pacific coast.
The economic value of the Salmon has been the cause of
much legislation in Great Britain and her American colo-
nies; and its habits and manner of breeding, together with
the growth of its young, and its wonderful increase in size,
caused by periodical visits to the sea, have been the subject
of much discussion and voluminous essays amongst natu-
ralists and observers.
As abundant as Salmon once were in the waters of the
United States, they are now only found in two or three of the
rivers of Maine, and these furnish but a small number to net-
fishers in tide-water: a few years more and they will be
known amongst us only by tradition and in books. Salmon
once abounded in all of our rivers from Maine to New York,
but, if we except a few stray Salmon which have been taken
in the Delaware, were never found south of the Hudson, not-
withstanding Mr. Thackeray, in his book “The Virginians,”
makes General Braddock, Washington, and Franklin dine on
Shad and Salmon at Lady Warrington’s table in lower Vir-
ginia.
THE SALMON.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 207
Hendrick Hudson, when he first ascended the river that
bears his name, recorded in his journal, “many Salmon,
Mullets, and Rays very great ;” and when he passed the High-
lands remarks: “Great stores of Salmon in the river.” They
were formerly abundant in all the lakes in the interior of
New York, that communicate with Lake Ontario, and were
also found in Lake Champlain and the rivers flowing into the
St. Lawrence, from the south. Stories have been handed
down of the great numbers ouce taken in the Connecticut, and
it is said of old dwellers on its banks, that in their articles of
indenture, it was stipulated that the master should not feed
his apprentice on Salmon more than three days in the week.
The only fresh Salmon we get now, come from Montreal,
and from St. John, New Brunswick: from the latter by
steamer to Boston, packed in ice, where they are repacked
and sent to cities further south. At Chatham, Bathurst, and
several other ports of the British Provinces, there are estab-
lishments where they are parboiled after being cut into pieces
of suitable size, and packed in hermetically sealed cans, and
shipped to Hurope and the United States. The smoked and
salted Salmon generally come from points further north.
The rivers which flow into the St. Lawrence from the north,
below Quebec, and those that empty into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and into the Atlantic along the coast of Labrador,
still furnish rare sport to the angler who will undertake the
journey. In the more southern portions of those regions,
every means, fair or foul, of taking them is practised, without
a thought for the continuance of the species; as if extermina-
tion was the present and ultimate object.
The streams of California connecting with the ocean, from
the thirty-seventh degree of latitude northward, and the
rivers of Oregon and Washington Territory, as well as those
208 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
a
of the British and Russian possessions, contain them in vast
numbers.
Dr. Suckley, in his report on the fishes collected on the
Pacific Railroad Survey, says, in that part of it devoted to
the Salmonide of the North-West Coast: “The species of
Salmon which is principally used for salting in Puget Sound,
is the Skowitz, an autumnal visitor. Of these Messrs. Riley
& Swan, proprietors of the Salmon-packing establishment at
the mouth of the Puyallup River, have taken three thousand
at one haul of the seine.” Fisheries, ] am told, have been
established on the Kel and Russian Rivers of California, but
owing to the lack of practical knowledge in preserving the
fish, they have not proved remunerative. It is said, that
notwithstanding the great numbers of Salmon in the rivers
of our North-West Coast, where they collect in great shoals
at the falls, and rub their noses raw in their efforts to
get up the rapids, and where a spear thrown at random strikes
a fish, that they are never known to take the fly. This may
be for the want of the proper kinds of pools that make a fly-
cast; there is no doubt, however, that it will yet be found,
that there are casts on some of those rivers where a proper
combination of fur and feathers will entice them.
If we believe the tales of explorers—and they seem probable
—there are whole tribes of Indians on the Pacific, as well as
on the rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean, from Macken-
zie’s River eastward, and into Hudson’s Bay, who would
become extinct but for the periodical appearance of almost
incredible numbers of these fish. There is no doubt that
they are the chief food, for a great part of the year, of the
tribes that dwell on the rivers that debouch into Baffin’s
Bay, Davis's Strait, and the streams on the coast of Labrador,
aud that such is also the case to a great extent with the
barbaric tribes of northern Asia above the sixtieth parallel,
THE SALMON FAMILY. 909
and the rude population of the extreme north of Europe; for
the geographical range of this prolific fish, so valuable to the
human race, extends from the North Pole downwards on all
sides of the globe (except in one or two instances where the
isothermal line bends unduly northward), to the forty-fifth
parallel, and in some cases, as in California and Japan, even
below it.
Mr. Richard Nettle, of Montreal, in his comprehensive
little work, “The Salmon-Fisheries of the St. Lawrence and
its Tributaries,” says, in reference to the Salmon-fisheries of
the mother country :—
“Man, the destroyer man, commenced a war of extermina-
tion, hunted them with nets of all descriptions, with spear,
with hook, with leister; poisoned them with lime, spearing
them by torchlight, mangling and wounding as many as he
killed; and to crown all, denied them a right of way by
building dams, and thus destroyed their fisheries.
“J have said that the fish are dogged and sullen. All
sportsmen know what I ‘mean. Prevent them from reaching
their old haunts—their spawning-beds, and experience proves
that it is with difficulty they are enticed back. Good laws,
time, and a right of way may induce them to return........
“Before the year 1812, and even in 1815, almost every
river in the kingdom swarmed with fish: witness in Scotland
the Tweed with its 150,000 Salmon at a rental of £20,000
per annum, the Tay, a similar river, the Deveron, the Find-
horn, the Don, the Spey, and numerous others.
“Tn Ireland, the Shannon, the Bann, the Lee, the Foyle,
the Blackwater, the Lagan, the Moy, with its 70,000 fish in
one season. Numerous others also are to be found in the
Emerald Isle.”
Mr. Perley, in his “Report upon the Fisheries of New
Brunswick,” Dr. Adamson, in his appendix to his “Salmon-
14
210 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Fishing in Canada,” and other writers, speak also of the
former abundance of Salmon in the Canadas. Mr. Nettle
says, “The late Robert Christie, so many years the member
for Gaspé, and by whom I have been urged to do battle in
behalf of the Salmon-fisheries, has often told me, that while
he resided there he never took less than 2000 tierces in the
Ristigouche alone..... Bouchet, in speaking of the same
river, says 2000 to 3000 are taken...... What would that
gentleman say, could he know that the 2000 or 3000 of his
day has dwindled down to 200 or 300 at the present time?”
Our own countrymen, in their everlasting search after
“that other dollar,” after having destroyed their own Salmon-
fisheries, are now prompting and assisting the illegal fishers
of Canada in doing the same, by establishing packing-houses
for the exportation of smoked, pickled, and “ canned” Salmon.
Setting a price on the head of every fish of this species that
finds its way up the rivers, after escaping the gill-nets that
drift out even beyond the entrance of the bays and estuaries,
and the stake-nets that extend beyond the prescribed distance
from the shore, by paying the mongrel Indians four or five
cents a pound for all the Salmon they spear at night.
It is claimed with some show of justice that the Indians
have an hereditary right to the use of the flambeau and
spear—it is the only way in which they take Salmon; but
this is no reason why they should be permitted to practise it
at improper seasons of fhe year, for the injury they do to the
rivers is visited upon themselves as well as the whites, by
the gradual extirpation of the fish.
A few years back, and there was scarcely a stream of any
size on the coast of New Brunswick, that was not visited
annually by large numbers of Salmon, and still are to a
limited extent; but the drift-net, the stake-net, the spear,
and the high dams—without a sluiceway to help them over.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 911
are steadily doing their work of destruction, and unless more
stringent laws are enacted for the protection of Salmon, or
those already passed are more rigidly enforced, the Salmon-
rivers of the British provinces will, in the course of a few
-years, become as barren as our own.
Screntiric Description.—The following is a description
of a fresh-run female Salmon, of sixteen pounds, taken in the
Nipissiguit last summer :—
Length to the, fork of the caudal fin, thirty-three inches,
girth eighteen, breadth seven, caudal when expanded, nine.
Form, an elongated ellipse, its greatest breadth in front of
the dorsal fin. Color; back, of greenish blue; sides, light
silvery gray; belly, white; there are angular but irregular
markings, sometimes like the letter X, dispersed along the
back and above the lateral line about an inch or two apart ;
the brilliancy of a fresh-run fish is unsurpassed, its sides
gleaming in the sunlight like burnished silver, as it leaps
above the water. The head is a dark steel-blue above,
shading lighter below with pearly reflections, and entirely
white beneath ; it has two or three dark spots on the opercle.
There is a great difference in the proportions of a male
and female Salmon, which is more perceptible as the summer
advances; the head of a male fish is nearly one-fourth of its
length, exclusive of the caudal, that of a female is not much
more than a fifth, while the head of a female Grilse is not
more than a sixth. The lateral: line is straight, as in all the
Salmonoids. There are twelve branchial rays. The pectoral
fin, which has thirteen rays, is a pearly gray, with the first
ray black; ventrals grayish white, with nine rays; anal
roseate white, with nine rays;. dorsal dark pearly blue, with
twelve rays; the caudal is slightly lunate, and has eighteen,
exclusive of the rudimentary rays.
There is a cartilaginous projection on the tip of the lower
912 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
jaw in the male fish, which closes into a cavity in the snout;
it becomes harder and longer, and has more of an inward
curve, as the time of spawning approaches: it is supposed by
some persons, that it is used by the fish in removing the
gravel when preparing the spawning-bed in autumn. The
eye is one-third distant between the snout and posterior
margin of the opercle. There are sharp but short incurved
teeth on the palate, maxillaries, pharynx, and tongue, but
none that I could discover on the vomer. :
The artificial propagation of Salmon has been resorted to
in Scotland and Ireland, and nurseries for this purpose have
been successfully established on rivers which had been depleted
of the vast numbers they once produced. As the reader will
find a chapter on Pisciculture in a subsequent part of this
work, I will make no further mention here of that mode of
producing them—or rather of assisting, or stimulating their
production; but would remark, that if the waters of Great
Britain are ever restored to their former fecundity, or our
own restocked, it must be one of the means employed.
THe Natural Process or Propacation.—To give a
lucid description of the manner of generation with the
Salmon, it is necessary to advert to one of its specific
peculiarities, which is, that it is anadromous. This term is
commonly applied to fish which inhabit the sea the greater
part of the year, but enter fresh rivers to spawn; a residence
of a certain length of time in fresh water being necessary to
mature the spawn and milt. Salmon, as a general thing,
begin to ascend the rivers on the north-eastern coast of
America the latter part of June, and there will be an occa-
sional run of fish from the sea until the middle of September,
each school being influenced to some extent in their migra-
tion by easterly gales or a rise in the rivers they enter. The
first run of Grilse does not occur until a month later, and the
THE SALMON FAMILY. 918
number taken by the angler at that time, compared with
Salmon, is often five to one.
The early emigrants of course are prepared to spawn first ;
but as a general rule, all the Salmon leave the pools and
rapids, and collect for this purpose on the shallows and in
the tributaries of the rivers by the middle of October,* and
the spawning season, instead of extending over a period of six
months, as it does in Scotland, hardly embraces as many weeks,
for by the last of November the rivers are generally closed
by ice, and the spawning beds sealed against the fecundating
influence of the air, and many of them are frozen hard even
to the bottom by the middle of December. The probability
therefore is, that incubation is arrested for months by the
spawn being encased in ice; so, it follows, that a much longer
period (perhaps even double the time) is required for the ova
to hatch, than is necessary in the temperate waters of Scot-
land and Ireland. I have never read or heard of any
person having tested it in America by experiment, as has
been done in Scotland, but it is probable, that spawn de-
posited in American Salmon rivers late in October or in
November, does not produce the young fish until the ensuing
month of June or July. But it is not my object now, to show
that the general rule for the time of incubation, as laid down
by Scotch naturalists and observers, is inapplicable to the
northern waters of America, from great disparity of winter
temperature; but to give the result of their experiments—
carefully conducted through a long series of years—as to the
*In Scotland and Ireland, where the rivers are open all the year,
Salmon begin to come into fresh water in January and February, and
continue to do so every succeeding month until October. The rivers of
British America being ice-bound four or five months in the year, the time
of coming and going is limited to about four months.
914 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
laws of nature that govern Salmon, in generating as well as
the process of incubation and growth of its young.
Those who take an interest in the subject, will refer with
pleasure and profit to the “Book of the Salmon,” by a Mr.
Graham, who wrote articles on angling for “Bell’s- Life in
London,” for many years, and who also, with the soubriquet
of “ Ephemera,” was the author of “ A Handbook of Angling.”
He was assisted in his “ Book of the Salmon,” by Mr. Andrew
Young, of Invershin, Scotland, the manager of the Duke of
Sutherland’s northern fisheries, who had been an experi-
menter on Salmon for more than thirty years. Part of the
information imparted by Mr. Young was in writing, and
much was communicated orally, whenever Mr. Graham visited
him for the purpose of angling, and observing the habits of
the Salmon. In the following pages, I will endeavor to give
the gist of Mr. Graham’s remarks, or quote them verbatim as
may best suit the purpose.
“ Salmon preparing to spawn.—The male and female Salmon
appear together on that part of a shallow in which their bed
is to be dug, and they remain moving about upon it for a few
days before they begin the process of nidification. No pre-
cise period can be fixed for their appearance. Salmon spawn-
ing-beds are made by the fish in sandy or gravelly parts of
the river, generally high up towards its source, and not unfre-
quently in rivers and almost rivulets,* tributaries to some
large river, of course connected with the sea. Before two
Salmon, male and female, commence the formation of their
nests, they make efforts to drive away every fish that may
* This was the case last fall in Pabineau and Gordon’s Brooks, both
small tributaries of the Nipissiguit: the outlet of the latter is over a
gravelly shoal, and so small that Salmon cannot ascend through the outlet
to the deeper water above, unless with the assistance of a freshet. Yet
they were found there in large numbers depositing their spawn.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 215
come within their vicinity. The spawning-bed, which may
be called a continuation of nests, is never fashioned trans-
versely or across the water-current, but straight against it.
« A Salmon-bed is constructed thus: the fish having paired,
chosen their ground for bed-making, and being ready to lay
in, they drop down the stream a little, and then returning
with velocity towards the spot selected, they dart their heads
into the gravel, burrowing with their snouts into it. This
burrowing action, assisted by the power of the fins, is per-
formed with great force, and the water’s current aiding, the
upper part or roof of the excavation is removed. The bur-
rowing process is continued until a first nest is dug sufh-
ciently capacious for a first deposition of ova. Then the
female enters this first hollowed link of the bed, and deposits
therein a portion of her ova. That done, she retires down
stream, and the male instantly takes her place, and pouring, by
emission, a certain quantity of milt over the deposited ova,
impregnates them. After this the fish commence a second
excavation, immediately above the first, and in a straight line
with it. In making the excavations they relieve one another.
When one fish grows tired of its work it drops down the
stream until it is refreshed, and, then, with renovated powers,
resumes its lahors, relieving at the same time its partner.
The partner acts in the same spirit, and so their labor
progresses by alternate exertion. The second bed completed,
the female enters it as she did the first, again depositing a
portion of ova, and drops a little down the stream. The male
forthwith enters the excavation, and impregnates the ova in
it. The ova in the first part of the bed are covered by the
sand and gravel dug, from the second being carried into it,
chiefly by the action of the current. The excavating process
just described is continued until the female has no more ova
to deposit. The last deposition of ova is covered in by the
216 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
action of the fish and water breaking down some of the gravei
bank above and over the nest. Thus is formed a complete
spawning bed—not at once, not by a single effort, but piece-
meal, and at several intervals of greater or less duration,
according to the age and size of the fish, and quantity of ova
and milt to be deposited and emitted. A female Salmon in
its third year has a larger quantity of ova to deposit than a
female Grilse, or young Salmon in its second year; and it
may be taken for granted, that the older and larger either
fish—male or female—is, the greater quantity of dva to be
deposited, and of milt to be emitted. In consequence, the
time occupied in deposition chiefly depends upon the size and
fecundity of the female fish. The average time is from five
to ten days. It would be more correct to say the mean time
lies betwixt.
“When the spawning operations—I am describing those
of a single pair of Salmon—are terminated, the female fish,
with instinctive view to repose and convalescence, falls back
into some pool below the spawning-bed just completed, and
sown with Salmon-seed. The male frequently follows her
example, sometimes from two motives: Ist, to consort with
another female, if he have any milt remaining; 2d, if he have
not, for the purpose of recovering from the debilitating effects
of spawning. A male Salmon may impregnate the ova of one
or more Salmon. A mature male Salmon has milt enough
to impregnate the ova of several Grilse, or young Salmon;
and he will continue the operation of impregnation as long as
the seminal fluid lasts. If, in the first instance, a female
choose a mate unable to fecundate all her ova, she will, when
his milt is exhausted, go in search of another, and will be a
bigamist or polygamist, as long as nature, or (as phrenologists
would say) philo-progenitiveness, compels her to be so. The
length of a spawning-bed depends upon the quantity of spawn
THE SALMON FAMILY. 917
to be deposited therein, and also upon the hardness or softness
of the gravel which has to be excavated. The harder the
gravel-bed, the shortér the spawning-bed, for then the succes-
sion of nests will be more compact, and take up less space,
whether in length or width.
“A single pair of Salmon may be forced to form distinct
beds, in different spots. For instance, they have commenced
spawning in a stream two feet in depth more or less, and
whilst so engaged, the river falls so low, that they cannot
continue to work in the first selected spot, for want of water
wherein freely to move. When this happens they will drop
lower down, or at any rate retire elsewhere, in search of
deeper running water. Other causes may induce them, e. g.,
floods, to have recourse to the formation of a second bed, in a
spot suited for it.
“Thinking as I do the laying and impregnating, covering
up and hatching of Salmon-eggs—I use plain words pur-
posely—most interesting points in the history of our River-
king, I will not, if I can, leave anything connected with
them untouched. When I do not state facts, I will bring
forward deductions, and, as it were, circumstantial evidence,
as convincing to the reasoning mind as fact itself. We
have seen that the bed, or trench, in which Salmon deposit
their spawn, is made bit by bit, and no doubt the inquiring
reader will ask why? I have, I hope, a ready and satis-
factory answer. The ova of the female Salmon are not
mature all at the same time. That portion of them next the
vent becomes first ripe for deposition, whilst the part in the
pectoral regions is immature. In consequence, the ova can
be deposited by piecemeal only, and that is one of the chief
reasons why the Salmon-bed consists of a succession of exca-
vations, the first for the reception of the ova next the vent
which are already mature; the second for the ova that will
218 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
become next the vent and matured in four-and-twenty hours,
perhaps, and so on for several days until all the eggs forming
what is called the ‘hard roe’ are ripe and fit to be laid. On
this point the common hen, and other birds, afford an analogy.
They deposit their eggs at intervals, as their outward cover-
ing or shells harden, that is, as they become mature. The
analogy extends no further. Birds’ eggs are impregnated
before they are deposited ; Salmons’ eggs are not; birds’ eggs
naturally require animal heat to vivify them, Salmons’ eggs
never do. The analogy, therefore, applies only to deposition
or laying at intervals.
“Let any one examine the roe of a female Salmon about
spawning-time, and the peas, grains, or eggs of that part of it
nearest the vent will always be found of larger size, and
softer than those situated higher up in the stomach of the
fish. They are softer also, and their outward filaments are
thinner and more porous, and thus they are fitter for impreg-
nation—for absorbing the milt of the male as it is poured .
over them. There is another reason why all the ova cannot
be deposited at once. It is forced from the fish, or rather the
fish forces it from itself by pressure—by forcing itself into
the gravel of the nest. No natural pressure would be suffi-
cient to expel the ova at once. When artificial pressure is
employed—I mean manual pressure—the mature ova alone
come freely away through the vent ;.the immature ova remain
firmly enclosed within their reticulated tissues or membranes,
within, as it were, their net-work fastenings. Although the
unripe ova should be expressed, they would be useless for
production, for their absorbing pores are still closed against
the interpenetration of the milt, and consequently in this state
impregnation is impossible. The milt of the male, like the
ova of the female fish, becomes mature by degrees. When
mature they are very easily exuded, for even holding up the
THE SALMON FAMILY. 919
¢
’
fish by the heads will cause limited exudation of milt and
ova. The pressure, or weight of the roe above on the roe
beneath, is sufficient to produce this partial exudation.
“The facts stated in the preceding paragraph are sufficient
not only to account for impregnation taking place at inter-
vals, for the impossibility of its being done tout dun coup,
but also for the improbability of impregnation by intermis-
sion or coitus either before or at the time of the deposition of
ova. Mr. Young dissipated all doubts upon this point by
the following experiments :—He took a female Salmon, exu-
ded by manipulation a portion of her ova, and having simply
done so, he buried it beneath the gravel of one part of an
artificial spawning-pond. From the same Salmon he exuded
another portion of ova, but before he covered it over with
the gravel of another portion of his spawning-bed, he impreg-
nated it by pressing milt from the male Salmon, and causing
it to come in contact with the last ova deposited. He then
covered them in beneath the gravel, and in due time they
produced fish. The ova he had covered in without impreg-
nation produced nothing. He repeated the experiment fre-
quently, and always with similar results. He has even taken
two female Salmon in the act of spawning. The ova of one
he impregnated with milt froma male; the ova of the other
he did not impregnate. He covered in each under equal
conditions, apart in the same spawning-bed. The ova that he
had caused to be impregnated were productive; the other
proved perfectly barren. This experiment was repeated, and
the result was ever the same.
“Tt may be asked, how is it that ova and milt are not
swept away by the action of the rapid water in which they
are deposited—that they are not swept away in the act of
deposition, and before they can be covered in beneath the
gravel? It would appear that at the critical moment of
920 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
deposition, the specific gravity of the water is less than that
of the mature spawn, for the grains of ova fall to the bottom
like grains of shot, and the milt sinks as if it were molten
lead. However, we must take into account the effect of the
force by which ova and milt are expelled downwards by the
spawning fish.
“ As some of the ova are deposited and impregnated ten or
more days sooner than other portions, we must expect to see
the incubating process completed by degrees. Such, in fact,
is the case. The evolving of the fish foetus is not simultane-
ous, but gradual, and the infant fry come out from their sand-
bed by degrees; at intervals of time corresponding with the
intervals that took place during the deposition of the ova.
We may, therefore, have young fish, from one and the same
nest, differing in age from one to ten or fourteen days.
“The length of time necessary for the completion of the
incubating process varies according to the localities of rivers,
because locality produces different temperatures. The tem-
perature of river-water is also very sensibly affected—
heightened or diminished by the mildness or rigor of the
season. In the rivers of the north of Scotland Salmon ova
are hatched in a period varying in duration from one hundred
to one hundred and forty days. In conformity with the
habits of oviparous, or egg, or spawn-bearing fish, the parent
Salmon having deposited their spawn, impregnated it, and
covered it in beneath sand and gravel, take no further heed
of it, or the fry it produces, except, perchance, hereafter to
feed upon them. Water influenced by atmospheric action is
the sole incubating agent. I may here observe that after the
ova are covered in they are safe from all casualties, on which
point more hereafter.
“Tt is during the deposition of ova that they are destroyed,
and the great destroyers of them are river Trout of every
THE SALMON FAMILY. 991
species. These Salmon-pests are ever on the watch whilst
Salmon are depositing their ova, and are only kept away
from the spawning-beds or trenches by fierce attacks and
rapid charges made on them by male and female Salmon,
both whilst they are preparing to spawn, and are, at least one
of them, actually engaged in doing so. However, as long as
a spawning Salmon is in its bed, or nest, laying ova or
impregnating it, no Trout will venture to come near the
excavation. It is only when spawning fish drop down the
stream, to gather vigor for the formation of another nest, or
link of the bed above that already excavated, and in which
uncovered ova are deposited, that Trout dart towards the bed
and devour the spawn. The falling down stream for a short
time and short distance on the part of Salmon is of twofold
necessity: first, to gain renewed strength by temporary cessa-
tion from labor; and secondly, to get space enough to ‘take
a run,’ if I may use a jumper’s phrase, in order to be able to
dart their heads with greater force and effect into the sand
and gravel for the formation of a new nest, or link in the bed-
trench. The water-ousel is also a sad destroyer of Salmon
ova. It watches their emission by the spawning Salmon, .
then dives into the water, and descending to the bottom, runs
along it to the spawning-bed, out of which it extracts a large
quantity of spawn, and would steal more did not the procrea-
ting fish see it and drive it away. The spawn once fairly
covered in, neither Trout, nor water-ousel, nor any other fish
or bird can injure it. The supposition that Eels burrow into
Salmon-beds and feed upon the spawn beneath, is erroneous.
“Tt is alleged that alluvial deposits frequently settle upon
and cover the beds, thereby destroying the ova—addling
them, in fine, by preventing the chemical action necessary
for their incubation from reaching them. Such occurrences
can very rarely, if ever, take place in the spots Salmon select
992 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
for spawning. Those spots are in running waters, where
alluvial or other matter brought down by floods cannot well
abide. And here let me remark, that Salmon never deposit
their ova in the sand or gravel of still, smooth, or deep
waters. They never breed in lochs or lakes. Nor, a very
curious fact, will they spawn in new gravel, nor in gravel
that has been recently disturbed by natural or artificial
causes. For instance, a spate or flood shall sweep away a
portion of the gravel of a ford, and, for many years, a favorite
spawning locality, and by so doing expose a new stratum of
gravel. Not only will Salmon spawn no longer there, but
they will not even rest in their journeys in water having a
bottom recently disturbed. A period of about two years
must elapse before they will frequent a pool or stream from
which gravel has been removed, or to which gravel has been
added. So that an excellent spawning-bed, or a famous pool,
may be annihilated by a furious rush of water.
“GROWTH OF SALMON-FRy.—The ova having been hatched,
the embryo Salmon pierces the sandy and gravelly crust of:
its nest, and almost instanter assumes a shape somewhat like
a hairless caterpillar, or fringed larva of about three-quarters
of an inch in length, and tapering from head to tail, having a
small sac attached +o it, near the throat, about the size of, or
rather less than, the original ovum, or single pea or spawn.
This sac is the remains of the incubated ovum or egg, and
still, no doubt, contains vitelline, or matter equivalent, for
the sustentation of the infant Salmon. In connection with the
sac and incipient fish, several conduits, or veins, are visible.
The sac remains attached to the imperfectly formed fish for
about a month, and is detached or consumed by degrees.
The gradual detachment may be observed in a specimen of
twelve days old, for at that age it will be seen that the sac
THE SALMON FAMILY. 223
has visibly decreased in volume, though it has not as yet
become undetached, or entirely consumed.
“Ata month old the fish-foetus has grown in length, and
exhibits to the naked eye plain traces of head, eyes, and tail.
Still it is barely more than a pale, misshapen, little longi-
tudinal, half-animated substance.
“ At two months old the ‘fry’ measures about one inch and
a half, is of nearly perfect piscine formation, having all its
fins well defined, and on its coat a slight appearance of trans-
verse bars, commonly and erroneously termed ‘parr marks.’
In speaking of the young of Salmon I shall invariably use
the word ‘fry,’ until they have attained the age of twelve
months, when I shall call them ‘Smolts.’
“ At from three to four months a Salmon-fry measures in
length from two to two and a half inches—hardly so much.
Its head is round; there are pink spots on the body, and the
transverse bars are plainly apparent.
“ At six months the young fish measures from three and a
quarter to three and a half inches in length, and the pink
spots and transverse bars continue to become more and more
distinct. ’
“ At eight months the fry is very little longer than it is at
six months of age, but it is evidently thicker or more bulky.
At nine months, even, the increase of growth does not tally
with the increase of age. No doubt its growth is impeded by
(I beg the reader to bear in mind that I am speaking gene-
rally, and not of exceptions) its attaining the above age in
the winter months, when its favorite food, flies, other insects,
and larve cannot be procured in anything like abundance.”
“A Salmon-fry at ten months measures about four inches,
and the transverse bars begin to disappear, silvery smolt scales
by degrees taking their place.
994 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
“ At eleven months its length is four and a half inches, and
the bright silvery scales are now seen descending towards the
region of the belly.
“ A Salmon-fry at twelve months old is called a ‘Smolt.’”
“Tt now assumes the migratory coat, that is, the silvery one.
The transverse bars have disappeared, and so have the pink
spots on the sides. The young fish, a part of the back, belly,
and head, is covered with bright silvery scales. At the
shoulder a few Trout-like spots are visible. It is now ready
at the first fitting opportunity to commence journeying down
river to the sea. In order to induce and enable smolts to do
so, lt is not necessary that rivers should be flooded, but there
must be a sufficient volume of water to carry the migrating
fish safely over weirs, shallows, and other impediments.
They will not migrate at low water.”
Although repeating in part what has just been said, to
elucidate the subject still further, I give on the next page my
own explanation of the subjoined illustration.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 295
In the foregoing figures, No. 1, represents the impregnated
egg;
2. The young fish on emerging from the egg—with the
umbilical bladder, from which it draws its sustenance for
the first month, attached—this little sack of nutriment being
absorbed in about that time;
3. The young fish after the umbilical bladder has dis-
appeared ;
4, Represents its size when three months old.
5. Represents the size at five or six months old.
Figure 6, on page 227, shows the size at ten or eleven
montlis. It is seldom found larger with the bars or “ finger-
marks” on it; and has much the appearance of a young
Trout. Figure 7, on same page, represents the fish, when a
month or two older, after it has assumed the silvery coat, that
ushers it into the “Smolt” state; soon after which it takes its
course seaward to return in a few months a beautiful Grilse,
weighing as many pounds, as it did ounces when it set out on
its first journey to the great deep.
The first four figures, on page 224, I have had copied by
Mr. Fry’s permission, from his work on Fish-Breeding; the
remaining figure (No. 5), and those on page 227 (Nos. 6 and 7),
are fac similes of those in the “Book of the Salmon.”
A careful observer will have no hesitation in distinguishing
the fry of the Salmon from small Trout. The Salmon-fry
have scales which are much more perceptible, and easily de-
tached; they are also more brilliant, and generally with a
single row of red spots; the eyes are larger and more promi-
nent.
There is a fact connected with its change of apparel, not
mentioned in the “Book of the Salmon,” but which Mr.
Scrope turns to account in proving that the little fish, known
for a long time as the “ Parr,” and thought to be of another
15
296 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
species, is no other than a young Salmon. This he demon-
strated conclusively by scraping away the silvery scales of
the Smolt for half the length of its body and exhibiting the
red spots and bars of the so-called “Parr,” still distinctly
painted beneath, on the skin. In his “Days and Nights of
Salmon Fishing,” can be found a beautifully colored engraving
of a Smolt, with half of its body denuded of the scales, show-
ing that it had not entirely parted with its beautiful vesture
of red spots and bars, but had only concealed it with the
silvery coat of its progenitors. The spots and bars which
remain beneath the scales, are only obliterated by its first
visit to sea—during its transition from the Smolt to the Grilse
state.
The usual manner of designating the different stages of
growth and changes in the condition of the Salmon is thus :—
As long as it bears the red spots and finger-marks, it is
known as “ Pink,” “Salmon-fry,” “Samlet,” and is sometimes
yet called “Parr.” When it puts on the bright coat prepara-
tory to going to sea for the first time, it is called a “Smolt.”
After its return, it isa “Grilse.” After its second migration,
it is a “Salmon,” and is ever after so called.
A Salmon just from the sea is called a fresh-run fish, when
it generally has parasites, called sea-lice, adhering to different
parts of its body and in its gills. After it has been long
enough in fresh water to lose its silvery appearance, it is
called a “Blackfish.” After spawning it is a “Kelt,” or
“Foul” fish.
Let us turn back, now, to the young fish at the time it be-
came a Smolt. The “Book of the Salmon” says that the
greater portion of Smolts descend the rivers of Scotland in
April and May, and implies that they continue—though in
smaller numbers—to go to sea all summer, and even until
autumn. This naturally occurs where the spawning season is
THE SALMON FAMILY. 227
THE SALMON FAMILY. 229
distributed over a space of five or six months; but from
information received from the best sources, and from reason-
able conclusions drawn from premises already laid down, it is
doubtful whether the migration of Smolts—that is, in large
numbers—from the rivers of New Brunswick and Canada,
commences until late in the summer or early in autumn. I
did not take a Smolt during my last summer's fishing in the
Nipissiguit, although I caught numbers of the fry with bars
and red spots. Nor, in my inquiries, did I meet with any
person who had ever seen the young fish in the Smolt state
in that river. I therefore concluded, that the bars and spots
on the young fish disappeared later in the season, after the
angling, which lasts until the middle of September, was over,
and that it was not until after that time that they assumed
the silvery coat of the Smolt and migrated to sea.
It is also a matter of doubt whether the young fish returns
as a Grilse until the following summer. The long time
necessarily occupied in incubation in those cold waters, and
the length and low temperature of the winter which follows.
debarring it from feeding and retarding its growth, it appears,
would prevent its attaining the Smolt state until the autumn
of the second year, and too late to return as a Grilse before
the river was closed by ice.
In opposition to this idea, it may be argued that Grilse,
when they do enter the rivers the next summer, after remain-
ing at sea all winter, should be very large. This is not the
case, nor does it necessarily follow, if we consider that the
extremely cold winter which closes harbors and bays, and
frequently fringes the shore for miles out with ice, must, of
course, lessen that class of animal life which constitutes the
shief food of the Salmon at sea.
From all accounts there is a disparity in the size of
American and European Grilse. It appears from the ‘‘ Book
9380 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of the Salmon,” and other British authority, that in all proba-
bility the Smolt that goes to sea not larger than figure 7 on
page 227, returns in eight or nine weeks a Grilse of five
pounds or more. Some writers mention them of eight or
nine pounds, and say that the average is over four pounds.
The generality of American Grilse, as far as my experience
goes, do not weigh over three pounds. During the whole of
last summer’s fishing on the Nipissiguit, I killed but two that
weighed as much as five.
A Grilse can easily be distinguished from a Salmon, even
if both should be of the same size (which is not usual), by
its short small head, and the shape of the markings above and
along the lateral line, which are more numerous, and are
round or oval instead of being angular and shaped like an X,
as they frequently are on a Salmon.
From personal observation, and the information obtained
from the canoe-men (and certainly they have the means of
judging, for they open enough of them), the female Grilse is
never found with roe, though the milt occurs in the males,
who, no doubt, perform the office of procreation with the
female Salmon. Grilse lose flesh and condition in fresh
water, as Salmon do, though it may not be to the same extent.
There is nothing in the water that surpasses a Grilse in its
symmetrical beauty, its brilliancy, and its agility and pluck.
I have had one of four pounds to leap from the water ten
times, and higher and further than a Salmon. Woe to the
angler who attempts, without giving line, to hold one even
of three pounds; he does it at the risk of his casting-line, or
his agile opponent tears a piece from its jaw or snout in its
desperate efforts to escape, and frequently it is not until after
repeated attempts that the canoe-man is able to gaff it. The
only safe plan to secure one is with a wide landing-net.
The usual manner of noting the growth of Grilse or Salmon
THE SALMON FAMILY. 931
“4
in Scotland, it is said, is to mark them when taken in a net,
by fastening a small piece of copper or zinc, with a fine copper
wire, in the root of the adipose fin, or in the rudimentary rays
of some of the other fins, or in other parts of the body where
it interferes least with the health and growth of the fish; the
piece of copper or zinc has a:number stamped on it, which is
entered with appropriate memoranda in a book kept for the
purpose. The fish, impelled by an unerring instinct, returns
year after year, if not prevented by accident, to continue its
species in its native river, and many of those thus marked
are retaken and the growth ascertained. Sometimes this is
repeated, and their subsequent growth from time to time found
out. This and other means of collecting facts concerning the
natural history of the Salmon, are at the command of large
landed proprietors in Great Britain, whose domains frequently
include several fine Salmon rivers.
THe Mature SaLMon.—We now come to the mature fish ;
no longer the rollicking hobbiedehoy, or frolicsome maiden
Grilse, but the bright glorious Salmon in all its strength and
beauty. There is nothing fairer; no fish that so flutters the
heart, and blanches the cheek, when for the first time a great
swell, and perhaps a gleam of molten silver is seen above the
surface on the very pitch of tbe pool, and the tyro finds that
he is fast, by a small hook and a hairlike piece of silkworm-
gut, to something strong and heavy; which goes at first
where it pleases, with head against the current, and presently
with a mad rush takes its course down stream, and by despe-
rate leaps endeavors to rid itself of the frail tackle, that at
, last, by the unceasing bearing of the pliant rod, brings it
within reach of the deadly gaff.
A Salmon that comes from the sea in J ‘ie a bright fish
of ten pounds, loses its pearly hue and stout proportions as
the summer wears away. Its fins, which were white and
939 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
comparatively soft, become blue and of a whalebone con-
sistency, from stemming the rapids, and from its stay in fresh
water. By the time the spawning season is over, it has lost
nearly half of its weight, and all of its fine flavor. Then with
lank body and big head, bedimmed of its lustre and miserable
in appearance, it seeks once more its old home in the ocean,
where from the abundance and nutritive quality of its food,
it regains its lost flesh and adds some four or five additional
pounds to its weight, and when it ascends its native stream
again, it is likely a fish of fifteen pounds.
“Hphemera” says in his “Book of the Salmon:” “A Salmon
weighing, when caught in its descent to the sea, ten pounds,
has been taken on its return, after a sojourn of thirty-eight
days, on its salt-water feeding-grounds, and when captured it
weighed twenty-one and a quarter pounds.” This is an
instance of wonderfully rapid growth, still it is difficult to
estimate from it, the general increase in size. The same author
remarks truly, that some Salmon, from being generated by
large parents, have an inherent disposition to grow rapidly.
Certain rivers also have a larger breed of Salmon, while in
others they are small. Much also depends on the quantity
and quality of the food they may find on their feeding-
grounds, and the length of time they remain there.
We have no account of Salmon having been taken in
American waters, as large as the recorded sizes of those
which have been captured in Scotland. It is probable,
that the North Sea and Atlantic surrounding Great Britain,
being warmer, and of more equable temperature than the
Atlantic on our north-east coast, are also more favorable,
to that order of marine animals (as crustacea, &.) on which
Salmon feed, and as a consequence, fish that spend the
winter at sea there grow larger. Salmon have been taken
in Scotland weighing over eighty pounds. Mr. Perley,
THE SALMON FAMILY. 938
in his report upon the fisheries of New Brunswick, says,
he has been told of several taken in the Ristigouche that
weighed over fifty. The largest I ever heard of in the
Nipissiguit, was a fish of forty-two pounds: the canoe-man
who speared it, said it had been in the river some time, and
would probably have weighed fifty pounds when it came
from sea. It was not a very rare thing to take fish of twenty-
five and thirty pounds with the rod in the Tweed, the Shin,
and other rivers of Scotland some years back, and many are.
still taken of twenty and twenty-five pounds. On this side
of the Atlantic it is as rare to take them with the rod, over
fifteen pounds. The largest fish I have ever heard of being
taken with a fly in the Nipissiguit, was one killed at the
Grand Falls, by Mr. Lilly, of New York; its weight was over
thirty-three pounds: ten or twelve pounds, though, is a fair
average weight for the angler, on any of the streams of New
Brunswick or Canada.
Instinct.—The instinct which induces this fish to seek its
native stream for the purpose of spawning, has been fre-
quently turned to account, in stocking rivers having the
natural properties of Salmon-streams, but which before had
none in them. The following instances of this kind are
mentioned in the “ Book of the Salmon.”
“Loch Shin, a piece of water about twenty-one miles by
fourteen, situate in the heart of the Sutherland mountains, is
the immediate feeder of the River Shin, noted for its Salmon
fecundity. The loch itself has four feeders, middling-sized
rivers, viz.: the Terry, Fiack, Garvie, and Curry, in which, pre-
viously to the year 1836, not a Salmon was ever seen, though
many were in the habit of entering the loch or lake. In the
year mentioned, at the request of his Grace of Sutherland and
Mr. Loch, M. P., Salmon were caught in the River Shin,
shortly before the spawning season, and conveyed to the four
234 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
rivers above named, amongst which they were distributed in
due proportions. Mr. Young was the managing director on
the occasion. In the wonted season all the fish spawned, each
in its respective river. Now, mark one of the consequences:
Salmon at present, and ever since, come regularly to spawn,
traversing the lake to do so, in all these heretofore Salmon-
less rivers. Nay, more, the fish hatched in the Terry, at least
those that survive long enough, return to the Terry; and the
young of the other three rivers return from the sea to them,
each Grilse or Salmon entering never-failingly the stream
that gave it birth. What wonderful and unerring instinct!
One might think that they would remain in the River Shin,
spawn where their ancestors had spawned; but no, they leave
their own natal shallows, pass down the lake, through the
River Shin, along the kyle of Sunderland, to the sea; and there
having become adolescent, they retrace their route, and, after
necessary rests on their long voyage, very frequently on the
spots of their parents’ nativity, they revisit for the first time,
the scenes of their birth and infancy. Revisit them—for
what? Being nubile, to perform the nuptial rights, which
they do where their forefathers begat them, and so they go on
increasing and multiplying in colonies heretofore tenantless
of Salmon, ever since volcanic action called from the ‘vasty.
deep,’ the mountains and rivers of northern Caledonia!”
On our coast Salmon begin to leave the deeps and
come into the bays and estuaries in May, and prepare for
their residence in fresh rivers by spending a few weeks in
the brackish water, where they still find food, though of less
nutritive quality, such as Shrimp, Capelins, and Smelts. My
friend, John Chamberlain, says, he once speared a Salmon at
the entrance of Bathurst harbor, in which he found eleven
Capelins.
After these fish have thus gradually prepared themselves
THE SALMON FAMILY. 935
for a residence in fresh water, they ascend the rivers on the
first rise, surmounting rapids and leaping falls of less than five
or six feet with perfect ease, and resting in the pools above.
In the early part of the season they make short stages, some-
times occupying a pool for a day ortwo. As the season
advances, those that enter the river travel faster; it is thought
making twenty or thirty miles a day. As a general thing,
they have an instinctive liking for the part of the river in
which they were ushered into being, should any caprice or
law of nature, however, impel them to ascend farther, and an
impassable fall prevent their doing so; after fruitless attempts
to leap it, they return to the next pool, or deep still water
below, and renew their efforts to pass the barrier at every
rise in the water. When the time for spawning draws near,
they drop down the river to the shallows, or seek some of the
smaller tributaries for that purpose.
“Ephemera” properly ridicules the notion that formerly
existed, and still does to some extent amongst ignorant
people, that the Salmon in surmounting a fall, puts its tail in
its mouth, and so bending itself like a bow, with a sudden
spring and letting the tail go, throws itself above the obstruc-
tion. It is clear to every thinking mind that in making its
leap, the Salmon must have depth of water, to acquire impetus
in throwing itself above the fall. The author in question
says, he has seen a Grilse leap upward and forward, somewhat
obliquely, the length of his fishing-rod, which was seventeen
feet long; and that Mr. Young has known Salmon to clear a
fall of sixteen feet. Mr. Scrope, who had been a Salmon-
fisher more than a quarter of a century, states that they jump
on an average no higher than six feet.
There is a great difference in the activity and endurance of
Salmon; a young fish of eight pounds, which is as small as
they are generally taken, sometimes giving more sport than
936 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK.
one of fifteen, hooked in the same pool. There is conse-
quently much difference in the time required to kill a fish,
but this arises in some instances from the nature of the
water, still or rapid, or the weather and the time of day.
The first Salmon I ever hooked—one of sixteen pounds—I
killed in about ten minutes, without its jumping once, while
a nine-pound fish, which contended with me for two hundred
yards down a succession of rapids, required three-quarters of
an hour. Then, again, I have killed one of ten pounds in
three minutes, from its having exhausted itself by continued
desperate leaping.
Foop or THE SaLtmon.—The natural food of the young
fish, in its native stream, consists no doubt of small insects,
the larva of flies, and the flies themselves that deposit their
eggs in pools and running water to pass through the process
of incubation. I frequently took the fry last summer when
fishing for Salmon with an ordinary-sized Salmon-fly. These
young fish appeared not to feed in still pools or in the eddies on
the margin of the rapid, as the Trout do, but in the smoothly
gliding, swift water, where the Salmon are found; they would
frequently jump at the knots on my casting-line. Before the
British Salmon-streams were protected from improper fishing,
and before it was known that the little fish then called the
“Parr,” was really the young of the Salmon, they were
indiscriminately slaughtered by boys and foolish anglers.
This was also the case, to a great extent, after they had
arrived at the Smolt state, and were descending the rivers
on their first migration to sea.
It is supposed, that the feeding-ground of the Salmon
at sea, is not very remote from the mouth of the river
from which it migrates.
Regarding its food while at sea, Dr. Knox says: “The tint
of its flesh, its superior flavor, and its wonderful growth, is
~
THE SALMON FAMILY. 937
owing to its feeding on the eggs of various echinodermata and
crustacea.” Sir Humphrey Davy supposes the Sand Kel to
be one of its chief means of subsistence. It is certain, however,
that it does not exclude small fish, such as Capelins and Smelt,
from its bill of fare.
Every one who has seen the transverse section of a Salmon,
has noted the small cavity in which its stomach, intestines,
and vital organs are contained; a fish of twelve pounds
frequently having the flesh on the belly at least an inch
thick. This with the proportionate smallness of its head, is
the cause of its giving more edible substance than any other
fish of its size.
Concerning the remarkable fact that this fish is seldom
found with food in its stomach after its appearance in fresh
water, Sir Humphrey Davy, who was a close observer of all
that pertains to the Salmon, says: “I have opened ten or
twelve, and never found anything in their stomachs but tape-
worms bred there, and some yellow fluid; but I believe this
is generally owing to their being caught at the time of migra-
tion, when they are travelling from the sea upwards, and when
they do not willingly load themselves with food. Their
digestion seems to be quick, and their habits seem to show,
that after having taking a bait on the river, they do not
usually offer to take another till the work of digestion is
nearly performed; but when they are taken at sea and in the
rivers in winter, food, I am told, is sometimes found in their
stomachs. The Sea Trout is a much more voracious fish, and
like the Land Trout, is not willingly found with an empty
stomach.”
I have reserved my remarks on “Salmon-fishing” for a
separate chapter.
235 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE CANADIAN TROUT. SHA TROUT.
Saimo Canadensis: Hamiuton Smita.
With a view of correcting an error which prevails in regard
to this fish, I have adopted the specific name above. It
is improperly referred by Mr. Perley to Salmo trutta, an
European species found in the rivers of Scotland and Ireland,
and known there as the Salmon Trout, Sea Trout, or White
Trout. As no scientific description of the Canadian Trout
has yet been published, I have deemed it a matter of sufficient
importance to give an account of its specific characteristics,
comparing it with the European fish and the Brook Trout
of America.
Griffith, in his “Animal Kingdom” (Vol. X., p. 474), in
alluding to a beautifully colored, though not correct drawing,
found on a preceding page of the same volume, says: “Our
figure of Salmo Canadensis was drawn by Colonel Hamilton
Smith from a living specimen taken in Canada; it is beauti-
fully dotted with blood-red in white circular spots.” This is
all that this naturalist says of it. Mr. Perley, in his letter to
Frank Forester (see “Fish and Fishing,” page 122), gives
none of the specific characteristics of this fish; even his
account of its habits and general appearance would not
warrant his referring it to the same species as the Sea Trout
of Scotland, for he implies when comparing it with the Brook
Trout (S. fontinalis), that the Canadian Trout has red spots,
which 8S. trutta never has, but on the contrary dark irregular
markings, as Yarrell says, “somewhat resembling the letter
THE SALMON FAMILY. 239
X,” which are the shape of those found also on the Salmon.
Sir Humphrey Davy and Yarrell make no mention of red
spots on the Sea Trout of Scotland, and Irish and Scotch
anglers, in whose company I have taken the Canadian fish,
say, positively, that the Sea Trout they caught in the “old
country” is entirely a different fish, and has no red spots.
Mr. Perley says of the habits of the Canadian, or Sea Trout,
as he calls them: “They proceed up the rivers as far as the
head of tide in each, but never ascend into purely fresh
water.”* Here he was no less at fault than in confounding it
with the Huropean fish, for it is an established fact, that all
the Salmon Family seek water which is highly aerated for the
purpose of spawning, and of necessity “ascend into purely
fresh water,” and that fish of this species will go to the very
sources of a river for that purpose, if not prevented by
impassable falls or the smallness of the upper waters; fre-
quently occupying the same feeding and spawning grounds
with Brook Trout, or, as the Canadians call them, “River
Trout.” This intimate association is one reason why they
are so often confounded with the latter by careless observers ;
for a residence in fresh water gives them much the appearance
of light-colored Brook Trout, and many persons can only
distinguish them by laying an individual of each species
side by side.
It was thus by imperfect observation, and too readily credit-
ing stories of persons who were ignorant of the habits of this
* Yarrell, in his work on British fishes, says: ‘Doctor McCulloch
states, that the Salmon Trout, or Sea Trout as it is called in Scotland, is
now a permanent resident in a fresh-water lake on the island of Lismore,
one of the Hebrides, and without the power of leaving or reaching the
sea. There it has been known for a long course of years, perfectly recon-
ciled to its prison, and propagating without any apparent difficulty.”—
Journal of the Royal Institute, No. xxxiv., page 212.”
940 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
fish, that Mr. Perley not only referred it to an entirely
different species and misled persons as to its habits, but has
communicated the same errors to Frank Forester, who entails
them upon his readers.
Taking Mr. Perley’s account with Frank Forester’s endorse-
ment as true, I arranged my tackle accordingly, and last
summer visited the Province of New Brunswick, expecting
to take the true Salmo trutia, but after diligent search and
inquiry, seeking every source of reliable information, I could
not find or hear of its locality. All who had observed fish or
had to do with them, averring that there were no Trout in the
Provinces but those with red spots, or any fish of the Salmon
family in the rivers without red spots, except Salmon, Smelts,
and Capelins. I also found that the general average size of
this fish when taken in the rivers, was not as large as Mr.
Perley’s remarks would lead one to suppose, and that his
“average from three to five pounds,” and his killing “in one
morning sixteen Trout weighing eighty pounds,” were won-
ders “few and far between.” Such rare sport may occasion-
ally be found in May or early in June, when many of the
schools that enter the bays and harbors are composed entirely
of fish of large size, but in fresh water I do not think, as a
general thing, that the average will reach a pound. I have
taken them as small as four ounces.
A Canadian Trout, fresh from the sea, compared with a
Brook or River Trout, has larger and more distinct scales;
the form is not so much compressed; the markings on the
back are lighter, and not so vermiculated in form, but resem-
ble more the broken segments of a circle; it has fewer red
spots, which are also less distinct. It is more slender until it
reaches two pounds, a fish of seventeen inches (including the
caudal), after it has been some time in fresh water, weighing
only a pound and three-quarters, while a Brook Trout of the
THE SALMON FAMILY. 241
same length, in good condition, would weigh three-quarters
of a pound more. They become more robust, however, as
they increase in weight, a fish of four pounds resembling in
‘ its outline the engraving of the Sea Trout in Yarrell’s or
Frank Forester’s book.
In color, when fresh run from sea, this fish is of a light
bluish green on the back, light silvery gray on the sides, and
brilliant white on the belly ; the ventrals and anal fin entirely
white; the pectorals brownish blue in front, and the posterior
rays roseate white. The tail is quite forked in the young
fish, as in all the Salmonide, but when fully grown it is
slightly lunate. ‘There are recurved teeth on the palate, max-
illaries, and tongue, but none on the vomer.
If the number of rays in the fins indicate specific differ-
ence, or affinity, the following table will show that this fish is
more nearly allied to the Brook Trout than to the Sea Trout
of Europe :—
D.) P.) V.) A.| ©.
Sea Trout (S. tutta) . . . . . . . « {12/13} 9 | 10} 19
Canadian Trout (8. Canadensis) . . . . 110/18] 8] 91/19
Brook or River Trout (S. fontinalis) . . . | 10/12} 8 | 9) 19
There being only a difference of one ray in the pectorals,
which may be accidental.
Although I have taken some trouble to prove that 8. Cana-
densis and SS. trutta are distinct species, and that the latter
does not exist in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, I
have no doubt that it is found in the Arctic Seas, on this side
of the Atlantic, as I have examined, at the Academy of
Natural Sciences, specimens of the young fish brought by
Dr. Hayes, in his last Arctic expedition, from Upernavik,
which agree exactly with the description of S. trutta given by
Yarrell. There were no markings, however, on the back,
which might be accounted for from the fact that the specimens
16
94?, AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
were quite young, not being over eight or nine inches in
length; or the markings might have been obliterated by the
alcohol in which they were preserved.
“In a recent publication (“Game Fish of the North”), the
author, who writes over the name of “ Barnwell,” says, when
speaking of fishing for Canadian Trout on the way from
Chatham to Bathurst: “In case you should be too late to
reach Bathurst the same day, or have leisure on your hands,
stop at the Half Way House, on the Tabisintac, which has the
last syllable accentuated, and fish that night and next morn-
ing for Sea Trout. They are taken from a horse-boat in
abundance and of great size.”
After reading the above, I concluded, last summer in visit-
ing the Nipissiguit, to take “ Barnwell’s” advice, but was puz-
zled as to what he meant by a “horse-boat;” after thinking
the matter over, though, I came to the conclusion that the
Tabisintac was a river of some size, crossed by means of an
old-fashioned horse ferry-boat, from which an angler had
nothing to do but cast his flies, and take wheelbarrow:loads
of three and four pound Trout. Judge of my surprise, when
I found the Tabisintac, at the Half-Way House, a shallow
brook crossed by a wooden bridge of a single span; that
there was no fishing worth stopping for, unless one would
make up his mind to go five or six miles down the brook,
where it joined another stream of the same size, which would
occupy a whole day, or necessitate one’s staying all night at
the junction, if he started in the afternoon; and then with a
certainty of being stung terribly by mosquitoes, and bled
copiously by black flies. I also found that Barnwell’s “horse-
boat” was a large, leaky old “dug-out,” made of two huge
logs, joined together with wooden pins, and drawn up and
down the bed of the brook by a pair of stout horses, the bot-
tom grating over the pebbles, and bumping along over the
THE SALMON FAMILY. 243
larger stones, doubtless to the astonishment and terrot of all
the troutlets in the brook.
Notwithstanding my being so completely “sold” by “ Barn-
well’s” brief but glowing description of the fishing and the
“horse-boat,” I travelled one afternoon in this delightful
conveyance three miles down the brook; but as I did not
reach the celebrated pool at thé confluence of the two streams,
and only found one or two places of any depth, my catch, with
the exception of one fish of two pounds, was rather small.
’ Without mooting the question of the late Mr. Perley’s
proficiency in ichthyology, he was, besides being a genial,
warm-hearted gentleman, an ardent sportsman. In proof of
the latter qualification, I quote his spirited account of taking
this fish :—
“It is to be understood that the whole Gulf of St. Law-
rence abounds with White Trout from one to seven pounds
in weight. They proceed up the rivers as far as the head
of tide in each, but they never ascend into purely fresh
water. In the salt water they are caught only with the
‘Prince Edward’s fly,’ so ealled, the body of which is of
scarlet with gold tinsel, or of gold tinsel only, with four
wings from feathers of the scarlet ibis—the ‘curry curry’ of
South America.
“Tn the estuaries of rivers where the water is only brackish,
they take the Irish lake-fly with gay colors; the scarlet ibis
seems the most attractive, however, in all cases. In fresh
water the Trout are quite different; they are much longer,
very brilliantly colored, with tricolored fins of black, white,
and scarlet, and numerous bright spots over the body. When
the fish are in good condition, these spots are nearly as large
as a silver penny. They rarely exceed three pounds in
weight, but are very sporting fish; they také most of the
Trish flies, but the red hackle, in all its varieties, is the
944 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOCK.
favorite. A brilliant hackle, over a yellow or fiery-brown
body, kills everywhere, all the season through.
“The Sea Trout fishing in the bays and harbors of ‘ Prince
Edward’s Island,’ especially in June, when the fish first rush
in from the gulf, is really magnificent; they average from
three to five pounds each. I found the best fishing at St.
Peter’s Bay, on the north side of the island, about twenty-
eight miles from Charlottestown. I there killed in one
morning sixteen Trout, which weighed eighty pounds.
“In the bays and along the coasts of the island, they are
taken with the scarlet fly from a boat under eagy sail, with a
‘mackerel breeze,’ and oftentimes a heavy ‘ground swell.’
The fly skips from wave to wave, at the end of thirty yards
of line, and there should be at least seventy yards more on
the reel. It is splendid sport! as a strong fish will make
sometimes a long run and give a good chase down the wind.”
There is also a glowing description of what the author calls
“Sea Trout” fishing, in a book by Dr. Adamson of Quebec,
“Salmon-Fishing in Canada,” which will no doubt interest
the reader :—
“In writing of flies for the Canadian rivers, I ought not
to omit to state, that in every stream where I have found
Salmon, except the Jacques Cartier, the Sea Trout are to be
met with in extraordinary abundance, and that they rise
freely at any of the usual Salmon flies, provided they are
made of a small size, but that the most attractive I know of
is a small-sized fly, with a scarlet body, gold twist, red hackle,
and stair’s wing.
“The avidity with which these fish take, their great size,
beautiful shape, and exquisite flavor, must all be experienced
before any account of them can be implicitly believed.
Sometimes they become a source of annoyance to the nervous
and excited fisherman, who, having prepared a seductive fly,
THE SALMON FAMILY. 945
is about to fish a favorite pool, and sees, at his first throw,
five or six of these rush at it furiously—in which case there
is no alternative but to change the fly and kill them all off—
then you may fish in peace for your Salmon, but not till then.
I confess I never found this to be a very great punishment.
I am fond of all sorts of fishing, and never could consider it
to be any great misfortune to hook and play eight or ten
beautiful fish, vying with molten silver in their brightness,
and varying from one pound to seven pounds in weight, to
say nothing of their flavor when broiled for breakfast, all the
time having the conviction on my mind, that as soon as I had
done so I should in all probability kill two or three noble
Salmon in the same pool.
“The best time for fishing for these beautiful fish is when
the tide is flowing, and the best place is that part of the
stream where the salt water unites with the fresh; they come
up with the tide into the stream, and continue to roam and
play about it in immense sculls until the ebb comes on, when
they return to salt water; in the mean time, however, they
take with much avidity, and afford most excellent sport if
fished for with light tackle. They are frequently accompanied
in their ascent of the rivers by the more weighty and more
cautious Salmon, who is often tempted in such circumstances
to take the fly.
“T remember one morning in July, 1849, the yacht Iro-
quois was lying in the river Moisie, when about six o’clock
my friend the major came down from the deck, where he had
been performing his ablutions, and calling me a lazy dog
because I was still lying in bed engaged with a book, asked
me to accompany him on shore, as the tide was making, and
assist in getting some fish for breakfast. We started instanter,
the captain telling us we had no time to lose, as breakfast
was nearly ready. In less than an hour we returned, and
9
a
46 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
then we turned out our spoil upon the deck; the baron and
captain admired them so much, that they insisted on weigh-
ing them before one was committed to the gridiron, and their
united weight was found to exceed eighty pounds. Of their
exquisite flavor, fresh as they were, and immediately after
the wholesome exercise in the invigorating air of the sea and
of the mountains, it is only prudent to be silent.”
In the month of May there is fine sport to be had in taking
these fish in the Nipissiguit at the head of tide, three miles
above Bathurst. In my visit to that river I was too late for
them, and only took an occasional fresh-run Trout, but not
of large size, in the pools above the “Rough Waters.” In
the “ Basin,” a mile and a half below the Grand Falls, these
fish collect in great numbers, at the mouth of a small brook
which trickles in over a beach of gravel; but they are not
large here, and, having been some time in fresh water, have
lost their brilliancy and resemble Brook Trout, a few of
which are also taken at the same place. I have taken thirty
pounds here in an hour with a Salmon-fly of ordinary size,
and only stopped because they were so easily caught that
there was no.sport in it. At the “Falls Pool,” a hundred
yards below the Grand Falls, they are often a nuisance,
seizing the fly which in a moment more might have induced
arise from a Salmon. As they are not large there—seldom
exceeding a pound and a quarter, and not valued much after
they are caught, their frequent intrusion is vexatious. A
red-bodied, red-winged fly, wrapped with gold tinsel, is the
most captivating, and even when torn by their sharp teeth,
as it soon will be, it is still preferable to a new one of plainer
colors. I have no doubt that a piece of red flannel tied at
the head of the hook would answer the purpose, and better
than a well-dressed fly of less glaring hue.
It is a source of regret that I was not early enough in my
THE SALMON FAMILY. IAT
visit to Bathurst to find these fish in brackish water, for
there is no questioning the great sport they give when just
from sea and of a large size; though I think Dr. Adamson,
to use his own expression, does not “draw it mild,” when he
mentions one of seven pounds as being at all common.
Amongst the most amusing chapters of the amusing book
just alluded to, is one (the eighth) devoted to a review of Mr.
Lanman’s book, discussing his merits as an angler and author,
248 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE SCHOODIC TROUT, OR DWARF SALMON OF
THE ST. CROIX.
Salmo Gloveri: Grrarp.
The only scientific account I can find of this fish is given
by Girard; it was brought to his notice by Mr. Townsend
Glover, of Fishkill Landing, New York, in compliment to
whom the specific name of Gloveri was bestowed on it. The
characteristics of interest to the angler I have taken from
Mr. Girard’s description, and give them below.
“The body of the male is subfusiform and rather slender,
particularly the caudal region. The female is stouter, with
the peduncle of the tail shorter. The eye is very large.
The caudal is deeply emarginate posteriorly. The scales
well developed. The upper surface of the head and dorsal
region are blackish-brown, the sides are silvery white, and
the belly yellowish. The region above the lateral is densely
spread all over with black, irregular spots, some of which are _
confluent ; a few scattered ones may be seen beneath that line ~
on the middle of the abdomen: Four to six of these spots
well defined are always observed on the operculum. <A few
reddish orange dots individually situated in the middle of a
black spot, are occasionally observed along the middle and
upper part of the flanks. Whether these dots are peculiar te
the female or proper to both sexes, I am not prepared to say,
from want of sufficient information upon that point.”
There is much obscurity as to this fish. Some suppose it
to be a species produced originally from Salmon which were
prevented by some obstacle from making their annual visits
THE SALMON FAMILY. 949
to the sea, but continuing to breed under such restraint,
produced dwarfed fish, and apparently a new species. Others
think it a hybrid, the produce of the Salmon and Brook
Trout, which isimprobable. It is permanent in the St. Croix
and in the Schoodic and Grand Lakes, which are the sources
of that river. <A friend who examined a specimen presented
to the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, says it
has much the appearance of a Grilse. It had, however, been
in spirits some time, and the spots described by Girard were
not visible. The number of fin rays are almost identical
with those of the Salmon.
An angler of Philadelphia, who enjoys the pleasure of
taking the Schoodic Trout with the artificial fly nearly every
summer, uses a stout one-handed fly-rod and strong Trout-
tackle; he describes the sport as being very exciting. Some-
times a brace of them are taken at a cast, pulling bard, and
making desperate leaps above the water. He has given me
from his journal the following memoranda :—
“June 1856. Three rods, six days, 634 Trout; 872 lbs.
“June 1857. Three rods, six days, 432 fish; 642 lbs.
“June 1858. Two rods, eight days, 510 fish; 725 Ibs.
One rod, six hours, 65 fish; 94 lbs.
“ Average time of fishing, four and a half hours per day.”
He also says that these fish are not found as low down as
Calais.
The Schoodic Lakes are reached by means of the steamers
which leave Boston for St. John, New Brunswick, twice a
,week, and stop at Eastport, Maine; from whence there is a
daily boat for Calais, and a railroad to within ten miles of
the lower fishing-places. At Calais the angler must procure
his canoe and stores, and make other preparations for camp-
ing out.
AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Nw
oa
o
THE GREAT LAKE TROUT.
Salmo naymacush : RicHaRDSON.
The Naymacush can scarcely be enumerated amongst what
are strictly called “sporting fish ;” but as it possesses several
points of interest to the angler, besides its enormous size, a
work of so general a character as this would be incomplete
without a notice of this monster Trout. It is purely a fresh-
water fish, and exceeds in size any species of Salmon known.
Its average weight is nearly double that of the true Salmon.
In the waters of the United States, it is found in Lakes
Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie; the Falls of Niagara
preventing its passage into Lake Ontario.
Dr. Richardson describes this fish under the above sci-
entific name, giving it the Indian appellation, and says it is
found in Winter Lake. I have no doubt it also inhabits
Winnipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave, Great Bear, and other
lakes which discharge their waters into Hudson’s Bay and
the Arctic Ocean. With us they are most abundant in Lake
Superior, though they are taken in quantities in Lakes
Huron, Erie, and Michigan. They are generally caught in
gill-nets sunk at the bottom, on set lines, and by fishing with
hand-lines in deep water, as well as by trolling at certain
seasons of the year. In winter they are taken by spearing
through a hole in the ice.
In stopping for a few days at Mackinaw some years ago, I
saw a Trout of this species weighing forty pounds. It was
‘LAOUL TAVT LVAUYD DHA
THE SALMON FAMILY. 953
taken on a set line in the straits opposite Bois Blanc Island.
The fisherman assured me it was not a very unusual size.
Its proportions were rather shorter than those indicated by
the preceding engraving. It has been taken in Lake Supe-
rior weighing as much as a hundred pounds. The flavor of
this fish is nothing to boast of. They are seldom eaten when
the delicate Whitefish, which inhabits the same waters, is on
the table.
It is said that the NMaymacush spawns along the shores of
the lakes in the month of November. I have never been
able to ascertain whether they seek those places where the
aerated waters of brooks or rivers flow into the lake, or that
they enter the mouths of such streams for that purpose.
They are doubtless fish of rapid growth, although there is no
reliable means of judging what size they attain in a given
time.
In returning from Sault Ste. Marie in July, 1844, in a
“ Mackinaw boat,” such as was then in general use among
the voyageurs, I threw a line over, with two stout 00 Kirby
hooks at the end of it, baited with a white rag and a piece of
my red flannel shirt, and hooked several Trout of this kind
near the “Detour,” but the hooks in every instance but one
were straightened or broken, and the fish lost; the single
exception being a small one of about eight pounds, which
was evidently a young fish, from the fact of its meat cutting
nearly white, when we broiled it.
The degree of skill attained by the Indians, half-breeds,
and traders in spearing the Naymacush is wonderful; but it
is only by early education, or long practice, that they become
adepts in the art. The usual mode is as follows: —
The spearer provides himself with the necessary weapon
fastened into the end of a long ash handle, and the leaden
counterfeit of a small fish, six or seven inches long, which he
254 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK.
keeps bright by scraping with a knife, and ties it, evenly
balanced, with a string, which passes through a small hole in
the back. After making a hole of proper size in the ice for
spearing and taking out his captives, he cuts another, through
which he lowers the leaden imitation; then covering the
larger hole and himself by means of one or more blankets
suspended on upright sticks, he is ready for operation, and
proceeds to lower and raise the counterfeit fish to lure the
great Trout within reach of his spear. As the large hole is
darkened by the blankets, the spearer is not seen by the Trout
below; as he rises in pursuit of the leaden fish and comes
within striking distance, he is impaled by the deadly spear
and landed on the ice, where, after a few flaps of his tail, he
dies a martyr to his voracity or curiosity. .
The wood-cut of this fish I have taken from Mr. E. Cabot’s
representation, filling in the proportions somewhat between
the anal and caudal fins to suit my own notions of its form.
TUE SALMON FAMILY. 265
THE LESSER LAKE TROUT.
Salmo Adirondakus: Nosis.
This, the Lake Trout of Hamilton and Franklin counties,
in the state of New York, is found in all the small lakes
‘stretching along at intervals west of the Adirondack Moun-
tains. It differs much in its proportions from the engraving
of Salmo confinis, found in De Kay’s book, and reproduced
by Frank Forester; the latter looks more like the huge
misshapen Brook Trout, sometimes taken when trolling in
those waters, than any fish found in Lakes Pleasant, Piseco,
Indian or Long Lake, or in Tuppers or the Saranac Lakes,
further north: still I have no doubt, from what I have heard,
that there are other species, or at least varieties of Lake Trout
found in those regions, and that De Kay’s representation may
resemble an overgrown specimen of one of them.
This fish, in form, is oblong; head one-fourth: its length ;
upper jaw slightly longer; no scales on opercles; eye one-
_third distant from snout. Color: back, bluish green; sides,
silvery gray; belly, white; lateral line straight; the body is
mottled rather than spotted; branchial rays 12; dorsal 1:10;
pectorals 13; ventral 9; anal 2°10; caudal (forked) 3:22, 3.
There are two rows of teeth on each side of the roof of the
956 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
mouth, a row on the upper and lower maxillaries, and on the
tongue, but none on the vomer. The teeth are curved inwards.
This Trout is sometimes taken as high as twenty-five
pounds, though such instances are extremely rare, they
seldom exceed six, and the general average is not over four
pounds. They have one of the habits of large Salmon when
hooked, which is sulking at the bottom; but as far as sport
goes, they bear about the same relation to the Salmon or the
Brook Trout, as a wagon horse does to a full-blooded racer,
or a vicious mustang.
They are said to spawn in November, along the shores of
the lakes, or the rocky margins of islands. They are found
in May and June, or as soon as the ice has disappeared, near
the outlets, where they are on the lookout for minnows and
shiners, which do not venture into deep water. So in trolling,
greater numbers, but smaller Lake Trout, are taken near the
outlets; and larger ones, and fewer, in the depths of the lakes.
Deep places in the lakes are marked with buoys, and, after
being baited a few days, are fished with hand-lines. In win-
ter, a place thus baited is fished through holes cut in the ice;
but this kind of fishing affords poor sport, and, as a general
thing, but few fish.
T have never heard of Lake Trout rising as Brook Trout
do, though they are sometimes taken when trolling, on a large
gaudy fly, attached by a gut length to the line or leader, eight
or ten feet above the minnow.
The usual mode of angling for them is by trolling with a
“shiner,” a small fish resembling a roach or dace. At the end
of this article is a wood-cut representing a gang of hooks
baited with a minnow. Stout Limerick hooks are generally
used; the pair at the tail, as well as those in the middle,
should not be smaller than No. 1; the lip hook, No. 3 or 4; the
length of the gang is regulated by the size of the bait. The
THE SALMON FAMILY. 257
bait is generally put on alive: the lip-hook being passed
carefully through the upper and lower lips, effectually closes
its mouth; one of the middle hooks is then passed through
the back, just beneath the dorsal fin, and one of the tail-hooks
through the upper part of the body, near the tail, in such
manner as to bend the tail slightly, to insure its spinning,
as pictured in the vignette. Two swivels are used: one
joining the foot length, on which the gang is tied, to the
leader; and another attaching the leader to the line. The
rod should be stout, not over eleven feet long, and rigged
with metallic guides and end-piece. The reel (a multiplier is
best) should contain not less than a hundred yards of plaited
silk line. The leader should be of the stoutest single gut,
and seven or eight feet long. A single buckshot is used
to sink the bait in water of moderate depth, and two or three
when it is deep; and should be placed at the junction of the
line and leader.
In trolling, it is the custom of the angler to sit on a stool
or low chair, with his back to the oarsman; I prefer sitting
on the stern seat, facing the bow of the boat, as it is more
pleasant, and enables one to see ahead. Forty or fifty yards
of line are allowed to run off the reel. The most likely time
for the “Laker” to seize the bait, is when the boat makes a
turn, as the minnow is then apt to rest on the bottom, and
will recover its animation, and swim about; and if there is a
fish near, he is likely to seize it, when it starts again, as the
boat gathers headway.
There is a constant strain on the line and rod, though the
boat may not move fast. But when a fish lays hold, it is
known by a backward surge of the rod; when the angler
strikes smartly, the headway of the boat is stopped, and the
fish reeled up, gaffed, and lifted in. If the fish is large, the
boat is backed towards him, or follows; and as he likely has
17
958 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
more than one hook in his mouth, there is small chance of
his escape.
When a large fish sulks or takes the bottom, his capture is
a question of time only. I have known an angler, on such
occasions, light his segar from that of his friend in another
boat, and wait on his victim patiently for a half hour, humor-
ing him in all his runs and sulks, and at last bring him
within reach of the gaff. To increase the sport, I have some-
times landed, and killed my fish from the shore.
There is much difference in the condition of “Lakers.” I
have had fish in the boat not weighing more than three-
fourths as much as others of the same length, that were fuller
fed.
The flesh is of a much paler color than that of the Salmon;
the meat of a fish of five pounds being a delicate pink, while
that of a three-pound fish is almost white. A fish of four or
five pounds is excellent when boiled; it is more remarkable
for its delicacy than its richness. I have eaten them planked,
but they are not to be compared to Brook Trout, cooked on
a stick or under the ashes. I have also had them smoked to
bring home, and think, on the whole, they are as good in this
way as any other, though inferior, of course, to smoked
Salmon.
These fish are found in our markets, as far south as Phila-
delphia, in the months of October and November.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 259
BACK’S GRAYLING. THE STANDARD-BEARER.
Thymallus signifer: Ricnarpson.
Dr. Richardson, in his “Fauna Boreali-Americana,” gives
not only a glowing déscription of the exquisite beauty of this
fish, but speaks with all the ardor of a true angler of its game
qualities. He describes it thus: “Back dark; sides of a
hue intermediate between lavender-purple and bluish-gray ;
belly black-gray, with several irregular whitish blotches.
There are several quadrangular spots of bluish-gray on the
anterior part of the body.... The head is hair-brown above ;
the cheeks and gill-covers the same, combined with purplish
tints, and there is a blue mark on each side of the lower jaw.
The dorsal fin has a blackish-gray color, with some lighter
blotches, and is crossed by rows of beautiful Berlin-blue
spots; it is edged with light lake-red. The ventrals are
streaked with whitish and reddish lines in the direction of
their rays. The body,is compressed, with an elliptical pro-
ee The greatest depth of the body is scarcely one-
fifth of the total length, caudal included. The head is small,
being one-sixth of the total length.”
Dr. Richardson further says: “The Esquimaux title (Hew-
look-Powak), denoting ‘ winglike fin,’ alludes to its magnifi-
cent dorsal; it was in reference to the same feature that I
bestowed upon it the specific appellation of Signifer, ‘The
Standard-bearer,’ intending also to advert to the rank of my
companion, Captain Back, then a midshipman, who took the
first specimen we saw with an artificial fly.”
It appears from the same account that it is found only in
cold, clear waters, and delights in the most rapid part of
mountain streams. In this it differs from the European
260 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
\
Grayling, which loves the gentle current, and is generally
found at the tail of a rift or “stream,” as English anglers
call it. This naturalist, and keen angler—he must have
been—also says: “In the autumn of 1820 we obtained many
by angling in a rapid of the Winter River, opposite Fort
Enterprise. The sport was excellent; for the Grayling gene-
rally springs entirely out of water, when first struck by the
hook, and tugs strongly at the line, requiring as much dex-
terity to land it safely, as it would to secure a Trout of six
times the size.”
My experience in Trout-fishing is that large fish of any
species are sluggish in comparison with those of an ordinary
size; but I am not inclined to concede the superiority claimed
by this author for the Grayling over the Brook Trout.
Making all allowance, however, for the ardor of the angler,
the “ Hewlook-Powak” must have given such sport as the
fly-fisher seldom has the happiness to enjoy.
It is often a source of regret to the angler, that the natu-
ralist, in describing new species of game-fish, is indifferent or
silent as to the sport they may furnish; and the fisher reads
a scientific description as a story that is half told; and is apt
to set the ichthyologist down as a humdrum bookman, more
interested in specific distinctions than in the pleasure of
catching fish. It is a great relief to find such an exception
to the general rule in Dr. Richardson.
There is a smaller species of Grayling (Thymallus thymal-
loides) described by the same writer, which does not grow
above eight inches in length; he says they are taken in
company with the larger.
The Grayling being a fish in the capture of which the
American angler cannot participate, we give no account of
the manner of angling for them; but refer the reader who
may have interest or curiosity on that score to English
authors.
262 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE SMELT.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 263
THE SMELT.
Osmerus viridescens: Dr Kay.
This is the beautiful, symmetrically formed, bright little fish
brought from the north, and found in our fish-markets from
December till March.
Ichthyologists say there is only one species of Osmerus
found in the United States; notwithstanding the small Smelt
taken in the Passaic, the Raritan, and of late years, in the
Delaware, are claimed by anglers and epicures to be different
from those brought from Boston.
On discovering the smaller variety in the Schuylkill, where
it had not before been found by ichthyologists, I thought it
a matter of sufficient interest to present specimens with some
written observations* to the Academy of Natural Sciences.
* At a meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia,
held March 26th, 1861, on report of the respective committees, the follow-
ing paper was ordered to be published in the proceedings :—
“ Remarks on a species of Osmerus taken in the Schuylkill, below Fair-
mount Dam, by Tuap. Norris:—Form. Elliptical, elongated ; section
oval; breadth compared with its length (exclusive of caudal) as 2 to 11,
and head from tip of lower jaw to posterior angle of opercle as 5 to 22.
“Lower jaw projecting, with an upward curve; scales on all the gill
covers, largest on preopercle; five large recurved teeth on the tongue, the
largest on the extreme point; two of the same kind on the front of the
upper jaw; no teeth on the vomer, but a patch of small ones on the
palatine bones and maxillaries.
“Color. Silvery steel above, with light greenish reflections ; a distinct
streak of bright roseate purple extending immediately above and along
264 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Afterwards I ascertained from good authority that it is some-
times taken in the Brandywine, at Wilmington, Del. and at
Trenton, N. J.
the lateral line; sides silvery; belly brilliantly white. Branchial rays
8; D. 11,0. 20; P. 11; V. 8, A. 15.—The second dorsal has about twenty
minute but distinct cartilaginous rays; tail forked, upper lobe slightly
longest.
“The points of difference between this and the O. viridescens are the
more southern habitat of the new species, its smaller and more uniform
size, and the distinct roseate purple of the streak above the lateral line.
O. viridescens (the northern Smelt) attains the length of 12 inches. I
have seen the new species here described in quantities at New Brunswick,
New Jersey, but never exceeding 6} inches exclusive of caudal.
“Storer enumerates 14 rays in the pectorals of O. viridescens, hut on a
recent examination of that species I found only 11, as in the new species,
and that the fin rays of both are identical. '
“There are several circumstances of interest connected with this little
fish. It is the smallest of all the Salmonide, except the two genera of
Scopulus and Mallotus. It is the only fish of the Salmon family, besides
the Brook Trout, found in our waters, and the only species of anadromous
salmonide that visits the Delaware and its tributaries. Whether this fish
enters any fresh rivers south of Cape Henlopen, is a matter of conjecture,
but I have no doubt, if properly sought for, it may be found very early in
the spring, in many streams falling into the Delaware, particularly in
rapids or near the falls of a dam which obstructs the upward flow of the
tide.
“Tt appears to visit our waters only for the purpose of spawning, and is
found at the falls below Fairmount Dam for a few days in February or
early in March. In those I examined a few days since, I found the milt
partly discharged from the male and exuding in a semi-fluid state from
the vent. Many of the females had cast their spawn, in others it was
partially discharged, and the ova were found sticking to the sides of the
fish as they lay in a heap.
“‘T have been told that these fish can be taken occasionally in February
along the wharves and in the docks of the Delaware with a cast-net.
They are taken with cast and scoop nets at Fairmount Dam. They are
common and abundant at New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the Raritan,
THE SALMON FAMILY. 265
As an article of trade the Smelt is of some importance. It
is said that a firm in Boston, who, it appears, monopolizes the
trade in this delicate little fish, sells no less than a hundred
thousand dollars’ worth of them during the season, which
commences in October or November and lasts till March.
They are taken in large numbers along our coast north of
Boston, and are still more abundant along the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, where they come up the rivers as far as the head
of tide to spawn. In the month of May, just above the
head of tide-water, immense schools of them are directed
in their course so as to pass through a narrow opening,
formed by piling stones in two oblique rows nearly together at
the upper ends. As the Smelts rush through in a continuous
stream, they are dipped up with scoop-nets. A hundred
barrels of them are sometimes taken in a week on the
Nipissiguit by a man, assisted by a half-grown boy. There
they are used for manure, selling for fifty or sixty cents a
barrel at Bathurst. The usual price ia the New York market
is from ten to fifteen cents a pound.
and it is said also in the Passaic, though during some winters they even
there are comparatively scarce.
“Tt is evident from the size, shape, and arrangement of the teeth, that
this fish is extremely predatory, and in that respect more closely allied to
the true Salmon than either of the genera of Coregonus or Thymailus.
“Tn the examination of this fish I have ascertained a fact which is also
worthy of note: it is, that the second dorsal or adipose fin (which in this
fish is transparent), has about twenty minute cartilaginous rays; they are
quite distinct, and the question arises, are there not rays in the adipose
fin of all the Salmonide, though it may be covered with thick skin or fat,
concealing the rays? The adipose fin was given for use by the Creator,
and not as a useless appendage, and without the rays how else could it be
contracted or expanded, or moved from one side to the other? It may be
said that they are merely cartilaginous, but so are many of the rays,
especially near the ends or border of the fins. Dr. Bridges could not
discover these rays on examining this fish, as it had been dipped in
alcohol, and the fin rendered opaque.”
268 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
In England Smelts have been transferred to fresh-water
ponds having no communication with the sea, and have con-
tinued to thrive and breed abundantly. A like instance is
said to have occurred on Long Island.
There is not the least doubt that much sport may be had
in angling for Smelts with fine tackle and a light pliant
Trout-rod, and that they would take the fly on a favorable
day, for they are caught at the north with hook and line in
all the harbors; generally from the wharves by boys, who
catch large strings of them during the autumn, and even in
winter, when other fish refuse a bait. This is the case with
an inferior fish, the Roach, which is taken in the docks along
the Delaware in winter. A Smelt of ten and twelve inches,
to which length the northern variety sometimes grows, would
be no mean prize, if caught in winter, by those who feel that
angling is almost “one of the necessities of life.” Small
minnows or pieces of fish would, no doubt, be good bait. On
examination J have found small shrimp in the stomachs of
those brought from Boston. When taken from the water,
Smelts have a fragrant smell, resembling that of a fresh cu-
cumber. They are certainly the most delicate fish that is
eaten; the roe, which is very large for their size, is pecu-
liarly so.
The best way of cooking them, after having drawn the
entrails out by clipping them at the gills and vent with a pair
of scissors, is to roll them in coarse corn-meal or grated
cracker, and fry them in salad oil, or fresh sweet lard. There
should be sufficient lard or oil to keep the fish from the
bottom of the pan. When served up, open a Smelt while
hot, and spread a little butter on the inside to melt; pepper
and salt it, and lay a piece of the fish on a slice of buttered
bread, and take a mouthful of each at the same time.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 267
CAPELIN.
Mallotus villosus : Cuvimr.
This, with the exception of the genus Scopulus, is the
smallest species of Salmonide found in American waters.
Dr. Richardson says it is nearly allied to the Osmerus (Smelt).
It is of small size, seldom exceeding six inches in length.
They are said to be a delicious little pan-fish, not excelled by
the Smelt itself, and that they resemble that fish in the
peculiar smell for which it is noted when taken from the
water.
Capelin are found in immense numbers on the coast of
Labrador, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where they are
used as bait for the Codfish. One sweep of the net at night
as they come in shore, is said to secure as many as will serve
a fishing-smack for the next day. They are only mentioned
here for their value as pertaining to the Cod-fishery of the
northern coast. The following notice of the taking of these
little fish is from the April number (1861) of Harper’s Maga-
zine; the article is entitled “Three Months in Labrador” :—
“ At early evening, after the labors of the day, the seine-
boats go in quest of Capelin (bait), carefully searching the
little coves and inlets, and creeping along the shores; three
men pulling in the usual way, an oarsman in the stern
standing up and pushing, while he scans the surface of the
water for the ripple of passing schools, and a lookout in the
bows, motionless as a figure-head, resting upon his elbows,
and peering into the depths before him. Now one gives
968 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
warning, and over goes the seine smoothly and noiselessly,
and with a rapid circuit the bait is impounded and quickly
hauled on board. One cast is generally sufficient, for the
Capelin swarm in millions, swimming so densely that often a
dip-net can be filled from a passing school. They keep near
the shore to avoid their finny pursuers, and are left flounder-
ing upon the rocks by every reflux wave. The Cod often
leap clear of the water in their pursuit, and at such times
may be taken by the hook almost the instant it touches the
water. The Capelin is a delicate fish, about six inches in
length, and not unlike a Smelt; his back a dark olive green,
sides of changing rainbow hues, and belly silvery white.”
Great numbers of these little fish are, no doubt, devoured
by Salmon, as they come in from sea and enter the bays and
mouths of rivers they ascend.
THE SALMON FAMILY. 969
THE WHITEFISH.
Coregonus albus.
There are not less than thirteen distinct species of Corego-
nus described by ichthyologists. Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna
Boreali-Americana, mentions seven: C. albus, the Attihawmeg;
C. tulibee, the Tulibee Coregonus; C. artede, Le Sueur’s Her-
ring Salmon; C. quadrilateral, the Round Fish; C. Labrado-
ricus, the Musqua River Coregonus; C. lucidus, the Bear
Lake Salmon Herring; C: Hurongus, the Lake Huron Salmon
Herring. De Kay describes three species: C. albus (the large
Whitefish brought to our markets from the great lakes during
the autumn months, and identical with the Attihawmeg of
Dr. Richardson); @. Otsego, the Otsego Lake Whitefish Mow
almost extinct); and C. clupeiformis, the Lake Herring.
On the continent of Europe there is the Laverett (in the
lakes of Westmoreland, England); the Gwynaid (in the lakes
of Dumfrieshire, Scotland); and the Vendace, and another
species, in Ireland.
The Round Fish mentioned by Dr. Richardson is as large
as our Whitefish; the remainder, both on this continent and
in Europe, do not exceed in size a large Herring, and are
mostly known as Lake Herring.
The geographical range of the Whitefish in the United
States, extends from the Falls of Niagara through the great
lakes up to the head of Lake Superior. They are of larger
size in their more northern habitat, the average at the Sault
Ste. Marie (the outlet of Lake Superior) being four or five
pounds; while those brought to our markets from the more
southern lakes do not average two pounds. The largest I
270 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ever heard of being taken in Lake Superior was one of fifteen
pounds; but such instances are rare.
At one time they were exported largely from the great
lakes, being salted and barrelled, as Shad are with us. The
usual mode of taking them is with gill-nets sunk in deep
places in the lakes; but in autumn they come in large schools
into shallow water along the lake shores, to spawn, when
great numbers of them are taken with the ordinary seine.
Whole tribes of Indians subsist entirely on them in the
Arctic regions. I found a considerable portion of the tribe
of Chippewas permanently encamped at Sault Ste. Marie
about twenty years ago, whose only means of living were the
Whitefish found there. To take them, the Indians go, two in
a canoe, to the lower part of the rapids; one in the stern,
with pole or paddle, keeps the prow steadily heading up the
current, while another, with a dip-net, the long handle bent
backwards near the bow of the net, stands in the bow of the
canoe. The latter, by a sudden dip, apparently pressing the
fish towards the bottom, turns the net dexterously, lifts it,
and throws the fish into the bottom of the boat, sometimes
taking two at once, and never failing to secure his prey.
The flesh of this fish is snowy white, and, though delicate,
it has a gelatinous richness which entitles it to all the lauda-
tion bestowed on it by epicures. Dr. Richardson says it never
cloys, but rather grows in favor with those who eat it, and that
one never feels the necessity of bread as an accompaniment.
It is said that it is seldom found with food in its stomach, and
then only a few small crustacea. Still its conformation shows
it to be a fish of rapid growth, and of course a gross feeder.
What the food is, that gives it such fatness, or where it is
found, has never been ascertained. In the fall of the year,
before spawning, it loses all reasonable proportions, looking
as if it was deformed. The head, not much larger than a
THE SALMON FAMILY. 271
Herring’s (attached to a body as deep, and thicker than a
Shad’s), appears to sink into its shoulders; and it becomes so
fat at that season, that a very large portion of its substance is
lost in frying; or if broiled, it is difficult to keep it from
taking fire on the gridiron; though, in the early summer, as I
have seen it at Sault Ste. Marie, it is symmetrically formed ;
but even then it is remarkable for its small head.
From its outward appearance, the Whitefish would hardly
be taken for one of the royal family of Salmonide, its adipose
dorsal fin appearing to be the only characteristic in common.
Its thin head and small toothless mouth, so different from the
powerful jaws and formidable dentition of species belonging
to the genus Salmo, shows it to be an inhabitant of the quiet
deeps, earning its living peaceably, and not as the great
predatory trout of the same waters. Any attempt by Frank
Forester, Mr. Brown, and “ Barnwell” to make it out a game-
fish is ridiculous. I have never heard of its being taken even
with hook and line on the bottom, let alone its rising at an
artificial fly. Nor do I believe that either of the above-
named writers has any reliable authority for holding out
such an idea.
The following description of its specific character is from
a specimen obtained in our fish-market last fall:—B. 8; D. 2,
11; 0.16; P.15; V.11; A.12. The roots of the ventrals
are immediately beneath the middle of the dorsal; the ter-
minus of the adipose dorsal perpendicular to that of the
anal; anterior of adipose dorsal with minute scales. The
specimen weighed twenty-eight ounces, was 16} inches long,
and 44 inches broad.
272 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT.
The manner of angling for Trout with bait, depends much
on the kind of water one fishes, or the bait used. In a rapid
stream, a light, pliant cane rod, with a tip somewhat stiff, and
without a reel, is to be preferred; a tine line of silk and hair,
with a gut bottom of three feet; a weak-trout hook of No. 25
or 26 is better than the short-shanked Kirby; split shot
should be used for sinkers, one or more, as the current may
require.
‘With such tackle and in water as above mentioned, let
me describe the manner of baiting the hook. Take a
whole worm—not mutilated—of medium size, and enter
the point of the hook about midway or rather nearer the
tail, and passing it along bring it out a half inch or so
from the head; the tail will then move as well as the head,
showing signs of life; and when it loses its vitality, it is
still attractive when drawn against the current. Whether
wading or from the bank, cast in at the head of the rift,
and let the bait drift along near the bottom, drawing it
back occasionally to make it show plainly. When a minnow
is used for bait in still water, the hook should be passed
through its back; if in rapid water, through the upper and
_ lower lips; or it should be bridled as described in Rock-
fishing.
After fishing the main current, try the sides of the rift.
On feeling a bite, draw away a little, coaxing the fish to lay
hold more vigorously; by his resistance and pulling hard
you can ascertain when he is securely hooked; then draw
THE SALMON FAMILY. 273
him towards the shore and lift him out, or by slipping your
hand down the leader, grasp him by the nape of the neck,
and stick your thumb under his gill to make your hold more
secure.
Allowing your bait to trip along under bushes that over-
hang the bank, or to float off towards the end of the rift,
sawing it backwards and forwards, is an effective way of bait-
fishing.
When fishing with a grasshopper, the sinker may be dis-
pensed with; and with this bait the still parts of the stream
may be fished, where a Trout would be less likely to take a
worm than in brisk water.
There are several ways of scouring earthworms; the sim-
plest is to put them in a flannel bag, discarding those that
are mutilated, and parts of worms, and allow them to purge
themselves for five or six hours. They may be kept a day or
two in moderately cool weather; the mouth of the bag should
be closed at night to prevent their escape. When fishing,
the bag may be pinned or buttoned to the waistband of one’s
pantaloons, with the mouth of the bag open. Four or five
inches of the toe of an old woollen stocking will answer in
place of a Aannel bag.
In fishing the ponds of Long Island, I have seen a float
used by some anglers. There is little need of a landing-net
in bait-fishing, for by giving time enough, and a little coaxing,
‘a Trout will hook himself very securely.
Having said thus much on bait-fishing, I leave the subject
of fly-fishing for another chapter, assuring the beginner that
it is no abstruse science, notwithstanding all the learned
essays on the subject, and promising him, that after an
honest endeavor to master the rudiments, that he will lose
confidence in ground-bait, and resort to it, not for sport,
18
974 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
but only in time of a freshet to get Trout for his dinner or a
roast ; and that the only use he will find for his bait-hooks,
will be to give away to the little barefoot boys and girls he
may meet on the stream, trying to catch a string of Trout for
their supper.
CHAPTER X.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING.
“ UNOHANGEABLE, save to thy wild waves’ play,
Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow—
Such as creation’s dawn beheld, thou rollest now.
“Thou giorious mirror, where the Almighty’s form
Glasses itseif in tempests: in all time,—
Calm or conyulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm,
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
Dark heaving—boundless, endless, and sublime,
The image of eternity, the throne
Of the Invisible.”——
BYRON.
CHAPTER X,
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING.
Inrropuctory Remarks
Tue SHEEPSHEAD.
Tue Weagrisu, or Saut-Water Trovt.
Tue Bars, or KincrIsH.
Tue Spot, Picrisu, or Goopy.
Tue CROAKER.
Tue ReprisH or THE Guir or Mexico.
Tue Buverisx, or SNapPpiInc MackEreEL.
Tue Spanish MackEreEL.
Tue Pompano (Souruern).
Tue DrumrisH,
Tue FLounper.
Tue Sea-Bass.
-Tue BiackFisu.
Tae Mou.uer.
Tue Tom Cop, or FrostrisH.
Tue Porey.
THE topography of our coast shows long stretches of low
sandy beach, which beat back the waves of the Atlantic, from
Sandy Hook to Cape Florida. Inside of these are intermi-
nable sounds, creeks, and quiet bays, abundantly stocked
with Bluefish, Weakfish, Blackfish, Rockfish, Sheepshead,
Barb, Croakers, Pigfish, Porgies, Sea-Bass, &c. Here the
angler may listen to the waves beating against the ocean
side of the barrier, and see the white breakers; and at times
may even feel the salt spray which flies over the narrow
(277)
278 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
4
strip of sand, sprinkling his face, as he sits in his boat and
makes havoc amongst the fins.
Along our seaboard there are places of summer resort,
where hotels and boarding-houses are kept for the accommo-
dation of those who come to shoot and to fish; the visitors
frequently bringing their families to enjoy the bathing and
invigorating sea air. To almost any of these let one who is
fond of fishing repair between the middle of July and first of
September. Let him provide himself with a stout rod, good
flax line, large hooks, a felt hat, a red flannel shirt, and a few
“store clothes” for Sunday and dress occasions, and he will
have fishing to his heart’s content—big ones, and plenty of
them. If he takes the advice of old fogies, or the man who
furnishes his boat and bait, he will fish with a hand-line.
If he follows the instinct of the true angler, he will fish with
rod and reel, and as a consequence his enjoyment of the sport
will be enhanced.
Of all places within easy distance of our city, commend me
to Long Beach, where the accommodations are good (barring
the butter), mosquitoes few (if the wind is not off land), and
the landlord one of the most obliging and appreciative men
in the world, as to the requirements of the angler or shooter.
And moreover where Sammy Shourds is always on hand.
Sammy can find soft crabs when no other man can; besides
he knows all the fishing-grounds, and when the tides suit at
each ; when to go on the flats for Weakfish, when in the Cove
for Barb, when in the channel for Sheepshead, when to the
flat, sedgy islands for Rockfish, and when to squid for Blue-
fish. Here, according to the adjudication of the aforesaid
Sammy, a friend and myself caught with our rods in three
mornings (fishing four hours at each time), over five hundred
pounds of Weakfish and Barb, and peed up the Rockfish
in the afternoons at the islands.
SALT WATER FISH AND FISHING. 979
THE SHEEPSHEAD.
Sargis ovis: Mrtcuit.
Form: Body compressed; back arched, rising abruptly
from the snout; nearly straight on the belly from the lower
jaw to the first spine of the anal, thence rounding to the last
ray of that fin, where the body is small to the caudal. Color:
dark gray on the back; sides silvery; belly white; six or
seven dusky bars, reaching from the top of the back nearly
to the bottom of the belly. Teeth: four or six incisors in
front of both upper and lower jaw, with obtuse crushing
conical molars in the roof of the mouth and inside of lower
jaw. Fins: there is only one dorsal, which has twelve
formidable spines and twelve rays, all of which close, at the
will of the fish, in a groove on the back; the anal has three
stout spines and eleven rays, which close also (but not entirely)
in a groove; the pectorals are very long, and have sixteen
rays; ventrals have one spine and five rays; and the caudal,
which is forked, has seventeen.
These fish arrive in the bays and inlets on the coast of New
280 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Jersey as early as the middle of May, and are frequently found
in large schools. As a general rule, they bite more freely at
a bait as the season advances. They are emigrants from
southern waters, and all adults, the average weight being six
or seven pounds, though sometimes they are taken even as
high as fifteen pounds. According to my theory, which is
founded on personal observation, those found in this latitude
are the surplus production of more southern waters; for most
of the Sheepshead in the Mobile and New Orleans fish-mar-
kets are small, from a half to two pounds in weight, and sub-
jects for the gridiron rather than the pot. The restaurants
of New Orleans are famous for Sheepshead, where they are
broiled whole or split, and served up to a charm; and with a
modicum of claret after his gumbo, a moderate eater is apt to
get no farther into the bill of fare than “ fish.”
The food of this fish consists almost entirely of molluscs ;
the soft-shell clam is therefore the usual bait. It is said, by
the “’longshore” men of New Jersey, that it can even crush
a hard clam; this can hardly be doubted, when the immense
muscular power of its jaws, and the peculiar arrangement of
its incisors and crushing teeth, are considered. The teeth in
the throat are similar to those of the Drumfish. The sheep-
like teeth in front, from which it has received its name, are
well adapted to nipping off the barnacles and shell-fish that
adhere to sunken rocks and timbers.
In fishing for Sheepshead, it is a common practice in lower
Virginia and other southern waters where they are found, to
drive down stout stakes, forming an enclosure; to these
different species of molluscs will attach themselves in a few
months, and attract the Sheepshead. When they have made
it a place of resort, the fisher ties his boat to a single stake
on either side, at a convenient distance, and throws his bait
towards the pen. .
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 981
In fishing with a hand-line, which is the usual mode of
taking him, the Sheepshead gives one or two slight premoni-
tory jerks, and then a steady pull, when the fisherman gathers
in his line as fast as possible, the fish coming along with a *
heavy drag. When he approaches the boat, there is a desperate
contest; there is much probability of his breaking the hook,
or his quick downward lunges are apt to snap the line; then
the fisher takes in slack, or lets the line run through his
fingers, as the action of the fish dictates, and, when a proper
opportunity offers, throws him into the boat, where he flounces
until the transfer to a new element deprives him of life.
Along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, they are frequently
taken with rod and line, as they are by New York anglers in
the vicinity of that city. About rocks and precipitous banks,
when there are no obstructions to a fair contest, a stout rod
of eleven or twelve feet, a strong hemp line on a good multi-
plying-reel, gimp snoods, and stout Virginia hooks, are used.
His pull is at first strong and steady, but as he comes to the
surface, his lunges are quick and desperate; still, by keeping
a steady strain on your opponent, and yielding to. his down-
ward plunges as he approaches the boat (which is done better
with the spring of a rod than with a hand-line), he at last
gives in; and when he is lifted aboard, and in your basket,
he weighs something.
An accomplished angler of New Orleans, whose hospitality
I have partaken of at his summer residence at Pass Christian,
on the Gulf coast, says he has taken Sheepshead frequently
at the mouth of Wolf River, in company with Black Bass,
with a float on his line, and that they lie about the thick
branches of trees that have fallen in. From this it would
appear that they habitually come into brackish water, in
search of crustaceous animals or molluscs, which fasten them-
selves to any stick or branch in the water along the southern
982 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
coast; and that Bass, whose natural habitat is fresh water,
meet them here on common feeding-ground.
Mr. Bull, a noted angler of New Orleans, assures me he has
taken fourteen Sheepshead, whose average weight was seven
pounds, in the course of an afternoon’s fishing at the break-
water, not over a mile from the steamboat landing, at the ter-
minus of the Ponchartrain Railroad. The bait he uses are
large shrimp, fiddlers, young crabs, and muscles. After the
prevalence of strong south-easterly winds, large schools have
been known to come in shore along the piers of the above-
mentioned landing, and numbers of them have been taken for
some days, when they suddenly disappear in search of other
feeding-grounds.
The excellence of this fish is so universally conceded, that
I do not deem it necessary to say a word in praise of it,
whether boiled or baked. It is considered by some equal to
Salmon, but, like “ Midshipman Dey’ I am disposed to
“argue that point.”
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 988
WHAKFISH. SQUETEAQUE. SALT-WATER TROUT.
Otolithus regalis: Cuvier.
The most striking characteristic of the genus to which this
fish belongs, is its doglike teeth. There are four species:
Regalis, Thelassinus, Nothus, and Carolinensis, described by
Dr. Holbrook as common to the coast of South Carolina; the
second and third species were established by that ichthyolo-
gist. The first two closely resemble each other in appear-
ance, and the second (O. thalassinus), if taken in the waters of
the New Jersey coast—as doubtless it is—may be easily
confounded with the first (O. regals), which figures at the top
of this page. Though closely resembling each other, Dr.
Holbrook says they differ in their habits; that O. thelassinus
is found only in the ocean, that it approaches the bays and
inlets along the coast, and that it is a larger animal.
Otolithus nothus is described by Dr. H. as entirely white
and silvery, and wanting the markings or spots of other
species. Otolithus Curohnensis is marked with numerous spots
Othe upper half of its body, as well as on the dorsal and
caudal fins; which doubtless suggested the name of “Salt-
Water Trout” at the South.
The species of our coast differs from those of the same genus
284. AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
found in Europe; the former having canine teeth only in the
upper jaw, whilst the latter have them in both upper and
lower.
The subject of these remarks—Otolithus regalis—is a fish
of great beauty as regards its colors and proportions. The
tints are difficult to describe; there is something of a green
tint with carnate gleamings above and along the lateral line,
pearly or bright metallic reflections about the throat and
head, and ‘irregular dusky markings, inclining to the foriaa-
tion of oblique lines, on the back and sides; the belly is
white; head sharp and long; mouth large, upper jaw armed
with long, sharp, recurved teeth. Form elliptical, slightly
compressed ; back somewhat arched. Fins; first dorsal, nine
spines; second, one short spine and thirty rays; pectorals,
sixteen; ventrals, one spine and five rays; anal, one spine
and thirteen rays; the caudal has seventeen rays, and is very
slightly convex.
WEAKFISHING.—No salt-water fish of this latitude affords
more sport than this big-mouthed denizen of our bays; and
it is only the freedom with which he takes the bait, and the
great numbers that are caught, that causes Weakfishing to be
undervalued. Though he has not the strength and endurance
of the Rockfish, his first rush is not less vigorous; and as his
mouth is somewhat tender, it is necessary to give a fish of
two pounds some line. His first dash is from the boat, and
ten yards of line will be run out in a “jiffy ;” he fights well
and at long range if you allow him line, but bear well on
him, as the least slacking of the line gives him a chance to
disengage the hook, which he sometimes attempts to do by
jumping above the water and shaking his head.
If angling with a float it should not be at more than three-
fourths the depth of the water. With a large float, anda
quarter or half ounce bullet for a sinker, you may allow your
°
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 985
line to be carried out by the tide some distance from the boat;
thus fishing over more ground than when angling at the end
of your rod with only a sinker; your chances of a bite are
still more increased as your line is reeled in. An excellent
plan when the fish are scattered, is to cast as far as you can,
and reel your line in slowly, allowing your bait to rest
awhile, and then giving two or three turns of your reel-
crank, drawing the bait home by degrees. This plan, though,
is objectionable if there are weeds or much grass floating
about.
TACKLE.—A stout, pliant rod of twelve feet, with a stiffish
tip; an easy-running reel, with fifty to a hundred yards of
fine flax line, and stout gut leaders; the hooks should be as
large as 00.
Baits.—Soft crabs beyond all comparison are the most
certain; though a white piece of fish-bait,* with the skin
adhering to make it stay on the hook, or even the eye of the
fish will answer, if they are well on the feed.
Great numbers of these fish are taken with the hand-line
by what is called “drifting :” that is, to sail into a school of
them in a tideway, and letting the sheet go, allow the boat to
drift while you fish over the sides at half depth. Ifthe boat
drifts faster than the school, she is put about and the fish
found again.
The flesh of the Weakfish is not held in much esteem when
other fish are to be had, and soon spoils after being taken,
though it is rich and gelatinous if it is eaten soon. They are
generally fried or broiled.
* Thave had occasion to mention this bait frequently in my remarks on
angling for different kinds of fish, and would here say that it is not gene-
rally appreciated. Most of our game fish are predatory in their habits,
and the first impulse is to seize the bait if it is attractive in its appearance ;
they do not wait to taste it, as some persons suppose.
286 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
‘a
THE BARB OR KINGFISH.
Umbrina nebulosa: Svorer.
There are two species of Barb or Whiting described by
Dr. Holbrook, with various synonyms to each; the specific
name of the northern species, however, signifying cloudy,
adopted by Storer, in his report on the fishes of Massachu-
setts, will strike the angler as the most appropriate for the
animal figured above.
Umbrina littoralis, described by Dr. Holbrook, is peculiar
to the waters of the South Carolina coast, and said to be
seldom taken with the hook. It is entirely white and silvery,
without the clouded markings of the northern species. The
fish he describes as Umbrina alburnus, is identical with the
animal pictured above; both species are called Whiting at
Charleston.
This fish (Umbrina nebulosa) has a body elongated and taper-
ing, the section nearly sub-triangular ; back gracefully arched;
belly nearly staight; color gray, with purplish reflections.
There are six or more oblique bars over the back and sides;
belly clouded white; head small; mouth small, and beneath:
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 987
a single wattle or cirrus under the chin, which is no doubt an
organ of feeling or touch in procuring its food. Its average
weight is a pound, though sometimes taken as high as two
pounds. Fins: first dorsal, ten spines, of which the third is
much attenuated, terminating in a filament; second dorsal,
one weak spine and twenty-five rays; ventrals, one spine and
five rays; pectorals, twenty rays; anal, one spine and eight
rays; caudal, eighteen rays.
Professor Baird says the young of this fish have been
taken at Beesley’s Point, near Great Egg Harbor. Their
almost total disappearance from our bays for successive sum-
mers, and then their sudden reappearance, has led me to the
belief that most of them are emigrants from the south. Like
most of the Scienoids, they are evidently mollusc-eating fish ;
for they are always found near muscle-beds. The smallness of
the mouth, however, and the absence of crushing teeth and
incisors, suggest the belief that they feed entirely on seedling
muscles and clams, and small crustacea. They are found
mostly in the coves, and on the sand-bars and flats, where
there is little current, and not often in the channels or deep
tideways.
Bars Fisnine.—In angling for this fish, a good bass rod
of twelve feet is best ; a light sinker is sufficient, say a bullet
of a quarter or half ounce, which should be placed at the
bottom of the reel-line, where two snoods, one of twelve and
one of twenty-four inches, with No. 1 or 0 Kirby hooks,
should be attached. The sinker should touch the bottom,
where the fish generally seeks its food. When on the feed,
it seizes the bait without nibbling, but frequently there is a
premonitory shake, then a vigorous pull, and under goes the
tip of the rod; after a stout resistance, your prize is brought
to the surface and alongside the boat, but the least slacking
of the line, and he is off again, and in the second round is
988 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
almost as game as at first. As he has leathery lips, and the
hold is generally strong, he is lifted in with small risk of
losing him.
When fishing for Barb, it is well to use a No. 1 hook at
the bottom, and loop on one of 00 size to a gut length, eighteen
inches or two feet above the sinker, for Weakfish, as the
angler sometimes takes both at the same time. Soft crabs or
soft-shelled clams are the best bait.
The fish is much lauded by the epicures of New York,
where it has sometimes been sold at as high a price per pound
as Sheepshead. It is seldom boiled, and is better cooked in
the pan or on the gridiron. It has a peculiar sweetness of
flesh and a richness of flavor; as all fish that feed on molluscs
and crustacea have.
When on a visit to Long Beach in August 1855, a brother
angler and myself had great sport with Barb in the cove
just below the Hotel. They had not been taken in numbers
for some years, and had become comparatively a rare fish,
until we met with them. In a few hours on the ebb we took
upwards of three hundred weight with two rods, and left off
from mere satiety, for the certainty of hooking them as fast
as our bait found the bottom ceased to be sport.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 989
SPOT, PIGFISH, OR GOODY.
Leiostomus obliquus : Cuvinr.
Body compressed, oval; back arched anteriorly; belly
straight to first ray of the anal fin; head large’ Color: back
gray, shading to a yellowish-bronze at the lateral line; sides
brownish-yellow; belly light yellow. There are twelve or
more oblique bars extending from the top of the back toa
small distance below the lateral line, which is concurrent
with the back. It has a distinct dark-brown spot above the
posterior point of the opercle. Fins: first dorsal, ten spines ;
second dorsal, one short spine and twenty-nine or thirty soft
rays; pectorals, eighteen; ventrals, one spine and four branched
rays; anal, two spines and twelve rays; caudal, eighteen.
The mouth is small; the upper jaw is set with small, obtuse,
conical teeth ; so also are the pharyngeal bones.
De Kay gives this fish the local name of “ Lafayette Fish,”
from its having first been found in the waters about New
York, at the time of General Lafayette’s visit to America.
Holbrook, in his Ichthyology of South Carolina, calls it by
the common name of Chub, which of course will strike any
fresh-water angler as a misnomer. The most common name
19
290 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
along the New Jersey Coast is “Goody.” It is known at
Lewes, Delaware, where it sometimes appears in great num-
bers, as the “Spot,” from the mark near the gill-cover. It
frequently happens that its annual visits are almost, or
totally suspended for a season or two. Like all emigrants
from the southern part of our coast, it is more abundant
during some summers than others.
From the description received from Southern friends, of the
“ Pigfish” or “ Hogfish,” so renowned in the lower waters of
the Chesapeake for its flavor, and its grunting or croaking
noise when caught, it is doubtless the same.
Few salt-water anglers fish for them as a matter of choice,
preferring the larger and less edible fish, for their size, as
they give more sport; while the little Goodies frequently
linger around and nibble off one’s bait, when the Weakfish
or Barb cease biting. At such time it is well to be provided
with small perch-hooks, which can be substituted for the
larger, and tied on, one a foot and the other two feet above
the sinker (a half-ounce bullet), and baited with small mites
of fish or soft crab, and the float dispensed with. If they are
frightened away by the reappearance of larger fish, they will
return as soon as the school passes on, and bite as freely as
before. In angling for Weakfish, I have often made a profit-
able operation by thus changing my hooks, catching dozens
of these delicious little fellows expressly for the pan. For
richness and flavor, no pan-fish surpass them. The hooks
should not be larger than No. 2 or 8 Kirby; the long-shanked .
or what is called “ weak-trout hooks” are best. They strike
hard, pull vigorously, and bend the rod well, for fish of such
small dimensions. They are often taken in company with
small Porgies and with the same tackle. They are frequently
found in July and August, on the flats between the hotel at
Long Beach and Tuckerton, New Jersey.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 991
THE CROAKER. GRONTER.
Micropogon undulatus: Cuvier.
My acquaintance with this fish commenced twenty-five
years ago, in Lake Ponchartrain. I have never seen it north
of that water, though Dr. Holbrook says “it is known to
inhabit the waters of the United States from Virginia to
Lake Ponchartrain, near New Orleans.”
Form elliptical, tapering towards the tail; back arched;
belly straight. Head large, rather long; minute cirri under
the chin. Color, silvery gray on the back and sides, with
undulating or irregular lines of dark spots, or rather mark-
ings, reaching below the lateral line; belly white. Fins;
the first dorsal has ten spines, the second twenty-eight rays ;
pectorals, fourteen; ventrals, one spine and five rays; anal,
two spines and eight rays; caudal, eighteen rays. There are
two or three longitudinal rows of spots, or minute blotches,
on the dorsal and caudal fins.
Croakers are taken in great quantities in the bays and
lakes: which connect with the Gulf of Mexico, In Lake
Ponchartrain, Lake Borgne, Mobile Bay, at Pascagoula, and
Pass Christian, they are found in great abundance. In
299 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
fishing for them, a slight, pliant rod, with a stiffish tip,
should be used, with or without a reel (though the reel is
preferable, as his giant congener, the Redfish, may take a
fancy to your bait), a float or not, as the depth of water, the
wind, or current may dictate; hook, No. 2 or 3 Kirby; bait,
‘shrimp, crawfish, or soft crab; the first is preferable, peeling
the shell off, and baiting with the white body.
At New Orleans anglers expect them generally from the
middle of April to the first of May, and catch them in
Lake Ponchartrain until autumn. I have anchored off the
lighthouse at the end of the Shell Road a mile from shore,
and with a pleasant breeze to soften the heat of the sun, a
light fifteen foot cane rod, a pitcher of ice-water, a good segar,
and a quiet companion, I have passed a pleasant morning
and had fine sport.
The most approved way of cooking Croakers, as adopted
by the New Orleans restaurateurs, is to fry them in sweet oil;
the vessel being so large as to float the fish, not allowing
them to touch the bottom or sides; cooked thus they are
highly and deservedly prized.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 993
REDFISH OF THE GULF OF MEXICO.
Corvina ocellata.
Holbrook, in his Ichthyology of South Carolina, says, of
this fish, “it is of a beautiful silvery color and iridiscent
when taken from the water.” In the gulf it is invariably |
red, and retains that color until it is cooked; but, from the
above, appears to assume an entirely different tint in the
neighborhood of Charleston.
These fish are exceedingly numerous. in the waters of the
gulf; at Charlotte harbor, they come into shallow water in
such numbers that they are easily speared.
Although many persons esteem -it- a good fish for boiling
or baking, or in a “cubrion” or chowder, I have always found
its flesh stringy and lacking flavor, and in no way comparable
to its little kinsman of frying-pan celebrity, the Croaker.
They are angled for with the same tackle, and much in the
same way, as for Barb or Weakfish; they generally take the
bait near the bottom. As those taken with the hook and line
are usually large—sometimes as long as twenty-four and even
thirty inches—they afford fine sport. They strike boldly,
and run off thirty or forty feet of line at the first dash; as the
mouth is fleshy, they are seldom lost when fairly hooked.
A rod of fourteen feet, fifty yards of good silk or hemp
line, No. 00 Kirby hook, and a large float, are generally used.
294 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOCK.
BLUEFISH. SNAPPING MACKEREL. SKIP-JACK.
TAILOR.
Temnodon saltator.
. Body oblong, compressed, thicker above, and almost as
sharp below as the Shad, though the belly is not as completely
carinated. Head large, profile slightly convex ; mouth large,
lower jaw slightly longer than the upper; both jaws are
armed with straight, compressed, lancet-shaped teeth, the
upper jaw having also an internal, but less extensive, row;
the vomer, palate, and pharyngeal bones have minute brush-
like teeth. Branchial rays, seven. Fins: the first dorsal has
eight weak spines, which Holbrook says are enclosed in a
sheath or groove; this I have failed to observe; the second
has twenty-seven rays; pectorals sixteen rays; ventral, one
spine and five soft rays; anal, twenty-eight soft rays; the
caudal is deeply forked, has twenty rays, and is covered three-
fourths of its length with minute scales. Color, green on the
back, shading gradually to a silvery white on sides and belly.
This fish sometimes reaches the extreme length of three
feet, though the average of those taken in our inlets and
bays is not over two or three pounds.
Bluefish are found all along the Atlantic coast from Maine
to Florida; the smaller fish frequenting the bays and inlets;
the larger are found outside, but within soundings.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 295
This is one of the most active and unyielding fish that
swims. To use the words of Nimrod Wildfire, “he can jump
higher and come down quicker, dive deeper and stay under
longer,” than any other salt-water fish of its size. Look at
his clean build, and it is accounted for; his narrow waist and
depth of hull falling off sharply as it approaches the keel,
enabling him to keep well to windward, as if he had his
centre-board always down. See his immense propeller behind!
No fish of its size is more wicked or wild when hooked. I
have sometimes struck a three-pound Bluefish, and thought I
had a six-pound Weakfish on, until he commenced jumping,
and after giving him considerable play, have at last (with full
confidence in my tackle) drawn him in by sheer force, with
his pluck not the least abated.
Though the Bluefish is seldom angled for “per se” (as
President Tyler used to say), with rod and line, he frequently
comes into the swim of the salt-water fisher when he is angling
for Weakfish or Barb. Then look out for your snood! one
nip with his sharp incisors, and it is cut off “clean as a
whistle.” On such occasions, brass wire or gimp snoods are
your only security.
SQUIDDING FOR BLUEFISH.—The usual mode of taking this
fish is by squidding. The squid is generally a white bone with
a hook at the end, or a piece of pewter, which is kept bright
by scraping it occasionally; the line is of strong hemp or
cotton. With a good breeze when crossing a school of these
fish, the sport is highly exciting, and great numbers of them
are sometimes taken.
The Bluefish is not esteemed as food. It is extremely
predatory in its habits, swimming in schools, and causing
great havoc amongst Mossbunkers. Barb and Weakfish,
even, are not secure against the attacks of the larger ones.
296 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
SPANISH MACKEREL. BAY MACKEREL.
Cybium maculatum: CUVIER.
No adequate idea of this graceful and. brilliant fish can be
conveyed by description or engraving, to one who has not
seen it.
Its body is an elongated ellipse, somewhat compressed ; its
section oval; head small and long; mouth large; each jaw
armed with long pointed, but compressed, teeth, inclining
forwards. There are very small teeth on the vomer, palatine,
and pharyngeal bones, as well as on the tongue. Color:
greenish-blue on the back, shading away into a grayish
pearly hue, but slightly roseate along and below the medial
line; belly white, like molten silver or mother-of-pearl. It
has a series of rows of dark but shining spots extending
along the back and sides, from the pectorals almost to the
caudal. The first dorsal fin has eighteen short weak spines;
the second has one spine and fifteen rays; pectorals, nineteen
rays; ventrals, one spine and five rays; anal, two spines—not
sharp—and fifteen rays; caudal, twenty or twenty-two rays.
The tail has a carinated projection on each side, extending
along the peduncle to the anterior curve of its caudal, which
is deeply lunate, or crescent-shaped.
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 297
A Spanish Mackerel which cost me the moderate price of
sixty-two and a half cents, on the last day of August three
yeats ago, weighed just four pounds. It was twenty-two
inches long exclusive of the caudal, and eleven in girth. I
found several small Mossbunkers in its stomach in various
stages of decomposition; the tails of those last swallowed
had scarcely disappeared down its throat.
This fish attains an extraordinary size on our coast and in
the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered one of the greatest
delicacies of the fish kind amongst us, equalling even the
Shad or Pompano. Yarrell, in his work on British Fishes,
says that the Spanish Mackerel taken off the coasts of
England and France does not exceed fifteen inches, and is an
indifferent fish on the table.
The Spanish Mackerel is truly a pelagian fish, and seldom
enters even our salt-water bays for any distance. It is
comparatively scarce in this latitude, and is found here only
in August and September, but it is more common towards
the south. In the Gulf of Mexico it is sometimes taken with
the shrimp for bait, at the end of the long piers where steam-
boats land, in going from Mobile to New Orleans. I have
heard southern anglers say that on a pliant native reed pole
it furnishes rare sport. If they could be found in any great
numbers, and were fished for with fine tackle and all the
necessary appliances, they would no doubt afford splendid
angling. A Salmon-rod and a good casting-line, with a fly
of red and white feathers at the end, would take them with-
out fail.
T have eaten Spanish Mackerel boiled, but it bears no com-
parison with one of the same when broiled; by the latter
mode, the juices which impart so delicious a flavor are
retained. It should be split on the back, as the Shad, when
broiled; and the dish garnished with bits of fresh lemon
when it is served up.
298 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE POMPANO. CREVALLE.
Barthrolomeus pampanus: Cuvier.
This fish has not been described in any previous American
work on Angling, and is unknown to the piscine epicure of
the north, unless he has had the good luck, in some southern
tour, to test its exquisite delicacy and flavor. For these
reasons I take pleasure in giving it a place.
The Pompano is a species of the Mackerel family, and no |
doubt a free-biting fish; though the fact of its feeding at the
bottom must make it a fish of less interest to the angler than
its congener, the splendid Spanish Mackerel, which lives on
the small fry that swim near the surface.
‘Ihave often’ desired, but never had the good fortune, to
examine a specimen just taken from the water, as those
brought to New Orleans, where I have seen them, had been
caught some hours. I have therefore given a reduced copy
of Dr. Holbrook’s representation of this fish, without his
scientific description, believing that the wood-cut will convey
a more correct idea of the Pompano to the angler than a
scientific account of it. The naturalist just mentioned says:
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 299
“4
“The Crevallé or Cavalli makes its appearance in the waters
near Charleston in the month of April or May, and remains
during the summer or late in October, and even longer if the
summer is warm. It feeds on various kinds of molluscous
as well as crustaceous animals, and takes the hook greedily
when baited with clams, shrimp, &c., &c.”
This fish sometimes grows to the length of twenty inches,
though fifteen is as long as the average.
THE DRUMFISH.
Pogonias cromis : Cuvigr.
“The prominent characteristics of this “big fish” are the
number of cirri under the chin, and a black spot near the
base of the pectoral fin. It attains an immense size, fre-
quently a length of four feet, and a weight of seventy pounds.
It is sometimes taken in the surf at our Atlantic bath-
ing places, the fisher casting his line in a coil, beyond the
breakers, and drawing it in. When a Drum is hooked, there
is a stubborn contest, the fisherman gathering in or giving
line as the occasion demands, and it is only after an exciting
and tiresome combat that the fish is subdued and brought to
the beach.
THE FLOUNDER.
The Flounder can hardly be called a sporting fish; still,
when other sport cannot be had, it affords some pastime to
one who angles with a stiff tip. Its flesh is close, firm, and
of excellent flavor. The large ones are best when broiled.
300 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
THE SEA-BASS AND THE BLACKFISH.
These are taken mostly with the hand-line, and are only
sought for by the angler when fish of gamer qualities are not
to be found. The Sea-Bass and Blackfish are both plucky
fish. They are good in the pan, being firm of flesh. A rod
with a stiff tip is required; they are angled for without a
float. A-sinker or dipsy suitable to the force of the current
is required; the hooks, No.1 or 0 Kirby, made of stout wire ;
clams, either soft or hard shell, are used for bait.
THE MULLET
De Kay mentions four speeies of Mullets: the Striped, the
White, the Spotted, and the Rock Mullet. The Striped
Mullet found in Lake Ponchartrain is the only species I have
ever taken with hook and line. It is a shapely fish, elong-
, ated, with the line of the belly more curved than the back.
Bluish on the back, silvery sides, with rows of dusky spots
extending from the opercles to the tail. It has two dorsal
fins, the first with four weak spines. It is found only in salt
or brackish water. The fresh-water fish known as the
Barred Mullet, which never takes a bait, is a species of the
Sucker family.
In the Gulf of Mexico and contiguous waters, Mullets swim
in large schools, and are generally taken with a cast-net.
Sometimes they appear near the surface of the water, when
they will frequently jump at a white rag or cotton wrapped
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 801
around the hook; at such times they would doubtless take a
white or light-colored fly.
As an article of food they are not generally esteemed,
though the roe, which is very large, is prized by some
persons.
THE TOM COD, OR FROSTFISH.
This fish is very abundant along the New England coast
in autumn. After the first frost they become almost torpid
in shallow water, and can sometimes be taken with the hand ;
they have even been thrown ashore with a common rake.
They are sometimes taken in deep still holes, by those who
persist in using a rod in all kinds of fishing. The tip of the
rod should be rather stiff; and one should strike sharp and
quickly, as they do not seize the bait with much avidity.
The flesh is very tender and delicate, and resembles that
of the Codfish in its flaky whiteness; they are generally
fried, but this should be done with care, for if overdone they
are dry and unpalatable.
THE PORGY.
Pagrus agyrops: Cuvier.
Body; compressed; oval, arched above anteriorly. Color;
bluish-green on back, shading lighter on sides; belly, silvery
white. Head large; mouth small, with incisors and rounded
molars inside. The dorsal fin, which is continuous, has
thirteen stout spines and twelve soft rays, which close com-
pletely in a groove; the caudal is forked, and has seventeen
Tays; pectorals, seventeen; ventrals, one spine and five
802 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK.
branched rays; anal, three spines and twelve rays, closing in
a groove, though not so entirely as the dorsal.
This sedate-looking little fish is taken with bottom tackle.
The hooks should be small to suit the mouth, as they are
great nibblers, and often annoy the angler when fishing for
Barb or Weakfish.
The Porgy is an excellent pan-fish, and would be more in
favor if it was not so common.
CHAPTER XI..
FLY-TACKLE.
”
“Sine, sweet thrushes, forth and sing!
Have you met the honey-bee
Circling upon rapid wing
Round the angler’s trysting-tree?
Up, sweet thrushes, up and see!
Are there bees at our willow tree?
Birds and bees at the trysting-tree?
‘Sing, sweet thrushes, forth and sing!
Are the fountains gushing free?
Is the south wind wandering
Through the angler’s trysting-tree?
Up, sweet thrushes, tell to me!
Is there wind up our trysting-tree?
Wind or calm at our trysting-tree?”
Stopparr.
“ Anp the pleasant watercourses
You could trace them through the valley,
By the rushing in the Spring-time,
_ By the alders in the Summer,
By the white fog in the Autumn,
By the black line in the Winter.”
LonGrELiow.
1. Ginger Hackle.
2. Grouse Hackle.
8. Dotterel.
4. A Palmer.
5. Red Spinner.
TROUT FLIES.
6. Coachman.
7. Alder Fly.
8. Yellow Sally.
9. Gray Drake—A May Fly.
CHAPTER XI.
TROUT FLY-FISHING.—OUTFIT AND TACKLE.
Wading-Jacket. — Trousers. —Boots.—Creel or Basket. — Landing-Net.—
Rods.—Reels.—Lines.—Leaders.—Flies—The Whip.
Wapine-JAcKET.—This article of dress, though it may not
contribute to the angler’s success, will, when made with an
eye to convenience and comfort, add much to his satisfaction
in fishing. It should not reach lower than his hips, and
should be sufficiently loose for a top-coat in travelling. It
should have pockets on the inside and outside of the skirt,
also an inside and outside breast-pocket, the latter sufficiently
large to hold a fly-book. In the choice of his dress, the
angler should avoid any glaring color, emulating rather the
gray mists of the morning, or the “ gloamin’” itself.
Wapine-Trovusers should be of heavy, strong woollen
material, to stand the usual wear and tear in wading rough
streams.
Wapine-Boots.—Avoid, by all means, those abominable
long India-rubber boots that come up to the hips; they are
cumbersome and slippery, and limit the depth of one’s wading.
They are certainly water-proof, if they are not cut through
by sharp stones; but in the event of a fall, which is likely to
occur to the wearer, or wading an inch deeper than the height
of his boots, their imperviousness to water becomes an
objection, and it is as hard to get the water out as it was for
it to get in. I have seen an angler, who insisted on using
20 (305)
306 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
them, after getting a fall, lie on his back and elevate his
heels into the air, forming a humanized letter 4, and the water
which ran out of his boots, ran down, or rather up, his back.
Do not be persuaded to try a pair of them; if you do, to
use the expression of an Irish friend, “you will come to
grief ;” but go to your bootmaker, and get him to make you
a stout pair of double-soled lace-boots, to come above and fit
snugly around the ankle; have only one heel-tap, and stud
the soles (not too thickly) from toe to heel with soft iron hob-
nails, such as are used by foundrymen and forgemen to pro-
tect the soles of their shoes when treading on hot iron. The
soft iron of which these nails are made gives a firm hold on
slippery rocks. Stout woollen socks or stockings should
invariably be used to wade in; they are softer and feel warmer
than cotton when wet.
THe CREEL or Basket should be of the usual shape, to
fit one’s side, and of capacity for fourteen pounds of trout;
this size is convenient for stowing wading-shoes and trousers
in, and a bottle of claret or anything else may be securely
rolled in the trousers, when packing up for an excursion.
The “top-tile” should be a drab or light-gray mixed felt
hat, with a twisted string, as well as a band (or in place of a
band), which is convenient to tuck flies under, when one is
changing them, and does not wish to return them wet to his
book.
Lanpine-Nret.—tI have tried many nets that were recom-
mended as handy and easily carried, and, after many experi-
ments, at length hit on the following simple expedient, which
I will try to describe: When preparing for an excursion, put
into your rod-bag, or lash on the outside of it, a piece of rat-
tan the size of your little finger, and about four feet long.. On
arriving at your quarters, bend it in the middle, and, after
slipping the net on, bring the two ends together so as to form
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 307
a handle, as represented in the larger figure of the annexed
illustration, and then take a few turns of waxed twine near
the bow, and again at the end of the handle, fastening in a
leather tab with a button-hole. It is to be suspended by a
button sewed on the back of your coat below the collar. It
does not annoy or impede your progress, and is ready for use
when required; a bow ten or twelve inches in diameter, and
a handle six or eight inches in length, is sufficient. Where
the two surfaces of the rattan come in contact, pare off a thin
strip from each, to make them lie together snugly; but do not
take off enough to impair the strength of the handle.
A more sightly net can be made as follows [see the figure
to the right]: Bend a piece of rattan thirty inches long into a
circle, sticking the two ends into a brass tube, which has a
screw on the outer circumference; this screw is fitted into a
nut in the end of a ferule fastened on the end of a short han-
dle. The handle can be unscrewed, and the net may be
packed in the creel by slightly compressing the bow. It is
carried, when fishing, in the same way as the net before
described, buttoned to the wading-jacket by a tab.
For fear I may fail to mention it elsewhere, I would here
impress on the angler the convenience, and, as it frequently
turns out, the absolute necessity, of having fine and coarse
silk and twine in his pockets, as well as the indispensable lump
s
308 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of shoemaker’s wax pressed between the folds of a stout
piece of leather, for it may be that he will have to splice his
line or rod, or repair other damage.
Fiy-Rops.—There is as great a diversity in the size and
flow of the waters where Trout are found, as there is in the
size of the fish found in them; it is therefore expedient for an
angler who fishes all waters, to have two rods for casting the
fly. For the rivers and lakes of Maine, the streams of Canada,
and wherever Trout are found in large waters, a good stout
rod of not less than twelve and a half or thirteen feet is best;
it should weigh at least twelve ounces. Though withy, it
should have a stiffish tip; the line, leader, and flies required
in such waters being larger than the fly-tackle in general use.
For the lively tributaries of the Susquehanna, Delaware, and
Hudson, the streams of New England, and for brook-fishing
generally, where wading is necessary, a rod from seven to
nine ounces in weight, and from twelve to twelve feet four
inches long, is most suitable. A rod of this size is so light,
that incessant casting does not weary one, and the size of the
fish does not make a rod of greater power necessary.
Having a preference for such streams as last mentioned,
I give my notion of what a rod for such fishing should
be, from one made for my own use. Using a scale with
minute fractions of an inch and a pair of callipers, I find
the diameters at various distances from the lower end
of the butt, as follows:—The grasp of the rod, say at
eight inches from the lower end, is one inch; at eighteen
inches, 33; at twenty-four inches, 33; at four feet (the first
ferule), 44; at six feet, 34; at eight feet (the splice, or upper
ferule), 33; at ten feet (the middle of the tip), 4; at the
extreme tip, #4.
The butt of a fly-rod should be of well-seasoned white ash,
the middle joint of ironwood, and the tip of quartered and
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 309
spliced bamboo. The manner of making tips of this kind
is explained in an article on “Rod Making,” found in a
subsequent chapter. The tip would be as efficient, though
not so stiff, if twelve or eighteen inches of the stouter part
were of the same wood as the middle joint.
The groove which holds the reel should be below the place
where the rod is grasped by the hand. I prefer its extending
beneath the ferule at the extreme butt; the “balance” of the
rod is thus thrown nearer the hand, and its weight “ out-
board”—to use a nautical phrase—is reduced, and the fatigue
of the wrist and forearm in casting is thus lessened, or
searcely felt.
To avoid the difficulty of taking off the reel, which so
often occurs from the swelling of the wood, and the conse-
quent tightening of the reel-bands, I have adopted the plan
of having no sliding band, but to secure one end of the strip
to which the reel is fastened by slipping it under the butt
ferule, and binding down the other end with a neat braid or
buckskin string, three or four turns being sufficient to hold
it tight.
To provide also against a similar inconvenience, I make
each joint of my fly-rods without the usual wooden socket at
the lower end of the outside ferule, and consequently without
any projection of the wood below the end of the male ferule,
which fits into it; for the reason that wood will swell on
becoming damp, and the plug—if I may so call it—expand-
ing inside the wooden socket, will stick fast; and the angler
is under the necessity of taking his rod home unjointed,
or doing some violence to the ferules.
In fly-rods, the ferules which join the different pieces
together are generally unnecessarily long, and interfere with
the play and spring of the rod. There is no necessity for
having the ferule which joins the middle piece to the butt
more than two inches long, and that which joins the middle
310 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
piece to the tip more than one and a half inches. It is
better, if the angler has the knack and patience, to join
these two pieces by a neat splice about three inches long,
which should be closely wrapped with coarse waxed silk.
This splice will be all the more secure by rubbing each
surface where they are brought in contact, with shoemaker’s
wax. In the days of stage-coaches, a rod of four pieces was
most convenient in travelling, but of late years, when most
fishing-grounds can be reached by rail, one of three pieces is
easily and safely carried, and is preferred by most anglers, on
account of its having fewer ferules. The rings through
which the line passes should be as light as possible, gradually
lessening in size towards the end of the tip, where they need
not be larger than to allow the free passage of the line.
Under the head of “Rod Making,” I shall endeavor to
impart to the reader whatever knowledge of suitable wood
and materials I may have acquired as an amateur rod-maker;
being well satisfied that the angler who has leisure. and
aptness for mechanism, will derive additional pleasure from
fishing with a rod of his own make.
English writers recommend that the last six or eight inches
of a fly-tip should be of whalebone. The objection to this is,
that when this material is reduced to the requisite size, it
becomes soft and inelastic from moisture, and brittle from
cold or dryness; in its former condition it is too limp to lift
the line from the water with a proper spring. Some authors
also recommend hollow butts, on account of their convenience
for carrying extra tips; they are now as obsolete as hazel
tips and wooden reels.
Such a rod as I have recommended might not stand a long
day’s fishing without warping, where the average size of Trout
are such as Sir Humphrey Davy speaks of taking from his
noble friend’s preserves in the Coln or Wandle, or such as
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 311
are to be found occasionally in the lakes of the Adirondack
Mountains or Maine; but for lightness, spring, and pleasant
casting, a rod of this kind is generally preferred to a heavier
or stouter rod, and will meet every demand made on its
strength by the usual run of Trout found in’a stream that
requires wading. Few anglers, after having accustomed
themselves, though only for a day, to casting with a light,
pliant, one-handed rod as here described, are ever satisfied
to resume a two-handed rod, or one of greater length and
weight.
There are many highly-finished one-handed English fly-
rods imported and sold by tackle stores, but they are too
stiff, besides being heavier by one-third than is necessary,
and so clogged with unnecessary mountings, reel-fastenings,
ferules, wrappings, and varnish, that the purchaser is apt to
abandon them after a few seasons’ experience, for a rod of his
own designing, or his own make.
The more weight or force applied to the tip of a well-
proportioned fly-rod, the more the strain is thrown on the
lower part ; exemplifying the principle of Remington’s bridge,
in which the strain is longitudinal where the timbers are
small, and transverse at the abutments.
The color of a rod, if not too light, is of little importance ;
it may be stained black or yellow; the latter color should
never be produced by strong acids, which are apt to impair
the strength of the wood. Dark woods, of course, require no
staining. A neutral tint is imparted by one or two coats
of common writing-fluid, of bluish tint.
Shellac, which is soluble in alcohol or ether, is generally
preferred to copal varnish; it should be applied thin; the
glare of the last coat should be removed from a new rod by
sprinkling a little segar ashes on a wet rag, rubbing gently,
and then wiping it off with clean water.
312 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
A good plan for protecting a rod from moisture, is to give
it a thin coat or two of boiled linseed oil, after staining it.
The oi] should be applied warm, and rubbed well into the
grain of the wood. It should dry thoroughly before var-
nishing. :
In a rod for my own use I prefer a tip reasonably stiff, and
the middle piece somewhat slight below the ferule that joins
it to the tip. This is what some anglers call a “top-heavy”
rod, which makes casting easier; the tip being stiffish, lifts
the line more readily from the water.
Reets.—A small light reel, which will hold twenty-five
yards of line, is best for Trout-fishing. One with a short
axle, which brings the plates of the reel close together, is to
be preferred; as it winds the line more compactly on the
spool. I have a simple click reel of this kind, which is two
inches in diameter and only three-quarters of an inch between
the plates. John Krider, at the north-east corner of Second
and Walnut streets, Philadelphia, generally keeps them on
hand, or will have them made to order.
Lings.—A plaited or twisted line of hair and silk, tapering
for the last five or six yards, is by all odds the best for
Trout-fishing.
LzapERs.—A leader should taper gradually from the end
where it joins the line, to the end to which the stretcher-fly
is attached, and should be-two-thirds or three-fourths the
length of the rod. I prefer making my own leaders to
buying them at the tackle stores. It is very easily done by
soaking the gut well, and using the angler’s double knot. An
illustration of this knot will be found in another chapter.
Fiies.—In giving a list of flies best adapted to American
waters, I have done so without reference to the opinions of
English writers, considering many of their rules and theories
regarding flies inapplicable to our country. The observations
TROUT FLY-FISHING. , 313
here jotted down, are rather the result of my own experience,
as I have learned them on the stream and from members of
our little club the “ Houseless Anglers.”
Much, perhaps most, of the theoretical’ knowledge of flies
acquired by the reading angler, when he begins, is obtained
from the writings of our brethren of the “ Fast-anchored
Isle.” very fly-fisher can read Chitty, Ronalds, Rene,
“ Ephemera,” and others, with interest and profit. Though
Ido not pretend to condemn or think lightly of their pre-
cepts, drawn from long experience of bright waters and its
inmates, yet if followed without modification and proper
allowance for climate, season, water, and insect life here as
contrasted with England, the beginner is apt to be led into
many errors, corrected only by long summers of experience.
So he will come at last to the conclusion, that of the many
flies described and illustrated in English books, or exhibited
on the fly-makers’ pattern-cards, a very limited assortment is
really necessary, and many totally useless, in making up his
book. He will also find, after the lapse of some years, that of
the great variety with which he at first stored his book, he
has gradually got rid of at least three-fourths of them, as he
has of the theory of strict imitation, and the routine system,
(that is, an exact imitation of the natural fly, and particular
flies for each month), and settles down to the use of a half
dozen or so of hackles and a few winged flies; and with such
assortment, considers his book stocked beyond any contin-
gency.
An extensive knowledge of flies and their names can hardly
be of much practical advantage. Many a rustic adept is
ignorant of a book ever having been written on fly-fishing,
and knows the few flies he uses only by his own limited
vocabulary. One of the most accomplished fly-fishers I ever
met with has told me that his first essay was with the scalp
\
814 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of a red-headed woodpecker tied to the top of his hook.
Notwithstanding all this, there is still a harmonious blending
of colors or attractive hues, as well as the neat and graceful
tying of a fly, that makes it killing.
With these few preliminary remarks, I shall describe only
the flies which I have used successfully, and refer the reader
to the English works on angling just mentioned, for a descrip-
tion of the great variety known by so many different names.
Hackies AND Paumers. The Red Hackle——This is what
the renowned Mr. Conroy, of Fulton St., New York, calls a
“ Journal-Fly,” which we suppose to mean a fly for general
use. It is one of the indispensable hackles. All fly-fishers,
from the country bobkin to the most experienced angler, have
constant use for it; few make their whip for the first cast of
the season without it. Itis particularly killing when the
water is discolored by a freshet, at which time it is best as a
stretcher on a No. 4 hook, and dressed Palmer* fashion.
When used as a drop-fly, it should not be dressed on hooks
larger than No. 6 or 7. It is a good fly from April to the
1st of September, after which, as Dr. Bethune righteously says,
no “true-hearted angler” will wet a line in a Trout-stream.
The body of this fly is made of red mohair or the ravellings
of red moreen or floss silk; sometimes with yellow floss; or
the hurl of the peacock, the tail tipped with gold tinsel. If
dressed as a Palmer, the body is wound with gold or silver
thread; gold is best. The hackle should be of the darkest
natural red, not dyed. ¢
The Soldier Hackle, from its high colors, is attractive on
dark waters and deep pools, though not generally as killing
as the Red Hackle; hooks, from No. 2 to 6 for stretchers,t+ and
from 6 to 9 for drop-flies.t It is better dressed as.a Palmer,
* For an illustration of a Palmer, see figure 4 on plate of Trout-Flies.
t For explanation of “stretcher” and ‘drop-fly” or “dropper,” see
article ‘‘ The Whip,” a few pages further on.
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 315
the body of red or crimson mohair, wrapped with gold or
silver thread; hackle dyed crimson. It is seldom used asa
drop-fly.
The Brown Hackle is scarcely inferior to the Red. I have
used it with great satisfaction on the subsiding of a freshet,
when the water had become rather bright for the Red Hackle,
on the same sized hooks, and especially as a stretcher, from 9
A.M.to4 P.M. The hackle of most appropriate color for this
fly is not easily obtained. I have sometimes found it on
the necks of capons, which are brought to our market picked,
with the exception of the neck and head. What is termed a
furnace-hackle is frequently used in tying this fly, for a cock
with brown hackles on his tail-coverts is seldom found. I
invariably dress the body of the Brown Hackle with the
darkest copper-colored peacock’s hurl, the tail tipped with
gold tinsel.
The Ginger Hackle—The hackle used for this fly is a
yellowish or a very pale red; it is frequently taken from the
neck of a cock whose tail-coverts are of a tint deep enough
for the Red Hackle. The Ginger Hackle is better used as a
drop-fly than as a stretcher; the body should be of dubbing
of the same color as the hackle, and wrapped with silver
thread if it is used for a stretcher. When it is used fora
dropper, the body may be of orange or lemon colored floss
silk; the latter tint is preferable towards sundown. The hook
used should not be larger than No. 7; No. 9 or 10 is not too
small on still, smooth water. Where the hackle is very pale,
this fly will kill as long as you can see it on the water. It
is sometimes dressed Palmer fashion, though I do not like
it so well as when it is tied simply as a Hackle. I generally
tie it—as I do most Hackles—on a Kirby hook, on account
of its superior hooking qualities.
Black Hackles are better for drop-flies. As they are used
816 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
chiefly on fine water, or on bright days, or at midday, they
should be dressed on small hooks, say from 8 to 10 or
even 12 (Kirby). I prefer the bodies of copper-colored
peacock hurl, though black mohair is generally used. The
bodies of this fy are also made of orange and red floss silk ;
they are sometimes dressed as Palmers, and ribbed with
silver or gold thread or tinsel, or with coarse red or orange
silk.
A Grizely Hackle is a good drop-fly on a bright day towards
fioon; it is best on a body of black floss or mohair. The
hackle for this fly is a mixture of black and white—the
darker the better. It is obtained mostly from the neck of the
cock. It is good on bright water, and more appropriate
for a dropper.
A pale yellow mottled, or barred Hackle, with light yellow
silk body, is a good evening fly. I sometimes tie it on a
No. 10 or 12 Kirby hook. It comes into play with great
effect, with the Yellow Sally at sundown, and as late in the
evening as Trout will rise.
A White Hackle, with white or very pale yellow body, it is
thought by many, will kill later in the evening than any
other fly, though I think it not superior to the pale yellow
mottled hackle just described.
The Dotterel is one of the flies described by Hofland—“body
of yellow silk, legs and wings from the feather of a dotterel.”
This feather is not known to American anglers; my imitations
are made from the light barred feather of the partridge or
snipe, and the body of light yellow floss silk. It is easily
made, and on small Kirby hooks it is killing on well-shaded
waters, especially towards sunset.
The Grouse Hackle has a body of orange floss, or peacock
hurl; I prefer the latter. A suitable feather for this fly can
be had from the wing-coverts and rump of our common
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 317
prairie fowl; a cock partridge’s feather is still better ; a snipe’s
or woodcock’s will do. This is a good fly on clear water, as
well as on a full stream; if for the latter, it is better to have
the body tipped with gold tinse! It is better used as a drop.
fly; the hook should never be larger than No.6 on full
water, and 8 or 10 when it is fine.
A light mottled lead-colored Hackle may be made from the
feather that hangs on either side of the rump of an English
snipe; it is slightly barred. The body may be made of
lead-colored floss, or a pale but distinct yellow; it is a good
drop-fly on hooks from No. 6 to 9. It is almost identical
with the Dotterel.
The last seven of the aforementioned Hackles are better
without having the bodies tipped with tinsel, and are good
ones to induct the beginner in the art of tying his own flies.
Most of them should be used exclusively as droppers. The
Red, Brown, Soldier, and Ginger Hackles are quite as suc-
cessful as stretchers. The Red Hackle, I am in the habit
of dressing on hooks from No. 8 to 5, made of stout heavy
wire, so that it will sink somewhat below the surface of
the water; which mode of fishing I have frequently found
necessary, especially after a freshet; the Trout in the rifts
appearing to take it as bait, carried along by the current
beneath the surface, rather than as a fly.
WINGED FL izs.—Of the great variety described in English
books on fly-fishing, I place foremost of all, the Great Red
Spinner, which Hofland says is made, “body of hog’s wool
dyed red brown, ribbed with gold twist; tail, two long
whisks of red hackle; wings from the feather of a star-
ling’s wing; legs, bright amber, stained hackle.” This is
the Red Spinner found in the tackle stores. As we have no
starling with us, I generally make the wings of a brown
mottled feather from the wing-covert of the mallard; body
318 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of red mohair. If there are Chub in the stream, and they are
troublesome, I substitute a dubbing of bright orange, gene-
rally of hog’s down, to avoid them, for red is very attractive
to those pests.
A Brown Spinner is made by using a brown mallard’s
feather for wings, brown mohair or hog’s wool for body, and
a brown hackle for legs. This is considered by many a
better fly than the Red Spinner, and is used mostly as a
stretcher. The same fly is sometimes made by picking out
the hog’s wool dubbing under the wings, to represent legs,
instead of using a hackle for that purpose.
The March Brown, and Cowdung, I have never taken a
fancy to, nor the Stone Fly; they are useless when one has a
supply of Spinners in his book.
There are several small flies with light yellow or slate
bodies and lead-colored wings, described by Ronalds, which
resemble each other closely; they are good for the evening,
or on well-shaded waters at midday. These are the Cockwing,
Golden Dun Midge, Yellow Dun, Skyblue, Whirling Blue Dun,
and Lnttle Pale Blue Dun. None of them should be on hooks
larger than No. 7.
The Iron Blue Dun is used with effect at almost any time
of day. It is preferable as a drop-fly.
The Grannom has a body of hare’s fur; wings of a partridge
feather, made full; legs of a pale ginger hackle, and a short
tuft of green floss silk at the tail, to represent the bag of eggs
which this insect carries at the extremity of its body. In
this country, the Grannom is found on the water towards the
latter part of June, mostly towards sundown; this imitation
of it is a killing fly as a stretcher on a No. 8 hook.
The Jenny Spinner (this is a Hackle)—I have seen this
diminutive fly used with great success as a dropper, on the
same whip with the Grannom; body, white floss silk, wound
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 319
with a light dun hackle, or a dirty white hackle will answer
in the absence of the former; the head and tail of brown silk ;
hooks No. 9 or 10. /
The Black Gnat is a small fly, and a pretty good imitation
of a gnat; it is best on bright waters after ten o’clock; hooks
8 to 10.
The Yellow Sally has yellow wings, body, and legs; some-
times it is tied as a hackle. It is a good fly at sundown, and
as long as the angler can see where it falls on the water.
The Fern-Fly is attractive, with its bright orange body and
lead-colored wings.
The Alder-F ly—Next to the Red and Brown Spinners, this
is the best stretcher-fly on Hofland’s list. I have used two
of them on fine low water at the same time, with great effect,
one for dropper and the other for stretcher. The body of
this fly should be made of copper-colored peacock’s hurl, and
the wings of a feather from a brown mallard, or brown hen.
This fly can be varied by having a black mohair body,
picked out near the head to represent the legs, as in the
Brown Spinner.
May Flies (the Green and the Gray Drake are the chief
representatives), as killing as they may be on English waters,
are seldom used successfully in this country.
The Mackerel-Fly is supplanted by the Brown Spinner.
A Fancy Fly, with red or brown hog’s wool for body,
picked out beneath near the head, for legs; a dark brown
mallard or hen’s feather, with a few fibres from the feather
of the scarlet ibis and green parrot thrown in for wings; a
tail of two fibres of a red macaw or ibis feather, and the end
of the body tipped with tinsel, is sometimes a good stretcher.
I have used it successfully on the rifts of the Beaverkill, in
Sullivan County, N. Y.; it also does well on the still waters
of the Adirondacks. The hook should be No. 2 or 3.
820 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The Scarlet Ibis, as much as it is lauded by some, I have
never had much success with, except for those splendid
Canadian fish known as Sea Trout. With a red or bright
yellow body ribbed with gold twist, it is very killing in
angling for them.
The Governor, though a beautiful fly, I have not tried
successfully. It closely resembles the Fern-Fly.
The fly-fisher who keeps a varied assortment should not be
without a few small dark Camlet-Flies. The Irish fly-makers
excel in these. I have found, however, that small dark
Hackles, and the Alder-Fly, when tied on a No. 10 hook, with
wings from a dark mottled brown hen, to raise Trout when
anything artificial could induce them to come to the surface.
At the Sault Ste. Marie, and on the lakes of Maine, and on
some of the rivers about Lake Superior, small Salmon-flies
are more killing than Trout-flies; hooks smaller than No. 2
(Trout) are seldom used there.
After having gone into a somewhat lengthy description of
the flies I have found to take well, I will refer to a few which
I tie for my own fishing, and with slight variation of color
and size, I find them ample for all seasons, weather, and
‘water. I do not pretend to say that other flies may not be as
killing on the whip of other anglers, but the constant use of
these for the last five or six summers, has given me (it may
be) a kind of blind faith in them, which has led me to adopt
them to the exclusion of nearly all others.
Of winged flies I use only the Brown Hen and the Coach-
man; of Hackles, only a brown, a black, and a ginger.
There is no variation in the bodies of my Coachmen; they
are always of copper-colored peacock’s hurl, tipped with tin-
gel, the legs invariably of red hackle. The wings are of four
tints: first, white; second, a light lead color, generally from
a tame pigeon; third, a shade of lead color rather darker—a
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 391
gull’s feather is very appropriate ; fourth, a decided lead color
—say from a blue heron. I tie those intended for droppers
on hooks from No. 6 to 10; for stretchers, I use Nos. 2, 4,
and 6, and in fishing with them, vary the color of wings and
size of hooks according to the weather (bright or cloudy), the
water (full or fine), and the time of day. The white wings
are best when the water is full and the sky overcast, or late in
the afternoon.
The Brown Hen I tie without varying the colors: body
of copper-colored peacock’s hurl, tipped with gold tinsel;
legs of dark brown hackle; wings from a dark brown hen’s
feather, mottled or speckled with yellow at the outer ends
of the fibres. This feather, which I have mentioned so often,
is taken mostly from hens known as the “golden pheasant
breed,” and is not generally appreciated by professional fly-
makers. On a No. 8 hook for a stretcher, this fly kills
splendidly on fine still water, and on a bright day. I
generally use with it, a brown or black Hackle on a No. 10
hook, as dropper.
A Ginger Hackle, with a light yellow body, is my favorite
evening fly.
Any of these flies are tied to order, and by the angler’s
own pattern, if he wishes it, by Mr. George, at Philip Wilson’s
gun and tackle store in Chestnut above Fourth street, or by
Mr. Jackson, in Gold below Dock street, or John Worden, at
Krider's, corner of Second and Walnut streets, Philadelphia.
Tue Wuip.—The leader, with its flies attached, is generally
termed the Whip, the neatness and proper arrangement of
which is of much importance. The fly at the end is called
the Stretcher, Drag-Fly, or Tail-Fly. Those above are the
Drop Flies. Sometimes they are termed “ Bobbers” or
“Droppers.”
The stretcher, as a general rule, should be larger than the
21
822 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
drop-fly ; the greater size and weight being at the end of the
leader, enables the angler to cast further, and with more pre-
cision, And the consequent greater resistance in drawing it
over the surface, keeps the leader taut and the dropper more
at right angles with it, than if the reverse was the rule.
The distance between the stretcher and drop-fly should be
proportioned to the general length of the cast. In fishing
where it is more convenient to cast a short line—say of
eighteen or twenty feet—the flies should not be more than
thirty inches apart: This distance between the flies is more
suitable to the beginner ; but as practice enables him to throw
a longer line, the dropper may be moved further up the
leader, until four, or even four and a half, feet may intervene.
The stretcher should be tied to the end of the leader by
the common water-knot, which is illustrated on page 409,
and the dropper fastened, as shown by figure 3, on the same
diagram. The pieces of gut on which droppers are dressed,
should be stiff, and not more than five or six inches in length.
If the angler fishes with two drop-flies (though more than
one is seldom used), the upper should be twelve inches or so
above the first dropper. The leader should not be more than
three-fourths of the length of the rod, ¢.¢., nine feet for a
twelve-foot rod. With the beginner it should not exceed six
feet, for a short line, if light at the end, is not as easily cast
by the novice as a heavy one. A good large-sized hook also
will make casting easier, in his first attempt. He should not
commence with more than one dropper.
Frank Forester recommends a leader of fifteen feet. This
length would make it impossible for the angler to reel' up his
fish within reach of his landing-net, as the knot which fastens
the line to the leader, and those by which the different gut-
lengths are joined, would catch in the wire loop at the end of
the tip, or in the rings, and, as a consequence, the fish could
not be brought near enough to put the landing-net under it.
CHAPTER XII.
FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT.
“| NEVER wander where the bordering reeds
O'erlook the muddy stream, whose tangling weeds
Perplex the fisher; I, nor choose to bear
The thievish nightly net, nor barbed spear ;
Nor drain I ponds, the golden Carp to take,
Nor trowle for Pikes, dispeoplers of the lake.
Around the steel no tortured worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stains my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast the feathered hook,
With pliant rod, athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with the fur-wrought fly delude the prey.”
Gay.
“LAOUL V ro aval
CHAPTER XII.
TROUT FLY-FISHING.—THE STREAM.
Casting the Fly.—Theory of strict imitation.—Striking and killing a
Fish.—Likely places, how to fish them.
CasTING THE FLy.—So much has been written on this
subject, that the learner who consults the authorities, not only
finds that “doctors disagree,” but that he is bewildered with
what may appear to him unnecessary detail; and he is thus
impressed with an idea that Fly-Fishing is a science to be
attained only with much study and practice. It would
therefore be much better to learn the rudiments from some
skilful friend on the stream, and afterwards read such autho-
tities as Chitty, “ Ephemera,” and Ronalds.
As it is likely, however, that some of my readers who may
wish to try their hands, may not be able to avail themselves
of the practical instruction of friends of experience, or may
not have access to English authors on fly-fishing, I will, with
some misgivings as to my ability to profit them, describe the
usual manner of casting the fly, as practised by our best
anglers. Advising the beginner not to be ambitious at first
of accomplishing what he may deem a difficult feat, that is,
to cast a long line, but rather by patience and diligence to
acquire the knack of delivering one of moderate length
straight out and lightly; by perseverance he will in due
time find “how use doth breed a habit in a man.”
On a favorable day the learner, with faith and industry,
(327)
828 AMERICAN .ANGLER’S BOOK.
and no preconceived notions of the difficulty of fly-fishing,
may find at his nooning that he has made a catch which does
not compare unfavorably with that of his more skilful
brother. If the contrary be the case, let him not lose heart,
as there may have been many circumstances against him; as
inexperience of the waters, the arrangement of his whip,
landing his fish, &c., which he has yet to learn, and that it is
not his casting which is altogether at fault.
Some writers have objected to the accepted term “ whip-
ping,” contending that casting the fly is different from whip-
ping with a long staff and lash. I acknowledge that in the
main it is. Still the first motions of the arm and rod are not
unlike the motions of the arm and whip-staff of a stage-driver.
The latter intends that the end of his lash shall reach a certain
part of the horse’s body, while the angler intends that his
flies shall fall on a certain part of the stream; but here the
similitude ends. The driver, by a sudden backward motion
of the arm, causes the lash to strike the horse with force, and
rebound; while the angler avoids the quick backward motion,
and allows his flies to fall lightly; and then, not hastily, but
by a gentle movement of his rod, draws his flies towar's him
or across the water.
But to commence.—Let the beginner draw out as much
line as he can conveniently cast. If he uses a twelve foot
rod, eighteen feet (that is, from the tip to the stretcher-fly) is
enough. Then with a backward motion of his rod, let his
line go well out behind him, and before it has time to fall to
the ground, by a forward motion of the forearm and wrist,
cast his flies to the desired place on the water.
The backward motion of the line is chiefly impartel by
the spring of the rod, as the flies are lifted from the water,
and if it does not go to its full length behind, it will come
down clumsily on the water before the angler, when he casts
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 329
it forward, and short of the place aimed at. The same bad
effect is produced by using too much force. The beginner
should bear in mind that it is not strength, but an easy
sleight, and the spring of the rod, that effects the long and
light cast. The arm should be extended slightly, and the
motion imparted to the rod by the forearm working as on a
pivot at the elbow, and the hand turning as on another pivot
at the wrist. The motion of the hand and wrist only is
required in a short, straight cast.
The angler should not cast at random over the water, but
each portion of it should be carefully fished, the nearest first.
He should always aim at some particular place; he will soon
learn to measure the distance with his eye, and exert the
exact amount of force to propel his flies to the desired spot.
In drawing them over the water, the primary object is to
have the drop-fly to skim or dap along on the surface; the
stretcher which follows in its wake may be allowed to take
care of itself, for, as a general thing, it matters little whether
it is on or beneath the surface.
When the flies first fall on the water, they should be al-
lowed to rest a moment, and the slight motion imparted by
tightening the line, or in recovering the full grasp of the
rod on the instant, should be avoided. If in the current, they
should be left for some moments to its will, then guided gently
and sometimes with a tremulous motion across or diagonally
up against it.
After the learner (and he will always be learning) has
acquired the first principles of the art, necessity, Ingenuity,
and observation will teach him how to cast in difficult places.
Our streams and lakes are generally fished, the first by
wading, the latter from a boat, and seldom from a high bank.
It is therefore less necessary to cast a long line than many
suppose, or English writers describe it to be. But our
330 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
rugged forest streams, overhung by bushes and branches of
trees, and other obstructions occurring, make it requisite that
the angler should acquire tact and skill, to meet these
difficulties.
In casting under branches which hang within a few feet of
the water, the motion of the rod and course pursued by the
line is necessarily horizontal. For instance, in wading down
a stream, if you intend whipping under the branches on the
right, a back-handed cast is necessary; the backward pre-
paratory motion of the rod being across the stream to your
left, and the cast horizontally from the left to your right.
When the branches you wish to cast under are on your left,
the course of the line is vice versa, that is, from the right to
the left.
The largest Trout love the shade of trees and bushes which
overhang the bank, and it is only by the means just described
that you can present your flies. It is customary to fish down
stream, and there is much difference of opinion as to whether
the general rule should be to cast directly down or across the
water. In this the angler must be governed much by cir-
cumstances, and his own judgment. I prefer the diagonal
cast, as presenting the flies in a more natural way, although
the drop-fly may appear to play better, and set more at right
angles with the leader, when drawing up against the stream.
When the wind is blowing up the stream, it becomes in a
good degree necessary to fish across, if possible casting below
the desired spot, and allowing the wind to carry the flies to
the right place as they fall on the water. If, however, it
blows strongly in the direction of the cast, care should be
taken when putting on a fresh fly to moisten the gut to which
it is attached, if it be a stretcher. Many flies are cracked off
by neglecting this precaution. .
The advice of English writers to fish up stream, or with the
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 381
1
wind at one’s back, in most cases cannot be followed; for
our rough rapid streams in the first instance, and the thickly-
wooded banks in the other, which make it necessary to wade,
ignore both rules. The force of the current in many a
good rift would bring the flies back, and, as I have seen with
beginners, entangle them in the legs of his pantaloons. It
is only in a still pool, or where the current is gentle, that
one ts able to fish up stream with any degree of precision.
A word or two here about the flies coming down
“Light as falls the flaky snow,”
and that the flies only should touch the surface, or that they
should touch it before the leader. The first idea is a very
poetical one, and may be carried out in a good degree, if the
line is light, the leader fine, and the cast not too long. The
second is impracticable with a long line, unless from a bank
somewhat elevated above the water. But in a day’s fishing
on our streams, the miraculous casting or falling of the flies,
which some writers speak of, and their skill in this respect,
are things we “read about.”
My experience is, that the falling of the leader—which is
almost transparent when properly dyed—does not frighten
the fish, but it is the incautious approach or conspicuous
position of the angler. In casting over a piece of water, the
flies always precede the leader and line, and, as a matter of
course, fall where the fish lie before the line does, as the
fisher advances or extends his cast. As the line will swag
more or less in a long cast, it must necessarily touch the
water.
I would not give the impression from the foregoing that it
is not necessary that the flies should fall lightly, for in fishing
fine it is important that they should. To accomplish this, as
I have already said, no sudden check should be given to the
332 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
flies, but they should be eased off (if I may so express it) as
they fall, by the slightest downward bending of the wrist.
There is a great deal of poetry also, as well as fiction, in
the stories told about casting a very long line. Experience
will teach you to cast no longer line than is necessary, what-
ever proficiency you may acquire. Still it should be borne
in mind, that the higher your position above the water, the
more visible you are to the fish, hence the greater’ the
necessity for fishing far off when occupying such a stand.
But with such elevation, it is easier to cast a long line.
When a person is wading the stream, he is less visible to the
fish than if he was on the bank, as the medium through
which the line of sight passes is more dense than the atmo-
sphere above, and the rougher the water the more the line of
sight between the angler and the fish is disturbed.
Nicer casting is, of course, required on a still pool than on
a rift; a careful angler, when he wades such water, will
always go in softly, without floundering or splashing, fishing
it by inches, scarcely making a ripple, and creating so slight
a disturbance, that he will find the fish rising within a few
yards of him; then he should cast with not too long a line,
and lightly. If he sees a large Trout rising lower down the
pool, he does not fish carelessly, or hurry on to get to him,
but tries to take those that may lie in the intervening water,
and approaches him slowly and imperceptibly, knowing that
he will be found there when his time comes. I may add
here that in such water a landing-net is indispensable, as it
would disturb the pool to wade ashore with every good fish,
and that here also you have a better opportunity of using
your net and securing your fish, than in a rift.
In casting a long line, or even a short one, particularly on
a windy day, it is better to wet it occasionally by holding the
leader and flies in your hand, and let it swag in the water;
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 333
the weight of the line thus increased, helps the cast. If it
could be accomplished, the great desideratum would he, to
keep the line wet and the flies dry. I have seen anglers
succeed so well in their efforts to do this by the means just
mentioned, and by whipping the moisture from their flies,
that the stretcher and dropper would fall so lightly, and
remain so long on the surface, that a fish would rise and
deliberately take the fly before it sank.
One instance of this kind is fresh in my memory: it
occurred at a pool beneath the fall of a dam on the Williwe-
mock, at a low stage of water—none running over. The fish
were shy and refused every fly I offered them, when my
friend put on a Grannom for a stretcher, and a minute Jenny
Spinner for a dropper. His leader was of the finest gut and
his flies fresh, and by cracking the moisture from them
between each throw, he would lay them so lightly on the
glassy surface, that a brace of Trout would take them at
almost every cast, and before they sank or were drawn away.
He had tied these flies and made his whip especially for his
evening cast on this pool, and as the fish would not notice
mine, I was obliged to content myself with landing his fish,
which in a half hour counted several dozen. Here was an
exemplification of the advantage of keeping one’s flies dry,
and the fallacy of the theory of not allowing the line to fall
on the water, for in this instance I noticed that a fourth or a
third of it touched the surface at every cast.
It seems to me that there is no more appropriate place than
this to say a few words about the “routine” and “strict imi-
tation system,” which some English writers advocate so
strenuously. The former, that is, certain flies for certain
months, or for each month, is now considered an exploded
«theory by practical anglers who wish to divest fly-fishing of
all pedantic humbug; for the fly that is good in April is
334 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
killing in August, and the Red and Brown Hackle, the
Coachman, Alder-Fly, and Brown Hen, will kill all summer.
For the theory of “strict imitation,” there is some show of
reason, but I cannot concede that Trout will rise more readily
at the artificial fly which most closely resembles the natural
one, for the fish’s attention is first attracted because of some-
thing lifelike falling on the water, or passing over the surface,
and he rises at it because he supposes it to be something he
is in the habit of feeding upon, or because it resembles an
insect or looks like a fly, not that it is any particular insect
or fly; for we sometimes see the most glaring cheat, which
resembles nothing above the waters or beneath the waters,
a piece of red flannel, for instance, or the fin of one of their
own species, taken greedily.
The last time I had positive proof of this was some years
ago, when I happened to spend a quiet Sabbath in the
“Beech Woods” of Pennsylvania, with a cheery Irishman
who had made a clearing on the Big Equinunk. Towards
noon I missed my creel, and on inquiring what had become
of it, was told that the boys had gone a-fishing and taken it
with them. In the afternoon they returned with the creel
full of Trout, which far exceeded my catch of the day pre-
vious. J asked them if they had taken them with worms—
no; with the fly—no, they had none; and then I remembered
the “dodge” I had practised myself in my early Trout-fishing
days. They said they had “skittered” with the belly fin of the
Trout. A worm to catch the first fish was the only bait they
wanted, all the rest of the Trout were taken by drawing this
rude counterfeit over the surface of the water. They did not
know—happy little fellows—that their practice was in oppo-
sition to the theory of learned professors,—Hofland, Blaine,
Shipley, Ronalds, and others.
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 335
STRIKING AND KILLING 4 Fis. Striking — Various direc-
tions have been given about striking a fish when it rises at
the fly. Some maintain that it is unnecessary, or even wrong,
to strike at all, if the line is kept taut. Others say that you
should strike as soon as you see the fish or the swirl he
makes as he turns to go back. Hither is wrong, if adopted
as a rule without exceptions.
In most cases when Trout rise freely, and are in earnest,
they will hook themselves, for the yielding of a pliant rod,
as a fish takes the fly, allows him to bear off his prize; but
when he attempts to cast it from his mouth, the spring of the
rod fixes the hook in his mouth, as he relaxes his hold. So
it frequently happens that the rise is seen and the strain on
the rod is felt at the same moment. A fish may even miss
the fly, and make another effort to seize it, if not drawn away
too hastily. When a fish, therefore, takes the fly vigorously,
it is only necessary to keep the line taut. A mere turn of
the wrist may be given to fix the hook more firmly in. his
mouth.
On the contrary, when the water is subsiding after a freshet,
and the fish have been feeding on worms and insects which
have been washed in, they will frequently tug at your
stretcher, taking it for such food. Then it is necessary to
strike sharply. I have sometimes fished all day in this way,
allowing the stretcher (generally a red hackle) to sink a little,
and trolling as with a bait, and striking when I felt a bite.
Again, on warm days, when Trout lie beneath the shade of
trees which stretch their branches over deep still pools, they
' will rise almost without ruffling the surface, or softly arrest
the stretcher beneath, as if to ascertain if it is really some-
thing to eat; then a slight but quick stroke is necessary to
secure the fish before he casts it from his mouth.
Killing a Fish—Many Trout are lost by the beginner,
336 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
from excitement or a lack of judgment in managing them.
It is always the safer plan to handle a fish as if he was slightly
hooked, and in fishing a rift, to get him out of the rough
water and towards the margin where it is comparatively still,
as soon as possible. For in his efforts to escape, you have
the force of the current, as well as his strength and agility, to
contend with.
If the water is still, and the fish indisposed to show fight,
tow him gently to one side and then to the other, as you reel
in the line. If there is a sloping shore without obstructions,
and you think he is securely hooked, you may sometimes get
a little headway on him, and, by a steady pull, lead him
ashore before he overcomes his astonishment at being hooked,
or has realized his danger. If in landing a fish in this way,
though, you allow him to come in contact with a stone or
other impediment, it will arouse all his fears, and in his
desperation he may tear loose.
When a fish of unusual size is hooked, and you can do so
without disturbing the lower end of the rift or pool, it is safer
to lead him down stream, for this increases the difficulty of
his breathing, while you are assisted by the current, and the *
strain on your tackle is diminished.
English writers direct us, after hooking a fish, to keep the
rod in a perpendicular position, or the point well back over
the shoulder; this is very well if he is securely hooked and
swims deep. If he struggles and flounders on the surface,
though, the point should be immediately lowered, and the rod
held nearly horizontally across the stream, giving him the
whole spring of it, thus keeping him under. It is better not
to raise his head above the water until he is somewhat ex-
hausted, or until you are ready to slip the landing-net under
him,
If your reel has a moderately stiff click, and the fish is large
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 337
enough to run the line off, he should be allowed to do so,
bearing on him with the line unchecked by the slightest
pressure of the fingers. As he slacks in his resistance, reel
in the line, giving when you must and shortening when you
can, “butting him,” as some persons call it, or bearing hard,
only when he approaches some dangerous place, and leading
him away from it. After you have ventured to raise his
head above water, give to any strong effort he may make to
get beneath, or to his humor to take another run, but bearing
on him all the while with a taut line. When you can ven-
ture to bring him near, reel in until the end of the leader,
where it joins the line, has reached the end of the tip; he is
then, if the leader is three-fourths the length of the rod, and
the rod pliant, close enough to slip your net under him. This
should be done not with a swoop, but gently; seize him with
the left hand, sticking your thumb under his gill, and taking
the hook out of his mouth put him tail-foremost into the
hole of your creel.
There is much less strain on one’s tackle in playing a fish
than is generally supposed. In killing a Salmon, if he is
properly handled, it does not exceed a pound, and with a
Trout, it is not over an ounce or two.
I have known anglers handle fish so well as to make a
common practice of slipping the hand gently down the leader,
and seizing them behind the gills, sometimes wearing a thread
glove to insure a firmer grasp. Few, however, have sufficient
skill and coolness for such dangerous practice. A landing-
net is almost indispensable when there is no convenient place
for leading your prize to the bank, or when wading ashore
would disturb the quiet of a pool.
LIKELY PLACES, AND HOW TO FISH THEM.—The success of
the fly-fisher depends almost as much on what might be called
22
338 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
an intuitive knowledge of likely places, as his skill in casting,
or in killing a fish.
The beginner generally prefers a lively rift, where there is
an open cast, for the current takes a good hold on his
stretcher, and bears it down stream, while it keeps his leader
taut, and his dropper dapping prettily on the surface. But
he should remember that in most cases, at such a cast, he is
likely to be exposed to the view of the fish, which always lie
with their heads up stream. He should therefore approach
cautiously, fishing the slack water on each side at the head
of the rift, with as long a line as he can well manage. Coming
nearer step by step and casting as he advances, he will fish
the near, and then the opposite side lower down, drawing his
flies lightly across the rough water, and submitting them in
some degree to its will. Still approaching he will cast ob-
liquely across, then straight down and over the water where
the current abates.
Asa general rule the larger fish take precedence, and lie
nearer the head of a rift and rise first. If found at the lower
end, it will be where the water is deeper and where there are
rocks or an overhanging bank. Trout are not often found in
a rift or pool with a smooth even floor of rock, or small
pebbles, as it affords them no harbor or hiding-places.
Where a large rock projects above the surface in water of
sufficient depth, the angler should cast near its edges on both
sides, then above where it repels the force of the stream; or
he may have a rise in the eddy just below, where the divided
current unites again.
A deep bend in the stream where a caving bank over-
hangs, affords a likely cast, especially where stumps, logs, or
drift-wood Jie about.
If the stream has a long still reach, one generally fishes
from the shallower side, finding his cast opposite where it is
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 33)
deeper, casting close to, or under the pendent boughs, or in
the shade of the bushes or trees—drawing his flies diagonally
or directly across. It is not a bad plan when fish have risen
and refused one’s flies, in such a pool, to sit patiently down
and change them for smaller ones of different colors, and after
a little while “try back,” that is, fish from the lower to the
upper end. Different flies cast from another direction will
sometimes induce fish to “reconsider the motion,” and adopt
your amendment if properly presented.
When the season is well advanced—say July or August,
Trout will assemble in pairs or little communities in some
suitable place for spawning, and remain there if there is nu
excessive rise in the stream, until it is time to spawn. This
is frequently beneath the overhanging alders; there chuck
your flies under, if you cannot present them more civilly,
and if you take a good fish, try again, for the rest are likely
to be as hungry. If the sun be bright, use the Alder-fly on
such occasions, for either dropper or stretcher, or both. The
same kind of a-shallow side-rift is a likely place early in June
when the Suckers congregate there to spawn, and the Trout
are on the lookout a few yards below, to catch their roe as it
is carried down stream by the current.
Immediately below a mill-dam, if there be any depth of
water, is invariably a good place; but you should never
stand conspicuously above on what is called “the breast” of
the dam, or on a high rock; such a position is to be con-
demned even in a bait-fisher; but get below, and if there is
no way of fishing from the sides, go to the tail of the pool,
and cast upwards. This, if there be but little water coming
over the dam, is the best place to fish from. Trout will not
take the fly immediately under the fall or in the foam, but a
little below.
In a deep still pool much exposed to the sun, if there is a
3840 AMERICAN ANGLER’'S BOOK.
tree or two on the bank with drooping boughs, Trout are apt
to collect there, for they love the shade. Here, if the weather
is warm, they are not apt to rise with a splash, as I have just
remarked, but will suck in your fly with a mere dimp-
ling of the water, or you may have a vague sense of its
being arrested beneath the surface. Then strike sharply, but
do not be violent, and you have him; try again, there are
more there, and good ones.
Never pass a piece of still water of reasonable depth where
a fcesh spring brook, however diminutive, comes in, particu-
larly in warm weather. I have in my memory such a pool
bordered on one side with hair-grass and duck-weed, which I
had frequently passed heedlessly by, supposing it to be back-
water from the main stream, or left in the old bed of the
creek, from the overflow of the spring freshets. But one day,
seeing a quiet dimpling of the surface, I waded lazily in, and
threw my flies carelessly on the water, when a thirteen-incher
laid hold, and was away in the duck-weed before I recovered
from my astonishment. After many turns, however, and
much contention, the pliant little rod exhausted him. Thus
encouraged, I fished the shaded pool its whole length as noise-
lessly as an otter, and the result was a dozen very handsome
Trout. I never passed that pool again without giving it the
attention it merited.
Sometimes on the subsiding of a freshet, Trout will sur-
mount a long rapid, and rest in a pool, or the smooth flow of
water above, where it ig not a half yard in depth. Fish such
water with as long a cast as possible, and so as not to throw
your shadow over the swim.
A brisk clattering little brook, as it rushes along over
rocks and logs, through the woods, washes out many a pretty
hole in its sharp turns, and amongst the big stones, where the
laurel and alders render casting impossible. The only way
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 341
here is, let the current carry your flies down stream, until the
dropper bobs enticingly on the water. Play them on éach
side of the little rift, drawing them towards you and allowing
them to drift off again. If there are fish in the hole they will
be jumping at the dropper, or tugging at the stretcher.
Three to one they will hook themselves; if they don’t, strike
gently at each tug or jump, as if you were fishing with a bait,
but not drawing your flies entirely from the water. I have
taken good fish in the small tributaries of a larger stream in
this way, the monarch of the rift always first, and his succes-
sors in order, according to size. The head of a mill-dam,
where a rapid meets the back-water, is invariably a good
place.
I have already said or intimated, that on a bright day
Trout will always rise better in the shade. Therefore when
a pool is of equal depth across, one side of it may be better in
the morning, and the other side in the afternoon. There are
many good pools also which are not shaded on either side, or
where persons pass frequently, or show themselves to the
fish; here they scarcely rise until after sundown. Such
places are often fished without success by an angler, and in a
very short time one who follows him may have good sport.
The largest fish are nearly always taken after the sun is
down, or at least off the water.
But of all places commend me in the still of the even-
ing, to the long placid pool, shallow on one side, with deeper
water and an abrupt overhanging bank opposite. Where the
sun has shone all day, and legions of ephemera sported in its
declining rays; the bloom of the rye or clover scenting the
air from the adjoining field! Now light a fresh pipe, and
put on a pale Ginger Hackle for your tail-fly, and a
little white-winged Coachman for your dropper. Then wade
in cautiously—move like a shadow—don’t make a ripple.
B42 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Cast, slowly, long, light; let your stretcher sink a little.
There he has taken the Ginger—lead him around gently to
the shallow side as you reel him in, but don’t move from
your position—let him tug awhile, put your net under him,
break his neck, and slip him into your creel. Draw your line
through the rings—cast again; another, and another. Keep
on until you can see only the ripple made by your fly; or
know when it falls, by the slight tremor it imparts through
the whole line down to your hand—until the whip-poor-will
begins his evening song, and the little water-frog tweets in
the grass close by.—Not till then is it time to go home.
If you have dined on the stream, it may be that the Trout
you roasted were too highly seasoned and you are thirsty; if
so, stop at the old spring by the roadside.
CHAPTER XIII.
SALMON FISHING.
“T Love to see a man forget
His blood is growing cold,
And leap, or swim, or gather flowers,
Oblivious of his gold,
And mix with children in their sport,
Nor think that he is old.
“T love to see a man of care
Take pleasure in a toy;
I love to see him row or ride,
And tread the grass with joy,
Or throw the circling Salmon-fiy
As lusty as a boy.
“The road of life is hard enough,
Bestrewn with slag and thorn;
I would not mock the simplest joy
That made it less forlorn,
But fill its evening path with flowers,
As fresh as those of morn.”
CHAPTER XIII.
SALMON-FISHING.
TackKLE useD IN SaLMon-Fisuinc. Rods.—Reels.—Reel-lines.—Casting-
lines.—Salmon-flies.—Materials required for Salmon-flies for American
rivers.—Salmon-Flies for the rivers of New Brunswick and Canada.—
Theory and practice of Salmon-fishing.—Salmon-fishing compared with
Trout-fishing.—Casting the fly—tThe straight-forward cast, casting over
the left shoulder, casting in difficult places, explained by diagrams.—
Casting in an unfavorable wind.—Striking.— Playing a Salmon.— What
a Salmon will do or may do.—Gafiing.
Campinc on tHE River. Camp equipage.—Protection against mos-
quitoes, black-flies, and midges.—Clothing, &c.—Cooking utensils.—
Stores. Cooking Salmon on the river.—To boil a Salmon.—To broil a
Salmon.—Cold Salmon.—Soused Salmon.—To bake or steam a Grilse
under the coals and ashes.—Kippered Salmon.—Smoked Salmon.—Law
and Custom on the river. :
TACKLE FOR SALMON-FISHING.
Rops.—A Salmon-rod should be of the toughest and most
springy wood that can be procured. It should taper so truly,
that its elasticity, or rather its tendency to bend, will be dis-
tributed over its whole length, though in a diminishing ratio
—from the point of the tip to the place where it is grasped
above the reel. Ina rod of true proportions, the greater the
power applied or the weight it has to bear, the nearer will
the apex of the curve caused by lifting the weight approach
(345)
346 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
the butt, and, as a consequence, the more the upper part will
be relieved of the strain.
To demonstrate this theorem, let any person who is curious
on the subject, place a two or four ounce weight in his tobacco-
pouch, and suspend it to the end of his line, after passing the
line through the rings of a well-proportioned Salmon-rod, and
he will find that the tip will bend, while the lower part of the
rod will remain comparatively straight. Let him increase
the weight to eight ounces, and the curve will be transferred
to the next joint below, the tip assuming more the direction
of a straight line. Then, by increasing the weight succes-
sively to twelve and sixteen ounces, he will find that there is
little or no curve in the tip, the additional weight having
drawn it nearly or quite straight, and transferred the trans-
verse strain proportionately towards the lower part of the
rod, where it is strong.
A rod of sixteen feet, which I deem sufficiently long, need
not weigh over two pounds two ounces ; and one of seventeen
feet should not exceed two pounds six ounces. Of the two,
I prefer the smaller, on account of the ease in casting with it,
for it is no boy’s play to wield a heavy Salmon-rod for hours,
The smaller has power enough to kill any Salmon. The
dimensions of such a rod, if in four pieces of equal length—
measuring the diameter of the inside or “male” ferules as
they come in order from the butt outward—should be eleven,
eight, and five-sixteenths of an inch, and the diameter of the
butt half way between the ferule and lower end, seven-eighths
of an inch; the thickest part, where the reel-band is placed,
say nine inches above the end, should be an inch and five-
sixteenths.
A seventeen-foot rod—supposing the butt and second joint
each to be four feet six inches long, and the third joint and
tip four feet—should have the two upper ferules the same
SAL MON-FISHING. 347
size as the smaller rod, and the lower ferule the sixteenth of
an inch larger. The butt should be of the best coarse-grained
white ash; the second joint of hickory or ironwood; the
third of lance or ironwood; and the tip of the best Malacca
cane, rent and glued. The strain on a tip caused by the oft-
repeated lifting of a long line from the water, makes it neces-
sary that it should be of material of the closest and hardest
fibre; for the weight of the line is not sufficient to throw the
strain on the lower portion of the rod, as in killing a fish;
but the constant lifting of the line from the water preparatory
to casting it, gives the top a downward swag in a week or
two, which makes it necessary that the angler should provide
himself with one or two extra tips.
The advice of English authors, to have the rod-rings very
large, that the line may pass through freely, shows a want of
proper consideration; for if there should be a knot or kink
in the line, it would be certain to catch in passing through
the wire loop at the end of the tip. The large size of the
rings, therefore, would not provide for the contingency, while
they are awkward and rattle in the wind, augmenting the
resistance to the air in casting, and increasing the leverage
on the rod when killing a Salmon. In making a couple of
Salmon-rods for my own use, I went in direct opposition to this
antiquated notion, and put on metallic guides like those on
American bass rods, but lighter, and find them far preferable
to rings. In fastening on the reel I use but one reel-band,
which is stationary; under this I slip one end of the brass
plate to which the reel is fastened, and secure the other end
with a string, so as to avoid the contingency of the sliding-
band becoming tight by the expansion of the butt of the rod
from moisture, as already explained in my remarks on Trout-
rods.
348 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
RegExts.—A Salmon-reel should be large enough to contain a
hundred yards of line without filling the spool so full that it
will clog. A simple reel is to be preferred to a multiplier,
for several reasons; an important one is that it is less apt to
get out of order from the rough usage to which it is some-
times subjected. One with the outer plates about three and
three-quarters inches in diameter, and an inch and a half
between the plates, is large enough. The click or bearing,
which is arranged between one of the inner plates and the
small outer plate next to it, should offer resistance enough to
require about six ounces to draw the line from the reel. Of
course there is an additional friction when the line passes
through the rings of the rod and out through the tip; and
this is all the bearing that is required or safe to offer in con-
trolling a Salmon, even when you are butting him to press
him from a dangerous place, or towards the gaff as he becomes
exhausted. The best Salmon-reels have a smooth conical
crank fastened in an outer plate, which revolves against the
SALMON-FISHIING. 349
one next to the spool, the object being to prevent the line
becoming entangled in the handle, which is apt to occur in
one of the ordinary kind. The best reels of this kind I have
ever met with, are those made by Farlow, of London. The
figure on the opposite page gives a perspective view of one.
Ree.-Lines—Those made of plaited silk, and prepared in
linseed-oil, notwithstanding the original cost, are to be pre-
ferred to all others. Those of silk and hair are liable to rot
when exposed to the dew, if they are left out at night, or
when they are wound up wet and allowed to remain so. With
care, an oiled silk line will last three or four years. After
fishing, as much of it as has been wet should be drawn off
the reel, and coiled or wound in such a manner as to dry.
When one end of an oiled line becomes soft from casting and
passing through the rings of the rod after a summer's fishing,
it may be taken off the reel, and the end which has been used
wound next to the axle, the stiff fresh end being outwards,
next to the casting line. An unoiled plaited-silk line can be
bought for half the price of an oiled one, and the angler can
prepare it himself by the recipe, found in the note below,
which I copy from Chitty.* I found, however, that the last
*«<To a quarter of a pint of ‘ doubled-boiled cold-drawn’ linseed-oil, add
about one ounce of gold-size. Gently warm and mix them well, being
first careful to have the line quite dry. While the mixture is warm, soak
it therein until it is fully saturated to its very centre; say for twenty-four
hours. Then pass it through a piece of flannel, pressing it sufficiently to
take off the superficial coat, which enables that which is in the interior to
dry well, and, in time, to get stiff. The line must then be hung up in the
air, wind, or sun, out of the reach of moisture, for about a fortnight, till
pretty well dry. It must then be redipped to give an outer coat, for which
less soaking is necessary: after this, wipe it again, but lightly; wind it
on a chair-back or towel-horse, before a hot fire, and there let it remain for
two or three hours, which will cause the mixture on it to ‘flow’ (as
350 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
drying requires three or four times as long as the time he
mentions. The gold-size mentioned in the note can be had
of those who sell painters’ materials; I have bought it of
Mr. C. Shrack, in Fourth street above Cherry, Philadelphia.
Castine-Lings should be of treble twisted gut, for the
three gut-lengths next to the reel-line; the next two or three
lengths should be of double twisted gut, and the remainder
of stout single gut, each length finer than the preceding one
as it nears the end. Single gut is strong enough to hold any
Salmon if properly handled, but the treble and double lengths
and then the single length, graduate the line to a proper taper,
thus increasing the ease and lightness in throwing the fly.
When the water is discolored after a rise in the river, a
casting-line of ten feet 1s long enough. As the water becomes
clearer, the length should be gradually increased by adding
Jengths of single gut at the lower end, until it is nearly or
quite as long as the rod. By doing so, one can cast a lighter
line, and, of course, the probability of raising a Salmon will
be greater than it would be by allowing the heavy reel line to
fall or swing near the fish.
SaLMON-Fiies—There is an endless variety in the combi-
nations and colors of the feathers, dubbing, and tinsel, that
go to make up the Salmon-flies described in books and sold
in tackle stores. Of the latter, many are made by persons
who never saw a live Salmon, and are tied more to please the
eye of the purchaser, than with any idea that they will entice
japanners term it), and give an even gloss over the whole. It must then
be left to dry as before: the length of time, as it depends on the weather
and place, observation must determine upon. By this means it becomes
impervious to wet and sufficiently stiff, never to clog or entangle—the oil
producing the former quality, and the gold-size (which is insoluble in
water) the latter; while the commixture prevents the size becoming too
hard and stiff.”
.
SALMON-FISHING. 351
the fish. Notwithstanding the minute directions given for
tying any particular fly, it must not be inferred that an imita-
tion that lacks some of the tints, will not take fish. The main
thing is to have the prevailing colors as near those of the fly
described as possible; if there is a slight difference in regard
to the feathers that compose the wings or tail, when the
exact feather cannot be had, it may still be a killing fly on
the same kind of water, and on the same kind of a day, that
the original is. Fresh-run Salmon are not over nice, and if
the colors are at all suitable to the water, they will lay hold;
as to a certain fly being the fly for any water, to the exclu-
sion of all others, it is sheer humbug. The first Salmon I ever
killed was on a fly I tied before leaving home, from some
idea I had of the water I was to fish, and from a general
knowledge of the proper colors for Trout-flies. It was not
intended as an imitation of any I had seen or read a descrip-
tion of; and I continued to tie my own flies, and killed
Salmon with them all summer, being guided in selecting the
colors by the state of the water and the day, omitting the
unimportant detail of a tag or feelers, and frequently not
putting on a collar when indolent, or pushed for time.
Very few of the flies imported from England and Ireland
are suitable for the rivers of New Brunswick, being generally
too large and showy for those clear waters. The gaudy Irish
flies tied for the Shannon would frighten the Salmon on this
side of the Atlantic, while others would not be noticed by
them. The profuse variety of beautiful but useless flies
imposed on some of our verdant countrymen, with full
pockets, by London and Dublin tackle-makers, is astonishing.
An accomplished Salmon-fisher of St. John, with whom I
had the pleasure of fishing for two weeks last summer, had
only two standard flies for the Mirimichi and Nipissiguit ;
one the “ Blue-and-brown,” the other the “Silver-gray ;’—the
352 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
latter for high water. The Blue-and-brown, by tying with
darker-tinted hackles and bodies, as the water clears, he uses
almost entirely. He told me he fished the Lakes of Killarney,
and the clear rivers of Ireland, with the same flies in his boy-
hood, and he still adheres to them: his favorite, the Blue-and-
brown, has become so famous amongst the anglers of the
province, that it has taken his name, the “ Nicholson fly.”
Flies for American rivers—except when the water is dis-
colored by a freshet—as a general rule, should be of darker
and more sober tints than those used in Scotland and Ireland.
The feathers to be preferred for wings, are taken from the
wing-coverts of the male mallard, the tail of the wild turkey,
and the second joint of the wing, and tail of a dark-brown
mottled hen, or spruce grouse; the two last are for small
flies, and will raise a Salmon on fine water when nothing else
will. For full water, or when it is discolored, wood-duck
and gray mallard are used, mixed occasionally with a few
fibres of red ibis, or a single topping of golden pheasant.
The bodies of those that have dark wings should be of red,
brown, and purple dubbing, of different shades, varied occa-
sionally with orange, yellow, and black, and wrapped with
hackles of the same colors. Sometimes two hackles of differ-
ent color, as red and blue, are used. The bodies and hackles
of flies for high water should be of light colors to correspond
with the wings: of these, pale yellow, pearl color, and light
gray are most suitable.
This limited assortrnent. of feathers for wings, and hackles
and dubbing for bodies, is all that one requires on the rivers
of New Brunswick. Add to these, black ostrich and copper-
colored peacock hurl, for collars; a dozen or so of golden
pheasant breast-feathers for tails; gold and silver tinsel—flat
and twisted; tying silk, wax, and a little varnish to put on
SALMON-FISHING. : 353
the heads to protect them, and the list of fly-materials for a
trip 1s complete.
Tying Salmon-flies is an art which is easily acquired by
those who are at all proficient in making Trout-flies; they
hardly require as delicate manipulation. I saw some very
rudimentary-looking flies tied by the natives about Bathurst,
that were killing at the “Rough Waters” on the Nipissiguit,
last summer.
The annexed plate was drawn and engraved on wood,
under my direction, by Mr. Wilhelm of this city. It repre-
sents four flies; the killing qualities of the first two I tested
last summer.
No. 1 represents the Brown Fly. It is a plain little fly, on
a No. 9* hook, and intended for low water. Wings of the dark
mottled feather of a brown hen, or wild turkey’s tail; body
of copper-colored peacock hurl (four plumelets twirled and
twisted around the wrapping-silk to make it secure), wound
with gold thread, and a dark brown or purple hackle, and
tipped with gold tinsel; tail a few sprigs of the same feather
as the wings; collar of black ostrich hurl.
No. 2 represents the “ Nicholson.” Hook, No. 8. Wings
of brown mallard; body of blood-red seal’s fur, wrapped
with gold tinsel, and a blue, and a blood-red hackle, and
tipped with gold tinsel; tail of mallard, and a few sprigs of
golden pheasant breast-feathers; collar, black ostrich hurl.
The dubbing and hackle of this fly should be of deeper tint,
as the water becomes clearer. The angler, whose name it
bears, in tying it gives the tail and wings an upright set,
which it retains to the last, giving it a peculiarly gay appear-
* The standard of sizes for hooks here mentioned, correspond with
the numbers on the plate of Hooks, page 65.
28
354 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ance, as the reader will observe. The figure is an exact
drawing of one tied by Mr. N. himself.
The Silver Gray, which Mr. N. ties on hooks No. 6 and 7,
is intended for high water, or when it is discolored after a
freshet. It has wings of gray mallard and a few sprigs of
wood-duck ; body of lead or pearl-colored seal’s wool mixed
with a little yellow, and wound with silver tinsel and a gray
or barred hackle; tag and collar of ostrich hurl. It is not
represented by either of the four figures, but in form resem-
bles No. 2.
Nos. 8 and 4 are exact copies of Nos. 11 and 12, found in
the “Book of the Salmon.” I have introduced them here to
show what is meant by “feelers,” and to explain what a
“topping” is. The former are intended to represent the pair
of long antennze found in a natural fly; they are folded back-
ward in the artificial fly, extending above and beyond the
wings. The tail and upper portion of the wings of the third
figure are “toppings,” that is, feathers from the crest of the
golden pheasant. :
In addition to the flies I have described, there are several
tied by John Chamberlain that are in great repute on the
Nipissiguit. Amongst them is one which I will describe as
the “Chamberlain.” In tying it (commencing at the bend of
the hook) the body is first tipped with gold tinsel, the tail is
then tied on, and the lower part of the body, say one-fourth
of the way up, is wrapped with bright yellow floss, when a
blood-red hackle, and purple or maroon-colored floss are
fastened in, and the dark floss wrapped on for the remainder
of the body, followed by the gold tinsel and the hackle (four
turns are enough). Brown mallard or wild-turkey wings are
then put on, and it is finished with a collar of black ostrich
hurl. The first fly I tied of this kind, was according to
SALMON FLIE§,
SALMON-FISHING. 355
John’s directions as he sat by. I have been quite successful
with the “ Chamberlain.”
Dr. Adamson, in “Salmon-fishing in Canada,” gives the
following list of flies used on the rivers emptying into the
St. Lawrence :—
“The Louise is an extremely beautiful fly, having the
wings composed of fibres from the golden pheasant’s topknot,
breast-feather, and tail, with sprigs from the green parrot,
blue macaw, and kingfisher; the body is of fiery brown
mohair with gold twist; the head of orange mohair ; the tai!
a single feather from the golden pheasant’s topknot, reddish.
brown hackle, and jay legs. .
“The Hdwin is a much more simple fly, and often equally
efficacious amongst the fins, the wings being composed of the
golden pheasant’s tail-feather, with a dash of yellow macaw ;
the body yellow mohair, ribs of black silk, head black
mohair, tail golden pheasant topknot, hackle yellow, and
scarlet silk tip.
“ The Forsyth— Wings of yellow macaw with a slight dash
of mallard wing at each side; yellow mohair body with black
ribs; head black, tail golden pheasant topknot, hackle yellow,
with light blue silk tip.
“The Stevens—Wings of golden pheasant breast-feather,
with a slight mixture of mallard; body of reddish brick-
colored silk gold twist, head black ostrich; tail golden
pheasant topknot; hackle red to match the body, tip blue
silk.
“The Ross—Wings of mallard and peacock’s hurl; body
cinnamon-colored silk gold twist; no head; tail, green parrot,
red and black hackles, and black tip.
“The Parson—This ig a beautiful and efficient fly. The
wings are mixed, and very similar to those of the Louise, but
have a slight mixture of wood-duck in them; the body is
356 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
of very dark claret silk with gold twist; head black ostrich ;
tail golden pheasant topknot, hackle dark claret; legs blue,
with a tip of yellow and gold.
“The Strachan.—Mixed wing chiefly of golden pheasant
tail, yellow macaw, and jay’s wing; body of crimson silk
with gold twist; head black ostrich; tail golden pheasant;
black hackle with jay’s wing; legs tip yellow and gold.
“The Langevin—Wings, body, tail, hackle, legs, tip all
yellow; made of the dyed feathers of the white goose; the
head of black ostrich, and the twist of black silk.”
CastTiInG. THE FLy.—As bait-fishing or trolling can scarcely
be called a sportsmanlike way of killing Salmon, I shall
confine my observations to angling for them only with the
artificial fly.
In my remarks on Trout-fishing I have alluded to the im-
possibility of learning how to cast the fly well from written
directions alone. One may get the theory ever so well in his
head—-and good theory too—when he comes to try his hand,
however, there are so many things he must remember to do
just at the nick of time, and so many contingencies which he
did not look for, constantly arising, that he will likely
recollect no more of the lessons he has learned from books
than some general directions, and will depend rather on his
own judgment and ‘native aptness. This is more the case in
Salmon-fishing even than in casting the fly for Trout.
I do not mean to convey the idea that the written directions
are useless; on the contrary, they are of much service when
combined with some practical knowledge of the art. It would,
therefore, be well for the beginner to learn all be can from
books, and not discard his theory entirely, if not approved
of by anglers, whose instruction he may have the benefit of
on the river. A little experience will show him that he may
combine the teachings of the two, and profit by both.
SALMON-FISHING. 357
Although I had been a Trout fly-fisher for a quarter of a
century and had gained, as I thought, much knowledge from
Chitty, Scrope, and “Ephemera” (and there is no better
authority than the last), I must confess that I received more
instruction last summer in a few days from the hints and
suggestions of John Chamberlain, an unlettered canoe-man,
than I had from books in many years; though still adhering
to the teachings of “Ephemera” in opposition to John, on
points which were in accordance with my own notions.
I have heard anglers say that Salmon-fishing is only
Trout-fishing on a grand scale. There is much truth in the
remark, for a person who can cast well for Trout, will soon
‘acquire the knack of throwing the fly for Salmon. But in
several important points there is a difference, for Salmon do
not often lie in that part of a pool where the angler would
look for Trout. He moreover fishes for Salmon with only
one fly, and displays it differently——mostly peneath the surface.
I offer these hints not with a view of enlightening Salmon-
fishers of experience, but with the hope that they may be of
some service to beginners who have not access to the authors
I have mentioned, or who may not fall into as good hands in
their first attempts as I did. is
A few words in the first place as to holding the rod—A
right-handed man will naturally grasp it with the r¢ght hand
above the reel, and with his left hand below at the end of the
butt; and will throw from over the right shoulder. The left-
handed man will do the reverse, that is, grasp with his left
hand above the reel and cast from the left shoulder. A right-
handed man will advance his right foot in casting, and a left-
handed man his left foot. Supposing then that the great
majority of men are right-handed, I will shape my hints
accordingly.
The first thing is to get out as much line as one intends
358 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
making his first cast with; this is done as in Trout-fishing.
To describe it, we will suppose that the angler approaches the
stream, the hook clasping one of the bars of the reel (the
usual way of carrying it), his line consequently (or as much
as has passed through the rings) the same length as his rod,
or nearly so. He disengages his fly, throws it on the water,
and draws a few feet of line off the reel; the line falling in a
loop between the reel and the ring next above it. Now by
switching his rod to the right or left—his fly dragging the
mean time in the water—the slack line which hangs in a loop
is pulled through the rings, and out at the end of the tip;
lengthening the line, by so much. This is repeated until he
has drawn the point of the rod around so far to one side that”
he is obliged to lift the line from the water and throw it
further out, in order to continue the operation. Thus by
pulling the line from the reel, and consecutively switching
the rod, the required length is obtained. Of course this pre-
liminary operation is not done in the direction in which the
fish are supposed to lie.
Now, with a smart spring of the rod, the angler lifts his
fly from the water to make the first cast, and directs its course
backwards over his right shoulder until he thinks it has
nearly reached the distance the line will allow it to go behind
him; then with a steady forward motion, succeeded by a switch
of the rod, he sends it on its errand across the smoothly-
gliding water, that it may float or swing over the current and
entice the silver-sided Salmon with its sheen and life-like
look.
In this plain, straightforward throw, the top of the rod
describes nearly an arc in its backward course, and the
chord of the same arc in its forward course; in other words,
the backward course is a curve, and the forward a straight
line. The left figure of the cut on page 62, gives a bird’s-eye
SALMON-FISHING, 359
view of the line the point of the rod describes; the dotted
line is the course the fly takes, O the place where the angler
stands, and the large arrow the course of the river.
It is hard to fix the exact time that the particular spring
which sends the fly far and straight, is imparted to the rod;
it is somewhere about the time it is vertical, or perhaps just
before that time, in its forward movement. A person, though,
as he acquires the knack of casting, will find it out, though
he may not be able to describe it.
As in Trout-fishing, the learner is apt to labor hard in
casting, using much more force than is required, uutil he gets
the habit of making the rod perform neatly, what he, by mere
physical effort, would do clumsily. Another thing that he
Kas learned in Trout-fishing will also be of service to him;
it is that lowering of the point of the rod the least bit, by the
mere downward bending of the wrist of his right hand, as
the fly reaches its destination, causing it to fall lightly on the
water, instead of striking it with a splash. There is a way
of sending the fly straight out, as if aiming at something
above the surface, say on a level with one’s shoulder, and
easing it off in the manner just described, which is the per-
fection of casting. It requires much practice to acquire it.
The manner of getting more line out as one successively
increases the length of his cast, is by drawing a few feet from
the reel before raising his fly from the water, and as the rod
is drawn backward, the slack goes out through the wire loop
at the end of the tip. .
The fly is generally cast directly or obliquely across the
stream, the current, or a proper inclination of the rod, or the
two combined, bringing it over the place where the fish lie.
After the fly has fallen on the water, it is acted upon by two
opposing forces—the tendency of the current to take it down
stream, and the raising of the point of the rod.to restrain or
360 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
direct it; the result is, that the fly swings across the stream
towards the side on which the angler stands, describing in its
course the segment of a circle, and sweeping along in front
of the fish. By increasing the length of the cast directly or
obliquely across, as just described, the radius is lengthened,
and the segment enlarged and of course extended down stream,
as well as across. In this manner, that portion of the pool
within reach of the angler is gradually covered; then, by
advancing a step at a time, or by short successive pushes of
the canoe, he fishes the whole of it, or as much as can be
covered from the side he is on.
The fibres of the feathers of which the fly is composed, are
made to contract and expand as it passes through the water,
by the least possible raising and dropping of the point of the
rod, in order to show the fly attractively. This, however,
cannot be done effectually, if the current is so strong as to
press the fibres continually against the body of the fly, not
allowing them to open when the top of the rod is lowered.
The general rule laid down by “ Ephemera,” in his Book
of the Salmon, for fishing a pool “upwards in the direction
of its source,” appears to me entirely wrong. It is impracti-
cable on many American rivers, from the rapidity of the cur-
rent. He ignores his own rule, however, in a remark ona
preveding page of his book, when speaking of the motion to
be given to the fly in drawing it through the water. He
says, “the Salmon-fly is always to be worked or humored
agaimst the current, never with it.” How the angler is to
humor the fly against the current, when drawing it with the
current, I leave him to find out. As to fishing wp stream, it
may do where the current is slight, but in swift water it
should only be when there is no cast but from the lower end
of the pool.
SALMON-FISHING. 861
THE LEFT-SHOULDERED Cast.—It frequently occurs, in
fishing down either side of a river, that an abrupt bank rises
immediately at the angler’s back. If on the right side of the
river, such an obstruction makes it necessary to cast from over
the left shoulder ; for in making the ordinary right-shouldered
cast, the high bank would prevent the backward motion of
the rod and the backward sweep of the line. In casting from
over the left shoulder, it is not necessary, as “Hphemera”
directs, to shift one’s hands; that is, to grasp the roc above
above the reel with the left, and the end of the butt with the
right hand, and make an awkward attempt, for the time, to
become a left-handed man. A much easier plan Is not to
shift the hands at all, but, keeping them as they are, to bring
the line backward over the left shoulder, and cast from the
left side. This way of casting, though it may appear awkward
at first, will become quite easy after a little practice, especially
to one who is used to whipping over the left shoulder for
Trout. The middle figure of the diagram on the next page
shows the line described by the top of the rod in the left-
shouldered cast; the dotted line represents the course of the
fly; O is the stand of the angler.
A greater difficulty than that just described is to be over-
come, when one wishes to cast directly across the stream,
and a precipitous bank or cliff rises immediately behind his
back, and, it may be, also on his left hand. In this case he
has first to get his fly out, down stream; the current will
assist him somewhat. Then lifting it with a smart twitch of
the rod, he brings it back (but not too far) over the left
shoulder, and suddenly facing the desired spot, casts with a
short abrupt spring of the rod in that direction. A bird’s-
eye view of the course described by the top of the rod in this
throw is represented by the right-hand figure of the cut. The
largest arrow points down stream. B is the point from which
the fly is picked up, and A the direction in which it is cast.
862 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
After practising these two casts for some years whenever
the emergency required it in Trout-fishing, I was agreeably
surprised in reading Chitty’s (“Theophilus South’s”) “ Fly-
Fisher’s Text-Book,” to find them illustrated, and have intro-
duced the above diagram, which is somewhat similar, to show
that the same casts can be used in Salmon-fishing.
There are other obstacles and impediments the Salmon-
fisher meets with, which he will have to bear patiently or
overcome as wellas he can. Amongst these, there is nothing
so annoying as an unfavorable wind. At one time it may blow
obstinately in your very teeth, requiring a deal of “elbow-
grease” to get the fly out. At another time there is a spank-
ing breeze astern, and if you can get your line out behind
you, there are many chances of cracking your fly off. Then
there is a side-wind blowing up stream or down stream,
réquiring a nice calculation as to how much you must allow
for leeway, when aiming above or below the spot, as the case
may be. At such times, unless the fish are very much dis-
posed to rise, “the game does not pay for the candle,” and the
fisher had better get into some sheltered nook and light his
pipe, instead of thrashing the wind and getting up a feeling
of animosity against old Boreas or. Aolus.
SALMON-FISHING. 363
Salmon frequently leap above the water as if in play or to
inhale an additional quantity of atmospheric air; at such
times they are not disposed to take your fly. But when one
is observed to rise at a natural fly—and there are very few of"
these on a Salmon river—the angler may expect a rise also at
his counterféit.
The length of line that can be cast depends much on the
length and spring of the rod; three times its length is the
limit that most writers on. the subject give as the distance
that can be cast with precision and lightness, but with a
moderate fair wind, twenty-five yards can be covered with a
rod of sixteen feet.
A Salmon-pool is generally different from the water in
which Trout are found. Not in the shade of trees overhang-
ing a still pool, where a cooling spring branch trickles in;
not in the tossing, troubled head of a rift; nor often in the
eddies that whirl in circles at its sides; nor in its backwater.
But in the deep smooth rapid, generally occupying but a
small portion of the breadth of the river; or close to the rock
that juts boldly up from the deep swift water; sometimes on
the brink of the pitch, as it leaps over a ledge of rock. Then
again where a moderate deep current terminates in a glassy
rapid, called a “tongue” or a “sled-run,” or just above the
rocks on either side which force the current into these fancied
shapes. In such places as the last mentioned, Salmon gene-
rally rest after the labor of winning their way up the strong
rapid. 7
Although an experienced Salmon-fisher may go to a new
river and point out most of the good pools, there are many
casts he would overlook until one who has fished the stream
before, or an attendant, who is acquainted with the river,
points them out to him.
STRIKING.—There is a great difference of opinion amongst
364 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Salmon-fishers as to striking a fish, most of them contending
that you should strike as soon as you see the fish, or the
swell it makes in its attempt to seize the fly; others that it
should not be done until the fish has turned to go back.
Some maintain (see Scrope’s “Days and Nights of Salmon-
fishing,”) that you should feel a tug, or in Scotch parlance
“a rug,” before you strike. This deliberate way of dealing
with a Salmon is advocated by “ Ephemera.”
The novice in his agitation will be apt to forget any
written directions, and strike violently, or too quickly, or
not at all. The negative action is the least objectionable of
the three; for if the fish is at all eager he will generally hook
himself, and the strain on the rod is frequently felt before the
angler has time to raise the point of it. So in most cases one
can take little credit to himself for hooking the Salmon, for it
is rather the act of the fish than his own. The hook may be
struck deeper in its hold by a dexterous movement of the.
wrist, and this is advisable if the fish does not strain the rod
sufficiently to do so.
PLAYING A SaALMon.—A person who is accustomed to the
use of the reel in playing other large fish, will soon acquire a
reasonable degree of self-possession and skill in killing a
Salmon. In doing this, three important things are to be
observed: one is to keep up the point of the rod go as to
bring its whole spring to bear on the fish, and by no means
allow him to “straighten” on you (¢.e, to get the line and
rod in a direct line between you and him). For if you do, and
there should be the slightest catch, or undue pressure on the
line to prevent its running freely, he will have a dead pull on.
you, and will be almost certain to break the hold that the
hook has in his mouth, or carry away your casting-line. The
reel-line itself would hardly be strong enough to hold a large
Salmon under such circumstances, particularly if by coming
SALMON-FISHING, 865
towards you, he should get some slack in the line, and then
suddenly turn and rush down stream.
By undue pressure, I mean other resistance to the line
passing out, than is caused by a moderately stiff click in the
reel, or by that slight uniform pressure of the finger on the
line, or of the thumb on the reel, which only an angler of
experience with perfect self-possession can give.
Some Salmon-fishers use reels without a bearing of any
kind, depending on this acquired delicacy of touch; but the
only safe plan is to have one with a click, for the click bears
continually and without variation ; and this is all the resistance
that it is prudent for the angler to offer in playing a Salmon.
And it is wonderful how slight this resistance is, when we
consider what it accomplishes, for combined with the unceas-
ing bearing of a springy rod, it wearies out and completely
exhausts a powerful fish, even when assisted by a strong
current. I have stated on a preceding page, that the resist-
ance of the click, with the friction on the line in passing
through the rings, does not exceed twelve ounces, and men-
tion the result of the simple experiment here, to show how
small a strain there is on the rod and line when a Salmon is
properly managed, and to convince the novice how violence
lessens the chances of securing his prize.
When a Salmon takes the fly, he generally goes to the
bottom, and on the instant evinces little or perhaps no,
alarm, pausing for a few moments as if astonished, or
moving off slowly and generally a little way up stream.
During this brief space of time the angler has opportunity to
put on that self-possession which he will require before the
fight is over. If the fish swims against the current, the point
of the rod should be turned in the opposite direction.
Presently he may drop down stream, not usually with head-
long speed, but gradually, when it is necessary to wind up,
366 AMERICAN AN@LER’S BOOK.
keeping a taut line on him as he passes down. When he
gets below and becomes thoroughly aroused to a sense of his
danger, he commences a series of desperate leaps or long
runs, or both alternately. If he takes the current, he may
run off a third of the line at a dash; then the point of the
rod should be turned to one side, butting him stoutly to get
him into the still water on the side of the rapid. If this can-
not be done he must be followed down stream, recovering
line when you can, and giving it grudgingly when you must,
keeping the rod in the mean time as nearly perpendicular as
possible, and giving him its whole spring. When he leaps,
if he is near you, the point of the rod is raised; if far off the
point should be lowered. In either case though, after a leap,
if there is any slack line it should be immediately recovered,
and the usual tension given.
Whether fishing from the shore or from a canoe, there is
not as much danger of losing a Salmon as one might suppose
when it goes over a pitch. For, as I have just said, it does not
rush headlong over, but drops down tail foremost, or sideways.
At such time the rod should be kept well up, to ease the fish
over with its spring. After guiding the fish carefully through
the safest channel, another tussle should be had at the first
favorable place to get it in shore, or out of the current.
In bringing a fish within reach of the gaff, it is not safe to
press him harder then, than at any other time of the contest.
For by this time the hold of the hook may have nearly worn
out. Many a fish is lost by rough usage, or even a little
udditional force, at such time. JI have had the mortification
on more than one occasion, of seeing a good fish, after he was
fairly conquered, rid himself of the hook by a lazy wollop, or
a wave of its broad tail, and sink to the bottom or move
slowly away.
Somé writers give directions as to what part of the body
SALMON-FISHING. 867
a Salmon should be gaffed in. The first object should be to
gaff it somewhere, and even this is not always easy ; though it
sometimes happens that a fish is brought near shore, or within
reach of the gaff, before it is half killed, and in a lull of the
contest or in some quiet moment it may be gaffed, when a
prolonged contest might lose it. ,
On American rivers, although one is compelled in many
places to cast from a canoe, he should fight his fish from the
shore if practicable. It is always necessary to land either on
the shore, or on a rock at some convenient place in the river,
to bring him within reach of the gaff.
In the foregoing, I have supposed a case—a common one—
as to how a Salmon may act, and endeavored to give the unin-
itiated some idea how the case should be treated ; but there is
no telling what a Salmon when fully alarmed will do. At
one moment he may be jumping, at the next running towards
you, towing the slack line as it bags behind him, when it is
necessary to run backwards if he comes faster than you can
wind up. Or he may turn his prow down stream, and with
his powerful propeller, to which the flanges of the Ericsson
screw are as nothing (when compared with the size of the
body to be moved), and get headway enough to run out your
whole line, if you do not follow fast. And then there is that
desperate sawing and jerking of the head when the gentlest
hand is required; or, he may dart around ‘a boulder and
double towards you, getting a dead pull, or foul the casting-
line in a drift-log, and snap it like a cobweb; or saw it
against the sharp edge of a sunken rock, or go over a high
pitch, while you have to run along the rocky bank, or shoot
the rapid in a frail canoe; or he may sulk on the bottom,
when you have to throw in stones, or the canoe-man poke at
him with his setting-pole. But why attempt to describe what
a Salmon may or will do?
368 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
CAMPING ON THE RIVER.
The next thing in importance to the angler, after sport, is
his comfort on the river; he would therefore do well to
bestow gome thought on the subject before leaving home.
His tent, his stores, his clothing, protection against mosquitoes,
midges, and black flies, &c., are all matters that require care
and foresight.
Camp Equipace. The Tent—The most convenient size for
the accommodation of one person, though it might answer
for two, is an eight-foot tent; that is, eight feet long, eight °
feet wide, and eight feet high, to the ridge-pole. There
should be an opening at each end, to create a draft of air
through it; it should also be provided with a “fly,” which,
in addition to being a double roof to the tent, can be stretched
over inclined poles, and used as a shelter for the canoe-men,
when one’s stay is of short duration at a station where there
is no bark-shed. To shed the rain well, the roof of the tent
should have an inclination of not less than forty degrees;
and to have room inside and allow a suitable elevation to the
mosquito-bar, which is arranged on one side of it, the walls
should be three and a half feet high. The best material for
a tent of this kind is American cotton drill, weighing eight
ounces to a yard, the goods being thirty-three inches wide.
At most of the fishing-stations on Salmon rivers frequented
by anglers, bark sheds have been erected at different times,
and, as a matter: of mutual interest, they are kept in repair
by the canoemen. They are more suitable to sit or eat in,
more convenient, with an impromptu table before you, to tie
flies in, and even more comfortable to sleep in, with the usual
log fire in front.
Many persons prefer a bed of spruce boughs, and, to protect
themselves thoroughly from the moisture of the around,
SALMON-FISHING. 369
spread over the boughs an India-rubber blanket or a buffalo-
robe. If one wishes to sleep above the ground, a stretcher
can be used. This is simply a piece of heavy linen canvas, -
six feet long by two and a half or three feet wide, with a hem
of six inches on each side. A pole of suitable size and
length is thrust through each hem, and the ends of the poles
are supported by forked stakes, a foot or so above the ground,
or by stout logs, one at the foot and the other at the head,
with notches cut in them. When the camp is moved, the
poles are drawn out of the hems, and the stretcher packed
with the tent. To support the mosquito-bar, stakes three or
four feet long are driven into the ground at each of the four
corners of the stretcher; and the bar is suspended by means
of rings which slide along a stout cord extending from stake
to stake on each side. The bar can be pushed to the head or
foot of the bed by this means, when convenience requires it.
As the nights are generally cold, even in summer, in the
regions of Salmon, two thick blankets—one to sleep on, and
another to cover one’s self with—will be required. One will
answer if you have a buffalo robe.
Protection against Mosquitoes, Black-Flies, and Midges——The
angler frequently finds these pests of the wilderness so annoy-
ing in daytime as to detract seriously from the pleasure of
his sport. At night they are intolerable without a “smudge,”
180 long as he sits up, and a good mosquito-bar after he has
gone to bed. In daytime, the best protection is a veil for
the face, and gauntlets for the hands.
The best material for a veil is a thin cheap stiffened cotton
fabric called “tarleton;” it is much lighter than barege, more
open than silk tissue, and cooler than either, as it admits the
air freely. It is also more suitable for a mosquito-bar than
the article in general use, as the spaces between the threads
of this fabric are small enough to exclude even black-flies.
24.
370 | AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The veil should be made in the shape of a bag, but open at
each end, about fifteen or eighteen inches long, and two or
two and a half feet in circumference. A piece of fine gum-
elastic cord is run in the hem at the top to clasp the body of
the hat, while a similar cord in the hem at the bottom secures
it around the neck; the rim of the hat keeps it out from the
face. The bottom of the veil can be lifted somewhat, and the
stem of a pipe stuck in the mouth when one wants to smoke.
Gauntlets can be made by sewing linen cuffs to a pair of
easy old kid gloves; a piece of gum-elastic cord run in a hem
at the top of the cuff, clasping the arm under the coat-sleeve.
Last summer, I found a veil and gauntlets of this description
effectually to keep out these unwelcome visitors.
Different lubricating compounds have been recommended as
preventives: among these are tar and sweet-oil, coal-oil,
creosote and oil, and oil of pennyroyal. The latter is the
cleanest, is not offensive, and is most convenient to carry; it
should be diluted with sweet-oil, as it is extremely volatile.
The Canadians make a “smudge” to drive off the mosquitoes
and flies, which is not only movable, but has a pleasant
odor, not unlike that of the incense burnt in Catholic churches.
It is made by beating strips of dry bark of the white cedar,
and binding them into bundles four or five inches in diameter
and two or three feet long. One of these bundles will burn
for five or six hours, gradually smouldering away, and emit-:
ting a pretty stream of blue smoke. It is convenient to place
by one’s side at mealtime, or when reading or tying flies.
T will not endeavor to anticipate by description, the interest
with which the novice will mark the skill and readiness of
the man of the woods, in the use of his paddle and pole, his
axe and his knife, and the various materials and appliances
he so aptly finds in the forest, for making rude tables, benches,
stools, beds, baskets, buckets, &e.
SALMON-FISHING. 371
Clothing, &éc—One requires strong warm clothing on the
river; he should not be without a good jacket to come to the
hips, two pairs of heavy woollen pantaloons, two warm flannel
shirts, two or three pairs of stout yarn socks (“Shaker” socks
are best), a change of such underclothes as he wears in this
climate in winter, and two pairs of good lace-boots ; one pair
of the latter should be sparsely studded with wrought-iron
hob-nails, in case he may wish to wade at times. He should
avoid glaring colors in his dress; light-gray is the most
suitable.
His wallet should include thread and needles, awl, waxed-
ends, shoemakers’ wax, a few hob-nails, coarse and fine twine,
a pair of small pliers, a file, a spring-balance to weigh his
fish, court-plaster, a box of Seidlitz powders, shellac varnish,
prepared glue, and boiled linseed-oil; the last three in
vials as large as the end of one’s thumb.
Cooking Utensils—The cooking utensils and table furniture
are an iron pot and kettle, a coffee-pot, a folding wire fish-broiler,
three or four tin plates and as many tin cups to fit into each
other; pewter spoons, pepper-boxes, knives and forks, &c.
If the angler has in view easy transportation and snug
stowage, and would diminish the hard work to which his
canoe-men are subjected in poling against a strong current,
and in making difficult portages, he will not take barrels or
cumbersome trunks into a birch canoe, but pack his provi-
sions, as many of them as he can, in bags, his clothes in
carpet or India-rubber wallets, and his camp equipage in
bundles.
StorEs.—Camping out, to be enjoyed with zest, should
be attended with as few home luxuries as a person can
well do with; still, some of those that pertain to his table,
add greatly to the edibility of the food he gets by rod or
gun, when continual feeding on it begins to cloy the appe-
372 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Z
tite. A moderate assortment of such things might include
vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salad-oil, essence of coffee or
“caffeine,” solidified milk, a small quantity of desiccated meats
and vegetables for soup and pottage, and a box of claret, if
it can be carried, for, as I have before remarked, there is no
beverage like it with fresh fish.
The stores that go to make the real staff of life are pork,
ship-bread, potatoes, onions, beans, salt, pepper, butter, tea,
sugar, &. It may be asked, Why such a profusion? or it
might be said that fresh Salmon is good:enough; and so it
is; but one becomes satiated with it after a while, and longs
for some of the common things he ate at home. The canoe-
men will not forget their tobacco, and should be sure to have
a pound or two of rosin to patch and stop up the cracks in
their canoe.
Cooxine SaLMon.—On the river there is a variety of ways
of cooking or preparing Salmon for the table. The following
are a few simple receipts :—
To boil Salmon.—Have a sufficient quantity, but not too
much water, boiling briskly with a good handful of salt in
it. Cut off a piece of fish of suitable size, notch it to the
bone, put it into the pot, cover it up close, and give it from
ten to twenty minutes, according to its size. Serve it up hot,
with some of the liquor left after boiling.
To broil Salmon.—Cut steaks across the fish, or, if length-
wise, let the pieces include some of the fat glutinous portions
of the belly; lay them between the folds of the wire fish-
broiler; turn it often, and be careful not to overdo them.
When served up, the dish should be placed’ on a flat hot |
stone, and your plate also, if you prefer; butter the fish well
while hot, and season it to your liking.
Cold Salmon.—Put aside part of the fish boiled for dinner,
and eat it cold for supper; it is extremely delicate.
SALMON-FISHING. 373
Soused Salmon.—Take a piece of boiled Salmon, and put it
in a pan with due proportions of salt, red pepper, vinegar,
Worcestershire sauce or walnut catsup, and salad-oil; let it
Stand five or six hours, and eat it cold; it is very appetizing.
To bake a Grilse—Scale and wash it outside, but let no
water touch the inside. Score or notch it to the bone, season
it by rubbing the inside and the gashes with plenty of pepper
and salt, wrap it'in a single envelope of buttered paper, and
then in a half-dozen folds of coarse straw paper; saturate it
thoroughly in water, press it slightly between the hands,
and then lay it in a bed of hot coals and ashes, and cover it
up. A Grilse of three pounds should be left in about twenty
minutes, and one of four pounds five or ten minutes longer.
In serving it up, take off the paper covering, lay it on a flat
hot stone, and butter it while hot. Grilse are generally split
and broiled or planked like Shad.
“ Kippered Salmon” is excellent, especially for breakfast,
when one becomes somewhat satiated with fresh fish. The
canoe-men all understand the process of kippering fish. The
Salmon is split along the back, and the bone taken out; it is
then thoroughly peppered and salted inside and out, and
spread out and pressed between two pieces of birch bark
laid on the ground; if it is intended for immediate use, from
twelve to twenty-four hours is sufficient. It is then spread
open by means of flat slats of cedar, hung up by the tail, and
dried in the sun and air for a day or two. When one intends
taking kippered Salmon home with him, they should be taken
out of press, and salted a second time, and exposed to the sun
for at least a week or ten days. A dozen Salmon prepared for
me in this way by Peter Chamberlain, whilst at the Grand
Falls on the Nipissiguit last summer, were packed at Bathurst
in a box, with layers of birch bark between them, and were
brought home with my luggage in excellent condition.
874 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
When you get home, it is necessary to soak a piece in water
from four to twelve hours (according to the length of time it
has been kept) before broiling, in order to soften it and get
some of the salt out. ee
When Salmon are smoked, they are first put in a strong
pickle of brine for twenty-four hours, or salted and pressed
between pieces of bark, as already described, and then stretched
with slats, and smoked with chips of “ hard wood” (maple,
birch, &.) in a bark hut built for the purpose. It requires a
longer time to smoke fish than to kipper them, and unless a
person has time to give them at least two weeks in the smoke-
house, he had better not attempt to carry them home, if the
distance is more than three or four days’ journey.
Law anp Custom oN THE RiveR.—<Although there is no
law, properly speaking, on a river which is free to all, still
there are rules of right and courtesy that obtain, or at least
which should be observed, amongst anglers.
A discreet angler will not consent that his party shall
consist of more than two, including himself. Two are
company for each other; if there are more, a smaller propor-
tion of the fishing falls to each rod, while sociality is not
increased. It is the custom to apportion the pools of a station
as fairly as possible between the rods; and to make the
division more equitable, and to prevent the monotony of
one angler fishing the same set of pools every day, they are
shifted ; that is, the rod that occupied one set on one day will
take the other set the next day, and vice versa. The plan of
changing the pools at noon on each day is sometimes adopted,
so that the new occupant, if he thinks the pools have been
fished too persistently by his predecessor, can rest them that
afternoon, and have them all the fresher the next morning.
Such a course is frequently adopted with great advantage to
one who follows an over-industrious and indiscreet angler.
SALMON-FISHING. 375
A proper regard for the rights of his successors, though, will
always restrain a considerate, fair fisher in such cases, how-
ever ardent a sportsman he may be. I have seen a Salmon-
fisher continue to whip a pool under a bright glaring sun,
long after the fish had shown the least disposition to rise, and
even hand the rod to one of his canoe-men, to give it a more
thorough thrashing, because his right to the pool would pass
to his successor in an hour or two. A specimen of this style
of Salmon-fisher I met at the Grand Falls of the Nipissiguit,
last summer. A fat, short-winded little Englishman from
Manchester, who talked largely of the moor-fowl(?) he had
bagged on the Derbyshire hills, and the number of Salmon
he had killed in a single afternoon in Scotland. He was care-
ful of his comfort, and generally had his bottle of claret or a
well-filled flask with him on the river-side, and took it easily,
while one of his canoe-men (an expert) would thrash the water
industriously until he hooked a Salmon, and then hand him
the rod to kill it; reversing the custom of the Highland
laird who hooks his own fish, and hands the rod to his ser-
vant. His plea for enjoying the sport by proxy was, that
“he could not come the left-shouldered cast” (which was
necessary in fishing some fine pools from the right bank of that
river), or that he “wanted Francis to limber his new rod.” I
am not aware of the exact proportion of his catch, the canoe-
man hooked for him, perhaps half, perhaps three-fourths; he
set them all down however in his memorandum-book, as the
product of his own skill. His canoe-man afterwards quietly
remarked to me, with a broad grin, that the little man would
have booked more Salmon, if he had handled them properly
after he (the said Francis) had hooked them for him. The
companion of this gentleman was just his opposite: a young
Scotchman, who, though he had never fished for Salmon
38376 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
before, cast a fly admirably, and hooked his own fish, and
killed them in a masterly manner.
Very few fishing-stations will “carry” more than two rods,
and new comers, finding such water occupied, generally
refrain from intruding, and seek other grounds. It frequently
happens, though, at some famous place—I would instance the
Grand Falls of the Nipissiguit—that the new comers have
travelled a long distance, and ‘there is no station beyond. If
the stream is free to all, there is no gainsaying their right to
stop and fish; but the privilege of dividing the pools is
generally conceded to the first occupants, and it would be a
breach of courtesy and fair dealing in those who come last, to
wet a line without consulting them.
When pools have been over-fished, a mutual agreement to
rest them for a day or two, or every alternate day, resulte
beneficially to all. Such course is frequently resorted to.
CHAPTER XIV.
SALMON RIVERS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES.
‘* Taou pausest not in thine allotted task,
O darkling River! through the night I hear
‘Thy wavelets rippling on the pebbly beach,
I hear thy current stir the rustling sedge
That skirts thy bed. Thou intermittest not
Thine everlasting journey, drawing on
A silvery train from many a woodland spring
And mountain brook.”
BRYANT.
CHAPTER XIV.
SALMON-RIVERS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES.
Saumon-Rivers or Lower Canapa.—Salmon-rivers emptying into or
tributary to rivers flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Satmwon-Rivers or New Brunswicx.—Mirimichi.—Ristigouche.—Meta-
pediac.—Cascapediacs.—Bonaventure.—Tittigouche.—Nipissiguit.
SALMON-RIVERS IN LOWER CANADA.
THE following extract from “Salmon-Fishing in Canada,”
(a book to which I have before had occasion to refer), is so
full of information as regards the rivers of the provinces,
and the laws and rules respecting Salmon-fisheries, that I
quote the article at length :—
“The following list includes the principal Salmon-rivers
and Sea-Trout streams which discharge into the Saint Law-
rence and Saguenay Rivers, along the north-east or Labrador
coast, between the province boundary eastwards (Blanc
Sablon), and the river Jacques Cartier, above Quebec; also
those emptying upon the south or eastern shore of the Saint
Lawrence, and others flowing easterly into the Bay of
Chaleurs.
“In addition there are many other bay, cove, and inlet
stations along these extensive coasts, but which are disposable
chiefly as sedentary net-fishings for Salmon and Trout.
“The immediate expiry of the lease of that vast territory
commonly known as ‘The King’s Posts,’ opens up to the
(379)
380
AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
public competition numerous valuable coast-fisheries (such as
Tadousac, Seven Islands, &c.), besides many famous Salmon-
rivers and sea-trout streams, and renders disposable certain
commodious building establishments long occupied as fur-
trading posts, by the Honorable Hudson’s Bay Company, at
the mouths of the most important of these fine rivers.
Seigniory Mingan.
wa
Esquimaux
Corkewetpeeche
Ste. Augustine
Sheep Bay
Little Meccatina
Netagamu
Napeteteepe .
Etamamu
Coacoacho
Romaine
Musquarro
Kegashka
Gt, Natashquan
Agwanish
Pashasheeboo
Mingan
Manitou
Saint John
Magpie
Saw Bill
Manitou
“ST. PAUL’S.
“Norra Sore.
“ Discharge into River St. Lawrence.
Fine Salmon-river.
mon each season.
Neighboring stream. Contains steady run of Sal-
mon.
Well supplied with Salmon.
Considerable size. Good Salmon-fishery station.
Discharges large body of water by several channels.
Fine Salmon-river.
Large, deep stream. High falls inside,
of Trout.
falls.
Empties into spacious bay.
mon. ,
Celebrated for its Salmon-fishery.
Discharges into fine basin. Good Salmon-river.
Large, but shoal stream. Salmon abound. Is re-
markable for a rare, beautiful, and flavorous
quality of white or silver Trout.
Bold, rapid river. Affords fine Salmon-fishing with
fly. Good net-fishery station.
Salmon abundant — steep rapids impeding their
ascent. Fishery in bay.
Famous stream. Salmon of finest kind and nume-
rous.
Large stream. Good Salmon-fishery location.
(N.E. bound of “ Lordship of Mingan.’’)
Tolerable size. Fair fishery.
Excellent net and fly-fishing for Salmon.
always hold a heavy run of large fish.
Branch of the Mingan, equally good and well
known.
Very large stream. Splendid Salmon-fishery.
Tolerably good fishery for Salmon. Rapid little
river.
Considerable stream. Chief net-fishery.
Large—obstructed by perpendicular fall.
mouth both Salmon and Trout resort.
Formerly yielding 52,500 Sal-
Swarms
Salmon ascending it only to the
Abounds with Sal-
Pools
At its
Within frontege-limits of “ King’s Posts,’ now resuming by the Canadian Governwent.
j
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES.
( Moisie
Ste. Marguerite (en
Pentecost
Trinity (Bay)
Goodbout
English
Bersimia
Jeremie
Colombier
Plover
Blanche
Laval .
Sault de Cochon
Portneuf
G. Bergeronne
L. Bergeronne
bas) .
Nipimewecaw’nan .
Grand Escoumain .
381
Noted for numbers of weighty Salmon. Extensive
and lucrative net-fishery. Fine fly-fishing.
Excellent river for Salmon and Trout.
Full, swift stream, much frequented by Salmon.
Stationary fisheries at the mouth.
Favorite river. Salmon and Trout fishing, for net
and rod. Ps
Fine Salmon-river, widely known as such. ‘The
net-fishery in its tide-water and adjacent bay is
very productive.
Empties into deep cove.
of Trout.
Immense stream, and has many tributaries. Scenery
interesting. Abounds with large-sized Salmon.
They do not affect the fly except on the waters of
its branches.
Tributary of Bersimis. Fairy-like stream.
nine miles inside. Exquisite fly-fishing.
Salmon-fishery. Plenty
Falls
Small. Trout only. Fur-trading post, chiefly.
Good Salmon-fishery.
Do.
Do.
Picturesque and wild river, alternating with gentle
rapids and deep narrow pools. Besides valuable
net-fishery, it affords abundant Salmon and Trout-
fishing.
Steep falls hinder ascent of Salmon. Famous for
Trout-fishing along the estuary border.
Pleasant stream to fish with fly. Up to the first
falls swarms with Trout. For several miles higher
up is frequented by Salmon, Net-fishery station
along the tideway.
Once famous for Salmon. Mill-dam has now an
artificial fishway. Fine net-fishery for Salmon in
bay.
Good Trout-stream.
Fair Salmon and Trout river. (Both the Bergeronne
rivers are within few miles of Saguenay and
Tadousac.)
Discharge into River Saguenay.
St. Margaret (en haut)
L. Saguenay
St. John’s (en haut)
Large tributary of river Saguenay. Fine Salmon-
fishing for both net and fly. Trout abundant.
Considerable stream, affording tolerable rod and
good net fishing. Mill-dam inside, not in use.
Do.
Discharge into River St. Lawrence.
Black, or Salmon .
Murray
Du Gouffre
Ste. Anne
Formerly good fishery.
Flows down beautiful valley. Yields Salmon.
Much deteriorated. :
Pretty river, and latterly has afforded fair Salmon-
fishing just below the chute.
382 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Montmorenci
Jacques Cartier
Du Sud
Ouelle
G. Mitis
Matanne
St. Ann
Mount Louis
Magdelaine
Dartmouth
York . .
St. John’s (du Sud)
Grand é r
G. Pabos
G. Bonaventure .
Cascapediacs
Nouvelle
Matapediac
Ristigouche
Patapediac
Mistouche
Cataract at mouth. The upper water swarms with
(river) Trout.
Excellent Salmon-stream.
Sour Coast.
Promises to become again w good Salmon-river.
Mill-dam and fishway.
Well stocked with Salmon. Mill-dam broken up.
Large stream. Has dam.
Fine Salmon-river. Dam and Salmon pass in course
of erection.
Formerly good. Now few Salmon taken. Mill-dam
across.
Important stream. More noted of recent seasons
for Sea-Trout than Salmon.
Salmon-river, clear.
First-class stream, flowing into Gaspé basin.
Abounds with Salmon.
Do. do. do.
Do. do. do.
Fine Salmon-fishery. Mill above.
Salmon-fishery. Superior station.
Flow into Bay of Chaleurs.
Large and valuable stream. Many tributaries.
Abounding with Salmon.
Both the little and great Cascapediacs yield high
numbers of Salmon.
Good Salmon-fishery in bay.
Considerable magnitude, and abounds with Sal-
mon.
Noble river. Has fine tributary streams. Salmon
frequent it in large numbers, and of heavy weight.
Head of Bay Chaleurs.
Branch of Ristigouche. Salmon ascend it about
forty miles.
Feeder of Ristigouche. Salmon-river.
“Nearly all the rivers described in the foregoing schedule
are tidal streams, and most of them have stationary Salmon
and Trout fisheries within the embouchure, and at bays,
coves, and inlets on either side. Those upon the north
shore of the St. Lawrence descend out of wild, rocky, and
mountainous country.
“Most of these streams, with their numerous tributaries,
and the large lakes at the head of each branch, present every
SALMON-BRIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 8383
variefy of river and lake adapted to the breeding and feeding
of fish.
“ Where there are mill-dams it is specially so noted. None
elsewhere. :
“The names of certain rivers at present advertised for sale
are printed in italics.
“The true Salmon (Salmo salar), and the Tide Trout
(Salmo trutta marina), are herein mentioned.
“The Grand Trunk Railway, now in operation to &t.
Thomas, will be opened next autumn to River du Loup, 110
miles below Quebec. Passenger steamboats ply between
Quebec and the Saguenay.
“ Synopsis of the laws and by-laws now in force in Lower Canada, having
especial reference to the preservation and regulation of Salmon and Trout
fisheries.
(Act 22d Vict. cap. 86.)
Secrion 4. The Governor in Council to grant special fishing leases and
licenses ; and make all needful or expedient regulations for
management and disposal of fisheries.
«5, A general superintendent and local overseers to be appointed,
and paid by the Government, for each province.
“ 8, The Government may set apart any waters for natural or
artificial propagation of Salmon and Trout.
« 94, The open season for Salmon-fishery limited betwixt 1st March
and Ist August. Fly-surface fishing extended to lst Sep-
tember. Exception in procuring spawn for scientific pur-
, poses.
« 95. Spawning pools of Salmon protected against all fishing.
“ 96. Nets and fishing apparatus shall not obstruct the main channel
or course of any river; and such channel or course shall be
at least one-third of the whole breadth of a river.
“ 97, Owners of dams must attach fishways thereto.
“ 98, All parties concerned in breach of 24th Section become
liable to fine or imprisonment.
“ 29. The meshes of Salmon-nets must measure five inches in
extension from knot to knct.
384 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Section 31. Trout-fishing illegal between 20th October and Ist Febuary.
“33. Netting for Trout in any lake or stream prohibited, except
upon the River St. Lawrence.
“86. Purchase, sale, or possession, during prohibited seasons, of
any Salmon or Trout, made a punishable offence.
Regulations under Order in Council.
By-Law A.—Parties forbidden to occupy Salmon or Sea-Trout fishery
stations without lease or license from the Crown.
* _-B.—The use of nets confined to the brackish waters within the
estuary tideway; and forbidden upon the fresh-water
streams above confluence of tide.
‘ C.—All nets, &., to be set no less than two hundred yards
apart.
«_E.—No other fishing whatever allowed over limits covered by
exclusive leases or licenses from the Crown, except by
express consent of lessees or licentiates.
F.—Prohibits capture of Salmon or Sea-Trout by torchlight, and
with leister or spear. :
H.—tThe receipt, gift, purchase, sale, and possession of speared
Salmon or Trout declared illegal.
“© J.—No mill rubbish to be drifted awaste in any Salmon or Sea-
Trout river.
“Appropriate penalties of fine or imprisonment, with
forfeiture of materials and fish, are provided by law for the
contravention of the several preceding sections and by-laws.
“ Also, effective and summary modes of proceeding are laid
down for recovery of the same.”
The following is an account of ten days’ fishing in the
Moisie, in the summer of 1858, by J. M. §., Esq., a noted
Salmon-fisher of Toronto, Upper Canada. It was originally
printed by request for private circulation. The average
weight of fish is probably greater than the best river in Scot-
land would produce at the present day. I still adhere, how-
ever, to the opinion I have already expressed, that Salmon in
the rivers of Scotland are generally larger than they are on
this side of the Atlantic.
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 885
Ten days’ Salmon-fishing on the coast of Labrador, in June and July, 1858,
by J. M. 8.
Length of
No. of Days. Salmon. Grilse. Weight. Largest Fish.
Ist day, 1 0 13 Ib.
2q 1 0 - 103,
3d“ 4 2 5, 6, 10, 12, 38, 404,* 3.9 and 3.11
4th «“ 4 2 7, 8, 10, 12, 23, 24,
5th “ 4 3 44, 5, 6, 114, 114, 19, 38, 3.9
6th “« *° 38 2 5, 6, 193, 30, 34, - 38.6 and 3.7
Tth “ 4 1 6, 12, 24, 26, 363, 3.83
8th “ 3 0 12, 14, 363, 3.9
9th “ 2 1 6, 9, 253, 3.3
10th “ 2 1 5, 223, 29, 3.5
281 673 Ibs.
Average weight of Salmon . . . 214 Ibs.
ts “« « Grilse. 2. 2. 2.) 53
The angler who accomplished this great feat says, in a letter
accompanying the above account :—
“The particular river in which I killed my large Salmon
last year was the ‘ Moisie,’ a very large stream which empties
itself into the St. Lawrence four leagues below Seven Islands,
fifteen leagues west of Anticosti, and one hundred and forty
leagues below Quebec. It can only be reached by chartering
a schooner from Quebec, or by taking passage in the Hud-
son’s Bay Company’s boat, which leaves early in May.
“There are a great many excellent rivers on this coast,
both above and below the Moisie, such as the Bersimis,
Goodbout,Mingan, Romaine, Natashquan, Little Natashquan,
Magnoime and others, all of which are full of Salmon; some
of which have never been fished with the fly.
“The Moisie has always been considered the best Salmon-
* This is the largest Salmon ever killed on this coast with a rod.
25
386 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
river on the coast, but it has been so poached and bedevilled
with nets, torches, seines, and all sorts of things, that it is
comparatively nothing to what it was,—still I intend to fish
it this year, and if any American gentlemen should happen to
visit the ground, I shall be very happy to show them where a
good cast may be obtained.
“T may as well remark, that although the Moisie is a large
river, there is really not room for more than three rods, upon
such posts as I have hitherto discovered, without interfering
with each other.”
Hither the Moisie or Mingan is now leased by two or three
gentlemen of Boston, who fish it every summer. The last
season is said to have been one of rare sport; a great many
fish were killed, many of them of unusual size,—two or
three over thirty pounds.
Two Salmon-fishers of St. John, N. Ae last summer made
an excursion to the coast of Labrador. They called in their
schooner at Bathurst for boats and to get canoe-men; one
of the latter on his return gave a glowing account of the sport
which these gentlemen had. A brother of the rod at St. John
promised to send me an account of the trip. I regret I am
obliged to send this to press before hearing from him.
SALMON-RIVERS OF NEW BRUNSWICK.
In giving a list of Salmon-rivers in this province, I will
only advert to those in which the angler has a hope of sport
Those in which the rod-fishing has been destroyed, by net,
spear, and high dams I pass over, and refer the reader, who
wishes information about Salmon-fisheries as a matter of com-
mercial or statistical importance, to Mr. Perley’s report of the
British fisheries of New Brunswick. I shall first mention
the rivers which have been described to me by others, and
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 887
give an account of the only one I ever fished (the Nipissiguit)
at the end of this chapter.
THE Mirimicai1.—aA friend of whom I have asked informa-
tion concerning this river, gives the following account of it:—
“Dear N.—The Mirimichi has been a fine Salmon-river,
but the net and spear have done their work upon it, as upon
nearly every other river in New Brunswick. Now it is
scarcely worth visiting for its fish, though its wild and
beautiful scenery can never fail to attract admiration.
“The first cast as you ascend is ten miles beyond Boies-
town, and is called ‘Salmon Brook.’ I would advise any
angler to pass it by, for if I live to be a hundred, I shall
never forget the welcome given me by the flies and mosqui-
_ toes of that wretched place. I here, for the first time in my
life, saw a Grilse. I fished here two days and killed nothing.
We then broke up camp and pushed on eight miles to
‘Rocky Bend,’ the next cast, reaching it in the evening.
“The next morning about half a mile below the camp, I
hooked and killed my first Salmon, a fresh-run fish of eleven
and a half pounds, and I then thought it the most beautiful
thing I had ever seen. The next day I killed my first Grilse
of three and a half pounds, which is their average weight in
this river.
“My next move was up to ‘Clear Water,’ which is really
the first camp that an angler should make after leaving
Boiestown. The camping is on the left bank of the river,
just above ‘Clear Water’ brook, and is a beautiful place.
This is a little bit of meadow-land, covered with grass and
flowers, and the view to the westward, up and across the
river, extensive and fine. The hills are five or six hundred
feet high, and as the points at the river-bends incline gradu-
ally, upon looking up or down stream, one can see three or
388 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
four hills, one beyond the other. I killed a few Grilse here
and saw a few Salmon.
“The next camp, and the last, is at ‘Burnt Hill,’ five and a
half miles higher up, and it is certainly the best place upon
the river. It is on the left bank just below Burnt Hill
brook, upon the hard rock; for the hills here come down to
the edge of the stream, and the only objection to it is, that
the spring is on the other side, and the frequent passage of
the canoe disturbs the fish. There is a good cast not ten feet
from the tents, and fine water both above and below. If an
angler were fortunate enough to have a rise of water while
here, which I had not, he would still have fine sport; but in
low water it is time lost, except indeed he be, as I was, a
beginner, and then I could give him no better advice than to
go to McKay’s at Boiestown, and send for William McKiel
and put himself under instructions, to as good a man as ever ;
threw a fly or killed a Salmon.
Wishing that we may yet meet upon the banks of a fine
Salmon-river, where the spear and the net are unknown:
“T remain, yours truly,
6c Sv
The Mirimichi is reached by way of St. John, New Bruns-
wick, from whence there is a boat every evening for Fred-
ericton, on the river St. John. Here the angler buys his
stores, and takes the stage for Boiestown, where he engages
his canoe-men. As will be seen by the foregoing letter, the
glory of the Mirimichi as a Salmon-river has departed.
THE RistizoucHE.— Although this river is still frequented
every summer by great numbers of Salmon, it is said to
afford no fly-casts on account of its want of rapids and proper
pools. My informant, a canoe-man who accompanied a party
of anglers one summer, could not tell me how high they
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 889
/
ascended the river, but its upper waters and tributaries most
likely furnish good fly-fishing.
Tue Marapepiac.—To get to this river, if approached by
way of St. John and Bathurst, one must go to Dalhousie, and
from there to Campbelltown, where the angler will have to
engage such canoe-men as he can find. Most likely half-breed
Indians, who are not generally reliable as regards sobriety or
honesty, nor are they always good canoe-men. This, it is
said, is a fine river for rod-fishing.
THE CAScAPEDIACS.—These rivers, both the Little and
Great, as well as the Bonaventure, are on the northern shore
of the Bay of Chaleurs. To fish them it is necessary to get
boats, canoe-men, and stores at Bathurst, and cross the bay in
a sailing-craft.
In going from Shediac to Bathurst one crosses a great
many rivers, some of them quite small, that not many years
ago abounded in Salmon. On some of these there was, no
doubt, formerly fine rod-fishing.
At Bathurst, as will be observed by the map, there are
three rivers flowing into the little bay which forms the
harbor. The most northerly is called the Tittigouche; on the
map it is printed Jittingouche. This was a fine little river
at one time, but a mill-dam a mile or so above its mouth,
now limits the range of Salmon and Sea-Trout to that
distance. There is even now fair fishing at the dam, and at
one or two pools below it on private property; these casts
are two or three miles from Bathurst. The Middle River,
which is crossed by a long bridge connecting Bathurst proper
with the “Village,” as it is called, on the north side, has a
few stray Salmon to run up a short distance, but no rod-
fishing.
390 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The next river, which enters on the south side of the town,
[ had the pleasure of fishing last summer, spending six
pleasant weeks in doing so; it is the most famous river in
the province. I will describe it at length.
Tue Nipissieuit.*—The usual route in going direct from
“the States” to this river, is from Boston to St. John, New
Brunswick, by one of the boats of the International line,
which leaves every Monday and Thursday, at 8 A.M.; the
time occupied in the passage is from twenty-eight to thirty-
four hours. The cars leave St. John every morning, and
arrive at Shediac, on the Northumberland Strait, a distance.
of a hundred and ten miles, to dinner. From thence to
Chatham, eighty miles, and from Chatham to Bathurst, forty-
five miles, the only reliable means of conveyance is in an
open stage, and even then one may have to take an extra or
lie over a day at Chatham. A boat leaves Shediac for
Chatham every two weeks, on the arrival of the cars from
St. John; and if the day can be ascertained from the St. John
papers before leaving home, one may avoid a night on the
road. The roads of New Brunswick, however, being kept in
repair by the government, are hard and level, and the horses,
generally two in a team, much “better to go” than one would
suppose from their appearance.
Bathurst is situated at the mouth of the Nipissiguit, at the
head of a beautiful little harbor on the Bay of Chaleurs,
where Thomas Baldwin, a clever, obliging Irishman, keeps a
good hotel, and will give an angler all the assistance and
information he requires. Bela Packard, an intelligent Ameri-
* Tt appears strange that the author of “ Salmon-Fishing in Canada,” in
giving the foregoing list of rivers, including those flowing into the Bay of
Chaleurs, should omit the Nipissiguit, although it is fished every summer
by anglers from Quebec. Nor does he mention the Tittigouche.
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 389]
can who settled there forty years ago, also accommodates
anglers; and those who prefer more retired quarters, stop
with him. Mr. Packard is a fine, erect, hale old man of
seventy, has followed lumbering on most of the rivers of
New Brunswick, and being communicative, and, like most
Yankees, a little inquisitive, will interest a stranger while he
posts him on the geography and history of the province. He
is also thoroughly acquainted with the canoe-men, and the
requirements of the angler when on the river, and will put
him into good hands.
Although most of the pools on the Nipissiguit are fished
from the shore, a canoe is indispensable in getting to them, as
well as in travelling the river. Those in use are made by the
Indians of birch bark. They are preferred on account of
their light weight, a great desideratum in making the portages,
which occur frequently on this river.
There are many requisites that go to make a good canoe-man.
He should have a character for sobriety and Honesty; he should
beathletic, quick, cool, of unflinching nerve, and good-humored;
he should be acquainted with every rapid, pool, and eddy in
the river; where the fish are accustomed to lie at different
stages of water; and should be a thorough woodsman, as well
as a good river-man. The canoe-men of the Nipissiguit pos-
sess these amphibious qualities to a great degree. There are
whole families—the Chamberlains, the Venos, the Levins, the
Buchets, the Youngs, and others—who take to poling and
paddling a canoe as young ducks take to water. Many of
these have spent every summer from their boyhood in the
employ of anglers from England, Ireland, Scotland, the Pro-
vinces, and the States, drawn thither by stories of the fishing
on the Nipissiguit. Some of these men are also expert
anglers, and can give the tyro many useful hints. I shall
392 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
never forget the interest John Chamberlain* evinced in my
success, when I told him I had never killed a Salmon: sug-
gesting, by some well-timed hint, or modestly showing, how
my casting could be improved, and apologizing (however
serviceable his advice) for the intrusion.
All the stores that are really necessary on the river, and
many of those that may be called luxuries, including good
brandy and fine Scotch ale and whiskey, may be had of
Messrs. Ferguson, Rankin & Co., at Bathurst. Desiccated
vegetables and meat, solidified milk, essence of coffee (if the
angler wants them), smoking tobacco, and claret, he had better
take from home. As to the quantity of provisions required for
* The author of the ‘‘ Game Fish of the North” makes this uncalled for,
and certainly unmerited, mention of the Chamberlain brothers: “The
following are good men: John, Peter, and Bruno Chamberlain; John
makes a good fly, but is sulky and wilful; Bruno is lazy; Ned Veno and
David Buchet, both of whom are excellent and willing.”
From a long summer’s acquaintance with John, I found him exactly
the reverse ; he, with his brother Peter, were my canoe-men. They were
always willing, respectful, and untiring in their efforts to show me the
best fishing, and to promote my comfort by a hundred little acts of kind-
ness and courtesy that appear to be inherent in French Canadians; and I
know that my appreciation of these honest fellows is fully endorsed by
such men as Messrs. Lilly, Emmet, Nicholson, Cooper, and other accom-
plished anglers. John attributes the remarks of the author I have quoted
to the ill-humor of his friend ‘‘ Dalton,’’ who, one summer, had Peter and
John for his canoe-men, and whom John describes as an irascible little old
gentleman, who broke a great many tips, and smashed countless flies
against the rocks; who would not be advised, but insisted on having his
canoe in the middle of a pool, while fishing it, much to the terror of the
Salmon ; and “ carried on generally” in the most unamiable way.
As for Bruno, there is no better canoe-man ; he is one of the toughest,
most untiring, and cheerful fellows on the Nipissiguit. I say this with no
wish to underrate other canoe-men, but as an act of justice to my friend
John and his brother Bruno.
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 393
a trip, it would be well to leave that to Messrs. Ferguson &
Co.’s head man, and be guided in some degree by his canoe-
men.
Until last summer, the Nipissiguit had been free to all
anglers, the first party at a fishing-station claiming the pools
as a sort of pre-emptionary right. But with the alleged object
of protecting the river from illegal and injurious fishing, it
was let on the first of last July—for the season—to Mr. Fer-
guson, of Bathurst, and the privilege of fishing any of the
stations was sub-let to different parties at a price, for a speci-
fied time. This was the first time the fishing on any river in
New Brunswick had been leased to an individual, and the
anglers, who had before resorted to it from St. John and other
parts of the province, were loud in their denunciations, at the
introduction of any rule that had the semblance of the game
laws of the “Old Country,” and the consequence was that
few of them visited the river. There were persons, however,
from Montreal and Quebec—generally British officers who
came around by steamer—who rented the privilege of fishing
several of the stations of Mr. Ferguson, and the Papineau and
Grand Falls were in request. The advantage of paying for
the privilege of fishing any station is, that it gives the lessee
possession for the time, without the contingency of cavil.
The lowest fishing-station on the Nipissiguit is “Rough
Waters,” three miles above Bathurst, at the head of the tide.
Here there is a succession of splendid pools, extending at
short intervals for more than a mile. These, in order as you
ascend the river, are the Lower Pool, the Rolls, Miller’s Pitch,
Willis’s Pitch, Buchet’s Falls, Proctor’s Rock, and others that
have no particular name, scattered along amongst them—em-
bracing in all more than a dozen good casts. The earliest fishing
of the season is found here, for the first run of Salmon appear
to linger about these pools awhile, before making their way
394 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
to the upper part of the river. The land on each side of the
“Rough Waters” being owned by different individuals, the
leasing of the fishing privilege of the river does not debar
any angler from these pools, and every summer they are
assiduously fished by people from the town and neighbor-
hood, and the angler who camps here frequently finds his
morning’s cast anticipated by an earlier riser than himself,—
generally some Canadian stripling fishing for his breakfast or
dinner, many of whom cast a fly with astonishing lightness
and accuracy, and if their tackle was as good as the city
angler’s, the latter would stand a poor chance in fishing after
them. A few flies though, a few shillings, and a little good
humor, properly expended, will buy them off. Mr. N,, of St.
John, and the writer, last summer bought off a persistent
young fellow of this kind, by employing him as camp keeper,
at the extravagant price of fifty cents a day; he proved to be
an excellent canoeman, and did us good service. But these
competitors seldom have a canoe, and cannot get to many of
the best pools in high water without, and, as a conseqtience,
they are preserved to the angler who has one. The first
Grilse also are taken at the “Rough Waters,” and about the
middle or 20th of July, they come in such numbers as to
give fine sport.
Round Rock, the next station, is about two miles above
Rough Waters. It has a half-dozen or so of excellent pools;
the best is that in-shore near the camp, called the “ Rock-
pool.” Here within a fly-cast of my tent door I killed
my first Salmon,—an epoch in the life of an angler which he
marks “with a white stone.” JI had hoped to be initiated
gradually, killing first a Grilse and then a small Salmon, but
fortune would have it otherwise, and with a rod and a fly of
my own make, I brought to gaff in less than fifteen minutes
a splendid fresh-run fish. “Bon poisson!” exclaimed Peter, as’
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 895
he tapped the Salmon on the head with a short billet of wood ;
“Bon poisson!” responded John, holding it up with the hook
of the spring balance in its snout, and down went the index
to sixteen pounds.
Six weeks later I hooked my last fish of the summer in the
same pool, and killed it in the same eddy below. They were
both fresh-run from the sea; both females, and both of the
same weight. This singular coincidence cast a halo of quiet
satisfaction around my recollection of a summer on the beau-
ful Nipissiguit.
Papineau Falls, the next station, some eight or nine miles
from Bathurst, is as renowed for the wild beauty of its
scenery, as for its splendid Salmon-pools, of which there are
three that are in high repute amongst the anglers who visit
the river. Many fish are lost here from the rapidity of the
water and the difficulty of getting along the precipitous
rocky bank. About eighteen or twenty years ago, a packing
establishment was opened here, and as many as six hundred
barrels of salted fish were put up in one summer, which
were taken by spearing and netting the river at this place
and above.
Bittabock, two or three miles above, has two pools, where
there was formerly good fishing, but they have deteriorated
of late years, and there are but few fish taken here now. This
place is remarkable for its deep still waters, the fairy-like
nooks along its banks, and the singular appearance of the
rocks, which seem to have been broken and lifted from
horizontal strata, and piled with remarkable accuracy in
parallel layers like mason’s work.
The next station is Mid Landing. Here the river rushes
through a deep narrow gorge, that one might pitch a biscuit
across. The canoe-men say, that the depth of the water at
the lower end is forty or fifty feet. There is one quiet pool
396 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
below the gorge said to be good at low water, but I did not
raise a fish in it. There are also three or four casts above;
two of them are in-shore along the margin of the gorge,
where I had good sport in stopping over-night, killing two
fine Salmon in the afternoon, and two more next morning
before breakfast. I afterwards took three Grilse in one of the
same pools, when passing it at broad noon.
Chain of Rocks, three miles above, is said to afford good
fishing occasionally, though in camping here a night, and
fishing the three pools late in the afternoon and early in the
morning, I did not hook a fish, having only two faint rises.
This is a poor camping ground, much infested with flies, and
has no spring near it.
Grand Falls, two and a half miles further on, and twenty
miles from Bathurst, is the last fishing-station for Salmon on
the river, the height of the falls preventing them from
ascending further. In former years this was a favorite
resort, when four or five anglers would find good sport for
weeks. But, alas! two rods now are as many as the station
will well carry, and even then careful fishing and frequent
resting of the pools, for a day or two at a time, are required if
the water is low. The fishing here commences at least two
weeks later than it does at Rough Waters, and it is not until
after the 8th or 10th of July that one can be sure of sport.
No description can convey an adequate idea of the rugged
sublimity of the scenery here. The wide shallow river, sud-
denly contracted into a narrow channel, chafes and ioams over
boulders and huge fragments of rock in its mad course,
and leaping two smaller precipices, comes thundering down
the main pitch, thirty feet, into a dark ravine, which in the
course of time it has worn through the hard rock. After
pursuing its way, and widening its channel through the
gorge, to some sixty or seventy yards, it flows with abated
current into a wide deep basin a mile and a half below.
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 897
In winter the gorge is filled with frozen slush and ice from
above; the falls disappear, and the surface along the ravine,
above and below, is one roughened level, while the river
flows beneath. The boatmen as they ply the pole and
paddle in summer, to force their birch-canoe against the
strong current in going to the “Falls Pool,” will point out to
the angler the trunks of trees barked and chafed by floating
ice, nearly to the summit of the cliffs, and masses of snow
and ice, ground into hail-like consistency, remain there in the
deep shaded dell nearly the whole summer.
The camp, with its two capacious bark sheds, is on the
west side of the river, rather more than a hundred rods below
the falls. It is from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and
fifty feet above the river. Twenty or thirty feet from the
camp an icy cold brook, which comes from a spring a
hundred yards above, flows through a -wet meadow covered
with alders, briars, and rank wild grass, ‘and goes rattling
down the rocky declivity to the river. Here the canoe-
men have scooped out the turf, and, damming the rivulet with
a few large stones, have made a pretty pool for the use of the
camp. I have seen six or eight silvery Salmon laid in it to
keep fresh and cool.
This is a favorite camping-ground. Those who travel the
river to or from the lumber regions above, make it an object
to stop here all night when they make the portage of the
falls. The toiling canoe-men, as they pole their bark, laden
with the angler and his outfit, against the stubborn stream,
look to it as a haven of rest. It is the angler’s paradise, and
many a pleasant day has been passed here, by jolly brethren
of the rod who have travelled far by land, or crossed the
broad Atlantic, to fish at the far-famed “Grand Falls.” I
have pleasant memories of this camp, which I pray may never
fail me. The bright rushing river below, and the hill rising
398 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
behind, covered with luxurious raspberries and whortleber-
ries; the songs and stories of the unsophisticated canoe-men ;
the oozy meadow, with its alders and wild shrubbery, where
the robin, the “peabody,” the “chitchie-ke-witchie,” and whole
choirs of other warblers rouse the angler from his early
morning slumbers, that he may souse his face in the cold
brook, and prepare for his day’s sport.
The “ Falls Pool” is about a hundred yards below the last
pitch of the falls. It is difficult to fish, there being but two
casts. One is from the lower end of the pool, where you are
compelled to throw up stream, the swift current bringing your
fly back, and making it very hard to keep the line taut enough
to strike successfully. The other a few yards higher up, by
the side of the ledge, is a better stand, but you must keep
well back, for the fish will see you unless the water is dis-
colored. This is a perfect mausoleum for flies; how many
have been broken against the granite cliff that rises abruptly
at the angler’s back, it would be hard to say: unless he is
proficient in the left-shouldered cast, he can scarcely come
away without the loss of three or four. In this pool Mr. L.,
of New York, has killed his dozen Salmon (not counting
Grilse) before breakfast; but those days have passed long.
since. The left-hand portion of the frontispiece of the book
represents this pool.
The “Camp Pool,” opposite the landing, is easily fished.
There is a good open cast here, and one who fishes it, fre-
quently has participants in his sport, for there is a fine view
of the pool from the camp, and when the water is clear, those
above can see all the runs and leaps of the fish, and the
stratagem of the angler.
“Rock Pool,” two hundred yards or so below the landing,
is the glory of the station. The head of the pool on the
right-hand side is the best cast at high water. When the
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 899
water falls the opposite side is better. The angler is more
certain of a fish in this pool than in any other on the river. I
have lit my pipe at the camp-fire at sunrise, and killed a
brace of fine Salmon here before I knocked the ashes out.
“Cooper’s Point” (named after Captain Cooper, a retired
British officer, who in former years came every summer from
England to fish at the “Grand Falls”) is the next cast below,
and a continuation of “Rock Pool.” It is fished generally
from the shore on the right-hand bank. This is as difficult
a place to cast from as the “Falls Pool,” and as destructive to
flies.
The “ Unlucky,” so named from the number of fish that
have been lost here after hooking them, is still a continuation
of the same pool—the lower end of it. It is fished from the
same side as Cooper’s Point. It is good only when the water
is full. There is also a cast at the head of the basin on the
left side when there is a freshet on. “Grilse Pool,” opposite
Gilmore’s brook, and another by the bluff, with yellow pines
on the left side below the basin, are good Grilse-pools, the
water being rather shallow for Salmon in both, unless the
river is full.
When the water is clear, Salmon can be seen in the river
quite plainly. I have counted twenty from the bluff above
Rock Pool, and half that number from the camp, in the pool
below; and have seen the angler play his fly above their
very noses at such times, without their showing the least
disposition to take it.
There is one thing attending a sojourn at this station,
which at times impresses the angler with a feeling (though
not a sad one) of awe. It is observed mostly when fish-
ing the pools just below the camp. I allude to the intense
silence which reigns when the wind comes from any other
quarter than the falls. If the birds sing high above in the
400 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
shrubbery and stunted timber, they are not heard by the
fisher down in the deep ravine through which the river
flows; but a voice of ordinary pitch, a thump on the canoe, or
the splash of a Salmon when it falls, after leaping above the
water, is heard a long distance off, and the sound is pro-
longed and reflected from the almost perpendicular rock that
walls in the stream on either side. Thus you frequently
know when another angler, though he is not visible, has a
fish on, and you may frequently receive or give a hint to
make less noise, when the culprit is not aware of any lack of
caution at the time of offending. It is a realization of the
idea of audible silence.
This, as is the case with most Salmon rivers, is infested by
poachers. The Indians spear, and the whites net the stream
far beyond the limits prescribed by law. A straggling rem-
nant of a tribe occupying a little island in Bathurst Bay,
some of whom have skins as white as my own, spear at
night and sell their fish at early daylight, or next evening, to
the packing establishment at the mouth of the harbor, for
four or five cents a pound. As the summer advances they
extend their operations high up the river. I found them one
night invading our pools at the Grand Falls. A shot from a
carbine, though, dropped between the two canoes of the
poachers, caused them to leave ina hurry. One fellow was
in such trepidation, that he did not even think of dousing his
torch, but went paddling down stream, illumining the bare
cliffs with the glare of his flambeau.
It is not well for one who visits the Nipissiguit (and it is
so with all Salmon-rivers) to be limited as to time. The
angler may arrive when there is a continuation of rainy
weather, and have to wait some days, perhaps for a week or
more, until it falls; or he may get there when a long spell of
dry weather has retarded the run of fish from the bay, and
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 401
have to wait for a rise in the river before there is fishing. I
have heard an angler, who has since been quite successful,
say, that it was not until his third visit to this river, that he
killed a Salmon; and was told of a very sure Salmon-fisher,
who once spent three weeks at the Grand Falls, waiting for
the water to fall, and went home at last without killing a
fish, One should therefore have the whole of the month of
July, and the greater part of August, before him to be certain
of sport. A recommendation to the Nipissiguit as a Salmon-
river is, that there are no trees near enough to the pools to
obstruct one’s cast. As celebrated as this river once was, four
or five Salmon a day now, may be considered excellent sport:
sometimes the catch will be one or two, or you may have
several blank days in succession.
The sources of the Nipissiguit, the Ristigouche, and some
of the upper waters of the tributaries of the St. John and
Mirimichi are in close proximity, and those who have a fancy
for such mode of travelling, may, by means of Indians and
birch-canoes, ascend one river, or a branch of it, and portage
into another. For instance, the Nipissiguit can be approached
from the Mirimichi by way of the Northwest River, one of
its tributaries. Or from the St. John (when the water is high
enough for steamboats above the Grand Falls of that river),
by ascending the Tobique, one of its branches, and making
a portage of four miles to Nipissiguit Lake, where, from all
accounts, Trout are shockingly abundant. A party of excur-
sionists who made this trip last summer passed a station I
was fishing on the Nipissiguit, each occupying a canoe
manned by an Indian, The Ristigouche is accessible from
the St. John by way of the head-waters of the tributaries of
each, and also from the Nipissiguit. ,
Salmon-fishing in this country (as in Great Britain) is not
an inexpensive amusement, unless one is fortunate enough to
26 ‘
4.02 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
reside near the rivers in which these fish are found. The
privilege of fishing some of the rivers of Scotland is let by
the proprietors at round sums; two miles of a stream that
will carry four rods commanding, I am told, from fifty toa
hundred pounds sterling. In this country, the preparations
for a trip, travelling expenses, hire of canoe-men, stores, and
difference between “greenbacks” and gold, or Canadian cur.
rency, amount to “something considerable,” and a trip is apt
to cost the angler more than double the amount set down by
“ Barnwell.”
Anglers from “the States” uniformly meet with kindness
amongst the ‘“Blue-noses;” there is an inbred urbanity
amongst those of French descent, however humble their
sphere in life, which is always pleasantly remembered. One
of the most agreeable days I ever spent, was a quiet Sabbath
amongst these primitive people—the families of my canoe-
men. I have inserted this little vignette, fancying that it
bears some resemblance to John Chamberlain; it at least
expresses his fashion of wearing his hat.
CHAPTER XV.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS.
“ Let independence be our boast.”
CHAPTER XV.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS.
Repairs.—To wax silk, thread, or twine—Tying on hooks and making
loops, illustrated.—Splicing a line and splicing a rod, illustrated.
Knots.—The angler’s single and double knot, and knot used in tying on
drop-flies, illustrated A gang of hooks, illustrated.
Recerprs.—For making wax.—For dyeing gut.—For dyeing feathers and
dubbing.
To Wax WRaPPING-SILK.—The preliminary step in tying
on a hook, making an artificial fly, or repairing tackle, is to
wax the silk or twine to be used for that purpose. As there
is some little knack in this, particularly when the weather is
cold, and the wax stiff, it may not be a useless task to
describe how it is neatly and effectually done.
Press between a small piece of folded leather a lump of
shoemaker’s wax, not larger than a pea; then holding one
end of the silk between your teeth, and the other at arm’s
length, pass the wax lightly but quickly over it, at first
with short rubs, then as the wax warms by the friction, with
a longer and slower motion, drawing it towards the edges of
the folded leather, for the last rub or two, to get rid of any
unnecessary quantity of wax on the silk. Thread or twine is
waxed in the same manner.
In fly-making, a wax, lighter, though less adhesive than
shoemaker’s, is generally used. A small pellet is rolled
between the thumb and forefinger until it is soft, when the
(405)
406 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
silk is drawn through, and the superfluous wax wiped off by
drawing it between the thumb and finger.
To Tre on a Hoox.—Hold the hook in your left hand
between the thumb and forefinger, with the shank uppermost,
and the head outward or towards your right, then take two
or three turns around the bare shank of the hook near the
head, and laying the gut-length on the back of the hook or
underneath, wrap down closely until the wrapping covers the
end of the gut, which in a short-shanked hook will be oppo-
site the point. Figure 1, on the annexed wood-cut, shows
the position of the hook thus far. Then seizing the shank of
the hook and reversing it—that is, with the bend outwards—
lay the silk along the shank with the end towards the wrist
of your left hand, as in figure 2, and forming a loop at the
bend of the hook, take the lower part of the slack, and con-
tinue the wrapping for three or four turns more, and holding
it securely, though not too tightly in its place, draw the slack
through and cut it off close, thus making what is by some
anglers termed the invisible knot.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 407
Loors.—In tying on hooks for bait-fishing, an excellent
plan is to whip the hook to a gut-loop, as shown by the left-
hand portion of figure 8. The right-hand portion of the
same figure represents a loop on the end of a gut-leader, and
shows how a hook may be attached to the leader or taken
off; it is convenient in changing one’s hooks; the loops draw
together closely when the gut becomes soft in the water,
and present a neat appearance.
To carry out the same idea of neatness and convenience, a
line should also have a gut-loop at the end of it, for the pur-
pose of fastening on or taking off a leader, and to dispense
with knots. The loop can be fastened to the line securely
and neatly in the following manner :—Taper the end of the
line for three quarters of an inch with a sharp knife, and after
holding a piece of shoemaker’s wax in a candle or gas-light,
draw so much of the line through the soft wax; then hold
the ends of the gut-loop in the gas-light to blunt them and
form little knobs on them, and indenting the gut between
your fore teeth, lay it on the waxed end of the line, and
beginning at the ends of the loop (figure 4); wrap with fine
waxed silk as far as B, and fasten off with the invisible knot,
as already described in tying on a hook.
To Sprice a Ling.— When the angler breaks his line and
is not willing to dispense with the part broken off, if it is
joined by a knot, it will not pass through the rings of the
rod, and splicing becomes a necessity. This is done by taper-
ing the two ends for three quarters of an inch, waxing them
well, and laying them together, and wrapping with fine well-
waxed silk. Fastening off with the invisible knot in this
instance is different from the manner hefore described. It is
done thus: after wrapping from A to B (figure 5), drop the
silk into a loop D, and commencing at C, pass the end four
times around the line towards towards B, then taking up the
408 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
slack D, continue to wind (over the end) from B towards C,
four turns, and draw the slack through and cut it off
UI
ha
kG
To Spricze a Rop.—Trim off the fractured ends obliquely,
making a Jong bevel on each, and after rubbing the surfaces
where they are to come in contact with hard shoemaker’s
wax, wind the splice from E to F with fine waxed twine or
sadler’s silk, and fasten off with the invisible knot, as
described in splicing a line.
Kwots.—In the next cut, No. 1 is the angler's single
knot; it is used in tying a line. No 2 is the angler’s double
knot, the neatest and most secure in joining gut-lengths. The
ends are laid together pointing in opposite directions, and
are passed through twice; this knot is indispensable in
making leaders for Trout, and casting-lines for Salmon
fishing. When drawn together the knot is oblong and
the ends may be cut off as close as can be done with a sharp
knife, without a possibility of their drawing. No. 3 is a
water-knot; it is used mostly in attaching the drop-fly to
a leader in Trout-fishing; the ends are tightened, and the
knot drawn together after the knotted end of the gut to
which the dropper is tied is passed through. The ends of
this knot should not be cut off too close, for fear of their
drawing when the gut becomes thoroughly soaked.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 409
Daa
— =
Ganeas.—The subjoined cut represents a gang of hooks ; it
is much used by those who troll the lakes of northern New
York, and, as the reader will see, is readily made. In putting
on the bait the single hook at the top of the gang is passed
through the lips of the minnow or shiner; one of the pair in
the middle, through the body just below the back fin; and
one of those at the end of the gang through the minnow just
above the tail. The gang should be shorter, or longer, and
the hooks larger or smaller, as the case may be, to suit the
size of the minnow. I have drawn these hooks too small
with the exception of the top hook; they should be twice the
size represented.
Gut should be soaked in hot water for at least ten minutes
to insure a compact, secure knot in tying leaders. If on the
stream, the ends may be held in the mouth a few minutes to
soften them. Any attempt to tie a knot in dry gut will cause
it to break, or fracture so as to endanger its strength.
410 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Directions rorR Dyzine Gut.—The following is taken
from the “ Fly-Fisher’s Text-Book,” by Chitty. I have found
his receipt for dyeing a neutral tint to produce a color so
much to my liking, that I have used it for twelve years with-
out trying the compounds for producing other shades.
“General Directions for Dyeing Gut.—In an earthen pipkin
boil about one pint and a half of cold water with the dyeing
ingredients I shall mention presently. When these have
boiled about ten minutes, take the pipkin off the fire, and after
a minute or so, immerse the gut, tied, if at all, very loosely,
and leave it in the still bubbling liquid, so long only by the
waich, as I direct, and it is dyed enough; for observe, that
these are all tried means. On taking the gut from the pipkin,
cast it into a basin of clean cold water, and rinse it well; wipe
it, and let it dry awhile: then take each length separately,
and holding it by the end between the fore teeth, rub it with
India-rubber, which not only cleans and straightens it, but
also tests its strength, avoiding the necessity of doing so
again when about to be called into use. After this, clip off
the bad ends and tie all upneatly together, and keep it, at full
length, in a paper or parchment case, with an inner one of thin
paper rubbed with olive-oil, which, in moderation, preserves
gut.
“ Particular Recipes—The ingredients are as follows; and
first in my esteem is,
“No. 1.—An azure or neutral tint (similar to ink-dye):—
‘*1 drachm Logwood,
6 grains Copperas,
Immersed 23 or 3 minutes.
“No. 2.—An azure tint, more pink than the last :-—
“] drachm Logwood,
1 scruple Alum,
Immersed 3 minutes.
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 411
“Or, five grains alum, added to No. 1, will change it to this
color ;—but the less we use copperas the better, and, there-
fore, No. 2 is best for ths color.
“No, 8.—A dingy or dirty olive (a very good color) :—
“To ingredients of No. 2, add,
3 scruples Quercitron Bark,
Immersed 2 minutes, or perhaps 3 minutes
“No. 4.—A light brown :—
‘(1 drachm Madder,
1 scruple Alum,
Immersed 5, or perhaps 6 minutes.
“No. 6.—A light yellow, or amber :—
~*13 scruple Quercitron Bark,
1 scruple Alum,
6 grains Madder,
4 drops Muriate of Tin,
1 scruple Cream of Tartar,
Immersed 23 minutes.”
DyEInc FEATHERS AND DusBING.—It is possible that
this work may fall into the hands of some Salmon-fisher to
whom the opportunity of importing dyed hackles and dub-
bing is not often presented, but who can procure the necessary
materials. With a view of enabling him to become his own
dyer, I have taken the following from the “Book of the
Salmon.” It is a condensation of directions given in Black-
er’s “ Art of Fly-making and Dyeing.”
“The best vessel for dyeing is a Wedgwood-ware pipkin;
and one that will hold a quart of fluid will be large enough
for all ordinary purposes. Before dyeing pig’s hair or wool
or mohair, each must be scoured of its grease and dirt by
immersion and boiling for half an hour in strong soap-lees.
412 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Feathers, the chief ones used being hackles, must be also
cleansed by washing them with soap in warm water. The
principal colors to be obtained are black, brown, blue, red,
and yellow, and by combining, in the process of dyeing, those
colors, all other hues and shades can be procured. The reader
is requested to bear in mind that the art of dyeing is a very
delicate one, requiring minute: attention and no small expe-
rience. The experimental student must exercise considerable
patience, and not be at all discouraged by incipient failures.
They will dissolve by degrees into successful results.
“ Recipe for Blue—W ith soft river-water let your pipkin be
about three parts full; put it on a slow, clear fire, adding a
teaspoonful of ‘paste-blue,’ which can be purchased at the
color-shops. Keep stirring it, and when it is more than luke-
warm, add a tablespoonful of cold water, into which you have
put twelve drops of sulphuric acid. In this dyeing fluid
place a quarter of an ounce of material to be dyed, whether
pig’s hair, hackles, or mohair, taking care that they have
been previously thoroughly cleansed as already directed, and
rinsed in hot water, and then wrung out just before you put
them into the pipkin. Let the whole boil slowly for fifteen
or twenty minutes. Then take out your fur or feathers, or
whatever material you are dyeing, and rinse in pure cold
water. Dry, if possible, in a sunny atmosphere. For stirring
your materials in the pipkin always use a clean piece of
wood. ;
“ For Red.—W ater as before in your pipkin, and with it two
handfuls of Brazil wood, and a quarter of an ounce of pig’s
hair or feathers, or any other material you want to dye. Boil
the whole for half an hour. Take out your material, and
cool the dyeing fluid by the addition of a little cold water.
When cool, put in sulphuric acid in manner and quantity as
before; next, add your material to be dyed, and gently
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 418
simmer the whole for an hour over a slow fire. Then take
out fur or feathers, immerse in cold water, and wring and dry
as before. If you want a beautiful claret hue, add, in the
first boiling, to the Brazil-wood, half the quantity of log-
wood; and, in the second boiling, a bit of copperas the size
of a pea, and the size of a hazel-nut of pearl-ash. Boil an
hour, immerse material in cold, water, and rinse and dry as
before. Take care that the dyeing liquor be cool before you
add to it the sulphuric acid.
“For Yellow—Water as before, in which put a handful of
bruised Persian berries; boil for an hour, and then add two
tablespoonfuls of turmeric. Put in acid, mohair, &., in
manner and quantity as before; boil for half an hour, take
out and rinse in cold water, and dry. The addition of a
tablespoonful of Brazil-wood will change your brilliant yel-
low to rich orange.
“ For Brown.— Water as before, in which boil a handful of
walnut-rind, with avery small quantity of red-wood, and of
logwood the size of a walnut, for half an hour, together with
a quarter of an ounce of the material to be dyed. Take it
out, cool the liquor, and add acid as before. Reinsert feathers
or fur, &c., and boil them for another half-hour. Rinse and
dry as usual. For cinnamon and fiery brown colors, dye in
the above fluid hackles, pig’s hair, and so forth, that have
been already dyed yellow. The fiery brown will require
more ingredients in the fluid than the cinnamon color.
“ For Black.—W ater as before, in which boil two handfuls
of logwood one hour; then add a little sumach and elder-
bark, and boil for half an hour longer. Next put in your
feathers, &c., and boil another half-hour. Take them out, cool
your liquor, and add acid; dissolve a bit of copperas the size
of a nut, and adding a little argil and soda, boil again for
half an hour. Take out your feathers, fur, or hair occasion-
414 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ally, as exposure to air during the process of dyeing tends to
promote and fix the black color.
“ A mixture of blue and red dyeing liquor boiled together,
and afterwards cooled, and acid added to it, will produce a
purple color.
“ A mixture of blue and yellow dyeing liquor will produce,
in accordance with your varyjng and modifying it, greens of
all, shades.
“A mixture of blue, red, and yellow liquor produces bright
olives, the hues of which may be sobered by the introduction
of logwood.
“For Bright Scarlet.—Water as usual, in which put a tea-
spoonful of crystallized tartar. In this liquid boil the mate-
rials you are about to dye; take them out, and put in a table-
spoonful of powdered cochineal and a teaspoonful of ‘ grain-
spirit,’ which can be bought at the drysalter's. When ina
simmering state, reintroduce your materials—feathers or fur,
&c.,—and boil the whole gently for half an hour. Wash,
rinse, and dry your materials as usual.
“ Yellow, and its Varieties for Feathers——The recipe already
given for dyeing yellow, suits pig’s-wool, mohair, and furs
best. The present recipe is better for feathers, hackles, &c-
Boil two or three handfuls of yellow-wood one hour in a
quart of soft water; wash the feathers, be they mottled mal-
lard or any sort of hackle (light-colored ones are the best to
be dyed yellow), in soap and hot water. They must be tied
in bunches at the quill end. Boil these bunches a short
time in a pint of water, to which you have added a large
spoonful of alum and tartar, in a pipkin. Take them out
and immerse them in your yellow dyeing liquor, and let it
simmer for an hour or two, more or less, according to your
desire for a paler or deeper yellow. Finally, take out the
feathers, and rinse them in hard spring water. Red hackles,
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 415
boiled in a similar liquor, will become brown or amber.
When you want yellow-greens, either of hackles or mohair,
add blue paste or indigo steeped in water for twenty-four
hours, to your yellow liquor, and by augmenting or diminish-
ing the quantity of blue, you will obtain several shades of
yellow green.”
Wax.—The most tenacious is undoubtedly shoemaker’s wax,
but it is so stiff in cold weather as to make it difficult to
wax a delicate thread with it, and in a warm room so much
adheres to the silk when tying a fly, that it is objectionable
when finishing off at the head, where it should be neat as
wellas secure. Fly-makers, therefore, have resorted to several
methods of rendering shoemaker’s wax less adhesive to the
fingers and more easily applied to the silk. One is to add a
small portion of lard or (Chitty says) pomatum. Many pro-
fessional fly-dressers have a receipt for making their own
wax: the base of all, or that which gives it adhesiveness, of
course is rosin. A light-colored rosin is generally used, and
lard and beeswax are added in different proportions, and
sometimes even gutta-percha. A solvent for the latter con-
stituent is naptha or ether.
Shipley’s book (an English work) gives the following
receipt for making transparent wax :—
“Put two ounces of the best and lightest-colored rosin and
one drachm of beeswax into a pipkin over a slow fire; when
well. dissolved, simmer them for ten minutes longer, then add.
two drachms of white pomatum, and allow the whole to
simmer for a quarter of an hour longer, constantly stirring
it; pour the liquid into a basin of clean, cold water, and it
will assume a thick transparent consistency; while yet warm
‘knead it by pulling it very much through the fingers till
cold; the last operation giving it toughness and that silvery
opacity which it assumes when properly compounded.”
416 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Chitty says he has made this wax after Mr. Shipley’s
receipt, and finding it too brittle added a half-drachm more
of pomatum. He further says, “another receipt for the same,
is eight ounces of white rosin and one tablespoonful of lin-
seed-oil. This I have not tried.”
Chitty also advises the fly-maker to dissolve a lump of
shoemaker’s (anglicé cobler’s) wax in a sufficient quantity of
spirits of wine. I have found alcohol (but not weaker than
95°) a solvent, and also ether. This is a liquid wax, and
enables one to wax his silk by immersing it in the solution ;
but I found on trial that the alcohol evaporates after a while,
leaving the silk imperfectly waxed
The best wax I have ever used in making flies was given
me by Mr. George, who ties flies for Philip Wilson, Chestnut
Street above Fourth, Philadelphia.
27
CHAPTER XVI.
FLY MAKING.
““To frame the little animal, provide
All the gay hues that wait on female pride;
Let Nature guide thee; sometimes golden wire
The shining bellies of the fly require;
The peacock’s plumes thy tackle must not fail,
Nor the dear purchase of the sable’s tail.
Each gaudy bird some tender tribute brings,
And lends the growing insect proper wings:
Silks of all colors must their aid impart,
And every fur promote the fisher’s art.”
Gay.
evi
CHAPTER XVI.
FLY-MAKING.
IupLements.—Hand-Vice, Spring-Pliers, &c.—Book for holding materials.
MarerraLs.—Hooks.—Gut.—Tinsel.—Dubbing.—Hackles.— Wings.
To tie a plain Hackle.—To tie a Palmer.—-To make a fly with wings.
BEFORE attempting a description of this art, it would be as
well to acknowledge that few amateurs attain the neatness and
dexterity of those who follow it as a business. 'T'o those who
have not leisure, or fish but seldom, it does not pay for
the trouble and patience bestowed on learning it; such per-
sons had better buy their flies than make them. But to one
who has time, and is anxious to become conversant with all
that pertains to our gentle craft, there is no in-door occupa-
tion so absorbing and time-killing, and one forgets in it
little annoyances or heavier cares, and almost finds at home a
substitute for the pleasures of the stream. The satisfaction
of taking fish is also increased, if it be with the product of
one’s own skill; and the angler can adopt any little fancy of
his own, and produce exactly the thing he desires, and have
his flies on the particular size, shape, or make of hook he
prefers; he can also use the kind of gut he thinks best for
‘drop-flies or stretchers, and gratify any other whim.
But who can lucidly explain this art? Few writers make
it plain, from Cotton down to Hofland, “ Ephemera,” and
Ronalds, with their elaborate illustrations. So it is with some
donbt as to enlightening the learner that I attempt it, but
(419)
420 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK,
would rather commend him to some friend who is an adept,
or to a professional fly-maker. A few hours spent with a
skilful fly-dresser is worth a volume of written directions and
illustrations.
ImMPLEMENTS.—The amateur fly-tier of the present day has
many little implements which assist him greatly: there is the
pin-vice, which are fingers to him, holding the hook securely ;
spring-pliers, or, as some call them, forceps, to assist in hack-
ling; a stout darning-needle to pick out the dubbing; a pair
of sharp scissors, &., &. These can be kept in a wallet or
large pocket-book, with the materials for making flies. The
FLY-MAKING. 421
proper shape and size of the vice and spring-pliers are repre-
sented by the foregoing cut.
MateRIALs.—In collecting materials for flies, the angler
becomes “seised and possessed” of many chattels, which he
may husband for years before he finds use for them, and it
may be necessary, occasionally, to overhaul his wallet, and
discard those that are useless, if he does not wish it to grow
to an inconvenient size. There are some materials, in the way
of feathers and dubbing, described by English writers, which
cannot be had here, unless imported to one’s order; but he
who has a proper appreciation of his warts, and keeps his
eyes open, can collect all that is necessary, with very little
outlay of time or money. He does not see a bird—a wild
duck, ‘a cock, an old hen, a turkey, or a peacock, without
suitable feathers being presented to his eye. He will see
dubbing everywhere: his wife’s muff, the cat, or a lapdog,
or a gray or red squirrel, or a hare, or a pile of mortar with
tufts of cow’s hair lying about it, or the place where there
has been a hog-killing, with the refuse, down, or furze cast
heedlessly by, a buffalo-robe, a bear-skin, a foot-rug, all sug
gest dubbing. Old pattern-cards of moreen in the store of
his dry-goods friend are begged for. Silk floss of suitable
colors are sought after, as well as gold and silver thread and
tinsel. All these are garnered up with miserly care, and
stuffed into the dubbing-pocket of his book or wallet of fly
materials. He need be in no hurry to collect them, for if he
has the bump of acquisitiveness, he will in good time stock
his wallet to repletion, without sending to Demarara for green
monkey’s fur, or to India for the feathers of a golden pheasant,
or to England for a starling’s wing or the fur of a water rat.
A wallet, with suitable pockets and compartments to hold
the necessary implements and materials, need not be over
eight inches long, five deep, and four or five wide. There
499 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
should be one pocket for dubbing; one for feathers, which
are kept most conveniently in envelopes, each kind separate ;
and another for floss, wrapping-silk, &. Hooks should be
kept in different parchment parcels, each appropriately num-
bered, and slipped under a leather band stitched at intervals
to the inside of the wrapper of the wallet. Under the same
band there should also be loops for each tool. The leather
wrapper should be part of the wallet and wrap around it, and
should be tied with a leather string. This kind of wallet or
book of materials can be opened and spread out on a table, or
on the grass, or on a rock; it is easily kept in order, and
when folded up is compact and occupies but little space in
stowing. A larger one than the size just described is required
for materials for Salmon-flies.
It may be asked by the learner, What fowls of the air, or
water, or of the barn-yard, furnish these feathers? What is
a hackle? What part of the fowl is it plucked from? What
feathers of its plumage furnish the wings of the fly? Where
do you buy tinsel and floss, and so on, and what kind of
hooks are most suitable, and what sizes of them do you use
for particular flies? Patience, my deur boy, if you are really
anxious to know all about it, or all I can think of just now
on so momentous a subject, I will not put you off with the
hurried rigmarole I have just given you, but will commence
de novo, and tell you in a more orderly way what you will
want and how to get it. If we were in London or Dublin or
Limerick, we would step into a tackle store, and lay down
our money, and, presto, all we wanted, and more too, would
appear on the counter. But here we are thrown on our own
resources, and must do the best we can; and the best we can is
quite as well as we could do in any of the old cities or towns I
have just named, as far as tying Trout-flies is concerned ;
when we tie our Salmon-flies, we are to some extent dependent
FLY-MAKING. 493
on them. I say this to disabuse you of the erroneous impres-
sion that Mr. John Gay’s verses, which I quoted just now,
may create in your mind. For although they are very good
poetry, it is nonsense about providing “all the gay hues
that wait on female pride;” and what he says about “the
dear purchase of the sable’s tail,” or what some other pedantic
old fly-fisher says, when he tells you that the tail of a certain
fly must be made of “three whisks of a black cat’s beard.”
For you need not go to the furrier’s to buy a sable’s tail, or
go hunting your own or your neighbor's garret for a black
cat to get his beard. Only use the most suitable materials
you can procure, without spending so much money, or tres-
passing on your neighbor, and you will catch a great many
Trout before they find out. that you have not gone according
to Mr. Gay’s or Cotton’s directions, or your humble servant's
either. Let us take up the articles in the order in which we
use them. The first is the hook, therefore let us tallx about
Hooxs.—The improved Limerick hook of the O’Shaugh-
nessy pattern, is by all odds the best for winged flies; it is
not so apt to draw from a fish’s mouth without hooking, as
the old-fashioned Limerick. I prefer it to the sneck-bend or
Aberdeen hook. For Hackles and Palmers, which have no
wings, I like a neat fine-wired Kirby, because the point turns
to one side, and it is, therefore, more apt to hook a fish, even
than the O’Shaughnessy. The reason I do not use the Kirby
for winged flies is, that this turning of the point to one side, has
a tendency to throw the fly on its side, and prevent it from
swimming true; for the wings,of a fly should set upright,
that is, they should not incline more to one side than the
other. A Hackle or a Palmer having no, wings, and the
fibres of the hackle-feather, which represent the legs of a
caterpillar, or the hairy body of other larva, sticking out
494 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
on all sides, regularly unequal, if I may use the term; it
matters little whether it floats on its “beam ends,” or swims
on an “even keel.” The reader will note the difference in
the shape of the hooks mentioned above, by referring to the
plate of hooks on page 61.
Gut.—Stretcher flies should be tied on full lengths of fine
gut. Droppers should be made on short, stout pieces, so that
the fly will set well out, and at right-angles from the leader,
and not lap over it, or twist around it. For droppers a single .
length of gut may be divided into at least three parts, for as
I have already said, the piece to which a dropper is tied
should not be more than five inches long.
WRapPING-SILK.—If the silk is fine and strong it matters
ttle about the color, for the only. place where it is visible
after the fly is finished, is at the fastening off of the head.
The best silk I have ever seen is kept by the English and
Irish tackle-stores, and is made expressly for the purpose.
The fine three-cord silk used for sewing machines, No. 000, is
the best we can get here.
TINSEL.—Silver and gold tinsel, both flat and twisted, are
required to rib the body, or tip the end of it. For Trout-flies
the flat is chiefly used; in Salmon-flies all four of them will
most likely be required. This article is kept sometimes by
trimming-stores, or where the trimmings for military clothing
are manufactured. The Irish tackle-stores have it made on
purpose for tying their own flies, and to sell it to amateur fly-
makers. When I have not been able to get it in any other
way, I have taken the broad woven strips of tinsel, from
around pieces of Irish linen, and drawn or ravelled out the
particular kind I wanted; it is not as suitable, though, as
that sold by the tackle-stores.
DuBBING.—This is the material of which the body of the
fly is composed. It may be mohair, seal’s wool, pig’s wool,
FLY-MAKING. 425
or floss silk, or the fur of some animal; or ravellings of
moreen—an article used to cover the cushions of cliairs or
pews, or for curtains. The hurls, or as some call them the
“harls,” of the peacock’s tail-feathers, or of ostrich plumes,
are also extensively used for the bodies of Trout-flies. Hurls
are the long delicate plumelets that grow on each side of the
main stem of the feather. Mohair, seal’s wool, pig’s wool (or
pig’s down as it is frequently called), and floss-silk, which are
chiefly used for Salmon-flies, should be of various colors.
Those mostly used are light-red, blood-red, dark-red, and
maroon; snuff-brown and dark-brown; pale-yellow or lemon-
color, bright decided yellow, orange, and tawny yellow; light
blue and steel or mazarine blue; decided green and pea-
green; white, lead-color, and black. Wool should never be
used for dubbing, as it absorbs much water and makes the
fly soggy. I seldom use mohair, pig’s wool, or seal’s wool for
Trout-flies (they are better for Salmon-flies, seal’s wool being
preferable), and as far as I can, discard fur, as a dubbing, and
use chiefly the ravellings of moreens, flosses, and hurls. Of
the peacock’s hurl, the copper-colored tint is greatly to be
preferred ; three-fourths of the bodies of the Trout-flies I make
for my own use are wrapped with it.
Mohair, pig’s wool, and seal’s wool, when the fly-maker
wants them already dyed, must be imported from England
and Ireland. Fur-dubbing, flosses, and hurls, can easily be
obtained here. If the reader wishes to try his hand at dyeing
dubbing, he will find receipts in the preceding chapter.
HackLes.—The word “hackle” is used in two senses;
when spoken of as a material, it is that which represents the
legs of the winged fly, and is wound around the body
under the wings, or spirally over the body from the tail.
The word is also used to designate the hairy-looking repre-
sentation of an insect, or caterpillar, or other larva, and with
426 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
fly-fishers, a “Hackle,” or a “Palmer,” though neither has
wings, is known as “a fly.” ;
T mention the “hackle” here as a material; there are two
kinds. First, the hackles of the domestic fowl. Those of the
cock are the long brilliant feathers that droop gracefully on
each side of the tail; they are known amongst ornithologists
as the “tail-coverts;” the boys call them “shiners.” There
are hackles also on the neck of the cock, which are shorter
and also stiffer towards the head. The neck-hackles in most
cases are of lighter color than the tail-coverts; the latter may
be dark enough to make a good Soldier or Red Hackle, while
those on the neck of the same cock may be light, and have
sufficient yellow tinge in them for Ginger Hackles. The
same cock may also furnish short, stiff hackles from between
the tail-coverts, just on the lower part of its back, which are
of a brownish red tint, and will make an excellent Brown
Hackle on a small hook. Hens furnish hackles only from
the neck, which are short and soft. A Furnace Hackle is a
commixture of fiery red and black; a “Coch a bondu” has its
fibres black at the roots and red at the extremities.
When other feathers than those of the domestic fowl are
used as hackles, they are taken indiscriminately from any
part of the bird’s body, where the best feathers for the purpose
can be found; such as the wing-coverts, or rump-feathers of
the pinnated grouse (prairie fowl); spruce grouse (Canadian) ;
partridge, snipe, woodcock, or wren’s tail. Such feathers,
though, are not as suitable as those taken from a cock, for
the fibres do not set out so stiffly, and when used for drop-
pers and dapping along on the surface of the water, the
fibres close against the body and give it an unattractive
appearance.
Cock’s hackles, in all their variety, white, yellow, ginger,
red, brown, furnace, coch a bondu, and black, can be had of
FLY-MAKING. 427
your friends who keep fowls, or in any barnyard, an4 with
the hackles from the birds above mentioned, are all that are
required for Trout-flies.
Hackles for Salmon-flies are nearly all of them dyed, and
ure generally imported to one’s order. If the reader wishes
to try his hand at dyeing them for himself, as I have said
of dubbing, he can find receipts for the different colors in the
preceding chapter.
Wines.—The most suitable feathers of the birds common
to our country, for Trout-flies, are the tail and secondary
wing feathers (those next the pinions) of the wild and tame
pigeons, the gull, blue heron, prairie-fowl, spruce-grouse, snipe,
woodcock, partridge, and domestic hen, and from the wing-
coverts of the mallard and wood-duck. These, with a few
feathers of the red ibis and flamingo, are all that are required
for Trout-flies. The last two are foreign birds, and the
feathers are seldom used except for the Sea-Trout of the
British provinces, or lake-flies. For the wings of Salmon-
flies, the best feathers of native birds are the wing-coverts of
the teal, mallard, wood-duck, and canvas-back, the tail-feathers
of the wild and tame turkey, the domestic hen, and the pea-
fowl. It may be as well to say here that the drake mallard
only furnishes that beautifully mottled hrown feather that all
fly-makers admire so much; there are but five or six on each
side of the duck; they are found just at the elbows of the
wings; immediately beneath them are found two or three
gray feathers, which are serviceable when a light wing is
required for high water. The imported feathers used for
Salmon-flies are from the crest, ruff, tail, and wing of the
golden pheasant, and tail and wing of the argus pheasant.
Blue, yellow, and red macaw are used for feelers (antenna),
but from my experience, I am convinced that feelers on a
Salmon-fly are about as useless as the long tails made of silk-
428 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
worm "gut, which English fly-makers append to Trout-flies,
with a vague idea of imitating the tails of the ephemeride.
The throat, or rather the upper part of the body, of a Salmon-
fly occasionally has a few turns of a blue-jay’s feather (taken
from the butt of the wing), or of some high-colored breast-
feather of a water-fowl or land-bird. The collars and tags
of Salmon-flies are made generally of peacock or ostrich hurl,
or the breast-feathers of birds of brilliant plumage.
And now, my incipient fly-maker (I do not write this for
the ‘old ones’) I have told you in a few minutes what it has
taken me nearly a quarter of a century to learn; I have
picked it up by mites, “here a little, and there a little,” and I
do not know half as much as I would like to know and hope
to know, for fly-makers and fly-fishers are learning something
of the art as long as they can twirl their fingers or cast a
whip of flies. Both branches of the science, the rudiments
of which are so easy to learn, run into the abstruse—I was
going to say even into the occult; the subject, like the tip of
a fine fly-rod, is almost infinitesimal in its tenuity. I would’
have given a great deal to know as much as I have told you,
when I was a beginner—a great deal more than you will have
to pay for what many persons will deem a very foolish book.—
Let them alone, “for to them it is not given” to know of the
things that pertain to the gentle art, or to appreciate the
scenes through which the pursuit of it leads us; for “seeing,
they see not” God’s love and handiwork in the little wild
flowers that grow along our path; and “hearing, they hear
not” His voice in the song of the bird and the music of the
brook, “neither do they understand.” I hope such people
will not bother us while I endeavor to show you how to tie
a fly with the help of these four simple figures, which I have
drawn expressly for the purpose.
FLY-MAKING. 429
To Tz HAcKLES AND PaLMers.—To make the first lesson
as easy as possible, suppose we tie a plain Ginger Hackle for
a drop-fly. It will be easier to make it on a large hook, say
No. 4. Let us select the materials, and lay them before us:
viz., wrapping-silk, hook, floss-silk, a ginger hackle, and a
short stout piece of gut, as we intend it for a dropper. Now
let us begin :—
Figure 1 is a hook in its proper position, whether it is held
in the jaws of your pin-vice or between the thumb and fore-
finger of your left hand. You see that I have laid the silk
on near the bend of the hook, and taken four or five turns,
the last one about an eighth of an inch from the head.
Figure 2 shows that I have laid a short piece of gut (after
indenting it four or five times with my fore teeth) on the top
of the shank (underneath will do as well), and whipped it on
securely as far down as A, where I have fastened in a bit of
tawny yellow silk-floss, which should be about six inches
long.
430 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
¢
We now come to figure 8. I have taken a few turns of my
wrapping-silk up the shank to C, and followed it with the
floss, increasing the bulk of the body somewhat towards the
upper end. I have also fastened the end of the floss, and tied
in the tip end of a ginger hackle with three turns of my
wrapping-silk, the under part of the hackle being uppermost,
so that, in winding it on, the back of it will lie next to the
hook. I ought to have stroked the fibres of the hackle back
towards the root of the feather; it is my usual custom. If
you use the spring-pliers, grasp the butt end of the hackle
between its jaws; its chief use is in holding the hackle in
place, by its pendent weight, when you have occasion to let
it go, or in fastening off.
Now for figure 4. You see I have wound the hackle on
carefully to nearly the head of the hook. I have fastened it
with three turns of my silk, and nipped off the surplus end
of the hackle. Now I lay the wrapping-silk DD on the
shank of the hook, and form the loop DF, and then take
three turns with the slack F, wrapping over the end DD
towards the head of the hook, and, holding it down securely
with the finger and thumb of my left hand, I take hold of
the end D which you see sticking: out to the left, and draw
in the slack FD, and cut it off. If the fibres of the hackle
stick out irregularly, pointing in different directions and
looking wild, like a little boy’s head when he gets up in the
morning, I take my large darning-needle and “order them
aright.”
T have a phial of varnish not larger than the end of my
finger sitting on the table; there is a sharp little stick thrust
through the cork; I now pull out the cork, and touch the
head of the fly with a drop of shellac on the end of the
stick, and lay it by to dry.
You will no doubt notice that in drawing the fourth figure
FLY-MAKING. 431
the width of the page has limited the length of the gut to
which the fly is tied. I hope you will not use so short a
piece. In tying a fly on a whole length of gut, for the sake
of convenience the gut is coiled up into a circumference not
larger than the loop FD, and the end passed through two or
three times to hold it in coil.
“Let me tell you, Scholar,” that the plain-looking Hackle
we have just tied, is the root to this tree of knowledge,
which the uninitiated think so difficult to climb; but take it
easy, and tie a half-dozen or so of such hackles, and just
as certain as Trout rise at a fly, you will in time climb
the tree and attain to all the higher branches—even to the
most elaborate and gaudy Salmon-fly, that adorns the topmost
bough.
Now let us beautify our Hackle with a little bit of tinsel,
and then I will introduce you to its first cousin the Palmer.
If you intend to tip the tail of your fly with tinsel, let B
in figure 2 represent a strip of it. It is to be fastened in at A,
and three turns of it taken towards the bend of the hook, and
then two or three turns back to A, where it is fastened with
three turns of the wrapping-silk. The floss, or hurl, or
dubbing is then fastened in and the fly proceeded with as
before described.
If you wish to rib the body with tinsel or gold thread,
you must tie it in at A before you tie in the end of floss or
hurl that you intend to make the body of. After the body is
formed, the tinsel, or gold, or silver thread is wound on
spirally as far as C, and the fly from that point completed as
already shown.
To make a Palmer with a floss silk or hurl body, you first
tie in the end of the hackle at A (figure 2), then the tinsel,
and then the floss or hurl. The material you tie in Jas must
be wound on first. For instance, first wind on the hurl or
432 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
floss to C (figure 3), then the tinsel, and then the hackle
in the spaces left between the spiral coils of the tinsel ;
they are fastened each with two turns of the silk, and the
ends cut off in the order in which they are mentioned, and
then the head of the fly is finished as before directed.
The term “dubbing,” is applied more especially to mate-
rial of short fibre used in making the body of the fly, as fur,
or pig’s or seal’s wool; it is spun sparsely around the waxed
wrapping-silk, and wound on with it. In making a body of
peacock hurl, three or four of the little plumelets are fastened
in at the tail, then twisted with the wrapping-silk and wound
on. The hurl does not fray off if wound on thus, as it does
when it is wrapped around by itself.
I have now described the manner of making four different
kinds of hackles. First, a plain Hackle without tinsel.
Second, a Hackle, its end tipped with tinsel. Third, a
Hackle, its body ribbed with tinsel or gold thread. Fourth,
a Palmer, its body ribbed with tinsel or gold thread, and a
hackle wound between the spaces or coils of the tinsel or
gold thread, from tail to head. A Palmer may also be made
without any tinsel, that is, it may be wound with the hackle
alone. When a Palmer of this description is intended to be
“buz,” that is, very bushy, two hackles, are tied in at the
tail and wound together to the head, where they are fastened
as before directed.
Before we go any further, let me say a word or two about
selecting your hackles—I mean the feather of which you
make your Hackle-fly—and warn you against a fault, which
professional fly-makers, who are not practical fly-fishers, are
apt to fall into. In choosing your feathers, the length of the
fibres should be in proportion to the size of the hook, or
rather the length of its shank. We frequently see a Hackle
or a Palmer wound with a feather, the fibres of which are so
FLY-MAKING. 433
short as to make it look bare—like a long-legged boy in a
bobtail coat. In this case there is more hook than hackle ex-
posed to the eye of the expectant Trout, and of course it is the
less attractive. Then, again, we see a small hook wound with
a hackle, the fibres of which are too long, coming far below
the bend—like a short-legged boy dressed in his “ daddy's”
long-tail coat. Now if such a boy should be detected in
stealing your peaches, and should make his exit from your
premises through a hole in the fence, if you were somewhat
slow in grabbing him, you would most likely find yourself in
the predicament in which Joseph left Potiphar’s wife; that is,
with only a part of the extremity of the aforesaid long-tail coat
in your fist. Judge then of the disappointment of the Trout
and yourself too. He expects to grab a good-looking cater-
pillar, but if he does not open his mouth very wide, or if he
s at all indifferent, he goes off with a few hairlike fibres
between his teeth. You expect from the beautiful rise, and
the tug you feel, that you have a Trout on, but the next
moment your line comes bootless home to you. And thus
with a small hook and a long-fibred hackle, you will fre-
quently fool the Trout and the Trout will fool you. It does
not follow, as many fly-makers suppose, that because a fly is
“tied on a small hook it is a small fly; on the contrary, a
great many of the flies sold in tackle-stores are large flies on
small hooks. In other words, the hackle or wings so far
exceed the hook in their proportions, as to make the fly
unattractive to the fish, and less apt to hook him, when he
tries to seize it. The fibres of the hackle, therefore, while
they may reach the bottom of the hook, should never extend
much, if at all, below it.
To make A Fiy wits Wines.—“ Thus far we have run
before the wind,” and although it may appear that we have
made but little headway, still, if you have taken your
28
434 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
observations carefully, and kept a proper reckoning, by
referring to our little chart, you will find that your voyage
of exploration is nearly ended. By the foregoing you have
found out what materials the ship is built of, and how to put
them together, and you ought by this time certainly to
“know the ropes ;” the mere tying on of the wings is nothing
more than bending the sails. I have made the drawing
below to show how easily it is done.
Figure 1 is a feather with a section large enough for the
wings of a fly for a No. 4 hook clipped from it. Figure 2 is
the section removed. 3 is the section after once folding it.
‘It is then folded again, compressed between the thumb and
forefinger of the right hand, and laid on the back of the hook
with the tips of the fibres pointing towards the bend.
The manipulation which precedes the tying on of the
wings, is the same as already described in making a Hackle,
with these few exceptions:—Firsi, in forming the body, it
should be elongated somewhat towards the head. Secondly,
the hackle should be shorter, or the fibres stripped from one
side of the stem. For the legs of a winged fly, which the
fibres of the hackle are intended to represent, are not as
FLY-MAKING. 435
numerous as the legs or bristling hairs of larvee. Thirdly, the
cock’s hackle should not extend over more than half as much
of the shank of the hook, as it does in the Hackle-fly I have
already shown you how to tie; and, in winding it on, the
fibres should be pressed downwards under the belly of the
fly; few or none of them being allowed to remain sticking
up between the wings. Fourthly, space enough should be
left at the head for setting on the wings and fastening off.
By referring to the foregoing illustration, the reader will
observe, as I have already explained, that figure 2 is a section
clipped from a feather. By doubling the two edges of the
section togther, it will represent wings pointing obliquely in
different directions. (See figure 3.) Now double it again,
and still again, if necessary, and compress the fibres closely
between your thumb and forefinger, and lay them on the back
of the hook, so that the edge of the section will set upwards,
as you will observe in figures 5, 6, 7, or 8 of the plate of
Trout-flies. Now take three turns with your silk, clip off the
surplus at the butt end of the wings, and fasten off with the
invisible knot as already shown.
TarLs.—In flies where tinsel is not used, the tail is fastened
in immediately after the gut is whipped on. If the body is
tipped with tinsel, this material is first wrapped on, and the
tail fastened in above it.
Much unnecessary trouble is spared by not attempting to
tie on the wings (either of Trout or Salmon flies) separately,
as some writers direct. Nor is at all necessary to pass the
wrapping-silk diagonally between the fibres to separate them
into wings. For in doubling the section of a feather, as
already shown, the fibres will point somewhat obliquely in
opposite directions, representing the two points of the wings;
and even if they do not, it makes no difference, for most of
the natural flies that light on the water belong to that order
436 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
whose wings are held in an upright position when at rest,
and are folded so closely together as to look like one wing
rising from the middle of the back. When a fly of this order
is to be represented, two turns of your wrapping-silk should
be taken close up under the butt of the wings, to give them
an upright set. The most accomplished fly-maker I ever met
with (an amateur), has a way of terminating the body abruptly
near the head, making a shoulder against which he presses
the root of the wings, and secures them firmly.
Flies without tails are of that order known as beetle-flies,
as the Phryganide and similar families, which fold their
wings flat on their backs when at rest. Those with tails
belong to the Ephemeride.
A winged fly is sometimes made without a hackle, if pig’s-
wool is used for dubbing, the rough coarse fibre of the dub-
bing being picked out under the wings, to represent the legs
of the fly.
There are several different ways of tying flies; nearly
every fly-maker has something peculiar in his method. Some
tie on the wings immediately before whipping on the gut, the
tips of the wings pointing forward; they are turned back
into their proper position, and secured with three turns of the
wrapping-silk after the body is completed and the hackle
wound on. Other fly-makers begin at the head, after the gut is
whipped on, and work towards the tail, where they finish off.
The method which I have described, and which I conceive to
be the easiest, is the one most generally adopted.
I shall not prolong this chapter, which I have already
extended beyond the limit I first intended, by attempting to
describe the manner of tying Salmon-flies, but assure the
reader that any person who can tie Trout-flies, will find no
difficulty in it. It is requisite that Salmon-flies should be tied
with a greater regard to strength and durability. Although
FLY-MAKING. 437
there is more detail and elaboration, they do not require the
same delicate manipulation that Trout-flies do.
It is much better to learn to tie a fly without a hand-vice
or spring-pliers. If one’s fingers are long and pliant, the
knack can be acquired with perseverance. Those who use
only their fingers are the great masters in the art. If your
fingers are clumsy or dumpy, these accessories should be
used ; but the abominable permanent vice screwed to a table,
as depicted in the books of some of my co-laborers in this
“field of science,” no one should resort to, unless he has ten
thumbs on his two hands; and even to such persons the pin-
vice which I have pictured on a preceding page would be
more convenient.
A few pages back I deprecated the use of hackles with
long fibres on small hooks; there is also another vanity
which is “done under the sun” by tackle-makers. I am
ashamed to own that it is purely an Americanism. Irishmen,
and even the London tackle-makers with all their cockney
foolery, have never perpetrated such a thing. It was origi-
nated by some New York angler, without regard to truth or
nature, and the tackle-stores there have perpetuated the hum-
bug, and imposed these deformities on greenhorns ever since.
I refer to those short-winged, pot-bellied flies; there are
several of them; one is known as the “ Deer-fly.” No such
fly daps on the water or hovers over its surface to deposit its
eggs, any more than a bumble-bee does. The Deer-fly, if
found in nature at all, is the very opposite of flies that Trout
feed on, such as the gossimer-winged ephemera, which soars
and flits through the air, like a thought in a dream, while the
imitation of the other, with its big body and short wings, is
more like the picture of a Dutch angel on a pane of painted
glass. Do not buy them, do not make them; they are gross
humbugs.
435 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
There is one. thing more I want to tell you before I close
this chapter, which almost unconsciously to me has assumed
the style of an epistle (I hope I am not too familiar on so
short an acquaintance); it is this: do not throw away all your
first attempts that appear big-headed or wild in their habili-
ments, for a much rougher-looking fly than you suppose will
kill; but if you are ashamed to let them be seen by the “old
ones,” lay them in the back folds of your fly-book to give
away to the boys on your fishing excursions, for you will be
very apt to meet some dumpy, pigeon-toed little fellow on the
stream or in the road, who will salute you with,
‘* PLease Sir, GIVE ME A Fiy-nook!”
CHAPTER XVII.
ROD-MAKING
“ ALL things are full of labor, man cannot utter it: the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that
hath been, is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that
which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.”
EccLESIASTES.
CHAPTER XVII.
ROD-MAKING,
Woods used in making rods.—Wood and Malacca cane for fly-rods.—
Materials used by dmateur rod-makers.—To make a fly-rod of three
pieces.—To make a tip.—To stain a rod.—Oiling and varnishing.—
Wrapping splices and putting on rings.—To make a ‘rent and glued,”
or quarter-sectioned tip.—Draw-plate and V tool illastrated and ex-
plained.—Manner of splitting cane and joining the pieces of a quarter-
sectioned tip described by diagram.—Making middle pieces and tips
without splices.—Manner of making a fly-rod to be adjusted to light or
heavy fishing.—Ferule-making.
ANGLERS are apt to become fastidious as to the spring
and taper of their rods, especially those used in fly-fishing,
and are frequently considered by persons of less experience,
“more nice than wise.” If the former have leisure and a
mechanical turn, they can make rods for different kinds of
angling, and whether for bottom or fly-fishing, can adopt any
fancy they may have as to proportions or materials. Thus
rod-making, like tying flies, becomes not only an amusement,
but may be ranked among the useful as well as the orna-
mental requisites in the education of a complete angler.
The early attempts of the writer were in reducing the joints
of his fly-rods, which he thought over stiff; then in making
an occasional new joint, or tip, wrapping on rings, &c., and so
on to making ferules, which at first was done without the
help of a lathe. Having learned the art of brazing and
rounding them over a mandrel from a neighboring jeweller,
(441)
449 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
he made them smooth and to fit neatly by the simple use of
flat files, emery powder, and a burnisher. A love of “tinker-
ing,” however, and the kind approval of friends as to some
fancied or real excellence in the rods he made for them,
induced an investment in a lathe, work-bench, tools, &c., and
many pleasant hours have since been given to making rods,
from the withy little switch of a fly-rod, for Trout-fishing, to
the “heavy artillery” used in trolling, Bass-fishing, and even
in taking the lordly Salmon. .
Woops USED IN Rop-MakiINnG.—It should be borne in mind
that there is much difference in the strength and elasticity of
woods of the same kind. A tree of slow growth is much
harder and closer grained than one whose growth has been
rapid. The white part, which is cafled the “sap,” in contra-
distinction to the heart, as a general thing is preferable if not
too near the bark. There are several kinds of hickory and
ash, the white coarse-grained of the latter, possessing a third
or a half more strength and spring than the red ash.
American hickory is used almost exclusively by English
rod-makers for second and third joints; it has the recom-
mendation of strength, and if well seasoned is elastic, though
inferior in either respect to ironwood,* which appears to be
scarcely known, or certainly not appreciated by rod-makers
in this country or in England. This wood is found in the
mountainous districts of North America, from Canada to
Virginia and perhaps even further south. It grows gener-
rally in damp places, and is known under other local names,
as “hornbeam,” “leverwood,” and “barwood.” It is almost
* There are two different trees known as ironwood ; that referred to here
is mentioned in botanical books as Carpinus ostrya. It has a smooth
eylindrical trunk with a thin grayish bark, and is of slow growth; a tree
of five or six inches when sawed in two, showing forty or fifty concentric
circles, indicating that it is just so many years old.
ROD-MAKING. 448
white, even to the heart, and the lamine remarkably close and
fine; it breaks with a long splintery fracture, the very oppo-
site of lancewood, which though stiff’ and springy is not so
strong, but short and crisp in its grain.
For trolling or bait rods, the butt may be of almost any
hard wood. If hollow, good maple or ash will do; some-
times holly is used in England. The second piece should be
of good white ash or hickory; the third of hickory or iron-
wood; and the tip of lancewood or the best-seasoned iron-
wood,' or spliced bamboo, or East India reed, known as
“Malacca cane.”
Unless ordered in three, English fly-rods, intended for
Trout-fishing, are generally of four pieces. The woods mostly
used are, ash for the butt, and hickory for the second and
third joints. The tip for one-fourth or a third of its length,
of hickory or lancewood, and the remainder, out to the point,
of spliced bamboo.
I would recommend for a Trout fly-rod, white ash for the
but, ironwood for the middle piece, and Malacca cane, rent
and glued, for the tip. The latter material is much superior
to the short-jointed bamboo used by professional rod-makers,
both in strength and elasticity, having a steel-like spring
which the bamboo does not possess, besides being longer
between the joints, and consequently requiring fewer splices.
The bamboo is seldom more than ten inches, while the cane
is frequently sixteen or eighteen inches between the joints, if
taken near the butt.
The amateur rod-maker should be provided with a work-
bench six or eight feet long, and a vice on one side or at one
end of it, a drawing-knife, a jack and a fore plane, a large
coarse flat file (those used for sharpening mill-saws are best),
sand-paper, and several strips of wood about two feet long,
with grooves of different sizes in them. One of these pieces
of wood is to be screwed firmly in the vice, and the stick is
444 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
to be held in the groove, and turned with the left hand, while
you are spokeshaving or filing it with your right.
To MAKE A Fiy-RoD OF THREE PiEcES.—After deciding
on the proportions of the rod, and having made or bought
ferules of appropriate size, select a well-seasoned piece of ash
for the butt, and, with the drawing-knife and plane, work it
down to something like the desired size; that is, sufficiently
large at one end for the grasp of the hand, and tapering to
something larger than the size of the ferule at the other end ;
the sides of the stick all the while being kept as nearly square
as possible. Then plane the corners off, so that a section will
present as near the shape of an octagon as you can get it.
Now screw the strip of wood with the largest groove fast in
your vice, and, laying the stick in it, work it as nearly round
as you can with your spokeshave and file, bringing it all the
while nearer the intended shape and size. Then polish it off
with fine sand-paper, and fit on the first ferule.
To make the second or middle joint, as it may be called,
use only the plane, laying the stick between two thin strips,
tacked on the work-bench while planing it (on account of its
length and small size), keeping it square and taking off the
corners, to bring it to an octagon. Then screw into your vice
a strip of wood with a smaller groove than the one you used
for the butt, and round the stick with spokeshave and file, and
rub it down with sand-paper as you did the butt, and fit the
larger end into the first ferule, and the smaller into the second
ferule.
Let me here say that there is some sleight required in filing
a long thin piece of wood. The file should be held obliquely,
and passed over the stick as it is held and turned in the
groove with the left hand; occasionally rubbing the file with
a straight fore-and-aft motion over the stick, as if planing it,
which will take off any irregularities left from the other
mode of filing.
ROD-MAKING. 445
To MAKE A Tip (Anglice “Top”).—Take a piece of good
Malacca cane, as long between the joints as you can get it.
Split off as many pieces of the size as you require, and reduce
each piece with spokeshave and file, cutting away the soft
inner part, each piece being smaller than the preceding one
as you approach the small end of the tip. In working down
the pieces for the tip, the groove in the strip of wood which
you screw into your vice should be very small. Bevel the
ends of each piece of cane sufficiently to let them make a
good splice, say two inches and a half, two inches, and an
inch and a half. Apply the glue hot to the surfaces which
come into contact, lay them together, and wrap the splice
firmly with strong fine twine or good packthread, and lay
them by for twelve hours for the glue to set and dry.
If the splices are well glued, you may remove the wrappings
next day, and finish your tip without any fear of its coming
apart while you work it down. The final wrapping of the
splices, which I will presently describe, it is better to defer
until after the tip and stouter joints of the rod are oiled and
varnished.
After the tip is finished, join all three pieces of the rod
together, and, by bending and handling it, find where it
requires reducing to make it spring uniformly and feel exactly
right to the hand, unjointing it and filing each piece sepa-
rately in doing so.
To Stain 4 Rop.—Before staining, wet the different pieces
and let them dry, when the fibres of the wood will rise and
present a rough surface; then rub each stick smooth with
sand-paper, and repeat the operation until the grain of the
wood will remain smooth after wetting. If you intend to
varnish it without staining, this process is unnecessary. In
staining, avoid powerful acids, particularly in the delicate
parts of the rod, and try rather to dye the grain of the wood
446 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
than merely to color the surface. By experimenting with
red and black ink, the extract of logwood, and water in differ-
ent proportions, many shades of maroon and brown can be
had. Common writing-ink diluted with water produces a
neutral tint, and smoking-tobacco steeped in hot water a light
tawny yellow. The rod should not be too deeply stained,
if you wish the grain of the wood to show handsomely.
Repeated coats of ink produce a black.
OILING AND VARNISHING.—After trying several varnishes
that were warranted to stand weather and using, I have found
them all to rub or chip off so much inthe course of a summer,
as to expose the wood to moisture, which seriously impairs
its elasticity. I have had fly-rods which were covered with
three or four coats of shellac, and even those varnished with
copal, become so limp with moisture on a drizzly day, as to
be almost useless. To obviate such faults, I at last adopted
the following method as the best to make a rod impervious,
and to prevent the varnish from chipping off.
When the rod has become perfectly dry after staining it,
warm each piece before a stove or fire or over a spirit-lamp,
and pouring some bored linseed-oil on a rag, rub it well into
the grain of the wood; repeat the operation two or three days
after, and lay the rod by in some warm dry place for the oil
to penctrate the wood and become hard on the surface; then
if any excess of oil appears, assuming a glossy appearance
and a sticky feeling, warm the stick again, and dissipate it by
rubbing with a woollen rag with a very small portion of oil
on it, and lay the rod by for a few days more.
When you apply the varnish (let it be shellac), the first
coat should be thin, pouring it on a rag and rubbing it on
quickly and lightly, so that it may become incorporated some-
what with the coat of oil, and in a few hours apply another
thin coat in the same way. The next day give it a thicker
ROD-MAKING. 4AT7
coat with a flat camel’s-hair brush, and repeat it every day or
two for a week, and lay the rod by until the varnish has
become hard enough to be rubbed down with powdered
pumice or emery. This is done by spreading about a table-
spoonful of the powder on a dripping-wet rag, and rubbing
lightly, thereby giving a perfectly smooth surface. The
pumice or emery powder should be washed off, and the rod
receive another rubbing if not perfectly polished. When
thoroughly dry, a final coat of very thin copal should be
applied. Shellac can be diluted by adding alcohol, and
removed from the fingers with the same solvent. The ferules
should be permanently stuck on with hot shellac, after the
oiling and varnishing is completed. Shellac is the best
cement one can use in joining metal to wood, and is applied
by heating the end of a joint over a spirit-lamp, and sticking
on bits of the gum, turning the joint the meanwhile over the
blaze, to keep the shellac flowing around the wood. Now
stick on the ferule, hold it over the flame to heat ié slightly,
and press the joint in as far as necessary. The shellac will
become hard in a few minutes. The custom of fastening on
ferules with pins impairs the strength of the wood just where
a rod is most likely to break.
Little remains to be done now but wrapping the splices of
the tip and putting on the rings. The former is performed
thus: Stick a stout awl into the edge of your work-bench or
into the top of a table, and holding the tip in the right hand,
lay on the end of the silk with the left; then, turning the tip
with the right and guiding the silk with the left (the tip in
the mean while bearing and revolving against the opposite
side of the awl), wrap closely over the end of the silk and
the whole length of the splice, and fasten off with the invisible
knot.
448 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The ring-keepers* are wrapped in the same way; but the
manner of doing this can be better explained by examining
the way in which the rings are put on any rod from a tackle-
store. The same may be said of the wire loop through which
the line passes at the end of the tip. Before putting on the
rings, the rod should be joined together, getting it as nearly
straight as possible, and marking the places for the rings. It
may then be taken apart, and the rings put on each piece sepa-
rately. On a tip four feet long, there should be about seven
rings, beginning five or six inches from the small end, and in-
creasing the distance between them as you near the larger end.
Four rings are enough for the middle piece, and one or two for
the butt. Small rings made of very light wire should be
used for tips, and instead of the ordinary clumsy ring-keepers
sold at the tackle-stores, it is better to cut from very thin
sheet-brass, strips not more than the thirty-second part of an
inch wide, and of convenient length—say six or eight inches
long: these are more easily handled, the surplus length of
the strip being nipped off after wrapping, and used for the
next ring. To protect the wrappings of the splices and ring-
keepers, apply several coats of thick shellac varnish with a
small camel’s-hair brush.
The reel-bands, for reasons stated on a preceding page,
should be at the extreme end of the butt, and below the place
where it is grasped by the hand when casting.
To MAKE 4 RENT AND GLUED, OR QUARTER-SECTION TIP.—
With the object of uniting the greatest degree of strength
and spring in the delicate portions of a fly-rod, and more
particularly in the tip, an artist friend, who is not only a fine
amateur mechanic, but an accomplished fly-fisher, some years
* The little pieces of thin brass or copper that hold the rings against
the rod.
ROD-MAKING. 449
ago explained to me, by a few strokes of his pencil, how the
soft inner part of cane or bamboo could be got rid of, and
the hard elastic exterior only used, gluing four strips
together side by side, and producing what he called a quarter-
section tip, or what English rod-makers term a “rent and
glued” tip. He also made the simple tool represented below,
in which are united what may be called a“ V tool” and a
“draw-plate.” It is made of thin steel, and tempered very
hard.
i a
3 6 © Ole
The notch in the end and top of the plate are true right
angles, with a cutting or rather a scraping edge; the holes
also have scraping edges. When this implement is screwed
in a vice, by drawing a piece of split cane through the V,
with the outer surface of the cane uppermost, the soft inner
part is scraped off; and when four such pieces have been
reduced to the required size, and glued together, a section
presents the appearance of figure G on the next wood-cut,
the softer part of each strip coming together in the centre.
The corners of G are then rounded off with a file, and to
make each glued piece more truly round than an amateur can
generally file them, they are still further reduced by draw-
ing them through a hole of appropriate size in the plate, when
the end of a piece will present the appearance of figure H in
the next wood-cut.
To be more explicit, and to insure a neater job, I will go
over the ground again, and describe minutely my own way
of making a four-sectioned tip. Take a piece of Malacca
29
450 AMERICAN ANGLER’S-BOOK.
cane, the outer and inner circles above presenting a section
of it, split it in half at AA, and from one of these halves
split the four strips BBBB, and draw each strip through the
V tool, scraping them down to the required size, the ends
presenting the shape of the right angle under D or the little
figure E. Then join two of these pieces lengthwise with hot
glue, wrapping them tightly, and then the other two pieces
in the same way, the end of each twin piece being represented
by the figure F. Straighten them while pliant with the glue,
and lay them by over night for the glue to set firmly. Next
day unwrap the twine from around the twin pieces, and lay-
ing one of them in a small grove in the strip of wood screwed
in your vice, the broad surface being uppermost, with your
coarse file make it perfectly level. Then treat the other twin
piece in the same way, and, applying the glue to the surface
of each twin piece, bind them tightly together, straighten the
quadruple piece thus formed (a section of which is repre-
sented by G), and lay it aside for the glue to dry. Although
T have shown where the seams are in the butt ends or sections
in the figures I’, G, and H, there are no seams visible when
the strips are glued together.
I have already explained how the quadruple pieces are
ROD-MAKING. 451
reduced and rounded; any number of them can be prepared
at the same time. For several reasons, it is better that the
last ten or twelve inches of a tip for a Trout fly-rod should
be a single piece; that is, the piece itself should be a unit, not
rent and glued after the manner just described; for in reducing
so delicate a part, if quadrupled, the four pieces are apt to be
of unequal thickness. Besides, the point of the tip is more
apt to get wet than the lower part, and of course would be
more apt to divide or split apart when so small a portion of
glue is used. A tip made in this way should be wrapped at
intervals of an inch along its whole length; six or eight turns
of fine silk at each wrapping are sufficient; each separate
wrapping should be fastened off with the invisible knot.
The middle piece of a Trout fly-rod may be made without
splices, by splitting a piece of Mulacca cane through the
joints, the whole length required, avoiding the root of the
shoot, or bud, represented in the drawing of a piece of cane
below. There is only one bud or shoot at each joint, and as
they occur alternately on opposite sides, they can be easily
avoided in splitting. Tips may be made in the same manner
the quarters being drawn through the V tool, and glued ana
finished as already described. Tips for Salmon-rods made in
this way are unequalled.
The only alleged objection to rent and glued tips is, that
they require care in keeping them from getting wet. I
have fished with them for more than ten years, and only on
one occasion, when I persisted in fishing all day in a rain,
have I found them defective in this particular, and then only
because the varnish had worn off. This was before I resorted
to oiling my rods, and when I did not have the wrappings 10)
452 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
close together. If joined with the best glue, and well oiled
before applying the varnish, such an accident would seldom
or never occur. Besides, there is no necessity for an angler
getting his rod wet at all. A good tip may be made by
gluing two pieces of cane together after cutting away the soft
inner part, though they are not as apt to bend equally asa
quarter-section tip does.
GuuE.—Irish glue has a reputation with some persons. I
have generally used the white American article known as
“bone glue;” but from some experiments lately made with
“ Hilton’s glue and cement,” which is said to be waterproof, I
am convinced of its superiority over anything else for a rod-
maker’s purposes.
In making fly-rods for some of my friends, I have lately
adopted a plan by which the same rod may be used for either
light or heavy fishing. This improvement consists in having
the butt in two pieces; the upper piece being about three feet
long, has a ferule on the lower end, into which the handle—
if I may so call the lower part of the butt—is fitted. There
are two handles, one of a foot or fifteén inches, and the other
two feet long. In wading the stream it is intended that a tip
of the ordinary length, that is, as long as the middle joint,
and the short handle shall be used. In fishing from a boat
where the run of Trout is large, the rod is rigged with a
stouter tip, but nine inches shorter, and the long handle.
Thus taking from the rod at the small end or tip, and adding
as much at the butt. If the rod is to be lengthened, the
longer tip and long butt are both used.
To MAKE FeruLes.—The materials and implements used
in making ferules for fishing-rods are, sheet-brass or German
silver, a pair of shears to cut it, mandrels to round the ferules
on, 2 knife file, annealed (or, as it is sometimes called solder-
ing) wire, a small smooth-faced hammer, a light wooden
ROD-MAKING. 453
mallet, a pair of pliers, a blowpipe, a lump of borax, a strip
of thin silver solder, and a lump of charcoal—most of these
articles can be had at hardware-stores. The silver solder
may be found at the stores where watchmakers’ and jewellers’
materials are sold. The mandrel is a cylindrical piece of cast
steel, and should be the size that you want the inside of the
ferule.
To take the width of a piece of brass required for a ferule,
wrap a piece of stiff paper around the mandrel so as to lap,
and pass a knife along it lengthwise as straight as you can,
which cuts the paper the exact size. This is moistened and
laid on the sheet-brass for a pattern, and the brass cut to the
size of the paper with a pair of shears. The brass is then
bent over the mandrel by the proper use of a wooden mallet
and the vice, and the edges brought nearly together (not to
overlap), and the knife-file passed between to take off any
inequality in the edges, and to insure their coming in contact
the whole length of the ferule, when bound by the annealed
wire. The vice should be used in bringing the edges in
contact, and the ferule bound in the middle and at both ends
with wire, while it is held in the jaws of the vice; to do this
effectually, the ends of the wire after lapping the ferule are
twisted with the pliers.
To make the flux for your solder, wet a piece of borax and
rub it on a piece of rough slate, grinding off the surface of
the borax until the mixed water and borax assumes the
appearance and consistency of cream. Apply it to the seam
inside of the ferule with a small camel’s-hair brush, and then
cut a.thin strip of silver solder (the thirty-second part of an
inch is wide enough), and of the required length, straighten it,
smear it with the diluted borax, lay it on the seam inside of
the ferule, and place the ferule with the seam downwards in
a groove, made just large enough in a piece of charcoal to
454 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
contain it. Now with a good flame of gas, or a spirit-lamp
used for such purposes, direct a jet of flame on the ferule with
the blowpipe until the solder flows over the seam.
There is some knack in using the blowpipe. Hard puffs
which exhaust the breath are not as efficacious in producing
the requisite heat as a more gentle but continuous blowing.
Persons accustomed to the use of this implement acquire a
way of inhaling through the nostrils and blowing with the
mouth at the same time, making thereby a very long exhala-
tion; it is done by distending the cheeks and working the
jaws somewhat in imitation of the blowing of a blacksmith’s
bellows.
Those who make ferules in quantities, of course braze
them in a charcoal furnace; but as the limited space of an
amateur’s workshop does not often allow of such an appliance,
it is well to learn the use of the blowpipe, which, in fact, is
indispensable in delicate soldering. In using gas it is better
to remove the ordinary burner and direct the full stream on
the ferule, or procure what is termed an Argand or a jewel-
ler’s burner. The common gutta-percha tube is convenient
in bringing the gas to any convenient place on a work-bench
or table. The ferule should have no grease on it to interfere
with the soldering. It is well also before binding with it wire
to dip the brush in the borax while it is thin, and pass it
between the edges.
The ferule should be allowed to cool of itself, as dipping it
in water impairs the toughness of the brass. When the wire
bindings are taken off, the nner surface should be sealed
with a rat-tail file, and any surplus solder along the seam
removed. Brass is always annealed by heating it to a red
and allowing it to cool gradually, and of course the ferule is
soft and not fit for use unless it is hardened. This is done
by hammering lightly, as it is rounded and stretched over the
ROD-MAKING. 455
mandrel. If you want the ferule perfectly straight, round,
and true, the mandrel should fit it exactly when it is
stretched.
The mandrel should taper a little for a half inch or so at
the end, to enable you to enter it in the end of the ferule. In
doing so, drive it in tightly as far as it will go, without
straining the ferule, and laying it on an anvil or smooth
surface or iron, tap it lightly with your hammer, turning the
mandrel the mean while with the left hand. Drive the man-
drel in as the ferule is stretched, hammering evenly and
turning slowly as the ferule passes over the smaller part
of the mandrel, and confine the hammering to that part.
The ferule as it is driven on assumes the size, the roundness,
and the straightness of the mandrel, and is hardened by the
hammering.
‘When the ferule has thus been stretched, hardened, and
straightened, the mandrel with the ferule fitting tightly on it
is put into the lathe and turned down smooth, and to the
required thickness, with an ordinary graver; or it may be
finished with a fine flat file and emery paper of different
degrees of fineness, if you have no such piece of machinery,
though it is a laborious operation. A lathe is almost indis-
pensable in making a male ferule, that is, a ferule intended
to fit into another.
When I first began to make ferules, I cleansed and made
the inside smooth, by wrapping a strip of sand-paper spirally
on a round stick, so as to fit the ferule just tight enough to
turn in it, and afterwards gave a smoother finish to it by
wrapping a piece of emery paper on the same stick. The
same contrivance can be used by putting the stick in a lathe
and holding the ferule on it with a rag saturated with water
to prevent the brass-from heating as the stick revolves.
A male ferule is made in the same manner as just
456 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
described, and of course on a smaller mandrel, or on the
same mandrel turned smaller for two inches or so at one end.
As there is no strain on a male ferule it is not necessary to
harden it. ‘
A professional rod-maker would no doubt be somewhat
amused at these directions, and consider this a roundabout
way of making a rod; but as I before said, I only wish te
throw out a few hints for the benefit of anglers who wish to
amuse themselves in-doors, or instruct those who sefdom have
the opportunity of purchasing rods of tackle-stores.
For fear I may leave the reader in some doubt as to the
material I have recommended for quarter-sectioned tips, on a
preceding page, I would here say, that by “Malacca cane,” I
refer to those long East India fishing-rods, which are marked
with irregular tracings; charred with a hot iron or some
strong acid. They are easily distinguished from our native
cane-rods, or the bamboo used by professional rod-makers.
CHAPTER XVITi.
FISH BREEDING.
“ Anp God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly, the moving
creature that hath life.”
CHAPTER XVIII.
FISH-BREEDING.
Causes of the decrease of Salmon and Trout.—Remarks on fish-ponds and
the manner of stocking them.
ArtiFicIAL Fiso-BreepIne—with illustrations, showing the manner of
expressing the ova and milt, the arrangement of hatching-troughs, and’
the growth of the fish; from “A Complete Treatise on Artificial Fish-
Breeding,” by W. H. Fry, Esq., with some remarks of the author of
this work.
Tue AquariumM—its appropriate size and form, and manner of stocking it
with fish and introducing suitable aquatic plants.
REMARKS ON FiIsH-PoNDs, AND THE MANNER OF PRODUC-
ING AND REARING FISH IN A NATURAL wAy.—All “ true-
hearted anglers,” (we thank Dr. Bethune for the word), who
have witnessed the ruthless and indiscriminate destruction
of game-fish, will take an interest in the plans proposed and
the means now happily adopted for their increase. Many a
fly-fisher who travels a long way to enjoy his favorite sport,
is shocked at witnessing the wilful extermination of Salmon
and Trout. The former by spearing, netting, and erecting
-high dams without providing for their free passage up and
down—the latter by snaring them on their spawning-beds,
catching them in seines and eel-weirs, and drawing off mill-
ponds. On Trout-streams there are still other agencies at
work. The coal-mine poisoning the brook with sulphur ; the
saw-mil) filling it with slabs and saw-dust; the factory with
‘ (459)
460 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
its dyestuff; and the tannery fouling che clear stream, covering
the bottom of the pools and the spawn-beds with its leached
bark, and killing the fish by hundreds with the noxious dis-
charge of its lime-vat. Any law against such vandalism in
the United States is seldom or but feebly enforced.
We are also disgusted occasionally by hearing persons,
who pretend to be sportsmen, boast of the number of Trout
they have taken by unfair means. I was once present when
a person of this kind, who had just returned from an excur-
sion to the head waters of the Croton for woodeock, told
how he had snared a hundred Trout, each a foot long, on their
spawning-bed. To use his own vernacular, he would have
“punched a fellow’s head,” who would trap a partridge or
kill her on her nest. Which of the two is the more dastardly
act? When fishing Jessup River in Hamilton County, New
York, some years ago, the guide pointed out a place at the
mouth of a little brook, where a snob deer-hunter from Troy,
the September previous, with a bass-rod and a red hackle,
lifted out sixty pounds of Trout, which had collected there to
spawn. If time-serving legislators have not the independence
to pass laws for a more thorough protection of Trout, or officials
do not enforce those ‘that are passed, the fly-fisher at no
distant day will have to go hundreds of miles farther than
he does now, to find them. But unless I should appear to be
travelling out of my way in condemnation of such means and
such persons as I have alluded to, I will proceed with my
observations on fish-breeding; giving first a few suggestive
remarks on fish-ponds, the manner of stocking them, and of
producing the young fish in the natural way; and then
describe at length the mode which has been adopted, within
a few years past, of hatching the eggs and rearing the young
fish to a certain age by artificial means.
In many parts of Europe, and in China, where fresh sea-
FISH-BREEDING. 461
fish are not to be had, fish-ponds are common, and fish culture
is almost a matter of as much concern as agriculture. Great
care is even bestowed on breeding and rearing the coarser
kinds, including those that belong to the Carp family. Such
fish are considered almost worthless here, where there are so
many firm-fleshed, well-flavored species of the Perch family ;
and our sluggish waters, where Trout would not thrive, could
be as easily stocked with these, and with the ugly though
excellent Catfish, as with the soft insipid Cyprinoids.
Whatever be the condition of the water one may con-
trol, sluggish or rapid, shaded or exposed; whether a brook,
or a pond of an acre or two, fed even by a diminutive stream,
he may breed fish whose natural habitat is such water, or
make them in a great degree capable of living and thriving
in their circumscribed home.
From my boyhood I have known ponds stocked with large
fish which were not native to such waters. One instance was
the transfer of what was called the “James River Chub,”
the magnificent fresh-water Bass, Grystes salmoides. They
were taken from the James River and placed in mill-ponds
fed by small brooks a hundred miles north of Richmond, and
in a few years by natural propagation and increase became
numerous, many of them attaining a weight of five pounds.
The White Perch, Labrax pallidus, is prolific in ponds and
canals. It is even said the Rockfish will live entirely in
fresh water, though I doubt whether it will grow to a large
size if debarred from returning to salt water in winter. The
Shad, which Mr. Pell produced by artificial propagation, must
certainly have degenerated if confined to his ponds, and, I
think, would most likely cease to reproduce after several
generations; for they are anadromous fish, and their annual
visit to the sea is requisite to their perfection.
I have seen Trout breed and grow rapidly in a pond cover-
462 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ing not more than an eighth of au acre, near Philadelphia. It
was in a little dell shaded by oaks, maples, and wild poplars.
Several springs bubbled out at the head of the ravine, and a
small breastwork of stone and sod, thirty yards below, dammed
the water, which flowed over the sluice, in a stream which could
have been discharged through a two-inch auger-hole. The
Trout, thirty in number, and varying in size from six to ten
inches, were brought from Chester County and placed in the
pond in the month of February. The following autumn they
spawned, and in the month of April they were caught in a
fine net, in the little pool beneath the overflow of the dam,
and in the rill in the meadow below, two inches long. The
next season they were also found in the brook into which the
rul flowed, and in a mill-pond below, where they had grown
to seven inches. At the time of stocking his pond the owner
did not ascertain how many of each sex he put in. It is a
matter of conjecture how many of them spawned, or how
much of the spawn was consumed by the fish; how much of
it came to maturity, or how many of the young fish were
devoured after being hatched out. It is highly probable that
but few of those which remained in the pond escaped the
voracity of the adults; and those that went over the dam
through the sluice (which was not more than nine inches
wide, and three-fourths of an inch in depth), must have made
their escape from instinctive fear of the larger fish. Some of
the fish which were very small when placed in the pond, in two
or three summers grew to the length of fourteen inches, and
were very stout, weighing perhaps a pound and a quarter;
they were fed occasionally with chopped raw meat, worms,
and grasshoppers. In a few years the place fell into other
hands, and the fish were caught out of the pond by poachers,
or persons of less appreciation than the proprietor who
stocked it.
FISH-BREEDING. 463
Ihave given these few facts to show that a pond is easily
stocked with Trout, and the streams below as a matter of
course. With a little care, and providing ponds below (as
would have been the case had the original owner just alluded
to remained in possession), the number and size might have
been increased to the utmost capacity of the water.
If fish are thus easily bred and reared with so little atten-
tion, by natural propagation, the ova being unprotected on
the spawning-beds, and the young subjected to the ravages
of the large fish, how must it be when all causes which would
prevent the hatching of impregnated spawn are removed,
and the young, by a proper arrangement, kept from being
devoured ?
In stocking ponds, an observing person will remember to
put in such fish as the water is suitable or natural to.
A pond for Trout should have as great a proportion of spring
or cool brook water as is possible, though it is not essential in
all cases that the supply should be large. If the stream which
supplies it enters in a rough little cascade, it is better, as the
water is thereby mixed with air. If there be several ponds
on the same brook, they should be supplied in the same man-
ner, if the fall in the stream is sufficient. Each should have
a shallow shelving margin, as well as a deep side; plenty of
shade, trees, and shrubbery, to encourage the presence of
flies and insects; also aquatic plants, rock, stones, and peb-
bles through the pond and on the margin. Shallow water
strewed with pebbles is considered as necessary as aerated
water in the natural propagation of Trout, though few of
these conditions were found in the pond just described, for it
was almost of uniform depth, and the back-water covered the
springs that supplied it.
In breeding the different species of the Perch family,
aerated water, or even that of a low temperature, is not so
464 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
necessary, if there is a reasonable quantity of aquatic vege-
tation in it. The mere damming of a stream, and increasing
the body of water, promotes a larger growth of those fish
which are native to the brook. In the instance first men-
tioned, of stocking ponds with the large fresh-water Bass, a
freshet swept the dam away, when the fish escaped and sought
the larger water of the rivers below, none, even of the
small ones remaining to reproduce when the dam was
renewed.
Trout taken from a small brook where they never grow to
a length exceeding eight inches, have been known to attain
a weight of three or four pounds when transferred to a large
pond or lake.
“Ephemera,” in his “Book of the Salmon,” objects with
much reason to the term “artificial propagation ;” for after all,
the expression of the spawn by manipulation, and protection of
the young fry, are only accessories, and nature is only directed,
followed, or assisted, as the judgment of the fish-breeder may
dictate.
ARTIFICIAL FISH-BREEDING.— With the object of showing
how easily fish can be produced by artificial culture, I have
obtained from Mr. W. H. Fry, the editor, and Messrs. Apple-
ton & Co., publishers, of New York, their consent to make
extracts and copy some of the explanatory cuts from a
work to which I have already alluded, called “A Complete
Treatise on Artificial Fish-breeding.” In treating this subject,
therefore, it will be necessary to repeat, in substance or verba-
tim, much of the matter of a preceding chapter. Before read-
ing Mr. Fry’s book, I had met with several brief articles on
the subject, one of which I clipped from a daily paper; it
reads as follows:— -
“ Pisciculture in New York.—At a meeting of the Farmers’
FISH-BREEDING. 465
Club of New York, held recently, the following proceedings
took place, as we learn from the Times of that city:
“The secretary, Henry Meigs, Esq., read a letter from John
G. Adams, M. D., now in Paris, on the subject of Pisciculture
(breeding fish), which was the subject for discussion by the
club for the day. Mr. Adams explains at length the mode
of breeding fish, now in successful operation in the College
of France. The eggs selected for the purpose of breeding
are, he says, those of the Trout and Salmon. They are
brought in boxes. The boxes may be tight, and, if kept at
a moderate temperature, may be transported an immense dis-
tance. At the college the eggs, are placed in oblong earthen
troughs, in single layers, upon trays of willow-work, so that
the water may circulate freely around them; for the arrange-
ment of running water, these troughs are arranged in pyra-
mids, and a small stream of water is continually flowing into
them. The eggs, after forty days, are hatched, and the young
fish are seen running about in one part of the trough, while
in another part of it the eggs are in a different stage of incu-
bation. The pouring of the water seems to have no delete-
rious effect on the process.
“The operation, it is believed, will be highly successful.
“Mr. R. L. Pell, of Pelham, discussed the subject of Pisci-
culture to a great extent. Among other matters, he informed
the club that he had taken the spawn from the female Shad
and impregnated it with the male Shad, and that the eggs
produced Shad in great numbers. He has numerous fish-
ponds, in‘which there are forty-five varieties of foreign and
native fish, thousands of which came at the ringing of a bell to
be fed out of his hand. Sturgeons nine feet long may be seen
in his ponds.
“Mr. Pell has made arrangements to import the ova of the
Tench, Barbel, and Carp from Europe, for his ponds, and like-
30
466 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
wise the spawn of the famous Turbot and Sole; and is about
to apply to the legislature for a law to make it incumbent
upon all persons in the state who gain a livelihood by the
capture of fish, to plant impregnated spawn upon their fish-
ing-grounds.
“Remarks on the same subject were made by other mem-
bers of the club, all of whom were sanguine of its success,
and confident that it would be of service to the community.”
I have since read other articles showing the feasibility of
producing and breeding fish artificially, and have heard of
experimenters being entirely successful in it. Amongst the
latter are some enterprising fish-breeders of Hartford, Con-
necticut, one of whom has visited France for the purpose of
witnessing the modus operandi and obtaining information on
the subject. There are also several instances of complete
success said to have occurred on Long Island and in Ohio.
Although, in the following pages, I quote chiefly from
M. Coste’s directions, found in Mr. Fry’s book, Messrs. Gehin
and Remy, fishermen of the Commune of Bresse, of the
department of Vosges, were the discoverers, and the first who
turned their attention, in a practical way, to the production
of fish by artificial propagation. These two humble French-
men afterwards brought the subject to the notice of scientific
men, who procured for it the patronage of the French govern-
ment; and notwithstanding M. Coste claims for Jacobi, a
German, the discovery of fecundating the ova by artificial
means, as early as 1758, it appears that Gehin and Remy were
not aware of any previous experiments having been made.
According to M. Coste’s account, Jacobi, like these two fish-
ermen, founded his theory on a simple fact which he disco-
vered by careful observation; it is that the spawn of the
female is not impregnated by the seminal fluid of the male
until after it is ejected. M. Coste further says that this
FISH-BREEDING. 467
naturalist communicated the result of his experiments to
Count de Goldstein, Grand Chancellor of His Palatinate High-
ness for the Duchies of Burges and Juliers, in an essay in
the German language, which Count de Goldstein afterwards
translated into Latin for M. de Fourcray. It appears strange
that so important a discovery should not have been made
public, and followed up at the time by establishing fish-
breeding as a trade or science. ,
It is natural to suppose that Gehin and Remy’s discovery
would soon become generally known to those who were inte-
rested in restocking impoverished and exhausted waters. So
we find Messrs. Young, Shaw, and other British naturalists
not only in possession of this knowledge, but successfully
experimenting on it.
The following extracts and wood-cuts from Mr. Fry’s work,
I am satisfied will convince any intelligent reader that thou-
sands of fish may be produced and raised with as little or
perhaps less difficulty than a tenth of the same number of
poultry. I would, however, advise those who wish to engage
in the experiment, to procure Mr. Fry’s work, in which he
has translated from the French, “ Facts furnished the Academy
of Sciences at Paris, by M. Gehin;” “M. Coste’s Practical
Instructions in Fish-raising ;” and “ M. Milne Edwards’ Report
on Artificial Fish-culture, and stocking barren or impover-
ished rivers with fish artificially hatched.” His book also
embraces ‘Lessons on the Natural History and Habits of the
Salmon,” by “ Ephemera,” the gist of which will be found in
the previous part of this book, beginning at page 214.
The Trout being one of the most interesting and easily
procured fish, I will first refer to the method of breeding it.
This fish generally spawns from the latter part of September
to the first or middle of November. The preparatory step is
to procure hatching-troughs.
468 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ia EE =»)
vin AEST
These, as the reader will observe from the cut, are simply
a succession of troughs placed one above the other. The
water flowing from the stop-cock B, in any desired quantity,
into the topmost trough, falls in little cascades into those
below, which aerates it sufficiently during the term of hatch-
ing. By means of these troughs the fecundated eggs may be
watched with care, and examined without the danger of dis-
turbing the process of incubation, as would be the case if
the spawn was placed in hatching-boxes, according to M.
Gehin’s plan, and deposited in the stream, and removed from
it occasionally to examine them.
The troughs may be placed in any spare room where it is
convenient to lead a small supply-pipe, and place another for
the discharge of the water. They should be supplied to the
depth of four inches with clean gravel and a little coarse
sand. Each trough should be raised somewhat at the end
where it receives the overflow from the trough above, so as
to cause a slight current. M. Coste recommends that the eggs
be spread on closely-woven hurdles of willow, and sunk an
inch or two below the surface; his reasons for doing so are
given in a subsequent extract. If the bottoms of the troughs
are covered with gravel, the water—which may be supplied
through a quarter-inch pipe—should flow through them for
a few days, so as to remove any impurity amongst the peb-
bles.
FISH-BREEDING. 469
Trout may be procured by observing them in the brook
when preparing to spawn; they should be taken in nets, and
removed as carefully as possible. A less number of males
than females are required, as the milt of one male will fecun.
date the eggs from three or four females. Care should be
taken in selecting fish that are well advanced. The mere
pressure in handling will cause the roe or milt to start, if
sufficiently mature; if it is not, the fish may be placed in a
tank conveniently near, supplied with running water, and
examined daily until the proper time arrives.
The vessel for the reception of the spawn may be of earth-
enware, wood, glass, or tinned iron, and should have a flat
bottom as wide as its top. After having washed it clean, it
should have one or two pints of clear water poured in. The
next process is
To Express THE SPAWN.—The female fish is taken by the
head and throat with the left hand, while the right hand, its
479 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
thumb upon the belly and its fingers on the back and sides, is
passed liked a ring lightly backwards and forwards, to bring
the eggs near the opening through which they are passed.
The male fish is then to be operated on in the same way,
and the milt expressed; the manipulation causing the expul-
sion of only so much of the ova and milt as may be perfectly
mature. For, as will be seen by the observations quoted
from “The Book of the Salmon,” in a previous chapter, all
the roe and milt does not ripen at once, but that the time of
laying the eggs and fecundating them in a natural way,
extends over a period of ten days or more. Hence the
necessity of a tank supplied with running water, as a tempo-
rary residence for the breeding fish, that the ova and milt
may be expressed as it matures.
The appearance of all the eggs, whether fecundated or not,
is much changed in the course of a few minutes. They are
at first more opaque than they were when discharged from
the fish, and then assume their transparency. M. Coste says
it is only after some days that the barren eggs can be distin-
guished from the fecundated, and that they deteriorate rapidly,
become more and more opaque, turn white or else preserve
their transparency, but show no interior change. Taking
the spawn and milt from the fish is a matter of so much
interest, that I quote his remarks at length.
“Tf the eggs are hard, and already free from the membrane
of the ovaries, the slightest pressure suffices to expel them,
and under this pressure the abdomen is emptied without
injury to the female operated upon; for the following year
she will become as fruitful as if she had spawned naturally,
as we have often had occasion to observe at the establishment
at Huningen.
“Tf, on the contrary, it appears that a greater degree of
pressure is necessary to bring out the eggs, we may be sure
FISH-BREEDING. 471
they are still enclosed in the tissue of the organ which
produces them, and that the operation is premature. In this
case it should not be, persisted in, but the female should be
put back into the pond, and allowed to remain there till her
full time is accomplished, care being taken that this will soon
occur ; for if a female fish in this condition is kept captive
for any length of time in a circumscribed place, her eggs will
spoil. .
“Tf the females are too large to be held and emptied of
their eggs by a single operator, another can aid him in hold-
ing them over the receptacle, either by passing his fingers
in their gills, or by securing them with a cord, and if the
convulsive struggles are very violent, it may be necessary for
a third person to hold the tail. The operator, then, with his
thumbs upon the thorax and his fingers upon the animal’s
sides, presses from top to bottom the enormous mass of eggs
which distend the coats of the belly. The vertical position
in which the fish is held usually suffices to press out the eggs
nearest the opening, and the pressure of the hands, repeated
several times, will successively bring all the rest.
“The easy expulsion of the eggs proves their maturity, for
it shows they are detached from the ovaries; but it does not
prove absolutely their capability of being fecundated. For
there are some cases, the causes of which we have not ascer-
tained, where the female being in a stream and at liberty, and
having gone her full time, and her eggs being ready for
delivery, yet she does not or cannot free herself from them,
and being thus retained past their time they lose their
reproductive faculty.
“ Experienced persons easily recognise eggs of this sort by
two evident characteristics: one is the flowing out with them
of a foreign matter, of which there is no trace in their normal
state, which gives a muddy hue to the water when the eggs
472 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
begin to fall into it; another is, the white color of these eggs
when they come in contact with the water. When neither
of these appearances is observed, we may be almost sure the
operation will be successful; for the eggs will then be in a
good condition. But in all cases we must guard against
allowing too great a quantity of eggs to fall into one vessel,
for if those on the bottom are covered over by too many
others, they will not perhaps come in contact with the milt,
which should reach every part of them. It will be well, if
the females are found to be very productive, to empty the
spawn into a number of vessels. The results will then be
more satisfactory.
“ As soon as the process of delivering the female of the
spawn is complete, if it appears that the operation of express-
ing it has brought along with it any part of the mucus which
is secreted by her intestines, the water should be immediately
changed, so as to free it from every impurity, care being
always taken that the eggs are not allowed to become dry.
This done, a male fish should be taken, and his milt expressed
in the same manner as the female’s eggs. If the milt has
arrived at a state of maturity it will flow abundantly, white
and thick like cream, and as soon as enough has been taken
from him to give the water in the vessel the appearance of
whey, it is saturated sufficiently. But in order that the
fecundating particles may be spread everywhere and uni-
formly, the precaution should be taken of agitating the
mixture, and of softly turning over the eggs with the hand,
or what is better, with the fine lone hairs of a brush, so that
no part of their surface shall escape contact with the fecun-
dating element.
“ After two or three minutes’ rest the fecundation is accom-
plished, and then the eggs, with the water surrounding them,
should be emptied into the hatching basins; or if these
FISH-BREEDING. 473
basins are some distance removed from where the operation
has been performed, the water must be renewed before they
arrive at their destination, provided the distance be not too
great, for then other means must be taken.
“While the mixture is agitated to help the absorption of
the semen, if the eggs are of that species which are found to
be naturally cemented together by a gelatinous matter, as, for
example, are those of the Perch, great care must be taken not
to pull them apart. This agglutination is a natural condition
of their development, of which it would be injurious to
deprive them.
“There is still another mode of treating the mixture of
fecundating particles with the water, which serves as a
vehicle, and of aiding their absorption by the eggs to be
fecundated; it is to place in the vessel a cullender well
riddled, or better still, a fine basket. Into this, while in the
water, the eggs are expressed, and then the milt. The
cullender should then be moved about, up and down, and
from side to side, care being taken to keep it always in the
water. This movement has a double result: it thoroughly
mixes the fecundating liquor and brings it in contact with
every part of the eggs, and the experiment will be successful
if, after the agitation of the cuJlender, it is allowed to remain
at the bottom of the vessel quietly for two or three minutes.
“ A third process is to express into the vessel the milt, and
not cause the eggs to fall into the water till it has been thus
first charged with fecundating particles. The medium being
thus prepared beforehand, the eggs reach it in a condition of
peculiar aptitude for absorption, which they possess in the
highest degree the first moment of their immersion. This
mode then seems to offer the greater chance of success. I do
not mean to assert that eggs laid in the water some time
before the milt is brought in contact with them, lose the
474 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
power of receiving its influence. For, many times, on the
Rhine, I have had occasion to observe that those of the Sal-
mon and Trout that had been expressed into the water
nearly two hours before a male could be caught, still pre-
served their aptitude for fecundation. But still it is an
unfavorable condition, in which, if possible, they should not
be placed; above all, when the eggs of other species are
treated, which have not, like the Salmon and Trout, a pro-
tecting and resisting envelope, but which are more sensitive
to the influence of the exterior world.
“ Another mode of treating artificial fecundation, and one
more nearly resembling nature’s processes, is to spread the
egos on a sieve fitted in a channel or trough of wood or stone,
through which runs a current from a water-pipe, under the
spout of which the end of the trough is placed, and then to
pour at this point the spermatized water, and leave to the
running current the care of carrying the vivifying particles
to the eggs; but to operate in this way requires an apparatus
not always at hand, and perhaps only to be found in an
establishment designed for the business. For general use and
ready application I recommend, therefore, the process de-
scribed at the commencement of this chapter.
“The milt of a single male will suffice to fecundate the
eggs of a large number of females, provided he is fed while
in the pond or tank, and that care is taken not to take him
from the brook and shut him up there until his milt is fully
matured. Of this fact the author of the memoir published by
the Count de Goldstein was aware, and I have often had
occasion to verify it while on board the boat of the fisherman
Glasser, at Bale, where the male Salmon and Trout emptied
one day to fecundate the eggs destined for the government
establishment at Huningen, are found gorged the next, and
so on every day, for the five or six during which their organs
FISH-BREEDING. 475
secrete semen. It is not necessary, therefore, in experiment-
ing on a large scale, to have numerous males, but only that
they should be in the condition I have indicated.”
M. Coste does not entertain a doubt that breeds may be
crossed. Any two species of the Genus Salmo would no
doubt reproduce, by pressing the eggs from the one and
fecundating them with the milt of the other. This may even
be the case with fish of different families, as the Perch and
Pike, or either of these with the Trout; but the farther we
depart from the laws of nature in producing mongrels, the
more imperfect the progeny must be, and in either of the
cases above mentioned, it is likely the produce would be
mules incapable of reproduction.
TREATMENT OF THE F'ECUNDATED Eaas.—The time of incu-
bation varies according to the temperature of the water and
room in which the troughs are placed. I would recommend
that the latter be sixty-five or seventy degrees above zero.
M. Coste in his experiments, found that the eggs were
hatched in from thirty to sixty days, which is a much
shorter time than if the ova was deposited in a natural way
by the fish in the brook.
The eggs should be distributed evenly over the gravel in.
the hatching-troughs, more thickly at the head where the
water enters. The unfecundated eggs should be taken out,
and any sediment forming on them removed with a soft
brush.
M. Coste give the following interesting account of the
appearance and growth of the young in the egg, and its
escape from the shell.
“Tn eggs vivified with the fecundating molecules, one may
see after a time, which varies according to the species and to
the temperature of the water, on the interior globe a line,
476 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
which covers about a quarter of its circumference. This line,
which seems whitish when the eggs are on a dark ground, or
opaque when they are held up to the light (in the manner in
which our farmers examine hens’ eggs), is the origin of the
foetus, and represents the spinal column. As this line in-
creases in size, one end of it grows out to a point to form a
tail, and the other extends in the form of a spatula. This
last corresponds to the embryo’s head, and of this there is
soon no doubt, for the eyes now appear, two points of a
blackish brown, easily distinguished, and forming nearly
two-thirds of the whole mass of the head. As each day
develops its form, the young fish may be seen under the
shell or membrane, stretching itself, and drawing itself up,
and wagging its tail. When hatching-time comes, these
inovements, the probable object of which is to weaken or tear
the shell, become more active. With Salmon and Trout.
there is another sign of the approach of hatching besides the
quick movements of the young. The outer envelope of the
ege becomes a little opaque, and as it were furfuraceous.
With other species with which I have made observations,
this sign does not appear so plainly. At last a little opening
is made in the shell, and that part of the embryo next the
opening comes through it. Ordinarily the tail or the head
first appears, but sometimes it is the umbilical bladder.
~ Whatever part may be first disengaged, more than half
the ‘body still remains imprisoned, and the efforts of the
young fish are unceasing, till after several hours it frees
itself from the shell. This membrane, which has protected
its development, but has not served to form any part of its
organs, being now cast off, either is decomposed where it lies,
or is carried off by the current.
“Certain kinds, like the Pike and the Ferrat, begin imme-
diately to range about in the waters where they have just
FISH-BREEDING. 477
been hatched ; others on the contrary, such as the Salmon
and the Trout, weighed down by their enormous umbilical
bladder (figure 2), can only move with great difficulty, and
remain lying on one side, or even on the bladder itself.
Some few attempt to move from one place to another, but
soon give up the effort.
“The time for hatching is not the same with all species.
Some, like the Pike, hatch at the end of eight, ten, or fifteen
days; others, like the Salmon, take from a month and a half
to two months.
“Besides development is more or less hastened, according
as the temperature of the water in which they are laid is more
or less elevated. Pike’s eggs placed in a vase, the water of
which without being renewed was exposed to the sun’s rays,
hatched in nine days; while others of the same spawning,
placed in the shade in water constantly renewed took eighteen
to twenty days to hatch. It required also twenty days to
hatch eggs of the ombre, which, more favorably placed,
hatched in twelve to fifteen days. Still greater variations of
time appear in the incubation of other species of the Salmon
family. In running water of a warm temperature, the eggs
of Salmon and Trout will hatch in about thirty days, while
the same eggs in a cold stream will take seven or eight
weeks, The term of incubation may even extend to a hun-
dred and ten days, as was proved by the experiments made in
478 AMERICAN ANGLEBR’S BOOK.
Scotland, by Mr. Shaw, to which I have referred in the intro-
duction. .
“During their change the eggs should not be left to them-
selves; they require, on the contrary, a certain watchfulness
and frequent visits, in fact, such care as can be easily
bestowed by the aid of the hatching apparatus which I use.
“Whether the artificial streamlets, which I propose, be
used, or in preference to them any other mode, one precaution
should always be taken; the eggs should never be heaped
upon one another. Their accumulation prevents a proper
surveillance of all of them, and besides may retard or even
prevent their development. Another and more serious incon-
venience often results: if one of the eggs becomes spoiled and
covered with byssus, this byssus spreads to the adjoining
eggs, and in a few days reaches all that are contiguous and
destroys them. The only mode to diminish the extent or
arrest the progress of this evil, when the eggs have not been
heaped up, is to remove, at once, from the hatching-place all
that show the least trace of alteration. If in place of sacrifie-
ing, an attempt is made to save them by freeing them, with
the aid of a brush, from the vegetable parasites covering
them, not only will it be a useless trouble, since the tainted
eggs are already struck with death, but the evil will be
aggravated by spreading over the healthy eggs the particles
of destructive byssus, by the very operation of cleansing.”
Fig. 2, in the preceding cut, shows the appearance of a young
Salmon on emerging from the egg; 8 its size at two, and 4
when three months old. The umbilical bladder sustains it for
about four weeks, during which time it refuses other nourish-
ment; at the end of this time, the nutritive matter of the
bladder is consumed or rather absorbed, when the young fish
instinctively begins to seek its food. Previous to this, any
attempt to feed them is not only unnecessary but hurtful, as
FISH-BREEDING. 479
any animal matter thrown in only serves to make the water
impure, and of course affects the health of the fish.
Frepine-Troucus.—The depth of water in the feeding-
troughs need not be more than four inches, and the area pro-
portioned to the number of fish. M. Coste says he was ena-
bled to feed and bring up in a space of twenty-one inches
long, six wide, and three deep, as many as two thousand
young Salmon at once. This seems improbable; the space
is certainly more circumscribed than necessary. A trough
of eight feet long and four feet wide would no doubt be suffi-
cient for that number of young Trout during the first three
months, at which time they will likely be from two to two
and a half inches in length. They could then be transferred
to ponds, the size of which may be about eight yards wide
and twenty-four long, which would cover nearly the twenty-
fourth part of an acre. According to such calculation, it
will be seen that a single acre divided into twenty-four ponds,
would sustain forty-eight thousand Trout during the first
year.
Foop ror Youne Trovur.—After trying several kinds
of food for young fish, I have found none so readily received
or divisible into small particles as fish-roe. On, crumbling it,
after being fried or boiled, into an aquarium, the smaller fish,
especially those of a predatory species, seize a single egg
greedily before it falls to the bottom, and the Goldfish hunt
for it industriously amongst the gravel, and leave none to
affect the purity of the water. I would therefore recommend
it as preferable to any other, where it can be had; if not,
boiled meat of any kind (as I have also ascertained from
experiment), when cold and crumbled in small particles, is
the best substitute. It is better to give a less quantity than
the young brood can consume, for reasons already stated.
480 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
After the fish are removed to larger ponds, there is no doubt
that rye, after being thoroughly soaked or steamed, and then
rolled in blood—which should be allowed to dry on the
grains before they have time to become hard—would be a desir-
able article of food to be given with the crumbled fibre of
meat.
Any substance of which albumen forms a principal con-
stituent promotes the growth of fish; the white of eggs
would, therefore, be appropriate food. Trout kept in spring-
houses grow to an immense size when fed on nothing else
than curds.
The liver or heart of a sheep or ox, hung over a pond,
will produce the larva of the common fly, which will fall into
the pond, and furnish a more natural food than meat.
With these hints on feeding, the reader who is not already
better informed, cannot fail, by observation and ingenuity, to
raise young fish, after placing them in ponds larger than
those already suggested.
Ponds covering a half-acre and upwards, will afford a large
amount of natural food after the first or second year, if
judiciously supplied with aquatic plants, brush, logs, &c.;
nevertheless, feeding as we have suggested will greatly pro-
mote the growth of the fish. It is desirable, for many reasons,
to have the ponds well shaded. Smaller species of fish, as
Shiners, Roach, Minnows, &c., may be advantageously intro-
duced, but not m ponds where Trout are intended to breed,
as they devour a large proportion of their ova. These small
worthless species furnish a considerable proportion of food
for large Trout in their natural haunts.
In connection with this subject I should not omit to men-
tion that there have been numerous instances of stocking
streams in England, Scotland, and Ireland, which had become
barren or depopulated by improvident fishing and poaching.
FISH-BREEDING. 481
Some rivers which Salmon were known never to enter have
been rendered productive. The manner of effecting this has
been to transport the parent fish when about to spawn, and
allow them to spawn in the stream; or proceed according to
the usual mode of artificial propagation; or to bring the
fecundated roe, and place it in the waters intended to be
stocked. It has become a matter not of mere experiment,
but certain success; as much so as a farmer getting his wheat
or potatoes from another part of the country, in view of
increasing the product and quality of the crop by a change
of seed.
I should not wonder if fishing clubs in England have
resorted to this means of restocking their exhausted waters,
and now find good angling in streams that previously afforded
but a limited amount of sport. .
I have before adverted to the fact that impregnated spawn
is an article of commerce in China, and that in some parts of
Germany, Carp-ponds drawn off for the purpose of cultiva-
ting the soil are not restocked when the water is let on again,
the fecundated ova remaining in the soil two or three years,
replenishing the pond.
M. Coste advises that, for transportation, the impregnated
eggs be packed in wet sand, alternate layers of each; and
thinks the gravel used in M. Gehin’s directions would crush
a portion of the eggs if the box should be jostled.
A singular evidence of the number of Trout that will
thrive in a small space can be witnessed at Hellertown, a few
miles south of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Owen Desh, who
keeps a hotel there, has a trough in his yard which is twenty-
four feet long by two feet wide, with a depth of water not
over eighteen inches. In this limited space he generally has
from six to eight hundred Trout, from nine to twelve inches
long. He has even kept twelve hundred in the same trough,
31
482 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
and all in a healthy condition, where they grow rapidly and
get fat on a small quantity of curds fed to them once a day:
these Trout are even preferred to those caught fresh from the
Saucon, which flows close by. The trough in question con-
tains seventy-two cubic feet of water, and when it has seven
hundred and twenty Trout in it, there are just ten fish to a
cubic foot. This useful aquarium was established many
years ago by Mr. Desh’s father; Trout seldom die in it. The
spring which supplies it rises in the garden, a few yards
above, and would flow through a hole an inch and a half
square. The fish are bred naturally by a farmer in the neigh-
borhood, and brought in large tubs. There have been in-
stances of their breeding in the trough.
,
FISH-BREEDING. 483
THE AQUARIUM.
Five or six years since quite a sensation was produced
by this novel sort of fish-cage. It is simply a tank with
glass sides, and a wooden, stone, or cast-iron bottom. It
is supplied to the depth of three or four inches with gravel
or sand, and aquatic plants tastefully introduced in groups.
The latter are not intended as an ornament only, but to keep
the water pure and the fish healthy by the oxygen which
they give off, while the carbonic acid exhaled by the fish
promotes the growth of the plants.
The most convenient size I have found to be one of thirty
inches in length, sixteen wide, and sixteen deep, which
will hold nearly thirty gallons of water, and is large enough
to sustain sixteen or eighteen fish from three to five inches:
long. There is no ornament more beautiful than a well-kept
Aquarium. It furnishes a fine opportunity for a display of
delicate taste in the arrangement of plants, shells, and minia-
ture grottos. It is always a source of amusement and won-
derment to children, and furnishes an opportunity on a small
scale for studying the habits and dispositions of fish. Bar-
num’s fish-tanks, at his Museum in New York, are well
worth the observation and study of anglers and naturalists.
Those who would establish one on scientific principles, should
procure Mr. Arthur N. Edwards’s little book, called “Life
beneath the Waters.”
Any glass vessel of sufficient capacity will answer for a
tank, if the bottom is wide enough to set out plants in it.
484 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
The best shape is one of four sides. In a round vessel the
proportions of the fish are distorted, when seen through the
convex sides, as any person has observed in looking at Gold-
fish in a glass globe.
Wood is an objectionable material for the bottom of an
Aquarium, on account of its liability to warp. Soapstone can
be used, but cast-iron is the most suitable. No fear need be
entertained on account of its liability to contract with cold
or expand with heat, as the water in the tank will serve to
maintain an uniformity of temperature between the glass
sides and iron bottom. For the same reason the frame (the
four posts at the corners and the rim around the top of the
glass), should also be of iron. The plate glass forming the
sides and ends should fit neatly into grooves in the bottom
and frame, and should be cemented with some composition
which does not contain any ingredient that will affect the health
of the fish. The tank should be filled with water and let
stand for a few days, to see that it is perfectly water tight
before putting the fish into it.
If placed at a window with a southern exposure, the
growth of the plants is accelerated; though in such situa-
tion care should be used to lower the shade of the window,
if the sun shines for any great length of time on the tank.
Clean white gravel has been found to be the best bottom,
as it can be removed whenever it becomes necessary, and
returned after washing. The ornamental rockwork, such as
arches, grottos, &c., can be arranged according to one’s own
taste.
PLANTS FOR THE AQUARIUM.—Suitable aquatic plants can
be procured in almost any running water or mill-pond in the
vicinity of the city. The ditches into which the water from
the Delaware and Schuylkill flow through sluices, and where
FISH-BREEDING. 485
it falls and rises with the tide, are filled with them, and pro-
duce a great variety.
I have tried with satisfactory results many of the plants
recommended by Mr. Edwards, some of them merely as
ornaments, others to supply oxygen to the water, and
those that require no root, and float on the water, to
give shade to the fish. I have used the little plant known
by the common name of “duck-weed” or “duck-meat” for this
latter purpose. The only objection to it, though, is that fish
that live on vegetable food, as Carp and Roach, eat it. This
they will also do with many of the plants beneath the water,
and are much given to nibbling at them. I have had two or
three Goldfish to destroy a large bunch of the Hudora cana-
densis in a day or two. This plant is remarkably crisp and
mucillaginous, with a pleasant flavor. It is said by persons
who profess to know, that it is the “ water celery,” on which
the far-famed canvas-back feeds, in the waters of the Chesa-
peake Bay. It is well, therefore, to avoid plants that fish
nibble at; for the gravel is frequently strewed with it, and
the small pieces floating about decay and tend to make the
water impure.
In Mr. Edwards's list of plants, he specifies those intended
for ornament and those for aerators; of the former the com-
mon arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia) and two or three kinds
of water-lilies. Of those used for the rockwork where it
comes above the surface of the water, the forget-me-not, the
sundew, &c. Those used for aerating, and wholly or partly
submerged; Valhisneria spiralis, hornwort. weer starwort,
Anacharis canadensis, Udora canadensis, marestail, water
molit, &c.
In setting out any of these plants, except the water-lilies,
flags, and forget-me-nots, it is not necessary for them to have
roots; these they soon throw out, whether floating or planted
486 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
in the gravel. Those that belong to the family of lilies
should have the roots encased in lumps of stiff clay, and the
gravel strewn over them after setting them out.
After trying water-lizards, tadpoles, snails, young ter-
rapins, &., I discarded them, and found that Roach, Goldfish,
and other Cyprinoids were as good scavengers as the ugly
reptiles, and that they cleaned the bottom very effectually of
any food left by the Sunfish, and others of the Perch family,
which, as a general rule, seize their food before it falls to the
bottom.
To prevent the fish from biting the plants it is necessary
to feed them: care should be taken, however, that little of the
food remains. A thimble will contain as much chopped
meat as,will sustain a dozen fish for a week; half of that
quantity given twice a week would be better. Flies or live
insects thrown on the water are greedily seized by the Sun-
fish.
One reason for preferring a four-sided vessel with parallel
sides is, that by standing in front of it you can see entirely
through it, as the fish are moving about. When you look at
them at a little distance from one of the corners, and above
the level of the aquarium, the refraction creates a pleasing
illusion, each fish near the angle appearing like four.
DIES PISCATORI 2.
“Ye who love the haunts of Nature,
Love the sunshine of the meadow,
Love'the shadow of the forest,
Love the wind among the branches,
And the rain-shower, and the snow-storm,
And the rushing of great rivers,
Through their palisades and pine trees,
And the thunder in the mountains,
Whose innumerable echoes
Flap like eagles in their eyries ;—
Listen!”
LONGFELLOW.
DIES PISCATORLA.
Many readers, when they come to “ APPENDIX,” will shut
up a book and throw it aside, for the word sounds to them
very much like “ appendage,” and is associated in their minds
with caudal appendage, or, according to the nomenclature
adopted by that. eminent naturalist Mr. Sparrowgrass, in his
observations on: the dog, “organ of recognition.” Such
people think, with Mr. Sparrowgrass’s butcher, that a dog’s
tail or any other appendix is a useless or superfluous thing.
I differ with them, for it is not so with the appendix to a
good book or to a good saddle of mutton. An author,
though, or a politician, must not combat popular prejudice,
if he would gain the ear of the people; but when an old
idea or an old principle becomes hackneyed or unpopular, it
may still be presented to advantage under a new name, “by
either of the aforesaid, as the case may be.” I therefore dis-
card that stale old word “appendix,” and use the new bait at
the head of this page, to lure the reader on to the end of the
book.
In the following pages, I have taken up the old angling
authors’ dialogue-method of telling what I have to say about
fishing-places. The information given is fact, the scenes
described are real, and the persons appearing to take part in
the dialogue are real and of the “Houseless.” The place
mentioned as the scene of each nooning is real or supposed,
or both, or like the romance “founded on fact.” ae
490 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
As mention of the “ Houseless” has most likely been made
in the preceding, and certainly will be in the following, pages,
it may not be out of place here to explain what is meant by
the word, or rather to what it refers.
About twelve years since, a few brethren of the rod and
angle, some of whom had met for the first time on the stream,
and had become acquainted without any conventional intro-
duction, feeling that they were drawn towards each other by
a love of the gentle art, met by agreement at the house of one
of the brethren, and formed themselves into an association,
under the unassuming name of the “ Houseless Anglers.” This
title was adopted in contradistinction to the old Fish-House
clubs—associations rather of a convivial tendency than that
of pure angling.
All the members (their number never exceeded ten) were
fly-fishers. They were of various pursuits: amongst them
were a few artists, professionally so, and two more who were
merely amateurs. To one of the latter J am indebted for the
vignettes and some of the drawings of fish found in this
book.
Stated meetings of the association have fallen into disuse
of late years, some of the “Houseless” having removed to
neighboring cities, and some to the country; but as many as
can do so, meet occasionally in a social dnd informal way, and
whatever their tenets—religious, political, or otherwise—they
are one as regards angling, and still the subject that most
interests them is fly-fishing, with its blessed associations and
scenes,
The prevalent feeling, or if the reader is so disposed to
call it, the sentiment amongst the members has been to avoid
display or notoriety, or setting forth their piscatorial achieve-
ments in public print; believing with Izaak Walton, that
fishing, like virtue “is its own reward.” Also, as far as they
DIES PISCATORIA. 491
could influence others, to curb that disposition, which alas, is
so common, to fill the creel at the sacrifice of the rules of fair
angling, and to repress any inordinate rivalry or competition
on the stream; being convinced that to enjoy the sport to its
fullest, the angler should be at peace with himself and all the
world. These lessons they endeavor to teach by precept and
example, wherever they find those who desire to be instructed
in the mysteries of their craft.
When the “ Houseless” were organized as a club, our good
president was appointed to draft a set of rules for our guidance,
and a preamble and address setting forth the object of our
association. It has lain undisturbed on a shelf of my tackle-
closet, bound in its cover of modest brown paper, and tied
with an old fishing-line,, this many a long year. I took it:
down the other day, and read it with a feeling akin to rever-
ence. Why should I not insert it here? I think it will
touch a chord of sympathy in every devout angler’s heart.
PREAMBLE.
Wuereas: We, the undersigned, being drawn towards each other by
that feeling of regard and sympathy which should animate the hearts of
all true anglers, having in view the humble virtues of honest Izaak of
blessed memory, which we would emulate; and recalling with heartfelt
pleasure the happy hours we have passed by stream and pool, and the
peaceful friendship which has ripened there, do heartily concur in the
sentiments expressed in the following address by our brother, W. M*****
De¥ee
ADDRESS.
In the year 1653, now just two complete centuries since, was published
by one Izaak Walton, a Treatise, entitled “The Complete Angler; or the
Contemplative Man’s Recreation.” Therein he performed a mission ; and
how well ’twas done the united testimony of all true “ Brothers of the
Angle” bear loving witness.
Therein he sayeth, ‘I doubt not but if you and I did converse together
but afew hours, to leave you possessed with the same high and happy
492 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
thoughts that now possess me of angling, not only of the high antiquity
of it, but that it deserves commendation, and that it is an art, and an art
worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise man.”
That we have conversed with this humble, zealous, loving heart, not for
hours, but through long years, and that we are ‘“ possessed with those high
and happy thoughts” concerning the ‘gentle art,” let our present meet-
ing, our Brotherly Association, and our future study and practice, bear
witness.
Two centuries have well tested the beautiful spirit manifested in his
work, and it seems to me most happily appropriate that at this time we, a
few humble followers in his footsteps, recognising the power of association,
do unite to lend each other a helping hand in the attainment of that, which
he was assured ‘‘ was worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise man.”
That we are wise men, I shall not stop to maintain, but that we do love
angling we are assured of, and therein we know we are in unison with
very many greatly wise and wisely good men.
So, filled with this love, the desire to ennoble our art in this western
world, and a sense of the kind confidence you have reposed in me, I have
thought it was right to lay before you ‘‘ some of the thoughts which have
possessed my soul since we few have met together.”
A handful of sand, thrown with what force soever into a placid pool,
could scarcely do more than, for an instant, ruffle the glassy surface ; yet
these same particles associated and compacted into a stone, and but dropped
in, will produce not only a wave but a succession of wavelets which will
reach the utmost confines of the pool; indeed, learned men tell us
that, be the ocean ever so large, these little waves will continue until the
whole vast surface feels the influence of the associative force of these same
particles. Even so with us. Either in the little pool of local mind by
which we are surrounded, or in the illimitable ocean of the earth’s mind,
we, as individuals, fall as the grain of sand unfelt ; yet bound together by
a common sentiment, we may by association possess new powers and pro-
perties, even as the stone possesses other powers and properties than the
shifting sand, and by these powers we may produce effects reaching far
beyond the circumscribed limits of our home or city. Whether that effect
be for good or evil, is for us in a considerable degree to determine. That
the effect be for good is my most earnest desire, and that it may be, our
aim should be elevated, even as I before said, to the ennobling of the art
of angling, thereby commending it to those ‘‘ who, being born to it,” need
_ only ‘‘the discourse and practice” to win them to that which, “having
DIES PISCATORIS. 493
once got and practised,” ‘“ they will find, like virtue, to be its own reward,”
and the more commending it to all true men by the showing that the
angler should, like our worthy father, “the rather prove himself a gentle-
man by being learned and humble, valiant and inoffensive, temperate, vir-
tuous, and communicative, than by any fond ostentation of riches.”
Let it be seen that the true angler is not an insatiate slayer of fishes,
but that he taketh thereof in moderation, and remembering the future, for
himself and his brother who may follow him, with a wise and humane
forecast he returneth to life and freedom those fishes which in the thought-
less greediness of youth may come into his hands. Let it be known of men
that the angler’s study is as much to people streams with new fishes, as it
is to take those found therein ; and that he is the fishes’ best protector from
the indiscriminate slaughter of net and weir.
Let it be seen that a love of the “ gentle art’”’ openeth first the heart,
then the fly-book, and soon the stores of experience and knowledge gar-
nered up through long years, wheresoever we meet a “ Brother of the
Angle ;” and that to us “angling is an employment of our idle time,
which is not then idly spent; that therein we find ‘‘a rest to the mind, a
cheerer of the spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts,
a moderator of the passions, a procurer of contentedness, and that it begets
habits of peace and patience in those that possess and practise it.” Let
us so study, teach, and practise the art that in whatsoever place the angler
may be thrown, be there but water and fishes, he may therein find sport
in the taking of those fishes, in a true angling spirit, which seemeth to me
to be this.
The angler is best pleased in capturing the kind of fish for which the
cast was made; the fisherman is pleased according to the value of his cap-
ture. The taking of a good trout to a fisherman is always a pleasure ; with
the angler the pleasure is lessened, had the fly been dressed and the cast
made especially for the capture of a chub, or in the words of an humble
colored brother of the angle, ‘When you go a cattin’, go a cattin’.”
And for him who may think this is but sentiment, and therefore to he
undervalued, let me say, in this world, so given to work and trade, senti-
ment doth not so abound that we may wisely reject that which may beget
even thus little. So, my friends, rather let us thank God for even this,
and store it near our hearts. As I began, so let me conclude in the lan-
guage of Walton :—‘‘ When I would beget content and increase confidence
in the power and wisdom and providence of Almighty God, I will walk
494 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
the meadows by some gliding stream, and there contemplate the lilies
that take no care, and those very many other various little living creatures,
that were not only made but fed, man knows not how, by the goodness of
the God of nature, and therefore trust in Him.
« And let the blessing of St. Peter’s Master be with mine, upon all that
are lovers of virtue, and dare trust in His Providence, and be quiet, and
go a-angling.”’
THE NOONDAY ROAST.
“Some boys belonging to an old field school,
Dismissed at twelve, a long established rule.
As they discussed their bread and bones of bacon,
Strange tales were told, and jokes were gi'n and taken,”
Birv (not N. P) Witts.
THE NOONDAY ROAST.
[ HAVE often thought that the fly-fisher whose experience
does not include the roast or the bake at noonday, has fallen
short of some of the pleasures that can be crowded into a day
on the stream, and that the angler who has never enjoyed it,
has something to live for. The roast has long been an insti-
tution amongst the “ Houseless:” some of the members of our
little club were initiated into its mysteries in days “lang
syne,” by Chester Darby or Uncle Peter, on the Beaverkill,
since which its cuisine has improved, and many pleasant
hours have been passed under the dark sugar-maple or birch
cooking, eating, smoking, chatting, sleeping; many a long
story has been told, and perhaps occasionally a long bow
drawn.
A provident fisher who leaves his lodging after breakfast,
with the proper necessaries for a roast, need not trudge home
in the hot sun to get his dinner, or munch his cold snack, or
pass his time irksomely or unprofitably during the hours of
midday, when Trout merely nip at one’s flies in the rifts, and
utterly disregard them in still pools. But to begin :—
When the angler leaves his quarters for a day’s fishing, let
him take as large a portion of a loaf of bread as will suffice
for the party, from which he will remove so much of the
crumb or inside, as will leave a cavity large enough to hold
as much butter as he deems necessary ; after the hole is filled
with butter, it is covered with a slice of bread. Then,
with salt and pepper, a few matches in one of his pockets,
32 (497)
498 \MERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
above high-water mark, and his “ provender” wrapped in a
large napkin or handkerchief, and slung over his shoulder,
he is ready for a start. If it is the intention of the party to
go up the stream, a bottle of claret or ale may be added.
After selecting a place of rendezvous, the pack may be hid
close by in the bushes, or in an old stump, or a hollow log,
and the party can then go up and fish down stream to the
“cache,” making the distance and time suitable. On arriving
at the place for dinner, select a suitable location for building
the fire, and place rods and creels to the windward. While
some are gathering wood and building the fire, let others col-
lect a few clean flat stones for plates, and put them in a posi-
tion before the fire to warm properly. If you wish a roast,
select the smallest fish, those under nine inches are best;
scour them well in sand, wash them clean, and open them,
but allow no water to touch the inside, as the blood and
natural juices of the fish should be retained as far as possible ;
cut off the heads, score them (not too deeply), and pepper
and salt them well inside and out. Cut one or more branches
(sweet birch is best), with as many twigs or shoots on them
as is required for the number of fish to be roasted, and stick
a fish on each twig, either end foremost, running the twig
along the upper side of the backbone, and hold them to the
fire. By keeping an eye on the inside of your fish, it is
easy to ascertain when they are done. Always take them off
with a twist or wrench, to disengage the twig from the flesh,
and lay them on a hot stone, buttering them while warm.
In baking or steaming them under the coals and ashes do
not cut off the heads, but season them, and then take a piece
of strong thin paper and smearing it thinly with butter, roll
a fish in it, and then envelope it in five or six plies of coarse
straw paper; after saturating each fish so encased in the
stream, lay them side by side in a bed of hot ashes and coals;
cover them up, and give a minute to an inch: that is, if a fish
DIES PISCATORIA. 499
is ten inches long, give it ten minutes, and so on. When
you uncover them, they can be removed from the ashes
by inserting the forked end of a long stick beneath, and
drawing them out. When you take them out of the paper,
unroll them carefully on a flat hot stone, open and butter
them to your liking, and, above all, regard the head as a
precious morsel ; it contains much that is glutinous and fatty ;
in the language of Father “Izaak,” “they are too good for
any but honest anglers.”
Of course it will occur to the diner-out that a larger fire is
necessary in baking than in roasting, and that it should burn
down well, in order ‘to produce the requisite quantity of coals
and ashes. Trout of nine to twelve inches are best cooked
in this manner. Though there are other ways of cooking
them on the stream, as frying on flat stones which have been
heated in the fire, or “planking” large Trout, none can com-
pare with this mode; if there ¢s an objection to it, it is that
one is never satisfied afterwards with the taste of Trout
cooked indoors. Old anglers have confessed, after a roast or
bake, that they had missed much by not before adopting this
simplé way of providing a sumptuous dinner; and that all
indoor methods, with their epicurean appliances, were not to
be compared with roasting or baking under the ashes. The
latter is the surest mode of retaining the natural flavor and
sweet juices of the fish.
There is also a good-humored dash of vagabondism accom-
panying a dinner of this kind; and as you light your pipe
from a coal, and kick the smouldering chunks and impromptu
cooking utensils aside, there is a quiet trust in a bountiful
Providence and your own skill, for as sumptuous a meal and
hot plates of the same kind on the morrow.
And now, if you have dined to your satisfaction by these
simple directions, take that small piece of India-rubber from
your vest pocket, and rub the frayed fibres from the gut of
500 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
your leader and dropper, and light a fresh pipe; and as you
wade into the limpid water, you will find your rod to deliver
the line straighter, and your flies to fall lighter than they did
a few hours ago, and yourself cooler in the contest that awaits
you with the speckled beauty that refused your fly before
dinner, and is now ready to give you a tussle; and the expe-
rience of the “ Houseless” has been that the rift or the pool
nearest our fire furnishes a few moments of the most active
and exciting sport we experience in the day’s fishing.
FIRST NOONING.
~
TROUT-FISHING IN HAMILTON COUNTY, N.Y.
“Bur he heard the Wawonaisa,
Heard the Whippoorwill complaining,
Perched upon his lonely wigwam ;
Heard the rushing Sebowisha,
Heard the rivulet rippling near him,
‘Talking to the darksome forest ;
Heard the sighing of the branches,
As they lifted and subsided
At the passing of the night-wind ;
Yeard them, as one hears in slumber
Far off murmurs, gentle whispers.”
LONGFELLOW.
TROUT-FISHING IN HAMILTON COUNTY, N. Y.
FIRST*NOONING.
[Scene, the shady bank of a Trout-Stream.—Time, after the Roast.—
Present: Norawan, Watrer, and Nesror.|
WaLteR. Well, about fishing at Lake Pleasant and Louie
Lake; how do you get there?
Nestor. The usual route is, or was, by way of Albany
and Amsterdam, a station some thirty miles beyond, on the
New York Central Railroad, where you take a stage or private
conveyance to Northville, and there another for Lake Pleas-
ant. : ‘
Brundage, a spry old fellow of seventy, used to drive us up
from Northville, and as we trotted merrily along the Sagan-
doga, and crept up the ascent of the table-land, whose forests
embosom the beautiful lake, and heard the waters of the
outlet dashing through the ravine below, in the dim twilight
or pale moonshine, the garrulous old man would entertain us
with stories about his son-in-law Partridge, or as he called
him “ Patridge,” who kept the tavern where we had dined on
wild-pigeon squabs, or tell us of the “ Piseco Club,”-who went
up the week before, and that it took one wagon to carry the
anglers, and another to carry their meat and drink. Their
fishing, though, must have exceeded their feeding, for we have
it on record, that they caught in one week over eight hundred
pounds of Lake and Brook Trout. Our little club, the
“ Houseless,” were only occasional not annual visitors, and
fished the lakes and rivers north of Piseco Lake.
(503)
504 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
‘
Holmes formerly kept a house for the entertainment of
sportsmen at the upper end of the lake, near the stream of
water which connects Lake Pleasant with Round Lake. I
always preferred stopping at Satterlee’s, a house of less preten-
sion, at the lower end of Lake Pleasant, near the outlet, which
was four miles nearer Jessup River and Louie Lake.
The first week in June is considered the most favorable
time for visiting Hamilton County ; then there is good troll-
ing in the lakes; fly-fishing is at its height a week or so
later. There were good boats for trolling the lakes, and
expert oarsmen who also acted as guides for the guests of
both houses—tough, sinewy fellows who could carry a pack
of forty or fifty pounds, and the inseparable and indispensable
axe on their backs all day long, and a gun also, if you had a
fancy for the steak of a yearling buck.
A few days on Lake Pleasant and Round Lake generally
gave us trolling enough; hitching on to a big “laker” and
smoking a whole segar, while you waited on him in his runs
and sulks, ceased to be sport after performing several feats of
the kind, and we would long for more active service amongst
the speckled, notwithstanding the certainty of encountering
the mosquitoes and black flies in camping out. Our return,
though, to a good straw bed at Satterlee’s, and a day’s trolling
on the lake, was what my friend, the little Doctor, called a
“let up.”
Norman. But about the fly-fishing and camping out?
Nes. Every man ought to enjoy the sentiment of camping
out, if only for once or twice in his lifetime. You have your
provisions packed and the guide straps it on his back ;
perhaps the landlord gives a lift with his wagon as far as the
road is practicable, if there is one in the direction of your
place of destination. When you get to your camping-place
the guide makes a shanty of spruce-bark, which, with a fire in
DIES PISCATORIA. 505
tront of it, is hot, if the nights are warm; or one of hemlock
boughs, which is like a patent ventilator or a refrigerator, if
the nights are cold. There is a pleasing novelty associated
with this “happy-go-lucky” way of living, if the time does
not extend beyond a few days or a week. A couple of us
once set up our shanty, or rather our guide did it for us, at a
place known as the “Indian Clearing,” eight or nine miles
from Satterlee’s, on the Jessup River. It was a beautiful
eminence of four or five hundred acres, covered with ferns.
In olden times the tribe of St. Regis Indians made it their
chief abode, and their lodges covered the top of the hill. We
made our shanty on the wooded slope, within hearing of the
rapids, to avoid the cool night winds. My recollection of the
scene has been refreshed by reading some beautiful lines in
Hiawatha,—shall I repeat them to you?
Nor. I don’t like Longfellow’s hexameters, they jingle like
the song of “The Nigger Gin'ral,” that Old Dick Cooper used
to sing with his banjo accompaniment,—go on and tell us
about the fishing.
Nes. You are no poet.—Well, when you fish the ripples,
you wade of course; but there is not a great deal of rough
water in that part of the country, though there are some rifts
on Jessup River and the outlets of some of the lakes. All the
month of June you have great sport in the rapids, but after
that time there is apt to be but little water on them, and the
fish are found mostly in deep, still water, where cool spring
brooks enter. In the early part of June I have filled a large
creel during the last hour of an afternoon by fishing the
rapids, but in that space of time the flies have taken the
angler as often as the fish have taken his flies, and with
slapping and scratching, you are glad when at sundown you
see the guide away down the river under the lee of a good
506 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
smudge, and you hurry along to seek the protection of its
friendly though almost blinding smoke.
Nor. You say you cannot fish the still waters without a
boat; where do you get one if you are far away from your
quarters ?
Nzs. Part of a guide’s business is to have some sort of a
boat on all the waters where he may be required to pilot the
angler during the summer; if on a stream of alternate rapids
and still water, any kind of a light boat or scow is concealed
in the undergrowth along the bank; if a distant lake is to be
fished, or an outlet leading from one to another, a shapely easy
rowing boat is hidden where it can be found when required.
The boats are used also for deer-hunting in the fall of the
year, and are generally hauled to such places on sleds during
the previous winter.
Your guide rows you over miles of dark water wooded
to its very brink; he will tell you there is no fishing there,
though if you are content to troll, you may take a straggler
now and then. After a while he will stop at some bend of
the river or by a high rock, to you as unlikely a looking
place as any you have passed over, and tell you to get ready
and go to work. Then if you get your flies over the fish in
almost any way, so you do not make too much of a stir or go
too close, you have a fellow of a pound and a half at the first
cast, and as he goes sailing around, another of a pound may
take a fancy to your other fly. Take it coolly, and perhaps
you may have two or three dozen from twelve to sixteen
inches long before you move. If you ask your guide why
the fish should be there, and not in the water you have passed
over, he will likely point out a little spring branch which
steals its way into the river through the rank grass or water-
lilies; the fish collect there because the water is cooler, and
you may catch the whole school on a favorable day, and in a
DIES PISCATORIA. 507
week or ten days the ‘pool will be stocked with as great a
number as you have taken. By the first of August most of
the Trout in the rivers of the Adirondack regions collect at
such places and remain until spawning time.
Watt. I would suppose from the way in which you speak
of the Trout of Hamilton County, that they were much larger
than the average of this morning’s catch—are they the same
species ?
Nes. There is no specific difference, although the average
size is larger and the tints much darker: so is their flesh, but
that is no eriterion of excellence or condition in the waters in
this part of the country; they do not compare in flavor or
delicacy with those we have just eaten. Anglers who are
fond of killing great quantities of Trout should go to Hamil-
ton and Franklin Counties, that they may get a complete
surfeit of fish-catching, which in all cases is not strictly
angling. It is a great country for cockney fishermen, who
are fond of telling a good story when they get home, though
their success generally depends more on their guides than
any skill of their own. I once knew a couple of verdant
fishermen whom Old Sturgis had taken to Louie Lake, take
forty weight out of a pool not larger than the floor of your
parlor. For my part, I would rather fish clear lively water
like this, with strong rifts and occasionally a still pool; with
its banks sometimes overhung with laurel and alders, and
then a stretch of clean gravelly beach, for here the angler has
all kinds of practice; the long light cast for the still pool, or
dapping his droppers across the rift as he brings them home,
or chucking his flies under the bushes with the backhanded
cast, and added to this is the greater sport of killing a fish in
rapid water.
Nor. Brook Trout are also taken by trolling, are they
not ?
508 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Nes. Certainly, I have had great sport on Whittaker Lake,
a little sheet of water between Satterlee’s and the Indian Clear-
ing. Some of the lakes appear to have a variety peculiar. to
their own water. Those of Louie Lake are very long and
round in the body and exceedingly active. Two of us once
got our friend Satterlee to haul a boat from Lake Pleasant
and launch it in Echo Lake, a fairy little water a mile
or so from his house, to troll for some Brook Trout of fabu-
lous size which we were told inhabited it. We returned at
nightfall with one Trout, which Old Sturgis declared was “as
broad as a spruce shingle.” We did not weigh it, but it took
four hungry men to eat it for supper.
Watt. How wide was the spruce shingle to which the old
guide compared the Trout ?
Nes. You must not cross-question me. I have said that we
did not use the scales, nor an inch-measure; the measure was
our appetites, and Sturgis’s comparison was what Father Tom
Maguire calls “a figure of speech.”
If you want facts, with
dates, and figures of arithmetic, I refer you to the appendix
to Dr. Bethune’s edition of Walton, where he gives extracts
from the journal of the Lake Piseco Club.
Nor. How about deer-shooting? you spoke just now of a
steak from a spike buck ?
Nes. Spike bucks and young does, are the only good veni-
son you get in June, the old does have fawns at that time, and
old bucks are out of season, You must go after the middle
of August for deer-hunting. Our guide once sent his dog out
and drove a deer into the water within a hundred yards of
us, but there was more murder than sport in killing it. After
it swam some distance from the shore we put after it; a short
race brought the boat alongside, when the guide garroted it
with a leather thong tied to the two prongs of a forked stick ;
he passed his knife across its windpipe, and the “antlered
DIES PISCATORIA. 509
monarch” died ignobly. It was a sickening sight, and one I
hope never to witness again. When a man on a drive takes
his stand, his blood is up with the excitement of the chase,
and as the buck bounds by at full tilt, the heel of his gun
comes to his shoulder, his sight falls along the line of the
barrel, and his finger instinctively finds the trigger: but this
cold-blooded murder should be made a capital offence. Great
numbers of deer are sometimes destroyed, where they collect
during the time of a deep snow, in what are called “yards,”
when a continued tramping makes a depressed enclosure,
from which they are unwilling or unable to escape. Here it
is that those who follow hunting as a business, come upon
them on their snow-shoes, shoot them down, and send the
venison to market. A continued restriction to a yard though,
makes them very lean.
Watt. You intimated that there were four of you, on your
last visit to Lake Pleasant; did the whole party go together
when you camped out?
Nzs. A pair of us only, when we wanted good fishing, and
the whole party, when we were not so eager and wanted a good
time; then the little Doctor was an important personage ;
you ought to have known him twelve or fourteen years ago—
he is a sedate man now; then he never could be quiet when
on an excursion,
‘« But spent his days in riot most uncouth,
And vexed with mirth the drowsy ear of night;
Ah me! in sooth he was a shameless wight,
Sore given to revel.”
Watt. Never mind Dr. Caleb, and the bard with the
turned-down shirt collar; there is a very different kind of
person across the creek looking at us,—who the deuce
is he?
Nor. Why that’s the man who denied me the right of way
510 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
through his field, along the still water above the saw-mill. I
pulled out my segar case and then my flask and offered him
a drink, but he obstinately refused, and sticking his hands in
his breeches pockets, all he said was: “Thee musn’t go through
that rye!”
SECOND NOONING.
TROUT-FISHING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
“Tr oa de groun’ you chance to lie,
You soon find out de blue-tail fly.
Jinny crack corn, I don’t care.”
TROUT-FISHING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
SECOND NOONING.
[Present : Joz, Watrer, and Nestor. ]
Joz. Well, we have been robbed to-day: bread all gone;
butter gone ; pepper and salt “non est inventus ;” drinking-cup
crushed, but the bottle all safe, and it seems to say, ‘And I
alone am left to tell the tale.’ One of us must run down the
road to the saw-mill, and get us some bread and butter and
some salt and pepper.
(Exit Jou, jingling his small change in his pocket.|
[N. B.—Never make a cache in the leaves or bushes on the
ground, or within reach of any four-footed animal that has
an acute sense of smell; but put you provender high up in
the bushes or in a hollow log, and stop up the end securely.]
[ Our commissary returns, and reports. |
Jor. No bread; potatoes, a quarter peck, small; butter,
half a pound; eggs, a short dozen; pepper and salt, “quantum
suf.” Expense, twenty-nine cents.
Watrter. Throw on plenty of wood, and make a good bed
.of coals and ashes; roll the Trout in wet paper, and lay each
fish in as carefully as they do a baby in a crib; make a hole
also in the hottest part of the fire for the potatoes; the eggs
we will keep for a dessert.
Jox. If you have dined now, Nestor, tell us about fishing
in New Hampshire.
Nestor. I know nothing about it from personal experi-
ence; all the information I can give is second-hand. I can
33 (513)
514 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
only tell you what Brown told me of the fishing at the White
Mountains. But here are some leaves from an old number
of the Knickerbocker, with a description of the adventures
of three very scientific anglers in Northern New Hampshire.
I brought it along, intending to read it in the house or in
Uncle Ickey’s saw-mill, some day when we were weather-
bound; but it will do as well now. So take your dudeen
out of your mouth, and read it yourself.”
[Jor takes his seat on a stump, and “ab alto toro sic incipit.”’]
TROUTING IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
I wap often heard of people catching Trout ‘as fast as they could haul
em out:” I had often been assured of the plausibility of such a fact, but
Thad my doubts. I knew J had fished for Trout, and never ‘“ hauled ’em
out” at all, and so I was a sceptic as to any such proceedings as enthusi-
astic anglers from the north of the Granite State had repeatedly affirmed
to have been within their daily experience. Taking all things into con-
sideration, therefore, I determined to try for myself.
There were three of us: our baggage as follows: Item, one bottle of
gin, two shirts: Item, one bottle schnapps, two pair stockings: Item, one
bottle Schiedam, one pair fishing-pants: Item, one bottle genuine aromatic,
by Udolpho Wolfe, name on the wrapper, without which the article is fie-
titious, one pair extra boots: Item, one bottle extract of juniper-berry ;
one bottle brandy, long and wide, prescribed by scientific skill for medi-
cinal purposes. Also, rods, flies, tackle in abundance, and a supply of
gin; in addition, each of us had a quart-flask in our pockets, containing
gin. We also had some gin inside when we started.
Thus prepared, we started by rail from where the gin was purchased,
for Littleton, which we reached in the afternoon.
Littleton is a large and flourishing community, composed chiefly of
ephemeral stage drivers, black-legs, and acute landlords, who play poker
with unsuspecting travellers over night, to whom they lend money in the
morning to pay their tavern-bills. We did not abide in Littleton. We
procured a wagon and two horses, or rather, about one and a half, and set
forth about three p.m. As soon as we reached the highway, and were
clear of the surrounding houses, I obtained my first view of New Hamp-
shire scenery.
DIES PISCATORIA. 51d
Back of us lay the lofty summits of the White Mountains—Washington,
: La Fayette, and Adams, towering above the rest, as those illustrious names
among mankind. At the distance of twenty or thirty miles, their well-
defined outlines rose against the sky in solemn, gloomy grandeur, and their
immense presence seemed to annihilate the space that intervened.
I have been in the habit of thinking that my own native West is the
most beautiful country upon God’s earth, and, indeed, in richness of foliage
and verdure, in brilliancy of color, I know of none that surpasses it. In
the spring-time of the year, when everything is bursting forth in vigorous
life; when the trees bud in fearless defiance of frost, and flowers bloom in
bright profusion ; when the corn transcends all limits of respectable growth,
and the grain starts its tender shoots before the snow has quite gone, and
in later summer, when the golden harvest is ripe for the sickle, and,
swayed by the gentle wind, the vast field rolls like the billows of the sea;
with the cultivated garden, the farm with its barns of plenty, and its
presses bursting with new wine; the plain with its velvet grass, the hill-
side with its luxuriant vine, Nature presents no lovelier sight than meets
the eye and gladdens the heart of the dweller in the Buckeye State.
Still, such scenery conveys no impression of the vast or grand, for the
horizon is limited in its view. But among the mountains of the Hastern
States, the landscape stretches away before you for miles upon miles, with
lakes, streams and rivers, villages and farms, spread out in one great
picture.
But however beautiful the sight, the sun began to get hot, and ideas of
sentiment rapidly vanished, and soon arriving at one of those cool springs
that burst forth from the hill-side at every few rods, we stopped to refresh
our parched constitutions.
The second day’s ride brought us to Colebrook, where the reign of pork
begins. And here let me say a word of this staple commodity of the
“rural districts.”
After you get up into this country, you see nothing but pork. Not fresh
pork (shades of Elia, defend us!) but salt pork, that has been pickled,
brined, and put away in a barrel. They chiefly fry it, when it resolves
itself into a compound of liquid grease, and a tough substance, resembling
underdone sole-leather, nutritive but not attractive. They fry pork for
breakfast, they do the same for dinner, and are not original in the point
of supper. They fry it with their potatoes; sometimes they fry it in a
skillet: I believe they use it in their tea. For two mortal weeks we had
nothing but pork, until we got among the Trout, and then we had trout and
516 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
pork, and pork and trout, and trout with or without pork, and pork with
or without trout, according to the taste and fancy of the person porking or
trouting, either or both respectively.
At Colebrook, as I said, we began on pork. It was the first I had expe-
rienced, and I thought it considerably great. Subsequent events, how-
ever, succeeded in eradicating that notion from my bosom.
Leaving Colebrook, we started for the Dixville Notch. We inquired the
state of the route before starting, and were informed that, “‘in some places,
it wasn’t so good as others,” which was about the extent of the informa-
tion to be obtained. The people of New Hampshire are remarkably cautious
in their statements, and not at all prone to exaggeration, and when we
learned that our route was “in some places a little rough,”’ we thought to
have a comparatively easy time of it. But, shades and ministers of grace
defend us! people surrounded by the comforts of civilized life can have no
idea of what roads are, or rather what a road can be, if it only has a mind
to. In the first place, it is like going up and down the side of a house.
In going down a steep pitch, a bottle was jolted out of the rear of the
wagon, and fell over the horses’ heads. That’s a fact! I have the affida-
vits. In addition, the way is impeded by immense granite boulders, a
number of feet one way, and as many the other, which seem to have been
shaken out of a bag, with the profusion of a pepper-box. Then, again,
there is no road to speak of at all, it having been abandoned, as we after-
ward learned, some ten years past; the rain also has washed out deep
gulleys, where your wheels are on each side, and your horses down below,
underneath the wagon. But the crowning feature is the bridges. Bridges
here are made to let people through into the water; for that purpose they
have large holes in them, loosely covered with brush-wood, and when the
unwary traveller steps upon it, he is seen no more; and when they can’t
get holes big enough, they have immense logs rotted to the proper point,
and when you step upon them the log caves, as it were, and you then per-
ceive the exact purpose for which the structure was intended, as above
stated. We came to one of these bridges, and two of us, having some idea
relative to personal safety, declined crossing in the wagon, and got out to
see it go down, and sure enough, when the near horse got in the middle,
away went the whole concern, and the animal went through into the bot-
tom of the creek.
It was not, however, so deep but that, by a judicious use of his forelegs,
he could crawl out of the hole through which he had gone down, and he
came up on terra firma a wet, and, to some extent, an agitated quadruped.
DIES PISCATORIA. 517
This may not perhaps be interesting to the uninitiated, but one who has
not witnessed cannot conceive how funny it looks, to be driving a pair of
horses, and suddenly see one disappear to the extent of about one-half, hie
fore-legs pawing in the air, and his hind-legs somewhere else, not imme-
diately visible, the general effect being that of an attempt to climb a tree,
without any particular prospect of success. No accident, however, hap-
pened, and no other inconvenience than that of one or more legs going
through every bridge we crossed.
The next day we reached the falls of the Androscoggin, but had not yet
attained the trouting region. We took a boat and guide, loaded in our
traps, and put out for the Megalloway. This river is crooked beyond any
power of description; it is a practical exemplification of the ways of the
Evil One. One minute the sun is behind you; the next, ahead; then
right and left, cross the middle, up and down in every imaginable position.
You have to row three miles to get anywhere, if it isn’t more than twenty
rods off. Wereached the lower landing, at the farm where we stopped,
and it was about an eighth of a mile by land, and two miles and a half by
the river, to the house. Water is not a speedy means of locomotion in
Northern New Hampshire.
Our first day’s fishing was in the Diamond River, and a good time we
had of it. I tried to keep my feet dry till I tumbled in, and then I stayed
in. The water here is rapid, and the stream full of rocks, on which you
step, and in you go: this is invariable.
In fishing for Trout, two things are to be observed ; first, you must fall
down in the water, and secondly, break your rod: N—— had broken his
before he started, and soon in he went, up to hisneck. To tumble down
in a stream like the Diamond, beside being inconvenient, is confusing ;
" the water carries you off your feet, and bumps you against the rocks; its
roar deafens you, and you think you’re going to drown; your fishing-
basket goes one way, and your tackle another, and you regain your feet
with a general sense of damp, to hear your friend laughing at you.
In this day’s fishing we caught about seventy-five pounds of Trout among
four of us. Atnight we returned, quite well tired, to the farm-house
which was our temporary abode. We had fried pork for supper. I believe
I stated that they had pork in this country. We then went to bed, or
rather to musquitoes.
There were four of us, with two beds, in a room, which, so far from
David Copperfield’s being able to swing a cat in it, he couldn’t have per-
formed that feat with a kitten.
obs AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK
Having prepared ourselves for repose, out went the candle, and in came
the musquitoes. N—— had brought with him a concoction prepared ly
some medical friend, which was to keep off these invidious insects. It
smelt strongly of spearmint and unclean oil. It worked, however, like a
miracle, for the musquitoes would light on our faces, and their feet would
stick fast in the stuff—it had an extract of tar in it for that purpose—and
by the time a small troop were thus entrapped, then you had music. Anon
you would hear H give a rousing clap, and with an expletive state:
“There! I missed him!” So we rolled and tossed, till finally N——
burst out laughing, wanting to know if I was awake.
Sleep being impossible, we lit our pipes, and sat up in bed to take a
smoke. Jokes were cracked, stories were told, and we made night, up in
that room, comparatively hideous. Next morning we learned that there
was a sick baby down stairs, and the supposition in the family was, that
our noise hadn’t helped its colic any.
That house will not soon fade from our memory. We slept in an attic,
where the roof slanted down over the heads of the beds, so that it was not
ten inches above the pillow; the roof was innocent of lath, plaster, or any
of those little amenities that tend to make existence endurable. Rustic
ingenuity, upon the rafters over-head, had pinned, in the character of
wall-paper, certain emanations of the press, among which were the
Christian Herald, Boston Post, and New Hampshire Patriot.
The strong point of this contrivance was, that all manner of bugs,
spiders, and other creeping things, seemed to assemble in convention in
the silent watches of the night, and essayed the climbing of these papers,
which being rather much inclined, rendered the task of the insects diffi-
cult; but perseverance seemed to be a predominant trait, for all night long
we heard these reptiles scratching, scraping, and rustling up and down the
paper, at the agreeable distance of about a foot from our heads. Occa-
sionally a spider, more adventurous than the rest. would drop down by
his web, and alight on our faces, but he generally beat a precipitate
retreat. Then, too, there was a death-watch near the head-board, and he
kept up his dismal ticking as long as we were conscious. This death-watch
is an abominable nuisance. Its regular, monotonous, unceasing beat,
heard in fearful proximity about eleven o’clock at night, when everybody
else is asleep, is enough to drive a nervous man crazy. I would rather
have six-pounders fired off at me all night.
However, morning at last came, and we consulted as to what course
should be taken, whether to turn homeward and fish ov our way back, or
DIES PISCATORIA. O19
strike further north. We finally concluded to adopt the latter course. We
procured a guide, got a wagon, left most of our luggage, took a change of
raiment, all the gin, and started. We rode about six miles to a house,
which is the last one upon the extremities of civilization. From this place
we were to walk over a “carry,” stated to be about a mile and a half long,
but which was nearer six. So we packed our traps on our backs. Our
guide carried all the camp equipage. N had « fishing-basket with
the gin in it; the carpet-bag with our vestments, an axe, a rifle, a
skillet, a bag of salt, a chunk of pork--they have pork in this country—
some wet matches, and an over-coat: the rest of us followed with such
articles as remained, piled on in a promiscuous manner.
This was my first experience in “carrying,” the generic word for this
sort of business, and I must be allowed to state that, as a general proposi-
tion, I do not admire this species of locomotion either in point of speed or
comfort. The day was hot, and such a road! eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of any man to conceive.
It was up hill and down; through bogs and swamps; over fallen trees ;
encountering impenetrable thickets. A wagon-path had formerly been cut
through the woods, as though some one had entertained the idea that such
a route might be travelled by beasts of burden, in connection with some
kind of vehicle; if such a notion was ever conceived, we can only be
amused at the simplicity of the individual. The path was infested with
immense rocks that were smooth and slippery with moss, and when you
put your foot on them, down you went, and when you were down, the mos
quitoes had you; for though when in motion their attacks were suspended.
yet, if you stopped, they came at you with renewed vehemence.
Slipping and falling, when you are fresh and light, is not of much con-
sequence; but when you are tired out, and have an hundred pounds on
your back, it’s a fearful joke. I had trudged on till, through fatigue, I had
become just desperate, and would not have made any exertion to save life
itself. I stepped on the point of a stone, it was treacherous, and myself,
pack and all, reposed softly in the morass. The mud was knee-deep;
exhausted naturc had spent all her energies; I could not move hand nor
foot; the mosquitoes assailed me in legions; through an opening in the
trees the sun poured down his relentless rays; I thought my hour had
come, and, memory unconsciously reverting to the days of childhood, I
was about beginning, ‘‘Now I lay me down,’—when I heard N—— on
ahead exclaiming, at the top of his voice, in all the consciousness of im-
mense and impregnable strength—
520 AMBRICAN ANGLER’'S BOOK.
“ There is a pleasure in the pathless wood.”
It would have afforded me satisfaction, there and then, to have knocked
his head off.
We accomplished the end, nevertheless, and reached the bank of the
Megalloway just above the falls, to avoid which we had passed the “ carry.”
We found here a little flat-bottomed boat, about fourteen feet long, and
amply sufficient to carry a pound of butter and a dozen eggs, and when
the guide told us that we were all to go in that cockle-shell, I proceeded
to narrate to him a legend relating to three individuals of age and experi-
ence, who are reported to have dwelt in the State of New York, and who
set forth upon a certain journey by water, in a class of sailing-craft not
popularly in vogue among: mariners, and with regard to whom it is confi-
dently asserted that if their means of conveyance had been of a more
permanent character, their traditionary reminiscences would have been
prolonged.
Our guide, however, assured us that the week before the same frail bark
had brought down four men with a moose they had killed ; and somewhat
reassured, but still with fear and trembling, we loaded our luggage. The
vessel sank in the water to within three inches of her gunwale, and we
had to keep the trim so nicely adjusted that if you winked one eye with-
out the other, you were in imminent danger of upsetting.
Once fairly started, thoughts of danger vanished, and our little boat
glanced over the water at a refreshing rate.
The river was perfectly still, with no current, and its smooth surface
only broken by the leap of the Trout, and the splashing start of the fright
ened wild-duck. High mountains arose on either side, and the river-banks-
were lined with scrubby pine and birch, whose interlaced boughs ren-
dered passage impervious except to the denizens of the forest.
Our point of destination was a place called Beaver Brook, some two
miles up the stream, where it was supposed that Trout would be found.
We reached there about five o’clock in the afternoon, and the sport then
began in earnest. In my time I have fished, as it may be, considerable.
I have fished for various specimens of the finny tribe; I have essayed Cod
in Boston Harbor, and Herring and Mackerel on the sea-coast; I have
whipped almost every stream for Trout in Massachusetts and Connecticut ;
I have taken Salmon in the Ohio, Trout in Mackinaw and Minnesota, Perch
in the Mississippi, and bobbed for Whale on the coasts of Florida, but I
had not reached the acme of fishing. As before stated, I had heard all
DIES PISCATORIA. 521
sort of ‘fish stories” from persons who had explored the northern regions ;
I had listened to their statements with silent acquiescence, but inwardly
distrusting ; but when the reality came, there was no exaggeration that
could at all come up to the simple fact. Innocent stranger! Thou who
readest these lines! perhaps you never caught a Trout. If so, thou knowest
not for what life was originally intended. Thou art a vain, insignificant
mortal! pursuing shadows! Ambition lures thee, Fame dazzles, Wealth
leads thee on, panting! Thou art chasing spectres, goblins that satisfy
not. If thou hast not caught a trout, this world is to thee, as yet, a blank,
existence is a dream! Go and weep. Come with me, and thou shalt see
for what man was made. Thou shalt learn for what those faculties were
given, that thou art wasting on minor objects. ‘he brook rolls brightly
before thee; the forest is deep und wild, and its branches hang over the
stream ; it leaps on with silvery laughter, like youth that bounds joyfully
to the dark ocean of age. Its smooth waters dash against the rocks, and
become brawling foam, as broken hopes are turned to raging passions. It
darts through narrow places, over opposing obstacles, as untiring energy
bursts its way through untried and devious paths. It gathers in quiet
pouls, and returns in gentle eddies up the stream, as the thwarted purpose,
the disappointed wish recoils upon itself, or settles into sluggish apathy.
Now, put up your pole, and take your first Trout, poor innocent. Rig
on your fly! not that great big red thing—put on that little gray one
with the small hook. Don’t you know that a Trout is the daintiest, most
delicate fish that swims? You pitch at him a bait as big as your fist, and
he’ll turn up his nose in disgust ; but just cover the point of your hook with
the smallest possible piece of worm, or take the smallest fly, and he’ll go
at it like a Shark. Now, do you see that dark object off yonder, lying by
the side of that stone ?—that’s about a pound and a half: we’ll have him.
Pitch in your fly, and skip it over the water lively ; not that way—that’s
down the stream; cast your fly up. If you had any sense, which you
haven’t, you’d know that Trout always lie with their heads up-stream ; and
if you cast down-stream, in the first place, they’ll see you, and won’t bite,
and if they do, you'll pull the hook right out of their mouths ; but if you
throw up-stream they bite faster, and you have a better chance of striking
your barb through their gills. There! your fly touches the water; see those
fellows jump at it; but those are little fellows, and don’t weigh more than
’3 suggestion, and put up a notice
a quarter of a pound. Follow N
on the bank: ‘Small Trout are requested not to bite !’’
Now heave again. See there '!—that was a pretty jump he made; but
ue) AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
err
he missed. ‘Try him once more and you'll strike. Now he’s on; let your
reel run; there he goes up-stream. How nicely he springs out of the
water! he’s got frightened, and don’t know what’s the rumpus. Reel him
in a little; don’t pull too hard, or you’ll break your pole; you see, it’s
bent double already. Just hold him tight enough to guide him, and he’ll
tire himself out in a few minutes; he can’t stand it long, dashing about at
this rate. Don’t get too much excited, or he’ll fool you yet. When you
strike a fish you must be cool and collected. You see they are of an ex-
citable temperament, and when they get the barb into their mouths they
become agitated ; they are also gamy, and make a good fight, and conse-
quently, if you are anywise rash, and attempt to get them in too soon, ten
to one you’ll break your line. Now you see the rascal has started down-
stream for the river, and thinks if he gets into deep water he’ll be out of
the way. Let him slide; let your reel go out its full length. Now he’s
still; he don’t feel you pull, and thinks he’s safe. Begin and reel him up.
Now he’s waked up again worse than ever. Don’t he go pretty? Just
hold him steady up the stream, and as his mouth is wide open, he’ll drown
soon ; because, if you drown a Trout he thereby becomes dead, and when
dead, is in a perfectly passive state. See, his struggles are becoming
feebler and feebler; you’ll have him soon. Be patient: now he’s still;
put him up to the side of the boat, and take hold of him just behind the
gills. There, isn’t he a beauty? Don’t those bright spots and silver
stripes go to your heart? Don’t you wish you were as good-looking as a
Trout? Wouldn’t you captivate your friends?
The shades of eve begin to fall. I sit in the foot; N—— a little below;
H above. It is still as night, except the repeated splash of fish as
they rise at the fly, or as they struggle in vain attempts to escape.
I have at various times, in various places, made various statements with
regard to our success upon that particular afternoon, none of which have
as yet been believed. Friends, of whom I had a right to expect better
things, have upon occasions winked knowingly when I have narrated my
experience; some have laughed outright; some have remarked unreservy-
edly that that was a “fish story.” Others have detected seeming incon-
sistencies, and irreverently asked for explanations; and again it has been
inquired which was the trout, and which was the gin. I therefore will
content myself with the following statement, made upon honor, that in a
very short time we caught a very large number of fish.
While we were fishing, our guide was pitching our tent. Our guide
was a great institution; he was a complete backwoodsman. With an axe
DIES PISCATORI®. tars}
he could do or make anything in the world. I belicve he could make a
watch with that axe. He could chop down a tree in no time, and in the
tree he’d find a coon, or a nest of squirrels, and a whole hive full of wild
honey ; whereupon he’d have food and raiment for a month. He had
great skill and mechanical ingenuity; and though of slight frame, his
strength was enormous, and his endurance eternal. He could row a boat
all day without stopping. He could climb over rocks and mountains for
a week with a pack on his back, that I couldn’t lift with a pair of horses.
He’d be in the water for twelve hours without inconvenience. He was
modest, good-natured, always ready to do anything, and was amazingly
tickled to hear us talk and joke. He confined himself principally to gin.
In the few days he was with us, he became very fond of us ; and when we
parted, he rigged a sail out of my shawl, with which we rowed comfort-
ably against a head-wind for seven miles.
He was fond of woods sport. When we had finished fishing and it grew
dark, we went ashore to where he had rigged our tent. He had cut a
quantity of small hemlock boughs, with which he covered the floor of the
tent about six inches deep, over which he spread his camp blankets, and
made a couch softer than downy pillows are. He had also a huge log fire,
and we made preparations to cook supper. Imprimis, a skillet is indis-
pensable in the woods. It is convertible to many uses and purposes : you
can bail a boat with it splendidly ; wash your face with it; boil water and
make tea, and wash the dishes; bake bread ; fry potatoes, pork, and Trout,
and feed the dogs with it after supper.
So we got out the skillet, cleaned a lot of Trout, cut the slices of pork
(we had brought a piece of pork, and a bag containing bread and dough-
puts; to be sure, they had been in the bottom of the boat, and all got
soaked, but that made no difference), and the pork hissed, and we turned
the Trout with a wooden spoon and put salt on them, and then the Trout
hissed; once in a while one would drop into the fire, and if the dog wasn’t
watching, and you were quick, you could get it again. But I had a big
fight over one great fellow that tumbled out of the pan: I got him by the
head and the dog got him by the tail, and it was nip and tuck, pull Dick
pull devil: the dog a little ahead, for the fish broke in two, and he got
mor’n half; but he subsequently choked on the back-bone, at which I was
rejoiced. We rang the bell for tea. The guide made some torches of
birch-bark, and stuck them up around, and we had an illuminated ban-
quet-hall.
We spread our viands on another piece of birch-bark ; each fellow took
524 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK.
a forked stick, and then and there we fed. We then cleared away the
table and washed the dishes, by throwing the birch-bark into the fire and
leaving the skillet to the dog.
We then held a council of war, and concluded to cross-examine a bottle
of gin. Gin has its uses in the woods. But we were without water, and
had nothing but those leathern drinking-cups, holding about a gill. Here
was a difficulty at once, for to be under the necessity of going down to the
stream every time you wanted a drink, was not to be thought of; beside,
we might be thirsty in the night. But our guide solved the problem. He
took that immortal axe and went off into the woods, and came back in a
minute with some large sheets of birch-bark—birch-bark is also a wonder-
ful invention ; so he sat down to make a birch-bark bucket. I don’t know
how it’s done ; N—— does, and he showed me two or three times ; but for
the life of me, I couldn’t see through it. About these things I’m thick
about the head. It is somehow thus: You take a large square sheet of
birch-bark and some wooden pins, you turn up one end of the bark and
stick in a pin, you then turn up the side and fasten it to the end; you
double the ends together and fasten them with these pins; turn it up all
around, so the water won’t run out, fasten it, and there’s your bucket ; it
is a very simple contrivance, and eminently practical. He got one com-
pleted, and found a knot-hole in the bottom, but finally made one that
held about three quarts; so we filled it, placed it beside the tent, and
began those experiments with the gin, to which brief allusion has been
made,
Aiter eating and drinking we lit our pipes. You take pipes and tobacco
in this country altogether; segars are perfectly useless. I carried the
tobacco loose in one of my pockets, which was a reservoir for the whole
party. One has no idea of the luxury of a pipe in the woods until it has
been tried ; it is vastly superior to any other known method of combusting
the weed. You might smoke forty segars and not obtain the same amount
of satisfaction that a solitary pipe affords. Therefore we sat in the door
of the tent, and as the smoke curled gracefully away we had sundry ope-
ratic performances, in which I acted the part of Prima, and N—— of base,
Donna; and the woods rang with the entrancing melody of our voices;
while afar off we heard the hoot of the owl, and once in awhile the scream
of a wild-cat; bat we were not at all alarmed.
I should not omit to relate one of my troubles, and that was in the way
of boots. A kind friend at Hanover lent me a fine pair of fishing-boots,
that came almost up to my ears, and had great big legs to them. I first
DIES PISCATORIZ. 525
fished with them in the Diamond River. I endeavored to mancuvre so as
not to go over boot-top, but pretty soon I tumbled in, and when I got up
my boots were full of water, and weighed about two tons apiece; so I
waded ashore for the purpose of eliminating the element. I laid down on
my back, and raised my heels up in the air, and the ultimate consequences
were, that the whole quantity of fluid found its way out at the back of my
neck, just below the left ear. During our whole trip the great occasion
of the day was the getting my boots off. Many of you know what wet
boots are; Thad them in perfection. Our guide was a first-rate bootjack,
otherwise I should be wearing the articles at the present day. I lay down
on the floor, N—— would take hold of my shoulders, the guide and H——
hold of my boots, and we would work, and twist, and accomplish the feat,
or rather feet, in about an half-hour. Item, when fishing for Trout, wear
shoes.
Boots off, and otherwise happy, we lay in the tent, smoked, and em-
ployed ourselves in the charms of conversation. Our guide had gone off
into the woods some distance, and soon we heard a crackling and snapping
as though the world was about to conflagrate. We rushed out of the tent,
and saw, off in the forest, a large tree all on fire from turret to foundation-
stone. It flashed, and blazed, and roared, and I thought the whole wil-
derness was going, so I seized a few articles of value, and was about taking
to the water for safety, but was restrained by N——, who said it was some
of the guide’s work, which it proved to be. Birch trees are covered with
a light bark, which every year peels off to about the thickness of a sheet
of paper; this dies, and drying, becomes like tinder, and is used as such ;
and if you touch a match to the root of a tree, the blaze flashes up in a
moment over every limb, and makes as fine a specimen of indigenous fire-
work as may be desired. The night was very dark, and there the tree
stood, every limb and branch, all in a blaze, and lighting up the forest
like day. The wild birds started from their roosts, flying helter-skelter ;
deer and other vermin were scampering in promiscuous confusion, and
altogether it was pleasant. Soon another tree started, and then another,
and soon half a dozen, in all directions; and to us, who were novices, the
spectacle was beautiful. Our guide soon came back—he had been prowl-
ing round in his stocking feet—and we all went to bed.
The next morning we all went to fishing, and fished to our hearts’ con-
tent; in fact we became perfectly satiated and disgusted. They bit so
fast, and we caught so many, that we lost all relish for it. We filled our
boat almost full. Anything less than a half pound in weight we threw
5°26 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
back into the water; and after we all got sick of it, we agreed to take
down our poles and not put them up again in that part of the country.
About eighty pounds of the largest we concluded to take home with us;
so our guide made a species of box out of elm-bark, in which we salted
down our fish, to pack on our backs.
I have thus given an outline of one day’s occurrences, and the others
were like unto it. We had just as much Trout-fishing as we wanted. We
eat so many that we almost killed ourselves; and finally came to the con-
clusion that Trout were not what they were cracked up to be, after all.
Jor. Well, what do you think of it?
Nzs. Why, I think of the author, that from his frequent
allusions to pork, he was from Cincinnati. [His description of
bridges reminds me of a ride from Hankins’s Station to Ches-
ter Darby’s with Baron G., twelve years ago, when we were
caught in a thunderstorm, and did not get to Chester’s until
midnight; we crossed a few horse-traps of the kind he
describes in the dark. The spiders, bugs, and death-watch
refresh my recollections of old friend Snell, on the Loyal-
sock,
Jon. He is right about the pipes and the skillet, but may
possibly be wrong as to the guide’s ability to produce a
chronometer with his axe. As to drawing off wading-boots,
I have had some experience in the matter myself, and can
testify as to the course the water takes when a man lies on
his back and elevates his heels. His instructions, though, in
casting and killing a Trout, are inimitable; all who would
be scientific anglers ought to read them. Here are more
stray leaves from the Knickerbocker—poetry, too: “The
Skeleton Monk,” six pages; and “The Girl with the Calico
Dress.”
Watt. Keep them to read in the saw-mill some rainy day.
[Hait Wanrer, with sketch-hook.]
Jox. But hold on; here is “Hans Breitmann’s Barty :”
DIES PISCATORIA., 527
it is poetry done up prose fashion. Clark suspects Mace
Sloper of having perpetrated it.
Nes. Let us have it, by all means. Vive le lager! Vive
le pretzel! Vive le Engel & Wolf!
Joz. Well, then, be quiet, while I read you the adventure
and impressions made on the mind of the gentleman who
attended
HANS BREITMANN’S BARTY.
Hans Breitmann gife a barty—dey had biano blayin—lI felled in lofe
mit a Merican frau. Her name was Madilda Yane. She hat haar as
proun as a pretzel bun; de eyes were himmel blue; and ven she looket
into mine, dey shplit mine heart in two.
Hans Breitmann gife a barty: I vent dar you’ll pe pound. I valzet
mit der Madilda Yane—und vent shpinnen round und round. De pootiest
freilein in the house-—she vayed pout doo hoondert pound.
Hans Breitmann gife a barty—I dells you, it cost him dear. Dey rollt
in more as seven kecks of foost rate Lager Bier—und venefer dey knocks
de shpicket in, de Deutschers gifes a cheer. I dinks: dat so vine a barty
nefer coom to a het dis year.
_ Hans Bréitmann gife a barty. Dar all vas souse and brouse. Ven de
sooper come in, de gompany did make demselves de house. Dey ate das
Brot und Gensybroost; die Bratwoorst and Braten fine, and wash das
Abendessen down mit four parrels of Neckarwein.
Hans Breitmann gife a barty: ve all got troonk as pigs: I poot mine
mout to a parrel of bier und schwallowed it oop mit a schwigs—und denn
I kissed Madilda Yane, und she schlap me on de kop, und de goompany
fought mit taple lecks dill de coonstaple made oos schtop.
Ifans Breitmann gife a barty: vhere is dat barty now? Vhere is de
lofely golten cloudt dat float on der moundain’s prow? Vhere is de him-
melstrahlende stern—de schtar of de spirit’s light—all goned afay mit de
Lager Bier—afay in der Evigkeit.
Jog. The editor’s comment is, that the “internal evidence”
here is very strong.
Nes. There is a.touch of sublime melancholy in the last
verse that reminds me of Jack Reeves, in the character of a
528 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
sentimental old cook reading the “Sorrows of Werter,” and
skinning eels. I have some impression of the meaning of
“ Evigkeit,” from the connection in which it is used. What
is the true translation ?
Jor. I admired the effusion so much at the time it ap-
peared, that I read it once to a German friend, who fully
appreciated it, and laughing, explained the word you refer
to, by saying, “de schtar of de spirit’s light,” and de lager
all went away together into de everlasting, de futurity—But
what is Walter doing !——
Nes. Just what Benjamin West did when he caught the
man stealing his father’s pears—taking the rogue’s picture.
Tae THIEF THAT STOLE OUR DINNER.
THIRD NOONING.
TROUT-FISHING IN THE REGIONS OF
LAKE SUPERIOR.
“Can it be the sun descending
O’er the level plain of water?
Or the Red Swan flouting, flying,
Wounded by the magic arrow,
Staining all the waves with crimson,
With the crimson of its life-blood,
Filling all the air with splendor
With the splendor of its plumage?
“Yes; it is the sun descending,
Sinking down into the water;
All the sky is stained with purple,
All the water flushed with crimson!
No; it is the Red Swan floating,
Diving down beneath the water;
To the sky its wings are lifted.
With its blood the waves are reddened!
Over it the Star of Evening
Melts and trembles in the purple,
Hangs suspended in the twilight.
No: it is a bead of wampum,
On the robes of the Great Spirit,
As he passes through the twilight,
Walks in silence through the heavens !”
LONGFELLOW.
TROUT-FISHING IN THE REGIONS OF LAKE
SUPERIOR.
THIRD NOONING.
[After the Roast.—Present: Norman, Morry, and Nestor. |
Norman. You say, Nestor, that you have been to Lake
Superior, and that there is fine fishing there.
Nesror. I have never been farther than the little town of
St. Mary, which is at the “Sault,” the outlet of the lake. 1
have fished there for Trout, but that was twenty years ago.
Several of my friends have visited Lake Superior since the
canal around the rapids has been completed, and have had fine
sport. Boats leave Buffalo and Detroit every week during the
summer for the towns that have sprung up on Lake Superior
since the copper region has been opened, and, from what I
can learn, the trip would richly repay an angler, who would
bundle his rods and pack up his traps, and depart about the
1st of June for that beautiful country. I had a talk with my
friend Roberts after his return three years ago. He had fine
sport during the month of June in the rapids at Sault Ste.
Marie, and wherever he stayed for a few days on Lake Supe-
rior. I have a pasteboard profile of a Brook Trout, which
he gave me, hanging against my wall, at home, with this
note on it:* “Taken by J. E. Cady, of St. Mary, Michigan,
* A repetition of this same memorandum appears on page 204; as this
is an account of the Trout-fishing of that part of the country I reinsert
it here.
(531;
582 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
July 30, 1858. Weight, 63 pounds; length, 24 inches; cir-
cumference, 134; taken in the Batchewaunaung, Canada West.
At the same time took six more. Weight of the seven fish,
31} pounds.” Roberts says that Mr. Cady’s word is not to be
doubted. The head of the Lake Trout which you may see in
the window, at Philip Wilson’s gun and tackle store, in
Chestnut above Fourth Street, was brought from Lake
Superior, by the President of our little club, and though it is
twenty-one inches in circumference, it is from a small fish
compared with some that have been taken there. I have no
doubt, that a person who was properly prepared, could troll
successfully for these monster Trout—if he could hit the
right time, say in June, and find boatmen who knew where to
fish for them. f
T have been told also, that the Canadian steamers, which
ply between Toronto and Chicago, stop at several points on
Manitouline Islands, where there are fine Trout-streams within
easy distance; but there it would be unnecessary to camp
out. It is said, that there is also fine Black Bass fishing in
the little bays along the same islands.
Nor. But, what do you know personally of the fly-fish.
ing on Lake Superior ?
Nzs. I have already told you that it is now more than
twenty years since I was at Sault Ste. Marie, and that I was
never beyond there; I have a letter, though, in the breast-
pocket of my old fishing-jacket, which was written by your
humble servant to a brother of the angle, while waiting at
Mackinaw for a boat, after his return from the Sault; if you
have energy enough left, and can keep awake after the half-
dozen Trout you have eaten, you may read it.
Nor. Let me knock the ashes out of my pipe, and
moisten my mouth with the little bit of claret you have left
in that bottle, and I'll try it.
DIES PISCATORIA. 53838
“Mackinaw, June 24, 1848.
“Dear WILL :—
“In your last letter, which I received just
before leaving New Orleans, you begged ‘that I would all
my pilgrimage dilate,’ and tell you if my anticipations of
Trout-fishing at Sault Ste. Marie were realized. As I shall
have to wait here until the 27th for the Detroit boat, and
have seen all the sights about the island, I take this method
of killing time, and will tell you of my adventures ‘and
portance in my travel’s history.’
“ Previous to my departure from New Orleans, I made the
acquaintance of Mr. Chew, of Mississippi, who gave me a
pressing invitation to call on him on my way up, and make
one of a party to visit ‘Lake Bruin,’ opposite Grand Gulf,
where he had caught, in an afternoon of the previous summer,
thirty ‘Trout’ (Southern Bass), each of them two feet long
Think of that! sixty feet of Bass at a single fishing! As I
had in view my trip to Lake Superior, I reluctantly declined
Mr. Chew’s kind invitation, and pushed on to St. Louis, and
‘then to see our cousins near Boonville.
“The Brents have settled some fifteen miles back of the
town, on the edge of a prairie, and are doing well; one of the
complaints, though, amongst the settlers from the Old Domin-
ion is, that they have scarcely tasted a smoked herring since
leaving their native state. The afternoon of the day of my
arrival, Bob proposed fishing in some of the ‘sleughs’ and
ponds supplied by the back water of the Téte Saline, in time
of the spring freshets; when the Bass and Perch run up to
spawn, and many of them are left in the ponds when the
water recedes. Fancy two men, armed with long reed-poles,
on leggy horses, loping over the prairie @ la Camanche,
nothing in sight but the blue sky above, and the rolling
green beneath, and no sound but the occasional whirring of a
534 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
prairie-fowl.— W hat a lonesome, beautifully monotonous scene!
After twenty minutes’ gallop we saw trees in a hollow ata
distance, which are sure indications of water on the prairie.
We soon had our lines tied to the ends of our rods, and caught
minnows for bait, and then caught Bass and Perch—fishing
from horseback when trying the different sleughs, and dis-
mounting whenever the fish bit freely. We came back at
sunset, each with a string of fish at his saddle-bow.
“On returning to St. Louis, I took a boat for Peoria, Illinois,
and then a smaller one for Peru. We had but few passengers
on the smaller boat, and I found the engineer a clever fellow, ,
with a rifle in his room and a bucket of live minnows in the
wheelhouse. When we stopped to wood, or tinker up the old
engine, as we did once for half a day, I tried a live minnow,
and sometimes one ‘bridled,’ and caught some fine Black
Bass, one of them eighteen inches long. At Peru we took the
stage, and after thirty hours’ ride over the green desolate
prairie, interspersed occasionally with little settlements,
arrived at Chicago and embarked on the steamer, and found
myself at this strange-looking old town on the afternoon of
the second day.
“The first odd thing I noticed here was a rough little four-
wheeled wagon, which the owner drove on board the steamer;
it was drawn by two stout dogs, and loaded with. immense
Lake Trout and Whitefish. It is all dog (not horse) power
here. The inhabitants use them to draw wood from the island
on the opposite side of the Strait in winter, and say that a
pair of them will draw a sled on the ice loaded with a half-
cord of wood without difficulty ; dogs are also used in travel-
ling over land when there is a hard crust on the snow.
“The water in the Straits here, as in all of these lakes, is
exceedingly clear. You can easily distinguish thee heads of
the nails and the seams in the hull of a steamboat as it lies
DIES PISCATORIA. 535
at the wharf, and see clear under her, as if she was suspended
in the air. I saw boys trying to spear Lake Herrings in fifteen
feet water, at the end of the pier; the fish were plainly visi-
ble at the bottom.
“Mackinaw is a queer old town; it was built by the French
soon after they made their first settlements at Quebec and
Montreal, and was one of the principal posts of the early fur-
traders. The houses of the ‘habitans,’ as the native French
are called, are weather-boarded and roofed with cedar bark,
the moss and lichens adhering to it, and causing even a new
house to look hoary with age. The bay, or harbor, is crescent-
shaped, with a wide pebbly beach, dotted with the tents of
the Chippewa Indians, who receive the government annui-
ties, and buy most of their goods here. When they come
with a fair gale, itis a beautiful sight to see the sailing of
their light birch canoes; with a fresh breeze astern, they sail
like the wind.
“ At the fort on the hill I became acquainted with the veri-
table Captain Martin Scott, so well known as a erack rifle-.
shot, and his connection with the Coon Story. I had supposed
him to be a mere myth before ; he never shoots now, but rests
on the reputation he has won. I have had no fishing with
my rod here; before my visit to the Sault, though, I went
out one day near Bois Blanc Island with my landlord’s son,
to lift his gill-nets, and took some large Lake Trout and White-
fish out of them. Iam told that there is fine Trout-fishing
in Carp River, about ten miles from here, where they take a
piece of pork, or an artificial fly indiscriminately. I have
seen a Lake Trout here which weighed forty-five pounds; it
was caught with a hand-line in deep water. The man who
captured it told me he has taken them twice as large, and that
they have been caught in Lake Superior weighing as much
as a hundred pounds——”
536 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Nor. (laying down the letter.) .Whe-e-euh | that’s a whopper.
Nes. Which, the fish or the story?
Nor. Both—the story, in particular. You ought to have
asked that man to fall a pound or two.
Nzs. I thought it was rather a “fish story,” but I believe
that there are Lake Trout of that size.
Nor. You are a good believer, Nestor, and I must confess
that I have tried your faith a little myself, on one or two
occasions. But when I hear it “piled up” in that way, I say,
with fat old Jack, “Lord, how this world is given to lying!” I
see, though, your journal is bringing us towards the Sault at
last.
[Reads again.]
“On a bright June morning, at sunrise, I started on a
steamboat, the first that ever made the passage to the Sault;
it was her second trip. The only way of reaching it before
this time, was in Mackinaw boats in summer, and on snow-
shoes and dog-sleds in winter. I arrived in nine hours, and
stopped with Mr. Barbier, an old voyageur and guide, whose
life has been spent in this wilderness of woods and waters.
He keeps a store with a general assortment of Indian goods,
which he sells for money, or barters for furs, sun-dried corn,
and maple sugar. |
“There is no cascade, or what might properly be called a
fall, in the outlet of Lake Superior, but the ‘Sault,’ as the
word implies, is a rapid, or a succession of them. There isa
descent of about twenty-five feet in three-quarters of a mile.
A canal to pass the rapids has been projected, and already
commenced by the government, which will open all the rich
copper region on the lake, to the navigation of steamboats and
sailing-craft of moderate draft of water. A brig and a
schooner, built on the lake above, were taken safely down
the rapids last summer. It is about fifteen miles to Gros
DIES PISCATORIA. 587
Cap, at the lower end of Lake Superior. My limited time,
and my anxiety to fish the rapids, did not allow of my visit-
ing it.
“The town of St. Mary, I will venture to say, has more
dogs, for its population, than any village this side of the
Esquimaux country. Every white man, half breed, and
Indian has more of them than a Virginia farmer has cows
and horses; it is a wonder where they all get enough to ‘pit
their paunch in” Barbier says that dead horse, dead cow,
dead dog, or anything they can steal, from a spermaceti
candle to a pair of greased moccasins, does not come amiss to
them ; and, as our old friend, Jack Tancil, of Warrenton, says
of his hounds, ‘they are everlastingly sarching.’ As there is
no dog law in St. Mary, the tribe does not diminish.
“T found a portion of the tribe of Chippewas encamped at
the lower end of the rapids, just above the village. Barbier
says they live here entirely on Whitefish, which they take
with the spear and dip-net. The latter resembles the common
dip-net we have seen used at Fairmount dam on the Schuyl-
kill; the handle, though, is longer, and is bent near the bow
of the net—I have seen the Indians take Whitefish with it.
They go in their birch canoes to the foot of the rapid, two in
a boat; the one in the bow, who generally has an old coat or
blanket tied in frout like an apron, to keep off the spray,
holds the net; the other in the stern, by the ready use of his
paddle or pole, keeps the head of the cockle-shell in its
proper direction, while his companion in the bow finds the
fish, and by dexterously casting his net over the prey, gives it
a turn sideways and secures it. The net appeared always to
be pressed downwards, as if the fish was forced towards the
bottom, and then turned apparently to prevent its escape ;
and I suppose this is why the handle has that peculiar bend
near the bow. These Whitefish are as large as Shad, and are
5388 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
delicious, resembling the Shad somewhat in flavor, but not so
bony. Ihave seen the Indians take twenty or thirty in an
hour; sometimes two at a single dip of the net.
“Soon after my arrival at St. Mary, J made the acquaint-
ance of Louie Leponts, a half-beed Indian, in a long swallow-
tailed blue coat, who I found was addicted to whipping. his
wife, getting drunk, and going a fishing. I profited by Louie’s
acquaintance, and engaged him and his brother as my ‘ voy-
ageurs,’ in going up and down the rapids on my fishing
excursions. The ascent and descent of the Sault is no child’s
play; nothing but long practice, a quick eye, great skill in
the use of the paddle and pole, and steadiness of nerve can
accomplish it.
“On my first day’s fishing, Louie held a pole of fifteen feet,
with which he did great execution, catching two to my one.
He is as good a specimen of a natural angler as I ever met
with ; and, considering his rough tackle, casts a large fly (and
none other should be used here) with considerable skill. The
fly, which he made himself, was on a rough Kirby hook, size
00, a piece of red flannel tied around the shank, and a tuft of
feathers bunglingly fastened at the head. On our second trip
I was lucky enough to break the small end of his rod in
getting into the canoe, thus monoplizing the sport; and in
our excursions afterwards prevailed on him to leave it behind.
T also fished the Little Falls, two or three miles down the
river, near the Methodist Mission, and had great sport, my
largest fish weighing about three pounds, and most of them
were from fourteen to sixteen inches in length. My first trip
up and down the Sault produced thirty-five fish. On the
second day I had more sport, catching them mostly with the
fly, but when they would not rise, used an artificial minnow.
or the ‘Kill-devil,’ or a strip of the belly of the fish. After-
DIES PISCATORIA. 539
wards, I got the knack of steadying myself in the canoe, when
casting, and used the fly altogether.
“There is a long narrow island on the Canadian side of the
river, and between it and the shore a narrow channel, which,
Iam told, can be waded in most places, and that it affords
fine fishing. Ifthe water had not been so cold I would have
tried it.
“In going up and down the rapids I found that Louie’s
brother had good reason for taking his net and spear along.
In our first ascent he caught three Whitefish in his net, at a
single dip; he also speared several, besides a large goggle-
eyed Pickerel. He did not throw his spear when in the rapid
water, but moved the iron cautiously towards the fish, and
. then with a thrust pinned it to the bottom, when the ashen
handle would quiver and shake with the death-struggle of
the victim and the force of the current. He frequently tried
to point out a fish to me before he speared it, but it was no
use; I could not see it through the rushing water.
“Tn the rapids the canoe was at all times under perfect
control. In ascending, advantage was always taken of any
eddy formed below a ledge, or a large rock that jutted above,
or came near the surface, the light bark was pushed along
the still water, and then turned quickly into the sharp cur-
rent at the side of the rock, when there would be a fierce
struggle, the water foaming and boiling almost over the bow
as it was forced up the declivity. Sometimes the delicate
ribs of the canoe would bend as the tliin sides were com-
pressed in passing between rocks where it would have been
impossible for an ordinary boat to get through, or where its
stiff planks would have been broken. What was most aston-
ishing, though, was the way that Auguste alone would hold
the canoe steady with his setting-pole, when we stopped to
fish, the bow always dividing the current equally, and neve
veering in the least to one side or the other.
540 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
“T spent one Sabbath at the Sault, and attended worship at
the old stockade fort in the morning, and in the afternoon
visited the Methodist Mission at the Little Falls, two or three
miles below, and met the man ‘Tanner,’ who was captured by
the Indians when a boy, and who spent thirty years of his
life amongst them. He acts as interpreter for the Mission.
“T returned from the Sault in one of those ancient crafts
called a ‘Mackinaw boat,’ paying five dollars passage, with
the privilege of rowing as much asI pleased. Our journey
occupied two days; the first night we camped in a swampy
place, when we were almost devoured by mosquitoes; the
second night we slept on a rocky point, extending far out into
the lake, where we had a good breeze, and were not troubled
with them. There was a beautiful little island right in front
of us, with a few trees on it, and as the sun went down I
thought of the picture of the’ Prison of Chillon, which you
gave me, and of Byron’s lines, alluding to its inmate, who,
when at last allowed to climb to the grated window, describes
what he saw :—
“And then there was a little isle,
Which in my very face did smile,
The only one in view ;
A small green isle, it seem’d no more,
Scarce broader than my dungeon floor,
But in it there were three tall trees,
And o’er it blew the mountain breeze,
And by it, there were waters flowing,
And on it, there were young flowers growing
Of gentle breath and hue.”
Nor. (folding up the letter.) I'll stop now, Nestor. You
would never die happy if you did not cram a few rhymes
into your narratives; besides, we have got past the fishing,
and I have no further interest in your lengthy “billy-doo.”
DIES PISCATORIA. 541
Nzs. If you profess to love angling for its associations, and
cannot appreciate such rhymes as those, I give you up; there
are some lines on the back of that old letter that don’t rhyme.
I copied them from Hiawatha when I first read the book.
Lake Superior, you know, was the “Gitchie-Gumee” of the
Ojibwas, or, as they are called now, Chippewas, and according
to their wild tradition, the Red Swan, after it was wounded
by the magic arrow of Ojibwa, went slowly flapping its
wings across its broad surface towards the setting sun: you
had better not read the extract though, after saying, as you
did the other day, that “Hiawatha” had the same jingle as the
“Nigger Gin’ral.”
Nor. I did not mean to disparage Longfellow, by com-
paring his “Hiawatha” with the “Nigger Gin’ral,” I only
implied that they were both of the same metre, and very
“particular metre” it is. Dll give you a few lines of the
“Nigger Gin’ral,” as Old Dick Cooper used to sing it, and
you can judge for yourself. I leave out the chorus, and as I
have no banjo, the accompaniment also.
“Now, my boys, I’m bound to tell you,
O listen a while and I will tell you;
Tl tell you “bout de Nigger Gin’ral,
Vl tell you ’bout de Gin’ral Gable.
A leetle boy betrayed his gin’ral,
A leetle boy, by de name o’ Dan’el;
Betrayed him down to Norfo’k landiv’,
Becase he called him Uncle Gable.
“ «OQ how dy do, my Uncle Gable?’
‘Ono I ain’t your Uncle Gable !’
“O yes you is my Uncle Gable.’
‘O no I aint your Uncle Gable,
For I do know your Uncle Gable,
a,”
A man belong to Major Prosser.
542 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Now I call that hewameter in the rough, and taking it all
through, it is pretty good legendary poetry, to boot.
Nes. Your taste in such matters, my dear boy, betrays your
“bringing up;” but it seems to me, that a man who spends
much of his time on lake or river, and allows the “ particular
metre,” as you call it, and the repetitions in “ Hiawatha” to
prejudice him against the book, comes short of a full
appreciation of camping out, or cooking his dinner on the
stream.
Nor. Now you are a beautiful specimen of a star-struck
fisherman, with your hair poking through the crown of
that old hat, and that terrible rent in your trousers; how
you would captivate your wife, and the ladies in general.
But let me give you the concluding lines of the drama, as,
well as I can recollect them, and then if you can see
no similarity between the “Song of Hiawatha,” and the
“Song of the Nigger Gin’ral,” I'll consent to a truce between
Longfellow and Dick Cooper. See now, how harmoniously
the descriptive blends with the dramatic.
‘Thursday week come on his trial,
Ho my boys you most done.
(But I forgot, I did not mean to put in the chorus.)
“Dey sont an called all de county,
To come and see de Nigger Gin’ral ;
Some dey called him Archy Mullin,—
Right name was John de Cullin.
I’m here to-day and gone to-morrow,
I didn’t come to stay forever.
“‘Dey drove him down to de gallus,
Drove him down wid fo’ gray hosses ;
Diggs’s Ben he druv de wagon.
Dar dey hung him and dey swung him,
An dat’s de end of de Nigger Gin’ral.
DIES PISCATORIE 543
“ Hard times in Old Virginny,
Ole Virginny almost ruined,
Ruined by de Nigger Gin’ral.
“Polly what you got for supper ;
Mutton shank and apple dumplins,
Good enuf for hi’erd niggas.”
Morry. Very dramatic indeed—the last three lines par-
ticularly so—but tell me, were Gin’ral Gable and Nat Turner
the same or different persons?
Nor. Different—Gabriel was the chief of an early and
much better-planned insurrection: Nat Turner headed the
last outbreak of the negroes in lower Virginia. It-is said,
that both of them were fellows of great aptitude as leaders,
and had they made their escape by an underground railroad
and lived to the present time, you and your friends would no
doubt have made them captains in the Corps d’ Afrique.
Mor. Perhaps if your friend Dick Cooper was alive, since
you have such an opinion of his talents, you would use your
influence to have him appointed leader of a regimental band
in the Corps d’Afrique, and introduce the banjo as an instru-
ment of martial music.
Nor. Dick was not a scientific musician, tune and harmony’
with him were intuitive; to have taught him music from a
book would have cramped his genius, and to write his songs
on paper would have spoiled them; as any true and natural
negro music will be spoiled by trying to adapt it to the taste
of those who generally attend the concerts of what are called
“negro minstrels.” If you had asked him if he played by
note, he would likely have replied, as a black fiddler of
celebrity once did at a dance in Kentucky, “No Sir, I plays
by de night.”—But what have we here? It fell from one
of the pockets of your fly-book, as I was about to replace
544 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
your letter; it is a sketch of some old fisherman-——- who
is it?
Nes. Why that’s “ Uncle Lot,” a mysterious old fellow,
who haunted the Williwemock and Beaverkill, about Chester
Darby’s, for many years. Nobody knew where he came from,
and, Jam told, he at last disappeared, and nobody knew where
he went to; the people of the neighborhood called him,
Tae Fisu-Hawk.
FOURTH NOONING.
TROUT-FISHING IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
“Tue sounding cataract
Haunted him like a passion: the tall rock,
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
‘Their colors and their forms, were then to him
An appetite; a feeling and a love
That had no need of a remoter charm
By thought supplied.”
WORDSWORTH.
TROUT-FISHING IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
FOURTH NOONING.
[Scene, a Saw-Mill.—Time, after the Roast.—Present: Norman, Jor,
and Nestor. ]
Joz. How it pours!
Nezs. A good, steady, honest’ rain, and there will be no
fishing until a day or two after it clears up; it will take that
time for the creek to fall sufficiently ; then the water will be
just right, as Broadhead says, “of a tea color,” and we will
nick them. Those we cooked in the old fire-place were
caught by Uncle Ickey with worm-bait, under the fall of the
dam.
Nor. There is no better time for telling us of your excur-
sion to the Adirondacks last summer. But how did you
happen to go there in August? You could not have chosen
a worse time for fishing.
Nes. [ll tell you. You know that Walter hurt his knee
in the early part of last season, when wading the creek at
Jim Henry’s, and as fishing and sketching are two of the
necessaries of life to him, he was obliged, for the remainder
of the summer, to adopt the alternative of drawing and fish-
ing from a boat. In no part of the country is this more easily
done than on the lakes and still waters amongst the Adiron-
dacks; so he tied his rods in a bundle, and packing his fly-
book, sketch-book, and a few colors, in his wallet, started for
Martin’s, on the Lower Saranac, where he hobbled about on
his two canes all summer like “the Devil on two Sticks”
(547)
548 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
(though not as lively a cripple as his Satanic Majesty is said
to be), and made frequent excursions, by boat, to the different
fishing-places in the neighborhood, and went several times to
the Raquette River and the lakes beyond. When his camp
or his lodgings were more than twenty yards from the place
of landing from his boat, Sam Dunning, an old fellow who
stands about six feet two in his stockings, with breadth of
-beam in proportion, carried him “pick-a-back.” He made a
sketch illustrating this mode of locomotion, but as the picture
flatters Sam and disparages the Artist, he would not let-me
have it, though he gave me several sketches of illustrious
personages, which I will show you as I tell my story. I
promised him I would let no one but the “ Houseless” see
them. He wrote me a glowing description of the scenery,
fishing, and his manner of life, and as J had long wished to
see that country, and hoped to be alone with him, I joined
him after he had been there a month pr six weeks.
JoE. Does the country resemble that about Lake Pleasant ?
Nes. Not in the least. The Saranac Lakes, particularly
the lower, appear to have been thrown down amongst the high
peaks of the Adirondacks, the upper lake being rather north
and west of the mountains; while Piseco, Lake Pleasant,
Round Lake, and Louie Lake, are rather south-east of the
main range, and occupy the high table-land in the southern
part of Hamilton County, where the face of the country,
although it is rolling, can hardly be called mountainous, as it
is further north.
JoE. What route do you take to get there?
Nes. It is a mere pleasure trip, by way of Albany and
Whitehall, at the southern or upper end of Lake Champlain.
There you take the boat which runs to Rouse’s Point, stopping
at all the landings on its passage down the lake, and passing
several places of historical interest. When you arrive at
LIES PISCATORIA. 549
Port Kent, you find stages in readiness to carry you to Keese-
ville, a distance of four or five miles inland, where you stay
all night, and in the morning after breakfast take wagons,
provided with spring-seats, for Baker’s or Martin’s, on the
Lower Saranac. You get an excellent supper and a good
bed in Keeseville, at a little hotel kept by Taggard, an obse-
quious fussy old fellow, who has a store under the same roof,
and occasionally sells an embryo sportsman what he calls. his
“ outfit.”
Nor. Is it necessary to lay in stores or provisions for the
excursion ?
Nes. By no means. Martin, at the lake, can supply all
the necessaries a reasonable man may require. If one is over
particular he had better take the few luxuries he may want
-from town.
Jog. Did you find many persons visiting the Adirondacks
in August ?
Nes. Crowds of them; there are more excursionists at that
time than at any other. I found Taggard’s hotel crammed,
with cockney sportsmen, going and returning from the lakes ;
some of them the most pretentious, verdant-looking hunters
you ever laid eyes on. I recollect one party from Boston—
three out of the four were pop-eyed men with spectacles.
You meet with a man now and then, don’t you, who looks, if
you were to slap him on the back with a shingle, as if his eyes
would fly out? Well, the Nimrod of the party, who talked
about “driving deer” and “shining deer,” was of that sort.
T’ll bet he could not tell a buck from an old stump at thirty
yards, much less hit one. They all affected the rough, and
walked about with bowie-knives stuck in the belts of their
hunting-shirts, as if they expected next minute to meet a live
Indian—perfect Daniel Boones and Kit Carsons. It almost
made me afraid to look at them, though no doubt they were
550 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
inoffensive people at home. What a deuce of a propensity
city folks have, when they do anything out of the way, to
“dress the character !”
JoE, What in the name of common sense has all this to do
with fishing in the Adirondacks? Go on with your story; do
you go up the Saranac River?
Nes. My dear Joe, you should never be in a hurry when
you go a fishing, or talk about fishing; but pass me that
bottle of ale, and I'll “ grease the wheels” and go on. You
don’t go up the Saranac; besides, the Saranac can hardly be
called a river; you go up the Au Sable. You must know
that Keeseville is on the Au Sable. There is a splendid cata-
ract just before you enter the town, and cascades in the town,
for the river comes tearing right through it, and is bridged in
two or three places. There are no falls above the town, ex-
cept where the river is dammed at the iron-works, and they
are not as high as the falls of Niagara; but you see beautiful
rapids and pools as you drive up the river, where there must
have been fine Salmon-casts in other days.
Nor. What, did you say, was the height of the fall just
before you enter Keeseville?
Nes. Thirty feet, I suppose; it falls as perpendicularly as
water can come down, and as a certain London book-maker
says, in his “Tourist’s Guide” of Glenn’s Falls on the Hudson,
“Here the water thunders and spirts,” just as if the cataract
that Cooper immortalizes in “The Last of the Mohicans”
could behave itself like a barrel of new cider, or spruce beer.
Nor. What a poor theorist you are! you said that there
were no doubt fine Salmon-casts on the Au Sable, above
Keeseville, in olden times, and that the falls below the town
are thirty feet high, and perpendicular. How could a Salmon
get over a cataract of thirty feet ?
Nus. I give it up; it is all a matter of fancy, and my
DIES PISCATORIA. 561
theory in direct opposition to facts and reason. Salmon did
run up the Saranac, though; I have the word of one of the
“oldest inhabitants” for that, and no doubt found their way
into the lakes above.
Jog. But how did they get into Lake Champlain? ,
Nes. Through the Sorel River, of course, from the St.
Lawrence. The ride up the Au Sable would not be interest-
ing, but for the ever-varying mountain scenery in the distance.
The hills and peaks rise up in rugged grandeur before you.
Away off to the south, on a fair day, you get a glimpse of
Mount Marcy; the Indians called it Ta-haw-wus—the Moun-
tain that touches the Sky. But it has dropped its significant
Indian name, and*is complimented with that of Mr. Marcy,
just as another peak has been robbed of its fine old title, and
is now called “ Mount’ Seward.”
Nor. A like liberty has been taken with the name of a
railroad station, at a bridge between Philadelphia and Bristol ;
it was called by the beautiful Indian name of the river itself,.
“Neshamony,” until some enterprising individual, it appears,
started a town there, and called it after himself: it now bears
the euphonic name of Schencksville. When will there be a
law passed to make perpetrations of this sort a capital crime?
—I suppose you have a pretty rough ride from Keeseville to
Martin’s.
Nes. By no means; there is a plank-road for two-thirds
of the way, and the last third, where it is not planked, is
better than the ¢mproved part; for you know, that a plank-
road, when it is well worn and rotted, is rather bumpety,
and, if not kept in repair, degenerates into a “corduroy” road,
or, as we used to call it when we were boys, a “codgeroy.” It
is a whole day’s ride to Martin’s, which is at the northern end
of the lower lake. Baker’s is four miles this side, where
the Saranac River is crossed by a good bridge; a tavern,
552 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
a store, a post-office, and a blacksmith-shop, are the usual
germs of a future village. Here is a little sketch, which is
positive evidence that Walter was detained there when pass-
ing. Of course he could not be idle, and for want of a better
subject procured the blacksmith’s boy, as he afterwards told
me for the sum of one dime; the lad’s face is a receipt for the
amount of happiness so large a sum of money can create.
Mr. Baker told me there was fine fly-fishing in the rapids
in front of his house in June, though Martin’s is more con-
venient to the angler, and all those who take boats and guides
for the lakes and Raquette River, embark at his house.
DIES PISCATORIA. 553
Nor. I have always been under the impression that a good
log-cabin and “ fixins” to suit, was as much as one could hope
for on the Saranac.
Nes. Now, bless your innocent heart! Bill Martin has a
frame house as big as a watercure establishment; and in it a
tenpin-alley, a ball-room, a piano, a ladies’ parlor, opening
out on a verandah that overlooks the lake, a gentleman’s sit-
ting-room, where you lounge and tie flies, a fleet of fairy
little boats—some of them that don’t weigh a hundred
pounds—and a score or two of stalwart retainers, who act as
guides, and can take you almost anywhere. Besides, he has
deerhounds, rifles, shot-guns, trolling-rods, fly-rods, and all
that; for he is a great deer-hunter and a good fly-fisher, and
always has venison and Trout on his table-——Why he is a
sort of “Lord of the Isles;” for I think there are some fifty
turreted pine-clad little islands in the lake, near his house.
Pll show you a sketch of a pair of Bill’s retainers—W alter
took them as they were discussing the subject of the draft.
Jog. The man with the hip-roofed hat, looks as if he had
the worst of the argument—of course there must be a good
many excursionists to warrant an establishment of that kind ?
Nags. There are; and that is an offset to the pleasure of the
trip with one who likes, when he leaves town, to leave town
people behind; for the Saranac Lakes are so easy of access,
that they have even become fashionable. Martin’s is a kind
of a jumping-off place from the civilized world into the wilds
beyond: I have seen men embark at his landing with their
wives, children, and other baggage; their cooking utensils,
their India-rubber bags stuffed with luxuries, their bass-rods,
which the owners essayed in vain to cast a fly with, and their
highly finished guns that were innocent of the death of deer,
all crammed into boats, when starting for the upper Saranac
or some of the lakelets and ponds beyond the Raquette, to
554 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
camp out for weeks. Many of these are people who live in
luxury at home, who have become weary of Newport, Sara-
toga, and Nahant, and come out “to rough it.” Some “ satisfy
the sentiment” in a single trip, others repeat the excursion
year after year, until the men become passable woodsmen, and
the women right good squaws.
Nor. Fishing and philandering, I think, are very opposite
amusements. I don’t like to mix them; and meeting any num-
ber of town folks amongst such places and scenes as I have
heard Walter describe, would seem to me like an untimed
intrusion.
Nes. I think it rather adds to the charm when one can
take his wife and children on such an excursion; that is, if he
DIES PISCATORIA. 55E
is not so ardent a sportsman that it interferes with his hunting
and fishing. Still, I confess, I was somewhat shocked at
times to find the Adirondacks so hackneyed; the “carries”
from one lake to another, as you go from Martin’s to the Ra-
quette are well-worn roads, and at two of them there are
wagons to convey canoes and baggage across. The little out-
let of Stony Creek Pond which flows into the Raquette, and
the Raquette itself, are so much travelled in the month of
August as to suggest the idea of “the raging canawl.” I
recollect on one occasion, after Walter and I had been fore-
stalled at several good fly-casts by some rough bait-fishers
bound for the Raquette, that we came to the mouth of Am-
phusand Brook, and thought we would have a good, quiet,
lonely time. Our guides put our boats within easy cast of the
best places, the Trout were dimpling the water all around,
and we had made a few successful casts, “when faint from
further distance borne, was heard the clang”—of something
like a canal tin horn, and looking up towards the head of
Stony Creek Pond, a boat rounded the point, a flag flying at
the bow, and two red-shirted ‘“Bowery-boy” looking fellows
in the middle of it, approached us flourishing an empty
bottle, and singing Old Dan Tucker.—“ Oh solitude, where are
thy charms?” exclaimed Walter mournfully, winding up his
line, while I sat down as Major Jack Dade of Virginia says,
“in the most pi-ignant grief.” We gave up fishing and went
back to Stephen Martin’s, where we had engaged lodgings for
the night.
Jor. J have heard that hunting is as great an inducement
to go to the Adirondacks as fishing.
Nes. It is with most persons; a friend who encamped for
nearly a month on Wolf Pond, beyond the Raquette, last
September, had a fresh deer hanging before his tent-door
every day. If a person has a guide who is a good hunter,
)
556 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
and dogs to drive them into lake or river, it requires very
little skill on his part to get venison; and a man who is a
very poor shot will sometimes start from Martin’s and return
in a few days with two or three deer, for when they are
driven into into the water, there is very little chance of their
escape, if the hunter is watching near the place where they
go in; or in “shining” them either, for the guide silently
paddles you up almost close enough to catch the victim by
the tail; and then there is some chance of shooting the guide,
or the dog, or yourself in the excitement of the moment, or
the guide has to knock the deer on the head with a club, if
you don’t kill him. When Martin wants venison, he sends
any of the guides who may be lounging about the house off
on a drive. Here is a rough copy of one of my artist's
sketches.
Jor. Of course there are anglers who are not less verdant
than the hunters?
Nes. Anglers!—hand me that ale, I’m dry, talking so
much—Why it does not require angling to catch Lake
Trout, for in trolling the guide rows you over the fish, and
when one lays hold you must reel him in and take him off as
a matter of course. If you fish the rapids when the Brook
DIES PISCATORIA. 557
Trout are there, or stop at the mouths of some of the cool
brooks, where they collect as the summer advances, you have
only to throw your flies over them, and there is no preventing
their hitching on, and then a man who catches a basket full
may be an angler, or a mere fisherman.
Jor. Why what difference can there be between an angler
and a fisherman ?
Nes. Difference! That is exactly the question somebody
once asked Dr. Bethune. The Doctor was buying some
tackle at Conroy’s, when one of his friends dropped in.
“What, are you a fisherman ?” said the good man, in surprise.
“No, Iam an angler,” replied the Doctor. “Well, what is
the difference ?” asked the querist. The Doctor referred him
to Mr. Conroy (so goes the story) for an explanation. “Why,”
said the great tackleman, delicately lifting between his thumb
and forefinger the two dollar note that the Doctor had laid
on the counter, and dropping it into the till, as if it would
contaminate him—“ An angler, Sir, uses the finest tackle, and
catches his fish scientifically—Trout for instance—with the
artificial fly, and he is mostly a quiet, well-behaved gentle-
man. A fisherman, Sir, uses any kind of ’ooks and lines,
and catches them any way, so he gets them it’s all one to ‘im,
and he is generally a noisy fellah, Sir, something like a
gunner.” The man smiled, and looked at the Doctor inquir-
ingly, to see if he endorsed the distinction drawn by Mr.
Conroy. The Doctor, it is said, nodded his head affirmatively,
pocketed his tackle, and laughing, walked out of the store.
So you see I have the authority of two very distinguished
gentlemen for the difference I claim between an angler and a
fisherman.
Jor. Speaking of distinguished gentlemen, who is Mr.
Jack Dade that talks about “ pi-ignant grief?” Is he the man
who inquired “who is the Mary McDan’el that the minister
alluded to so often in his sermon?”
558 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
Nes. The same, though a very different kind of person
from the one you may have in your mind’s eye; besides. he is
not “ Mister,” he is Major Jack Dade. He is or was, for I don’t
know that he is alive now, one of “the first gentlemen of Vir-
ginia, sir”; a relic of that ancient order who were the last to
leave off blue coat, buff waistcoat, and drab trousers; who
were “au fat” in politics and card-playing, bacon, mutton,
Madeira, and old whiskey; and could tell you the pedigree of
every race-horse between tide-water and Blue Ridge; besides
being pretty well satisfied with their own pedigree. Jack was
one of them; but with all his early advantages, as his father
used to say of him, “he couldn’t take larning.” Major Dade
was a captain at the battle of Bladensburg, “sir.” General.
Winder sent him with his company through an extensive
cornfield to reconnoitre the British brig Vulture, then lying
in the Potomac, and he would have made a successful recon-
noissance if it had not been for the panic which seized his
militia. In telling the story, Major Jack says they thought
they heard the British troops stealing upon them, when it
was only the north-west wind rustling the dry tops of the
“kaun,” and, as a matter of course, when they ran, he had to
follow them, “sir.” The major is opposed to all kinds of inno-
vations, especially improved farming and imported cattle. He
condemns short horns and Berkshire hogs, affirming posi-
tively that there is no bacon so good as that made from an
old-fashioned “ fiddle-faced hog.”
Nor. I think I saw him once at the town of Warrenton,
and that he came with Charley Randolph, another old relic,
in a coach and four; though, by the by, the coach, which was
a little the worse for wear, had but three horses to it, and
there was a calf-skin stretched across the back of the coach
(the tail hanging down) to keep out the weather. The old gen-
tleman struck me as being fond of a noise, for I never saw a
DIES PISCATORIA. 559
man crack a whip like him, or respond as loudly in church.
What story was that Sam Chilton told us of Jack Dade, inter-
rupting Charley at his morning devotions?
Nes. Sam was always telling stories about somebody. I
suppose you refer to what occurred once when Jack stayed at
Charley’s all night. The host next morning, like a good
churchman, was reading prayers to the collected household,
and Jack, who got up a little too late, entered the dining-
room without noticing the devotional attitude of the family,
but seeing the bunch of mint, the sugar-bowl, and decanter
set out as usual, made a straight line for the sideboard. When
Charley, seeing his mistake, raised his eyes from the book
and said, “Hold on, Jack, I'll join you presently.” The ser-
vice over, the julep followed as a matter of course.
Nor. Speaking of Sam Chilton, your continual digressions
remind me of a reply he made to a speech of Henry A. Wise,
at a Virginia State Convention, some years ago. In debating
some question, Wise sat down after a fiery speech, in which
there was a great deal of declamation, and very little logic. Sam
rose, and taking an old quid from his mouth, and dropping it
softly on the floor, said he had asked Mr. Wise for argument,
and he gave him only words; for facts, and he had given him
declamation. The gentleman’s speech reminded him of
Falstaff’s tavern-bill, “Sack, five shillings and sixpence ;
bread, a half-penny.” I have asked you to tell us about fish-
ing in the Adirondacks, but you have told us very little
about it, and talked of almost anything else. What was
the greatest number and weight of fish you killed in a day?
Nes. You led me into this digression yourself, by your
confounded questions. I have already said that I was there
at an unfavorable time for fishing. Trolling in the lakes is
over by the middle of June, and the Brook Trout have gene-
rally left the rapids by that time. I have been told, though,
560 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
that thirty pounds have been taken by a single rod in the
rapids on the Raquette in a forenoon in the latter part of
May, and as much as fifty pounds in the outlet of the Lower
Saranac, where Rodgers and Cold Brook come in.
JoE. What was the size of the largest you killed?
Nes. I did not take any that exceeded a pound and a half.
The largest I caught were at the mouths of Rodgers and Cold
Brook, where they come into the outlet. Our friend H. K. B.
killed fish a few days after at the mouths of some spring
brooks that come into the Raquette, below Fish Hawk and
Setting-Pole Rapids, that weighed over two pounds. He was
not as successful at the mouth of Bog River, which tumbles
in at the upper end of Tupper’s Lake, where he had such fine
sport five or six years ago; but that was in September, when
the Trout collect again in the rapids, after having deserted
them during the heat of summer. There were several parties
encamped at Tupper’s Lake in the early part of last June, and
those who fished with the fly had fine sport at Bog River
Falls, while those who trolled, took Lake Trout as large as
ten and twelve pounds.
Jor. How do you get into the Raquette River from Mar-
tins?
Nes. Hand me that pocket-map, and I'll show you. You
see there are three lakes, they are all connected by a stream
of moderate size; the eastern is the Lower Saranac, the south-
ern, Round Lake, and the western, the Upper Saranac. You
observe, also, that there are three ponds still further west ;
these are the Stony Creek Ponds, and from one of them a
small stream of the same name flows, with gentle current, into
the Raquette. The first portage or “carry” is at the upper.
end of the Lower Saranac, about six miles from Martin’s; the
next at the outlet of the Upper Saranac, three or four miles
further on; and the last is between the western side of the
» DIES PISCATORIA. 561
Upper Saranac and one of the Stony Creek Ponds. The last
portage is about_three-quarters of a mile, and is called the
Indian Carry. The Saint Regis tribe used it a great deal
some years back. When you get there, you have come about
fifteen miles, and if you prefer sleeping under a roof, and
getting a good supper, you will stop at Stephen Martin’s.
Bartlett keeps a house for the accommodation of sportsmen
at the second carry, where there is good fly-fishing in the
rapids of the outlet, and below his house, until the 1st of
July. You get into the Raquette, as I have already told,
by way of Stony Creek Ponds, and the outlet called Stony
Brook. There is fine fly-fishing at the mouth of Amphusand
Brook, which comes into the lower pond, within a stone’s
throw of where the outlet runs from it.' Some years back
H. K. B. killed a Trout of four pounds in Stony Brook, but
when I was there the boats of excursionists bound to or from
the Raquette, passing so frequently, had scared all the fish out
of it, or made them too shy to rise in the few pools you pass
by. When you emerge into the Raquette you are twenty
miles from William Martin’s.
The Raquette is a quiet, dark river, with a gentle current
and but few rapids. It heads in the lakes of Hamilton County,
and flows north into the St. Lawrence, above Lake St. Francis.
It is about fifteen miles from the entrance of Stony Creek to
Tupper’s Lake, which connects with the river by a wide, deep
outlet. If you are not prepared to camp out, you can find
accommodations at Stetson’s, on the Raquette, about two
miles this side of the lake.
Tupper’s Lake is a beautiful sheet of water with pretty
islands, but you have not the splendid view of the sharp
peaks of the Adirondacks, which you get from almost any
part of the Lower Saranac, for you have passed to the west,
and beyond that range of mountains.
36
562 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
This region of country is much frequented by artists, and
some fine pictures of real and supposed scenes in the Adiron-
dacks have been painted. On my return home, I had the
agreeable company, for the greater part of the way, of our
young sculptor friend Q. W. and his wife. They had gone
in from Crown Point, and came down Long Lake and the
Raquette to Stony Brook, and then by way of the Saranacs to
Martin’s, loitering on the way, the trip occupying about ten
days.
JoE. Are there any other fish of the Salmon family in the
Adirondacks besides Lake and Brook Trout?
Nes. There is a species of Coregonus, or Whitefish, in the
Saranacs, similar to those known as Lake Herring in the larger
lakes. I did not see any of them, but was told that their
average size is not over eight inches, which is even smaller
than the Laverett and Gwynaid taken in the lakes of Scot-
land, They do not rise at a fly, however, or take a bait.
When we made the short portage on the stream connecting
the Lower Saranac with Round Lake, my guide pointed out
an eddy below the rapid, where, he said, he has taken five or
six barrels of them in a few days, with a “lift-net,” when
they collect there to spawn, which is in November. They
are sent to market frozen, and are highly esteemed for their
delicate flavor. I have never heard of these fish being taken
in the lakes of Hamilton County, or in those that connect
with the Raquette.
Nor. I thought all the fish of the Salmon family would
take a bait or rise at a fly.
Nes. By no means; you confound the family Salmonide
with the genus Salmo. The Salmon is the type of the family
as well as the genus. All that belong to the genus Salmo
are voracious fish; but the genus known as Coregonus, which
DIES PISCATORIZ. 563
embraces all the Whitefish—large and small—and of which
this little fish is a species, are not predatory; they are peace-
able dwellers in the deeps of the lakes, except in the month
of November, when they come into the rapids to spawn.
Great numbers of them are no doubt devoured in the lakes
by the large Lake Trout.
Joz. Why did you not take a tent and camp out, instead
of sleeping under-roof, after leaving Martins?
Nes. As Walter was lame it was more convenient to sleep
on beds, and unless these are buggy, as they frequently are
in the houses of the settlers, I prefer sleeping in-doors. It is
always necessary to camp out, when you wish to enjoy all
the advantages of a favorite hunting-station, and then it is
well to be provided with a mosquito-net if you go before
August; after that time you are not annoyed with black flies,
and there are then but few mosquitos.
Jor. So you think camping out is not-so much a matter
of comfort as of sentiment, as you call it!
Nes. It is like angling—with some persons a mere matter
of fancy. Washington Irving, in one of his sketches, describes
a fishing party, which included himself; these gentlemen
thought they were in love with angling, from reading Isaac
Walton, forgetting that like “reading and writing,” as Dog-
berry says, it “comes by nature.” They provided themselves
with Trout-rods, reels, artificial flies, &c., and started. After
poking through the bushes and floundering along a rough
little mountain stream all day, and damaging their fine tackle
without catching any fish, and having “satisfied the senti-
ment,” they met with a country lad, his trousers rolled up,
an alder-pole with its rough horsehair line in one hand, and
in the other a handsome string of Trout.
Jor. “Some men are born great"—there are natural
564 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
anglers and natural hunters; but “what boots it,” who have
we here, sitting on a stump?
Nes. That is a natural hunter, my young guide, Reuben
Reynolds, watching for deer.
FLY-FISHING ALONE.
“To him who in the love of nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours,
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile,
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware.” ~
BRYANT.
FLY-FISHING ALONK.
WITH many persons fishing is a mere recreation, a pleasant
way of killing time. To the true angler, however, the
sensation it produces is a deep unspoken joy, born of a long-
ing for that which is quiet and peaceful, and fostered by an
inbred love of communing with nature, as he walks through
grassy meads, or listens to the music of the mountain torrent.
This is why he loves occasionally—whatever may be his
social propensity in-doors—to shun the habitations and
usual haunts of men, and wander alone by the stream, casting
his flies over its bright waters: or in his lone canoe to skim
the unruffled surface of the inland lake, where no sound
comes to his ear but the wild, flute-like cry of the loon, and
where no human form is seen but his own, mirrored in the
glassy water.
No wonder, then, that the fly-fisher loves at times to take a
day, all by himsélf; for his very loneliness begets a comfort-
able feeling of independence and leisure, and a quiet assur-
ance of resources within himself to meet all difficulties that
may arise.
As he takes a near cut to the stream, along some blind
road or cattle-path, he hears the wood-robin with its “to-whé,”
calling to its mate in the thicket, where itself was fledged the
summer before. When he stops to rest at the “wind clear-
ing,” he recalls the traditionary stories told by the old lum-
bermen, of the Indians who occupied the country when their
grandfathers moved out to the “ back settlements,” and, as he
(567)
568 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
t
ruminates on the extinction, or silent removal of these child-
ren of the forest, he may think of the simple eloquent words
of the chief to his companions, the last he uttered: “I will
die, and you will go home to your people, and, as you go
along, you will see the flowers, and hear the birds sing; but
Pushmuttaha will see them and hear them no more; and
when you come to your people they will say, ‘Where is Push-
muttaha?’ and you will say, ‘He is dead:’ then will your
words come upon them, lke the falling of the great oak in the
stillness of the woods.”
As he resumes his walk and crosses the little brook that
“goes singing by,” he remembers what he has read of the
Turks, who built their bowers by the falling water, that they
might be lulled by its music, as they smoked and dreamed of
Paradise. But when the hoarse roar of the creek, where it
surges against the base of the crag it has washed for ages,
strikes his ear, or he hears it brawling over the big stones, his
step quickens, and his pulse beats louder—he is no true
angler if it does not—and he is not content until he gets a
glimpse of its bright rushing waters at the foot of the hill.
Come forth, my little rod—‘“a better never did itself support
upon” an angler's arm,—and let us rig up here on this pebbly
shore! The rings are in a line, and now with this bit of
waxed silk we take a few hitches backward and forward over
the little wire loops which point in opposite directions at the
ends of the ferules, to keep the joints from coming apart; for
it would be no joke to throw the upper part of the rod out of
the butt ferule, and have it sailing down some strong rift.
The reel is on underneath, and not on top, as those Bass-
fishers have it, who are always talking of Fire Island, New-
port, and Narragansett Bay.
What shall my whip be? The water is full, I'll try a red
hackle, its tail tipped with gold tinsel; for my dropper, I’ll
DIES PISCATORIA. 569
put on a good sized coachman with lead-colored wings, and
as soon as I get a few handsful of grass, to throw in the
bottom of my creel, I’ll button on my landing-net and cross
over, with the help of this stick of drift-wood, for it is pretty
strong wading just here. Do you see that rift, and the flat
rock at the lower end of it which just comes above the sur-
face of the water, and divides the stream as it rushes into the
pool below? There’s fishing in rift and pool both; so I'll
begin at the top of the rift, if I can get through these alders.
Go in, my little rod, point foremost; I would not break that
tip at this time to save the hair on my head ;—hold! that
twig has caught my dropper—easy, now,—all clear—through
the bushes at last.
. When I was here last July, and fished the pool below, there
was no rift above, the water hardly came above my ankles;
now it is knee-deep; if there was less it would be better for the
pool; but it makes two casts now, where there was only one
last summer, and I have no doubt there is a pretty fellow by
the margin of the strong water, on this side of the rock,—an
easy cast, too,—just about eight yards from the end of my
tip. Not there—a little nearer the rock. What aswirl! He
did not show more than his back; but he has‘my hackle. I
had to strike him, too, for he took it under water like a bait—
they will do so when the stream is full. Get out of that cur-
rent, my hearty, and don’t be flouncing on top, but keep un-
derneath, and deport yourself like an honest, fair fighter!
There you are, now, in slack water; you can’t last long, tug-
ging at this rate; so come along, to my landing-net; it’s no
use shaking your head at me! ‘What a shame to thrust my
thumb under that rosy gill! but there is no help for it, for
you might give me the slip as I take the hook out of your
mouth, and thrust you, tail-foremost, into the hole of my creel.
You are my first fish, and you know you are my luck; so I
570 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
would not lose you even if you were a little fellow of seven
inches, instead of a good half-pound. I imbibed that super-
stition, not to throw away my first fish, when I was a boy,
and have never got rid of it. Now, tumble about as much as
you please ; you have the whole basket to yourself.
Another cast—there ought to be more fish there. He rose
short,-—a little longer line—three feet more will do it—ex-
actly so. Gently, my nine-incher! Take the spring of the rod
for a minute or so—here you are! Once more, now. How
the “ young ’un” jumps! Ill throw it to him until he learns
to catch; there, he has it. No use reeling in a chap of your
size, but come along, hand-over-hand; Ill release you. Go,
now, and don’t rise at a fly again until you are over nine
inches. '
Not a fly on the water! So I have nothing to imitate, even
if imitation were necessary. Take care! that loose stone
almost threw me. Jl work my way across the current, and
get under the lee of that boulder, and try each side of the
rift where it runs into the pool below the flat rock. Not a
fish in the slack water on this side; they are looking for grub
and larve in the rift. Now, how would you like my coach-
man, by way of a change of diet? There’s a chance for you
—try it. Bosh! he missed it; but he is not pricked. Once
more. Qh, ho! is it there you are, my beauty? Don’t tear
that dropper off. Hold him tight, O'Shaughnessy; you are
the greatest hook ever invented. How he runs the line out,
and plays off into the swift water! It would be rash to check
him now; but I'll give him a few feet, and edge him over
to the side of the rift where there is slack water. That’s bet-
ter; now tug away, while I recover some of my line. You
are off into the current again, are you? but not so wicked.
The click on this reel is too weak, by half—he gives in
now, and is coming along, like an amiable, docile fish, as he
DIES PISCATORIA. 571
is. Whiz! why, what’s the matter, now? Has “the devil
kicked him on end?” as my friend with the “tarry breeks”
has it. He has taken but two or three yards of line, though.
How he hugs the bottom, and keeps the main channel! Well,
he can’t last much longer. Here he comes now, with a heavy
drag, and a distressing strain on my middle joint; and now
I see him dimly, as I get him into the eddy; but there’s
something tugging at the tail-fly. Yes, I have a brace of
them, and that accounts for the last dash, and the stubborn
groping for the bottom. What a clever way of trolling! to
get an obliging Trout to take your dropper, and go sailing
around with four feet of gut, and a handsome stretcher at the
end of it, setting all the fish in the pool crazy, until] some un-
lucky fellow hooks himself in the side of his mouth. How
shall I get the pair into my basket? There is no way but
reeling close up, and getting the lower one into my net first,
and then with another dip to secure the fish on the dropper;
but it must be done gently. So—well done; three-quarters
of a pound to be credited to the dropper, and a half-pound to
the stretcher—total, one pound and a quarter. That will do
for the present. So I’ll sit down on that flat rock and light my
dudeen, and try the remainder of the water presently. I'll
not compromise for less than four half-pound fish before I
leave the pool.
These are some of the incidents that the lone fly-fisher
experiences on a favorable day, and the dreams and anticipa-
tions he has indulged in through the long gloomy winter are
in part realized. “Real joy,” some one has said, is “a serious
thing,” and the solitary angler proves it conclusively to him-
self. He is not troubled that some ardent young brother of
the rod may fish ahead of him, and disturb the water without
availing himself of all the chances; or that a more discreet
companion may pass by some of the pools and rifts without
572 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
bestowing the attention on them they deserve; but in perfect
quietude, and confidence in his ability to meet every contin-
gency that may occur, he patiently and leisurely tries all the
places that offer fair. Whatif he does get hung up in a
projecting branch of some old elm, that leans over the water?
he does not swear and jerk his line away, and leave his flies
dangling there—it is a difficulty that will bring into play his
ingenuity, and perhaps his dexterity in climbing, and he sets
about recovering his flies with the same patient steadiness of
purpose that Cesar did in building his bridge, or that
possessed Bonaparte in crossing the Alps, and feels as much
satisfaction as either of those great generals, in accomplish-
ing his ends.
If he takes “an extraordinary risk,” as underwriters call it,
in casting under boughs that hang within a few feet of the
water, on the opposite side of some unwadeable rift or pool,
and his stretcher should fasten itself in a tough twig, or his
dropper grasp the stem of an obstinate leaf, he does not give
it up in despair, or, consoling himself with the idea that he
has plenty of flies and leaders in his book, pull away and
leave his pet spinner and some favorite hackle to hang there
as a memento of his temerity in casting so near the bushes.
Far from it; he draws sufficient line off his reel and through
the rings to give slack enough to lay his rod down, marking
well where his flies have caught, and finds some place above
or below where he can cross; then by twisting with a forked
stick, or drawing in the limb with a hooked one, he releaseg
his leader, and throws it clear off into the water, that he may
regain it when he returns to his rod, and reels in his line; or
he cuts it off and lays it carefully in his fly-book, and then
recrosses the river. A fig for the clearing-ring and rod-scythe
and all such cockney contrivances, he never cumbers his
pockets with them. Suppose he does break his rod—he sits
DIES PISCATORIA. 573
patiently down and splices it. If the fracture is a compound
one, and it would shorten the piece too much to splice it, he
resorts to a sailor's device, and fishes the stick, by binding a
couple of flat pieces of hard wood on each side.
Captain Marryatt, in ope of his books, says, a man’s whole
lifetime is spent in getting into scrapes and getting out of
them. This is very much the case with the fly-fisher, and he
should always curb any feeling of haste or undue excitement,
remembering at-such times, that if he loses his temper he is
apt to lose his fish, and sometimes his tackle also.
My neighbor asked me once if Trout-fishing was not a very
unhealthy amusement—he thought a man must frequently
have damp feet. Well, it is, I answered; but if he gets wet
up to his middle at the outset, and has reasonable luck, there is
But I have sat here long enough.
no healthier recreation,
Tl fill my pipe again and try the head of that swift water—
If this confounded war lasts a year longer “ Lynchburg” will
go up to three dollars a pound, but it will be cheap then
compared with those soaked and drugged segars that are
imposed upon us for the “Simon-Pure,” under so many cap-
tivating names. At all events this is what it professes to be,
good homely tobac—— Whe-e-euh! What a dash! and how
strong and steady he pulls; some old fellow “with moss on
his back,” from under that log, no doubt of it. Is it line you
want ?—take it, eight—ten—fifteen feet—but no more if you
please. How he keeps the middle of the rift! Don’t tell me
about the “ grace of the curve,” and all that sort of thing; if
the bend of this rod isn’t the line of beauty I never saw it
before, except of course in the outline of a woman's drapery.
Speaking of lines, I'll get a little of this in as I lead the fellow
down stream, even at the risk of disturbing the swim below.
It is the best plan with a large fish; I have Sir Humphrey
Davy’s authority for it, although I believe with Fisher, of the
574 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
“ Angler’s Souvenir,” that he was more of a philosopher than
an angler. Talk of “dressing for dinner,” when the fish are
rising! Steady and slow, my boy, you are giving in at last—
two pounds and a half or not an ounce! now I see you “as
through a glass, darkly”—a little nearer, my beauty—Bah!
what a fool I am! here a fish of a half-pound has hooked
himself amidship, and of course offering five times the resist-
ance he would if fairly hooked in the mouth, and no damage
to his breathing apparatus while fighting, either; for he
keeps his wind all the while. If he had been regularly
harnessed, he could not have pulled with more advantage to
himself and greater danger to my tackle in this rough water.
I thought I had been deceived in this way often enough to
know when a fish was hooked foul.
Now I call it strong wading coming down through that
dark ravine; I must take a rest and put on a fresh dropper.
And so my friend asked me if it was not very lonesome, fish-
ing by myself. Why these little people of the woods are
much better company than folks who continually bore you
with the weather, and the state of their stomachs or livers,
and what they ate for breakfast, or the price of gold, or the
stock-market, when you have forgotten whether you have
a liver or not, and don’t care the toss of a penny what the
price of gold is; or whether “Reading” is up or down.
Lonesome !—It was only just now the red squirrel came
down the limb of that birch, whisking his bushy tail, and
chattering almost in my face. The mink, as he snuffed the
fish-tainted air from my old creel, came out from his hole
amongst the rocks and ran along within a few feet of me.
Did he take my old coat to be a part of this rock, covered
with lichens and gray mosses? I recollect once in the dim
twilight of evening, a doe with her fawns came down to the
stream to drink; I had the wind of her, and could see into
DIES PISCATORIA. 575
her great motherly eyes as she raised her head. A moment
since the noisy king-fisher poised himself on the dead branch
of the hemlock, over my left shoulder, as if he would peep
into the hole of my fish-basket. The little warbler sang in
the alders close by my old felt hat, as if he would burst his
swelling throat with his loud glad song. Did either of them
know that I am of a race whose first impulse is to throw a
stone or shoot a gun at.them? And the sparrow-hawk
on that leafless spray extending over the water, sitting
there as grave and dignified as a bank president when you
ask him for a discount; is he aware that I can tap him on
the head with the tip of my rod?—These are some of the
simple incidents on the stream, which afterwards awaken
memories,
“ That like voices from afar off
Call to us to pause and listen ;
Speak in tones so plain and childlike,
That the ear can scarce distinguish
Whether they are sung or spoken.”
But I must start for the open water below—What a glo-
rious haze there is just now, and how demurely the world’s
great eye peeps through it! Trout are not very shy though,
before the middle of May, even when the sun is bright. I
have sometimes taken my best fish at high noon, at this
season of the year—I am as hungry as a horsefly, though it
is only “a wee short hour ayont the twal.” So I'll unsling
my creel by that big sycamore, and build my fire in the
hollow of it. If I burn it down there will be no action for
trespass in a wooden country like this.
What boys are those crossing the foot-log? I'll press
them into my service for awhile, and make them bring wood
for my fire. I know them now; the larger one has cause to
remember me “with tears of gratitude,” for I bestowed
*
576 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
on him last summer a score of old flies, a used-up leader,
and a limp old rod. He offered me the liberal sum of two
shillings for the very implement I have in my hand now;
and to buy three flies from me at four cents apiece—Halloo,
Paul! what have you done with the rod I gave you—caught
many Trout with it this season? Come over the creek, you
and your brother, and get me some dry wood, and gather a
handful or two of the furze from that old birch to light it with.
rl give you a pair of flies—real gay ones.
Dining alone may be counted almost the only drawback to
one’s taking a day to himself, and you are glad of any stray
native who is attracted by the smoke of your fire. Your
whiskey is beyond a peradventure, better than he has in his
cupboard at home; he is invariably out of tobacco—a chew or
a pipeful, and a swig at your flask, will make him communi-
eative. If he has not already dined, he will readily accept a
roasted Trout and a piece of bread and butter, and while eat-
ing will post you as to all the Trout-streams within ten miles.
It is, therefore, a matter of policy to cultivate the good
feeling of the natives, the boys especially, as stones are
of very convenient size along the creek to throw at a surly
fisherman. A few of “Conroy’s journal-flies,” which have
DIES PISCATORIA. 577
occupied the back leaves of your fly-book for long years are
profitable things to invest in this way, for three boys out of
four you meet with, will ask you to sell them “a pair of fly-
hooks,” which of course results in your giving them a brace
or so that are a little the worse for wear, or too gay for your
own use.
If the fly-fisher, though, would have “society where none
intrudes,” or society that won't intrude, let him take a lad of
ten or twelve along to carry his dinner, and to relieve him
after the roast, by transferring part of the contents of his
creel to the empty dinner-basket. The garrulity and queer
questions of a country boy of this age are amusing, when you
are disposed to talk. Any person who has sojourned at my
friend Jim Henry’s, and had his good-natured untiring boy
Luther for his gilly, will acknowledge the advantage of such
a “tail” even if it has not as many joints as a Highland laird’s.
If there 2s an objection to a Trout-roast, it is that a man
eats too much, and feels lazy after dinner. But what of that?
it is a luxurious indolence, without care for the morrow—
Care! why, he left that at home when he bought his railroad
ticket, and shook off the dust of the city from his hob-
nailed boots.
What pretty bright Trout there are in this bold rocky
creek! it would be called a river in England, and so it is.
We Americans have an ugly way of calling every stream not
a hundred yards wide, a creek. It is all well enough when
the name is applied to some still sedgy water, which loses
half of its depth, and three-fourths of its width, at low tide,
and is bank-full on the flood. But speckled fellows like
these don’t live there. De Kay must have received some
inspiration at a Trout-roast, when he gave them the specific
name of “Fontinalis,” and they are truly the Salmon of the
fountain; for a stream like this and its little tributaries,
37
N
578 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
whose fountains are everywhere amongst these rugged hills,
are their proper home. What an ignorant fellow Poietes
was to ask Halieus if the red spots on a Trout were not
“marks of disease—a hectic kind of beauty?” Any boy
along the creek knows better. And what a pedantic old
theorist Sir Humphrey was, to tell him that the absence of
these spots was a sign of high condition. Well, it may be in
England, for the river Trout there, are a different species
from ours. But I'll bet my old rod against a bob-fly that
there is twice as much pluck and dash in our little fellows
with the “hectic” spots. I don’t wonder that Trout like these
so inspired Mr. Barnwell, who wrote the “Game Fish of
the North,” when, with his fancy in high feather, he mounted
his Pegasus and went off—“How splendid is the sport to
deftly throw the long line and small fly, with the pliant
single-handed rod, and with eye and nerve on the strain, to
watch the loveliest darling of the wave, the spotted naiad,
dart from her mossy bed, leap high into the air, carrying the
strange deception in her mouth, and, turning in her flight,
plunge back to her crystal home.”
Julius Cesar! what “high-flying’’ Trout this gentleman
must have met with in his time. Now, I never saw a Trout
“dart from her mossy bed,” because I never found Trout to
lie on a bed of that sort; nor “leap high into the air, and
turning in her flight plunge back,” as a fish-hawk does. In
fact, I may safely say I never saw a Trout soar more than
eight or ten inches above its “crystal home.” I honor
“Barnwell” for the Anglomania which has seized him—he
has been inoculated with a good scab, and the virus has pene-
trated his system: but I can’t help being reminded by his
description, of the eloquence of a member of a country
debating society in Kentucky, who commenced—“ Happiness,
Mr. President, is like a crow situated on some far-distant
DIES PISCATORIA. 579
mountain, which the eager sportsman endeavors in vain to
no purpose to reproach.” And concluded—“The poor man,
Mr. President, reclines beneath the shade of some wide-
spreading and umbrageous tree, and calling his wife and the
rest of his little children around him, bids their ‘thoughts
inspire to scenes beyond the skies. He views Neptune, Plato,
Venus, and Jupiter, the Lost Pleides, the Auroly Bolyallis,
and other fixed stars, which it was the lot of the immorral
Newton first to depreciate and then to deplore.”
But a gray-headed man who cannot tie a decent knot in his
casting-line without the aid of his spectacles, should forget
such nonsense. There is one consolation, however, that this
“decay of natur,” which brings with it the necessity for
glasses in seeing small objects within arm’s length, gives in
like ratio, the power of seeing one’s flies at a distance on the
water; there was old Uncle Peter Stewart who could knock
a pheasant’s head off at fifty yards with his rifle, and see a
gnat across the Beaverkill, when he was past sixty.
Here is the sun shining as bright now asif he had not
blinked at noon, and such weather, not too hot and not too
cold; I must acknowledge, though, my teeth did chatter this
morning when I waded across at the ford.
“Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky ;
The dew shall weep thy fall to night,
For thou must die.”
T’ll start in here, for it appears there is always luck in the
pool or rift under the lee of the smoke where one cooks his
Trout. It is strange, too, for it seems natural that the smoke
would drive the flies away, and as a consequence the fish get
out of the notion of rising. But no matter, here goes. Just
as I supposed, and a brace of them at the first cast. Come
580 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
ashore on the sloping gravel, my lively little fellows,—eight
and nine inches—the very size for the pan; but who wants to
eat fried Trout after cooking them under the ashes or on a
forked stick ?
There are no good fish here; the water is not much more
than knee-deep, and they have no harbor amongst those small
pebble-stones. I have thrown ina dozen little fellows within
the last ten minutes. I’ll go to the tail of that strong rift
below the saw-mill. The last time I fished it was when that
lean hungry-looking Scotchman came over here from Jim
Henry’s; he had been sneaking through the bushes and
poaching al] the little brooks around, where the fish had run
up to spawn, with his confounded worm-bait. This stream
was low then and the fish shy ; I had approached the end of
the rift carefully and was trying to raise them at long cast in
the deep water, when he—without even saying “by your
leave”—waded in within a few yards of where they were
rising, and splashed his buck-shot sinker and wad of worms
right amongst them. I said nothing, and he did not appear to
think that interfering with my sport so rudely was any breach
of good manners, or of the rules of fair fishing. A Scotch-
man, to catch Trout with a worm/ Poor fellow! his piscatory
education must have been neglected, or he belonged to that
school who brag only on numbers. I know a party of that
sort who come up here every summer from Easton and
bring a,sauer-kraut stanner to pack their Trout in, and salt
down all they take without eating one, until they get home
They catch all they can and keep all they catch, great and
small. Bah! a poor little salted Trout—it tastes more like a
piece of “yaller soap” than a fish. Such fishermen are but
one remove from the bark peelers I found snaring and netting
Trout in the still water beiow here, last August. I can just see
their shanty from here. “Instruments of cruelty are in their
DIES PISCATORIA. 581
habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto
their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united !”
There is the sawyer’s dog; if he comes much nearer I'll
psychologize him with one of these “dunnicks”! But he turns
tail as soon as I stoop to pick one up. Now for it—just at
the end of the swift water—ah! my beauty—fifteen inches,
by all that is lovely! He threw his whole length out of water
—try it again—I can’t raise him. This won’t do. AmI
cold, or am I nervous, that I should shake like a palsied old
man because I missed that fish? Fie on you, Mr. Nestor, you
who have run the rapids at the “Rough Waters” on the
Nipissiguit, in a birch canoe, with a Salmon at the end of
sixty yards of line, and your pipe in your mouth; I thought
you had gotten past a weakness of this kind. But it will
only make bad worse, and convince that Trout of the cheat
to throw over him again; so I must leave him now, and get
back to the log on that sunny bank and compose myself with
e few whiffs, while I change my flies. It will be just fifteen
minutes until I knock the ashes out of my pipe; by that time
my vaulting friend will likely forget the counterfeit I tried to
impose on him, if I offer him something else.
Now Dick gave me this for a meershaum, and I have no
doubt Mr. Doll sold it for one in good faith; but it is a very
“pale complected” pipe for one of that family. I have smoked
it steadily for a year, and there is only the slightest possible
tinge of orange about the root of the stem. It is hardly as
dark as this ginger hackle in my hat-band. However, it is
light, and carries a big charge for a pipe of its size, and the
shortness of the stem brings the smoke so comfortably under
the nose—a great desideratum in the open air. The pipe
must have been instituted expressly for the fisherman ; it is
company when he is lonesome, and never talks when he wants
to be quiet; it concentrates his ideas and assists his judgment
582 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
when he discusses any important matter with himself, such
as the selection of a killing stretcher. No wonder the Indians
smoked at their council-fires; and, as for the nerves, I'll put
it against Mrs. Winslow’s soothing syrup. What a pity it
is that infants are not taught to smoke! What shall my
stretcher be; that fish refused Hofland’s Fancy; now let me
try one of my own fancy. Here is something a great deal
prettier; a purple body in place of a snuff-brown, and light
wings from a lead-colored pigeon instead of a sober woodcock
feather. What a pretty fly—half sad, half gay in its attire,
like an interesting young widow, when she decides on shed-
ding her weeds, and “begins to take notice.” T’ll change my
dropper also—here it is; body of copper-colored peacock
hurl, wings of the feather of an old brown hen, mottled with
yellow specks. What a plain homely look it has; it reminds
me of “the Girl with the Calico Dress.” You are not as showy,
my dear miss, as the charming little widow, but certain indi-
viduals of my acquaintance are quite conscious of your worth,
Let me see which of you will prove most attractive to my
speckled friend. So here goes—two to one on the widow—
lost, by jingo! He looked at her and sailed slowly away. Has
he ever heard of the warning that the sage Mr. Weller gave
his son “Samivel?” Perhaps, then, he will take a notion to
“the girl with the calico dress.” Once more—now do take
care! Ah ha! my old boy, you would be indiscreet, after all,
andthe widow has victimized you. Now she'll lead you a
dance! Don’t be travelling off with her as if you were on
your wedding tour, for I know you would like to get rid of
her already; but there is no divorce beneath the water,—you
are mine, says she, “ until death us do part!”
There you are, now! the three-minutes’ fight has completely
’ taken the wind out of you. That’s the last flap of your tail;
the widow has killed you “as dead as a mackerel.” Acting
DIES PISCATORIA. 583
the gay Lothario, were you? I know some sealy old fellows
who play the same game ashore, stealthily patronizing Mrs.
Allen, subsidizing the tailor, bootmaker, dentist, and barber,
and slyly endeavoring to take off a discount of twenty-five
per cent. from old Father Time’s bill. But that won't do, for
folks of any discernment know at a glance those spavined,
short-winded, shaky old fellows, who trot themselves out, as
if they were done-up for the horse-market. Lie there, my
Turveydrop, until I move down a little, and try under the
bushes, on the opposite side.
With this length of line I can just come close enough to
the alders to miss them. Dance lightly, O my brown girl,
and follow in her wake, dear widow, as I draw you hither.
ward. Ah, ha! and so it is; there is one dashing fellow who
sees charms in your homely dress. How he vaults!—nine
rails, and a top rail! Did you ever know Turner Ashby?
Not Beau Turner—I mean Black Turner. Did he ever strad-
dle a bit of horse-flesh with more mettle? None of your
Conestogas. There he goes again! How long have you be-
longed to the circus? But he can’t run all day at that gait;
he begins to flag, at last, and here he is now, coming in on
the “quarter stretch.” There you are, at last—died as game
as a Dominica chicken. Once more, now. I knew it.—And
again.
Three times my brace of beauties have come tripping home
across the deep whirling rapid, and three bright Trout lie on
the gravel behind me. I begin at last to long for the sound
of some friendly voice, and the sight of a good-humored face.
I must keep my appointment with Walter at the foot-bridge ;
so Iam off. Some of the “ Houseless” don’t like this solitary
sport. I know one of them who would as soon be guilty of
drinking alone; but he is not a contemplative angler, and has
never realized how hungry some folks get through the winter
584 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
for a little fishing. May-be he has never read what William
Howitt says, in his “Rural Life in England,” about fishing
alone. It will come home to every quiet fly-fisher. See what
an unveiling of the heart it is, when the angler is alone with
God and Nature.
“ People that have not been innoculated with the true spirit
may wonder at the infatuation of anglers—but true anglers
leave them very contentedly to their wondering, and follow
their diversions with a keen delight. Many old men there
are of this class that have in them a world of science—not
science of the book, or of regular tuition, but the science of
actual experience. Science that lives, and will die with them ;
except it be dropped out piecemeal, and with the gravity be-
coming its importance, to some young neophyte who has won
their good graces by his devotion to their beloved craft. All
the mysteries of times and seasons, of baits, flies of every
shape and hue; worms, gentles, beetles, compositions, or sub-
stances found by proof to possess singular charms. These
are a possession which they hold with pride, and do not hold
in vain. After a close day in the shop or factory, what a
luxury is a fine summer evening to one of these men, follow-
ing some rapid stream, or seated on a green bank, deep in
grass and flowers, pulling out the spotted Trout, or resolutely
but subtilely bringing some huge Pike or fair Grayling from
its lurking place beneath the broad stump and spreading
boughs of the alder. Or a day, a summer’s day, to such a
man, by the Dove or the Wye, amid the pleasant Derbyshire
hills; by Yorkshire or Northumbrian stream; by Trent or
Tweed; or the hanks of Yarrow; by Teith or Leven, with
the glorious hills and heaths of Scotland around him. Why,
such a day to such a man, has in it a life and spirit of enjoy-
ment to which the feelings of cities and palaces are dim. The
heart of such a man—the power and passion of deep felicity
DIES PISCATORIA. 585
that come breathing from mountains and moorlands; from
clouds that sail above, and storms blustering and growling in
the wind; from all the mighty magnificence, the solitude and
antiquity of Nature upon him—Ebenezer Elliott only can un-
fold. The weight of the poor man’s life—the cares of pov-
erty—the striving of huge cities, visit him as he sits by the
beautiful stream—beautiful as a dream of eternity, and trans-
lucent as the everlasting canopy of heaven above him ;—they
come, but he casts them off for the time, with the power of
one who feels himself. strong in the kindred spirit of all things
around ; strong in the knowledge that he is a man; an im-
mortal—a child and pupil in the world-school of the Almighty.
For that day he is more than a king—he has the heart of hu-
manity, and faith and spirit of a saint. It is not the rod and
line that floats before him—-it is not the flowing water, or the
captured prey that he perceives in those moments of admis-
sion to the heart of nature, so much as the law of the testi-
mony of love and goodness written on everything around
him with the pencil of Divine beauty. He is no longer the
wearied and oppressed—the trodden and despised—walking
in threadbare garments amid men, who scarcely deign to look
upon him as a brother man—but he is reassured and recog-
nised to himself in his own soul, as one of those puzzling,
aspiring, and mysterious existences for whom all this splen-
did world was built, and for whom eternity opens its expect-
ing gates. These are magnificent speculations for a poor,
angling carpenter or weaver; but Ebenezer Elliott can tell
us that they are his legitimate thoughts, when he can break.
for an instant the bonds of his toiling age, and escape to the
open fields. Let us leave him dipping his line in the waters
of refreshing thought.”
Thus writes William Howitt. But there is the foot-bridge,
and here are my little friends, the Sand-pipers. How.often
586 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
the fly-fisher sees them running along the pebbly margin of
the Trout stream (as Wilson truly says), “continually nod-
ding their heads;” sometimes starting with their peculiar
short shrill note, from their nests in the wave-washed tufts
of long grass, flapping along the creek sideways, as if
wounded in leg or wing, to decoy the fancied destroyer from
the nest of downy little snipelings. And there, where the
waters of the noisy rapid finds rest in the broad shallow
below, is one perched on a big gray boulder, as gray as her-
self. How lonely she seems there, like the last of her race,
were it not that her constant mate is on the strand below,
busily engaged picking up larva and seedling muscles for its
little ones in the nest up the creek.
THE ANGLER’S SABBATH.
“Yue first men that our Saviour dear
Did choose to wait upon Him here
Blest fishers were, and fish the last
Food was that He on earth did taste;
I therefore strive to follow those,
Whom He to follow Him hath chose.”
WALton.
THE ANGLER’S SABBATH.
How peacefully the Sabbath dawns on the weary angler |
Whether he is sojourning within sound of the hoarse break-
ers, or amongst the mountains of a rugged Trout country.
If at some ocean watering-place, after his refreshing bath
in the surf, and his breakfast, if there be no place of public
worship near, he whiles away the day as he best can. Strolling
along the sea-shore, picking up smooth-worn shells and bright
pebbles, and scaring the little snipe that follow the retreating
rollers to catch the marine insects they leave, or ply their
spindle-shanks shoreward, as they are chased up the beach
by the incoming surf. Or he walks along the bay-shore,
flushing the curlew and willet, and startling the colonies of
busy little fiddler crabs on the muddy flats, each one appa-
rently shouldering its big hind-leg, as it scrambles away to
its smoothly-burrowed hole.
If in a Trout country, the day is ushered in with the sing-
ing of birds, and God’s blessed sunshine lighting up the sides
of the hills, and pervading his heart. If he rises late, it is
because he is stiff from wading the rough stream the day
before ; perhaps he has a few bruises on his shins, but a good
breakfast and a little exercise after it, supple his joints and
rejuvenate him. The creels have been washed, and hang
against the sunny side of the house, and the rods rest in the
outer angle of the chimney, or on wooden pegs along the
sides of the porch. The sight of the biggest Trout at break.
(589)
590 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
fast acts as a reminder of some of the ludicrous mishaps of
yesterday, and good-natured repartee and jest give a zest to
the meal. Some remember the commandment—“ In it thou
shalt not do any work,” and get ready to go to meeting with
the hostess or the girls; while others take a quiet stroll
through the woods, or along the stream, and see sights and
hear sounds that come back to them at times, amid the busy
hum of the dense city, like “far-off murmurs, gentle whispers.”
But the girls are waiting, dressed in their Sunday gear.
You would scarcely know Kate for the naked-ankled lass
you saw milking as you came in last evening; and there is
Hans and his dog “Watch,” all ready to start. There is no
chancelled or steepled church here, so we walk a mile or two
down the creek to the township school-house, where sturdy
farmers, gaunt raftsmen, staid matrons, and “unco lads and
clever hizzies” sit waiting in silence the coming of the circuit
preacher.
All is peace within; the only thing that betokens discord
without, is a disposition of “Watch,” and Captain Ellis’s dog
“Top,” to renew an ancient feud, which might involve
“Cesar,” who stands by with tail erect, bristling in armed
neutrality, but ready to take sides with the party that proves
strongest: this of course would wake up the pugnacity of a
pompous little fellow with his tail curled over his back so
stiffly that his hind feet scarcely touch the ground; even the
“bench-legged fice,” and the sheep-stealing-looking “ yaller
dog,” with his bushy associate, who has been curtailed of his
“fair proportions” so close to his hurdies, that it is difficult
to say whether it has been “cut off or druv in;” the lap-
eared hound would also pitch in, and there would be no
preventing a free fight. But Hans calls Watch off, and as
he slinks under the bench by his side, the casus belli is
removed.
DIES PISCATORIA. 591
Let us follow Watch, and enter the log school-house. How
the primitive institoot brings back recollections of the time
when we walked two or three miles to an old field-school, and
carried our dinners in a basket! Its very smell is familiar ;
the long slab benches, just such as we used to polish with
our corduroy trousers, and carve the initials of our sweet-
hearts’ and our own name on; the wooden pegs like those we
hung our hats and bonnets on; the teacher’s desk, and the
long low windows, of the same pattern they were forty years
ago; and there is the old ten-plate wood-stove standing in the
middle of the floor, with its side-doors off the hinges, so like
the one we used to toast our bread or fry our bacon on, at
playtime, and, when the master was not looking, spit against
during school-hours, to see it dance and sizzle. Let us read
the maker’s name on the side-plate—“ Reuben Trexler—Mary
Ann Furnace.” What an affectionate way those old iron-
masters had, of naming their furnaces after their wives or
some favorite daughter! I never read any other than a
feminine name on a ten-plate stove. I don’t believe there
ever was a male furnace, at least there were none when I was
a boy; but there was “Rebecca Furnace,” or “Mary Ann
Furnace,” or “Maria Furnace,” or “Isabella Furnace,” or
“Sarah Ann Furnace.” It was always some dear woman’s
name that appeared on the hard black side-plates.
What delays the preacher? he is fifteen minutes behind
time! Perhaps his horse is grass-fed, and he remembers on
this warm June morning, that “the merciful man is merciful
to his beast,” and rides slowly; or the fair sisters at old
brother Ezra’s, where he stayed all night, twelve miles away,
have been a little sweet on the young preacher, and he
sat longer over his coffee than usual. The company are
getting restless; there is a frequent “ahem!” from the women,
and the little boys are munching maple-sugar, or indulging
592 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
in a sly game of heads and points with crooked pins, to while
away the time. But Captain Ellis, appreciating this state of
“public feeling,” like a considerate brother, strikes up—with
only a slight nasal twang in his big manly voice—that grand
old hymn,
“When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I’m lost
In wonder, love, and praise.”
All join in, and, as the hymn closes, the minister enters.
The gospel of peace and salvation is preached, and we say
amen to the closing prayer, that 1t may accomplish that
“whereunto it is sent.”
The service over, there is kindly greeting of neighbors;
perhaps some talk about “craps” and lumber, and then the
homeward walk.
After dinner and a nap, we take a walk to the falls, or the
pigeon-roost ; and on our return, as we come down the creek,
we see the diverging circles dimpling the still pools as the
Trout quietly rise and take in the little yellow ephemera that
fly over us, and settle on the water.
In the evening one of the brethren reads from his pocket
edition of Walton, the discourse on thankfulness, delivered
by Father “Izaak,” to his friend Venator, as he was journey-
ing towards Tottenham High-Cross; which we here insert
for the perusal of all anglers, who “Remember to keep the
Sabbath day holy.”
“Well, Scholar, having now taught you to paint your rod,
and we having still a mile to Tottenham High-Cross, I will,
as we walk towards it, in the cool shade of this sweet honey-
suckle hedge, mention to you some of the thoughts and joys
DIES PISCATORIAZ. 593
that have possessed my soul since we two met together. And
these thoughts shall be told you, that you also may join with
me in thankfulness to the Giver of every good and perfect
gift for our happiness. And, that our present happiness may
appear to be the greater, and we the more thankful for it, I
will beg you to consider with me, how many do, even at this
very time, lie under the torment of the stone, the gout,
and toothache; and this we are free from. And every
misery that I miss is a new mercy; and therefore let us be
thankful. There have been, since we met, others that have
met disasters of broken limbs; some have been blasted;
others thunder-strucken ; and we have been freed from these,
and all those many miseries that threaten human nature: let
us therefore rejoice and be thankful. Nay, which is a far
greater mercy, we are free from the unsupportable burthen
of an accusing tormenting conscience, a misery that none can
bear; and therefore let us praise Him for his preventing
grace; and say, Every misery that I miss is a new mercy.
Nay, let me tell you, there be many that have forty times
our estates, that would give the greatest part of it to be
healthful and cheerful like us; who, with the expense of a
little money, have ate and drank, and laughed, and angled,
and sung, and slept securely; and rose next day, and cast
away care, and sung, and laughed, and angled again; which
are blessings rich men cannot purchase with all their money.
Let me tell you, Scholar, I have a rich neighbor, that is
always so busy that he has no leisure to laugh; the whole
business of his life is to get money, and more money, that he
may still get more and more money; he is still drudging on,
and says, that Solomon says, ‘The diligent hand maketh
rich;’ and it is true indeed; but he considers not that it is
not in the power of riches to make a man happy; for it was
wisely said, by a man of great observation, ‘That there be
38
594 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
as many miseries beyond riches, as on this side them:’ and
yet God deliver us from pinching poverty; and grant, that
having a competency, we may be content and thankful. Let
not us repine, or so much as think the gifts of God unequally
dealt, if we see another abound with riches; when, as God
knows, the cares, that are the keys that keep those riches,
hang often so heavily at the rich man’s girdle, that they clog
him with weary days and restless nights, even when others
sleep quietly. We see but the outside of the rich man’s
happiness; few consider him to be like the silkworm, that,
when she seems to play, is, at the very same time, spinning
her own bowels, and consuming herself. And this many
rich men do; loading themselves with corroding cares, to
keep what they have, probably, unconscionably got. Let us,
therefore, be thankful for health and a competence, and above
all, for a quiet conscience.
“Let me tell you, Scholar, that Diogenes walked on a day,
with a friend, to see a country fair; where he saw ribbons,
and looking-glasses, and nut-crackers, and fiddles, and hobby-
horses, and many other gimcracks; and having observed
them, and all the other finnimbruns that make a complete
country fair; he said to his friend, ‘Lord, how many things
are there in this world of which Diogenes hath no need!’
And truly it is so, or might be so, with very many who vex
and toil themselves to get what they have no need of. Can
any man charge God, that he hath not given him enough to
make his life happy? No, doubtless; for nature is content
with a little: and yet you shall hardly meet with a man that
complains not of some want; though he, indeed, wants
nothing but his will, it may be nothing but his will of his
poor neighbor, for not worshipping, or not flattering him:
and thus, when we might be happy and quiet, we create
trouble to ourselves. I have heard of a man that was angry
DIES PISCATORIA. 595
with himself because he was no taller, and of a woman that
broke her looking-glass because it would not show her face
to be as young and handsome as her next neighbor’s was.
And I knew another, to whom God had given health and
plenty, but a wife that nature had made peevish, and her
husband’s riches had made purse-proud, and must, because
she was rich, and for no other virtue, sit in the highest pew
in the church; which being denied her, she engaged her
husband into a contention for it, and at last into a lawsuit
with a dogged neighbor, who was as rich as he, and had a
wife as peevish and purse-proud as the other: and this law-
suit begot higher oppositions, and actionable words, and
more vexations and lawsuits; for you must remember that
both were rich, and must therefore have their wills. Well,
this wilful purse-proud lawsuit lasted during the life of the
first husband; after which his wife vexed and chid, and chid
and vexed, till she also chid and vexed herself into her grave:
and so the wealth of these poor rich people was curst into a
punishment, because they wanted meek and thankful hearts;
for those only can make us happy. I knew a man that had
health and riches, and several houses, all beautiful and
ready furnished, and would often trouble himself and family
to be removing from one house to another; and being asked
by a friend, why he removed so often from one house to
another, replied, ‘It was to find content in some of them.’
But his friend, knowing his temper, told him, if he would
find content in any of his houses, he must leave himself
behind him: for content will never dwell but in a meek and
quiet soul. And this may appear, if we read and consider
what our Saviour says in St. Matthew’s Gospel ; for he there
says,—' Blessed be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed be the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed
be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
596 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
And, Blessed be the meek, for they shall possess the earth.’
Not that the meek shall not also obtain mercy, and see God,
and be comforted, and at last come to the kingdom of heaven ;
but inthe mean time he, and he only, possesses the earth as
he goes toward that kingdom of heaven, by being humble
and cheerful, and content with what his good God has
allotted him: he has no turbulent, repining, vexatious
thoughts that he deserves better; nor is vexed when he sees
others possessed of more honor or more riches than his wise
God has allotted for his share; but he possesses what he has
with a meek and contented quietness, such a quietness as
makes his very dreams pleasing both to God and himself.
“My honest Scholar, all this is told to incline you to
thankfulness: and to incline you the more, let me tell you,
that though the prophet David was guilty of murder and
adultery, and many other of the more deadly sins; yet he
was said to be a man after God’s own heart, because he
abounded more with thankfulness than any other that is
mentioned in holy Scripture, as may appear in his book of
Psalms; where there is such a commixture of his confessing
of his sins and unworthiness, and such thankfulness for God’s
pardon and mercies, as did make him to be accounted, even
by God himself, to be a man after his own heart. And let
us, in that, labor to be as like him as we can: let not the
blessings we receive daily from God, make us not to value,
or not praise him, because they be common; let not us
forget to praise him for the innocent mirth and pleasure we
have met with since we have met together. What would a
blind man give to see the pleasant rivers, and meadows, and
flowers, and fountains, that we have met with since we
met together? I have been told, that if a man, that was born
blind, could obtain to have his sight, for but only one hour
during his whole life, and should, at the first opening of his
DIES PISCATORIA. 597
eyes, fix his sight upon the sun when it was in his full glory,
either at the rising or setting of it, he would be so transported
and amazed, and so admire the glory of it, that he would not
willingly turn his eyes from that first ravishing object, to
behold all the other various beauties this world could present
to him. And this, and many other like blessings, we enjoy
daily; and for most of them, because they be so common,
most men forget to pay their praises: but let not us; because
it is a sacrifice so pleasing to him that made that sun and us,
and still protects us, and gives us flowers, and showers, and
stomachs, and meat, and content, and leisure to go a fishing.
“Well, Scholar, I have almost tired myself, and, I fear,
more than almost tired you: but I now see Tottenham High-
Cross; and our short walk thither shall put a period to my
too long discourse; in which my meaning was, and is, to
plant that in your mind, with which I labor to possess my
own soul; that is, a meek and thankful heart. And, to that
end, I have showed you that riches without them do not
make any man happy. But let me tell you, that riches with
them remove many fears and cares; and therefore my advice
is, that you endeavor to be honestly rich, or contentedly
poor: but be sure that your riches be justly got, or you spoil
all. For it is well said by Caussin, ‘he that loses his con-
science, has nothing left that is worth keeping.’ Therefore
be sure you look to that. And, in the next place, look to
your health: and if you have it, praise God, and value it
next to a good conscience ; for health is the second blessing
that we mortals are capable of, a blessing that money cannot
buy; and therefore value it, and be thankful for it. As for
money, which may be said to be the third blessing, neglect it
not: but note, that there is no necessity of being rich; for I
told you, there be as many miseries beyond riches, as on this
side them: and, if you have a competence, enjoy it with a
598 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
meek, cheerful, thankful heart. I will tell you, Scholar, I
have heard a grave divine say, that God has two dwellings,
one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart.
Which Almighty God grant to me and to my honest Scholar;
and so you are welcome to Tottenham High-Cross.” * * *
“‘Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord: and
let the blessing of St. Peter’s Master be with mine.
“And upon all that are lovers of virtue; and dare trust
in his Providence, and be quiet, and go a-angling.”
May no true angler forget to praise God for his blessings
“because they are so common;” for “it is a sacrifice so
pleasing to him, who made the sun and us, and still protects
us, and gives us flowers, and showers, and stomachs, and meat,
and content, and leisure to go a-fishing.”
CONCLUSION. 599
CONCLUSION.
ONE who has had the patience to read the foregoing pages
consecutively through, has no doubt observed, that in several
instances I have repeated in a special way, much in word or
substance that I had said in a preceding chapter, or in a
general way. As an example, I have had occasion to refer
to the manner of propagation with fishes in no less than four
distinct articles; either of which would have been incomplete, .
or lacking the interest it was entitled to, had I omitted to do
so. Again, there are certain sporting or rather angling terms
which I have unavoidably reiterated.—I hope the reader will
not regard such repetitions as blunders, for I am deeply
conscious that in this my first and likely my last attempt at
writing for publication, there are enough real sins of omis-
sion and commission in my compositions to answer for; even
after adopting the hints and suggestions of the friend with
whom I have read the proof-sheets.
Readers are not generally aware of the obligations we
authors are under to honest, careful proof-readers, and how
much bad grammar, bad spelling, and imperfect composition
would be inflicted on them, were our productions sent forth
without being cauterized and plastered by them. I am
indebted to the firm who stereotyped these pages, not only
for their aid in this respect, but for the tasteful and judicious
arrangement of the book. The junior member of the firm
(being one of our craft) has taken an especial interest in the
respectability of its appearance. In fact his solicitude on
this score has even been exhibited at times in an unamiable
manner. For instance, in reading some of the earlier proof-
sheets, he would abruptly ask me, how many times in a single
600 AMERICAN ANGLER’S BOOK.
chapter I intended to accuse the City Gas-Works of having
spoiled the fishing in the Schuylkill? or, how many friends
T had on whose statements I could rely? or how many times
in my article on Fly-Fishing, I intended to use the term
“spring of the rod,” on a single page? He has even been so
regardless of my feelings, as to ridicule my drawing of the
Black Bass, on page 103, saying, that he always felt an
inclination to stick a “quid” in its mouth; and laughed
outright, when I tried to explain that the expression of that
feature was intended to make the fish look gay.—I hope the
reader will regard my deficiencies as artist or author with
more leniency.
If I have at times laid down rules at variance with the
practice of experienced anglers, I would suggest, that there
may be more than one process of accomplishing the same
thing. With a certain class of fishers it may. be, that
The very head and front of my offending
Hath this extent, no more—
that I have in as strong language as I could decorously use,
condemned unfair and unsportsmanlike angling, and held up
to scorn the mere Pot-fisher and Snob. If such be the case
Iam content. “It is a very pretty quarrel as it stands,” but
to every Honest ANGLER—whether a fly-fisher or a bait-
fisher, adept, or struggling with adverse circumstances in
his efforts to reach the higher branches of the art, I tender
my sincerest sympathies.
And now, dear Reader, may you by keeping a conscience
void of offence, keep at peace with yourself and
THE AUTHOR.
INDEX.
Abloden grunniens, 122.
Alosa preestibilus, 171.
Anglers’ Sabbath, 589.
Angler, What and who is an angler? 29.
The Fussy Angler, 30.
The Snob Angler, 30.
The Greedy Pushing Angler, 30.
The Spick and Span Angler, 30.
The Rough and Ready Angler, 30.
The Literary Angler, 30.
The Pretentious Angler, 31.
The Shad-roe Fisherman, 31.
The English Admiral an Angler, 33.
Angling, its harmonizing influences. 27.
Recollections of, in boyhood, 28.
Its after influences on manhood, 29.
Its social tendency, 29.
Anguilla communis, 186.
Aquarium, 483.
Artificial Fish-Breeding, 459, 464.
Hatching Troughs, 468, 471.
Expressing the Spawn, 469.
Treatment of Fecundated Eggs, 475.
Food for Young Trout, 479.
Pack’s Grayling, 259.
Bait, Fishing for Trout, 272.
Barb, or Kingfish, 286.
Barthrolomceus pampanus, 298.
Bass. Black, of the Lakes, 103.
Trolling for, 105.
Fresh Water of the
West, 99.
Oswego, 110.
Striped, or Rockfish, 110.
Striped of the Ohio, 108.
Short Striped, 109.
+ White of the Lakes, 97.
Blackfish, 300.
Bluefish, or Snapping Mackerel, 294.
Bream, 118.
South and
Brook Trout, Scientific description, 194.
Habits and manner of breeding, 195.
Growth of, 196.
Difference in the size of, 196.
Effect of light and water on, 199.
Errors in regard to new species, 199.
Food of, 200.
Geographic range of, 202.
Large size of, 204.
Former abundance and cause of de-
crease, 202.
Buffalo Fish, 155.
Buffalo Perch, 122.
Camping on the River, 368.
Camp Equipage, 368.
Cooking Utensils, 371.
Clothing, 321.
Stores for, 371.
Canadian Trout, 238.
Capelin, 267.
Carp Family, 153.
Casting the fly—
For Trout, 327.
For Salmon, 356.
Catfish and Hels, 177.
Catfish, extract from Ieconographic Ency-
clopedia, 177.
Catfish of Atlantic and Western
States, 180.
Care for the young, 182.
Catostomus babulos, 155.
“« communis, 154.
Clupeide, 165.
Chamberlain, John, 392.
Chub, Errors in regard to size of, 157.
An annoyance to Fly-Fishers, 158,
Chub-Fishing on the Brandywine, 159.
Umbrella invented by a Chub-fisher-
man, 160.
(601)
602
Cooking Fish. See the conclusion of ar-
ticle on each fish described.
Cooking Salmon on the river, 372.
To boil, 372.
To broil, 372.
Cold, 372.
Soused, 373.
To bake Grilse, 373.
Cooking Trout on the stream, 497.
Coregonus albus, 269.
Corvina ocellata, 293.
Croaker, 291.
Cybium maculatum, 296.
Cyprinids, 153.
Dies Piscatoria, 489.
Houseless Anglers, 490.
Introductory Remarks, 491.
Noonday Roast, 497.
First Nooning, 503.
Second “ 513.
Third “ 531.
Fourth ‘ 547.
Fly-Fishing alone, 567.
‘The Anglers’ Sabbath, 589.
Conclusion, 599.
Drumfish, 299.
Eels, observations on, 183.
The Lamprey, 183.
The Electric, 184.
The Commun, 186,
Esox lucioides, 131.
estor, 135.
vittatus, 118.
Fall fish, 157.
Fish-Breeding, 460.
Artificial, 464.
Fish, Definition of, 39.
General remarks on, 39.
Origin and order in Creation, 40.
Natural mode of propagation, 41.
Habits as regards maternity, 43.
Migration of, 45.
Vitality of, 47.
External organs of, 51.
Internal organization of, 52.
Travelling on land, 50.
Mucous secretion on, its use, 54.
Teeth of, 54.
Fish-Ponds. Manner of stocking them
by ova left in the soil, 48, 461.
Flies for Trout, 312.
« «@ Saluvon, 350,
Flounder, 299.
INDEX.
Fly-Making, 419.
Implements for, 420.
Materials for, 421, 423.
Making hackles, 429.
Winged flies, 434.
Frost fish, 309.
Gangs for trolling, 409.
Gar fish, 128.
Goody, 283.
Great Lake Pickerel, 131.
Great Lake Trout, 250.
Manner of taking them, 251.
Grilse, 229.
Grystes salmoides, 99.
“ nigricans, 103.
Gymnotide, 184,
Hans Breitmann’s Barty, 527.
Herring Family, remarks on, 155.
Great abundance in United States,
170.
Hooks, 64.
Houseless Anglers, account of, 490.
Ichthyology, 56.
Tron-wood, 442.
Jackfish, 130.
Jack fishing in Eastern Virginia, 144.
Kingfish, 286.
Knots, 409.
Labrax albidus, 97.
Labrax lineatus, 81.
Labrax pallidus, 90.
Leaders, 69.
Leiostomus obliquus, 289.
Lesser Lake Trout, 255.
Trolling for, 256.
Leucosomus nothus, 157.
Lines, 70, 312, 349.
Long Beach, 278.
Loops, 406.
Lucioperca Americana, 120.
Mallotus villosus, 267.
Mascalonge, 135.
Micropogon undulatus, 291.
Mingan River, 386.
Mirimichi, 388.
Moisie River, 385.
Fishing in, 384.
Mosquitoes, protection against, 369.
Mullet, 300.
Murenide, 183.
INDEX,
New Brunswick, rivers of, 386.
Nigger Gen’ral, The, 541,
Nipissiguit River, 390.
Noonday Roast, The, 497.
Nooning, Ist, 503.
«2d, 511.
«3d, 529,
« Ath, 545,
Ohio Salmon, 120.
Osmerus viridescens, 263.
Otolithus regalis, 283.
Pagrus argyrops, 301.
Perea flavescens, 114.
chrysops, 108.
Perch Family, 77.
Perch, White, 90,
Yellow barred, 114.
Buffalo, 122.
Fishing, 92.
Chinkapin, 111.
Percidse, remarks on, 77.
Great numbers of American spe-
cies, 77.
Paucity of European species, 78.
Distinguishing marks of, 78,
Migratory habits, 79.
Petromyzontidx, 183.
Pickerel, Great Northern, 131.
Trolling for, 133.
Pigfish, 289.
Pike Family, 127.
Remarks on, 127.
Pond, 138.
Great Blue, 147.
Little, of Long Island, 147.
Streaked, of the Ohio, 148.
Fishing, 139.
Trolling for, 139.
Fishing in Eastern Virginia, 143.
Pliny’s, 129.
Gesner’s, 129.
Pike Perch, 120.
Pogonias cromis, 299.
Pomoxis hexicanthus, 111.
Pomotis vulgaris, 115.
Porgy, 301.
Receipts, 410.
Dyeing gut, 410.
Feathers and dubbing, 411.
Preparing Salmon lines in oil, 349.
Redfish of the Gulf of Mexico, 293.
Reels, 71, 312, 348.
Repairs, 407, 408.
Roach and Roach-fishing, 161.
Rockfish, 81.
Rock-fishing on the Lower Rappahan-
nock, 87,
Rod-Making,
Wood and cane used for, 442.
Tools used in, 443.
To make a fly-rod, 444.
To make a tip, 445.
To stain, oil, and varnish, 445.
Wrapping, splicing, &c., 447.
To make a rent and glued tip, 448.
Fly-rod adjusted for light or heavy
fishing, 452.
Ferules, 452.
Rods, 72, 308, 345.
Sac-a-lai, 111.
Saguenay River, 381.
Salmon-Fishing.
Tackle for.
Rods, 345.
Reels, 348.
Reel lines, 349.
How to prepare lines in oil, 349.
Casting lines, 350.
Flies, 350.
Materials for Salmon flies, 352.
Flies for rivers of New Bruns-
wick, 353.
Flies for rivers of Canada, 355,
Casting the Fly—
Theory and practice, 356.
Compared with Trout-fishing, 357.
The straight cast described, 358.
Casting over the left shoulder, 361.
Casting in difficult places, 361.
Casting in an unfavorable wind, 362.
Striking and playing a Salmon, 364.
Gaffing, 367.
Salmon, former abundance in the United
States, 206. Great numbers ‘in
California, Oregon, and the Bri-
tish Possessions, 208.
Decline of Salmon fisheries, 209.
Scientific description, 211.
Natural process of propagation, 212.
Growth of the young, 222.
Grilse, 229. ;
Mature, 231.
Size of, 232, 233.
Instinct of, 233.
Migration of, 234.
Leaps of, 235,
O04
Food of, 234, 236.
Dwarf, of the St. Croix, 248.
Cooking, on the river, 372.
Law and custom of the river, 374.
Rivers of British Provinces, 380.
nulmonida, Salmon Family, 191.
Remarks on, 191.
sulmo salar, 206.
Canadensis, 238.
Gloveri, 248.
Namaycush, 250.
Adirondakus, 255.
Fontinalis, 194.
Water Fishing—Introductory re-
marks, 277.
Sheepshead, 279.
Weak fish, or Salt-water Trout, 283.
Barb, or Kingfish, 286,
Spot, Pigfish, or Goody, 289.
Croaker, 291.
Redfish, 293.
Bluefish, 294.
Spanish Mackerel, 296.
Pompano, 298.
Drumfish, 299.
Flounder, 299.
Sea Bass, 300.
Blackfish, 300.
Mullet, 300.
Tom Cod, or Frostfish, 301.
Porgy, 301.
Sammy Shourds, 278.
Sandre, 121.
Sargus ovis, 279.
Scientific Terms :—
Acanthopterygii, 56.
Ctenoids, 40.
Cycloids, 40.
Malacopterygii, 56.
Thoracii, 57.
Abdominal, 57.
Placoids, 40.
Ganoids, 40.
Schoodic Trout, 248.
Fishing for them, 249.
Scouring earth-worms, 273.
Sea-bass, 300.
shad, delicacy as food, 171.
Migratory habits, 172.
Taken with a minnow, 173.
Shad-roe as bait, 174.
Sheepshead, 279.
Siokers, 68.
Smelt—Great numbers of—on Northern
Coast, 265.
Balt
INDEX.
In Schuylkill and Raritan, 263.
Quantity sent South, from Bos-
ton, 265.
Used as a fertilizer, 265.
Cooking, 266.
Snapping Mackerel, 294.
Snoods, 68.
Spanish Mackerel, 296.
Splicing, 407, 408.
Spot, 289.
St. Margaret River, 381.
Stores for camping out, 371.
Sucker, 154.
Sunfish, or Sunny, 115.
Swivels, 68.
Tackle in general, 63.
Temnodon saltator, 294.
Tent, 368.
Thymallus signifer, 259.
Tom-Cod, 301.
Trout-fishing in Hamilton County, New
York, 503.
In New Hampshire, 513.
In the regions of Lake Supe-
rior, 531.
In the Adirondacks, 547.
Trout Fly-fishing—Outfit and tackle.
Wading jacket, 395. :
Trousers, 305.
Boots, 305.
Creel or basket, 306.
Landing net, 306.
Rods, 308.
Reels, 311.
Lines, 312.
Leaders, 312.
Flies, 312.
The whip, 321.
The Stream—Casting the Fly, 327.
Theory of strict imitation, 334. ~
Striking and killing a fish, 335.
Likely places, and how to fish
them, 337.
Uwmbrina nebulosa, 286.
Wax, 415.
Waxing silk and thread, 405.
Weakfish, 283.
Whitefish, 269.
Value as food, 270.
How taken, 270.
Habits, 271.
THE END.
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