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Las diagrammes suivants lilustrent la m^thoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 6 6 mmm wmmmfmi MP THE GAME FISH OP THE NORTHERN STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES. Wmi AM AOCOUKT OF TUB SALMON AKD 8BA-TR0UT FISHING OF CANADA AND MKW BRUNSWICK, TOOKTHSB WITH 8I1IPLK DIBSCTI0M8 FOR TTINO ABTIFIOIAL FUES, ETC., STO. Br ROBERT B. ROOSEVELT, AOTBOB or "SVPIUOB riBHIMO," "TBI OAlll BIIOS Off TBI HOBTB," T.tO, '•^- M^ NEW YORK: Carleton,. Publisher, 413 Broadway. ■^^(y U DCCC LXIX. ^ f. h ■: ■ : ,1 '.- w. sT "'"'^v^ ^^*'^, Xptibbd according to Act of Congress, In the year 1861 br Q. W. OARLETON, I the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United SUtes for the Soolham DMrlal of New York. .,)^ /•'■ /*■ j'f-' .*"'■•' * !** .:i.V!.-ji»«^' PAOI Allowance of provigions 804 Attihawmeg 147 '-■-m Bajaa, black 217 Otsego 161 rock 222 Baits for trout. 88 Black fly 289 Blue-flah 163 Boiestown 186 Camp life 289 stores 294 CentrarehuB ameus 222 faseiatus. 217 Cisco 149 Classification of fish 7, 821 Cooking 296-299 Coregontu tUbtu 147 OUego 161 Common carp 168 Crab bait 206 Curing fish 296 CypriniM earpio 168 Ephemera 284 Ssox estor 164 feuciatus '. 187 lueioidet 181 rctiei^atua 182 riaa Seote tredeeetn radiatiu 184 Expenses to New Brunswick. . . 821 P. Flies aid knots 265 for bass. 276 for salmon 268 for trout 16 French vocabulary 820 a Ghoat of Deadman*s Landing. . . .126 story of Abraham 129 Glass-eye 224 Green-fish 168 Orytttea nigricans 217 Horse mackerel 168 Insects 277 Knots 265 Iiobrax lineahu 202 Landing fish... 28 LttVal 61 lake 77 note to 820 INDEX. # Laws of flsberies Lueioperca cunmeana. FAAI .807 .224 MttMaUoYige 164 Ifascanonga 164 Marahpee 22 Miruniohi 120 MooM story 181 N. Ktmopttra .'...288 New UraiMwiok, trip to 116 note 821 NipLdqoit.. . ^ 140 Ohio salmon 226 Otsego bass 151 P. Ptrca lahrax 202 Jlaveseens 228 Perch, yeUow 228 Pickerel 168 common 182 Ereat northern 181 ong Island 187 Pickering. 224 Pike, federation 184 of the lakes 224 perch. ... 224 Propagation of fish 280 Phryganea 284 riai Salmon 88 fishing. 92, 102 habits of 98 rirers 167 rirers, how to reach them 111 time for catching. . . .94, 308 place for catching 94 rod for 91 Ohio 226 Baltno talar. 88 tmttta marina 41 Seietia lineata. 202 Scollops 207 Sea trout 41 time for catching 808 Shrimp bait 205 Skipjack 168 Smoking fish 297 Snap-hook 176 Snapping mackerel 167 Spearing.^ 209, 816 Spoons 174 Report of Mr. Whitcher 816 Roe of shad or salmon 204 Rock-fish 202 T. * Temnodon salMor 166 Tents 293, 803 Thousand Isles 189 Transportation of fish 249 Trimmers for pickerel 177 Trout, American speckled, or brook 12 fiies for 16 fly-fishing for 18 baits for 28 sea, white or silver 41 white, or Scoodic 146 fc,' W. White-fish U1 trout 146 _^^ .*u-*^' :'X •■:• ■«;{»« ■-."SP', ^^ GAME FISS -• • • ■ CHAPTER I. msTBuonoN. I HAVE always considered a preface or introduction a species of apology, and not intending that the following sketches shall need any apology, I shall write no intro- duction ; but an explanation of the scientific distinctions and divisions of fishes may not only be appropriate bnt highly instructive, if my readers be as ignorant as I think them. i ,- >: 4 h* s ^;; It has been a matter of serious reproach by the naturalists against the sportsmen, that the latter, instead of adopting a uniform nomenclature, call a bird or fish in one section of our country by a different name from that under which it is known in another ; that & Quail md Black Bass at the Korth become a Partridge and Irout at the South. The sportsmen, conscious of the justness of the reproach, have submitted quietly to the learned stones of reproof hurled at them, and scarcely dared to suggest that their persecutors lived in the most fragile of glass houses; that naturalists were liable to «♦ 6 INSTRUCTION. ■^./v l^i' tlie Bame accusation, and that there is hardly a fish, bird or beast that they have not called by several different names. Are not the contentions of Ortyx and Perdrix known to all) Is it quite certain, when we catch an Otsego Bass, whether we catch a Coregonus Otsego or a CoregonuB Albus, or even a Salmo Otsego ? Is it per- fectly ascertained from a scientific point of view that we catch anything ? Who does not know that a Tautog is a Blackfish, or would be materially instructed by hearing him called a Tautoga Americana? Scientific men vie with one another in creating new names, the most use- less things in Christendom ; while sportsmen are happy to take them, the game, as they find them. The first are guilty of faults of commission, the latter of omission. The language of each is Greek to the other. The writer of these sketches, knowing just sufficient Greek to be a sportsman, and yet able to translate with the help of a dictionary, offers, from the want of one more worthy, to conciliate all differences. His plan is to translate all terms that are translatable, and to omit altogether those that are not, trusting that they will never be missed. His intention at first was to write a noble work on natural history that would carry his name in letters of gold, as a public reformer and benefactor, to latest posterity ; but finding, on reviewing his stores of information, that he knew but little on the subject, he fwas compelled to relinquish the idea. Being therefore nothing but a gentle angler, instead of instructing the universe, he is content to amuse a small circle of lovers of sporting anecdotes, and, provided he receives it, will be content with their approval. As, however, one fool INSTRUCTION. 7 can always teach another eomething, the writer feels impelled to mingle a little instruction in doses to suit the weakest stomach, that those who have not skipped this chapter on account of its title, may at least receive something for their perseverance. They need not sup* pose for a moment that the writer pretends to insist upon what he shall write as infallible, but where his readers diiFer from him, is perfectly willing to admit that he is entirely mistaken ; the buyer of a book is always right, the author a taujourn tort. He supposes — let there be no misunderstandings when he accidentally uses a stronger word — that fishes are divided into two great orders, and are distinguished as having bony or cartilaginous skeletons; thus a quawl, provided he be a fish at all, would be a very cartilagi- nous one, and a catfish with his back fin erected, as the writer has often learned to his cost, is a bony fish. As the cartilaginous fish are of small account, the reader may forget all about them if he wishes, but he is requested to remember the useful division of those hav- ing bony skeletons into the great classes, easily distin- guished, of the soft finned and spiny finnied, called in foreign languages by thfe horrible terms malacopterygii and aocmthopterygii — terms unpronounceable except by a Dutchman or a philosopher. These classes are distin- guished, as the English words imply, by their having the rays of their fins soft and flexible or hard and spine-like. The investigator may determine their peculiarities by pressing strongly upon the points of the fin rays; if nature intimates that his organism is suiffering, the fish is a ac. •■•• »i*i, CHAPTER n. ■.l.^if THB AMBBIOAN TBOUT. ,'«i>."i-.»'jKVii'l.'f •;r^ Thb Brook Trout — The Neio York Charr — 8aHmo fontvMdM, — Salmon tribe; veutraU in abdomen, rays soft. '" Hie sliotilder and first back fins Lave each eleven rays ; the second back fin is mere fatty matter and rayk ots. There were a number of vomerine i»eth, and the fin- rays, as far as could be ascertained by a cwaory examination, were — .-.,»; ..;..,,,.: ... Br. 12 ; D. 13 ; P. 11 -V. 8 ; A. 11 ; C. 19f . This fish was said to have been taken in Maine, and differed entirely from the ordinary brook and lake trout. The fin-rays of the brook trout as scientifically given by De Kay, are — D. 13-0 ; P. 12; V. 8; A. 10; 0. 19|. Trout are in season from the first of February to the first of September in the Long Island streams ; from April to September in those streams of the Kew England States that communicate with salt water ; and from May till September in the upland waters of the middle and east- ern States. There is but one mode of taking them— namely, with the fiy ; although it is said poachers and pot hunters capture them with worms, minnows, nets, and even with their own roe. These villanies are not at present punished with death nor even imprisonment 14 THE AMERICAN TROUT. for life ; but our legislature is looking into the matter, and there is no telling how soon such statutes may be passed. ^- ' ' 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, with the cruel hook driven into her lips by a skillful turn of the angler's wrist ; to meet and foil her in her fierce and cunning efibrts to escape, paying out the line as she rushes away resistless, meeting her in emergencies firmly and steadily, till the tip crosses the but, when she insists upon, reaching the old stump or the weedy bottom ; to slack the line when she leaps into air, trying to strike it with her tail ; and above all, to watch the right moment, and keeping her head well up, to bring the beautiful prize quickly and steadily to the net I There may be others who have killed more and larger trout than myself, there may be others who can cast a longer line and lighter fly ; but there are none who will work more steadily or who can enjoy it more intensely. There are innumerable rules applicable to trout fishing and innumerable exceptions to each; neither man nor fish is infallible. A change of weather is always desir- able : if it has been clear, a rainy day is favorable ; if cold, a warm one ; if the wind has been north, a south- erly one is advantageous ; a zephyr if it has been blowing a tornado. Generally, in early spring, amid the fading THE AMERIOAiT TROUT. 15 Buowc and blasts of winter, a warm day is very desirable ; later, and in the heats of summer, a cold, windy day will insure success. Dead calm is dangerous, although many trout are taken in water as still, clear and transparent as the heavens above. The first rule is never to give up ; there is hardly a day but at some hour, if there be trout, they will rise, and steady, patient industry disci- plines the mind and invigorates the muscles. A south- erly, especially a southeasterly wind, has a singular tendency to darken the surface, and in clear, fine waters is particularly advantageous ; a southwester comes next in order ; a northeaster, in which, by the by, occasionally there is great success, is the next ; and a northwester is the worst and clearest of all. Give me wind on any terms, a southerly wind if I can have it ; but ^'ve me wind. It is not known what quality of the wind darkens the water, it may be a haziness produced in the atmos- phere, although with a cloudy sky the water is often too transparent; it may be the peculiar character of the waves, short and broken, as contradistinguislied from long and rolling ; but the fact is entitled to reliance. Slight changes will often affect the fish. On one day in June, in the writer's experience, after having no luck till eleven o'clock, the trout suddenly commenced rising, and kept on without cessation, scarcely giving time to cast, till two, when they as suddenly stopped. There was no observable change in the weather, except the advent of a slight haze, the wind remaining precisely the same. I was much disappointed, not having half fished the ground and being prevented, by the numbers that were taken, from casting over some of the largest fish that w Id THE AMERICAN TROUT. broke. As it was, I caught seventy trout in what if ordinarily considered the worst hours of the day. But in this particular, also, the same rules apply as to the warmth of the weather. In early spring it is useless to be up with the lark, even supposing such a bird exists ; no fish will break the water till the sun has warmed the air ; but in summer, the dawn should blush to find the sportsman napping. In fact, trout will not rise well unlv^sa the air is warmer than the water. They do ndt like to risk taking cold by exposing themselyes to a sudden draught. a. >.: - ; x '. • There is a very absurd impression, that trout will not take the fly early in the season ; this is entirely unfound- ed. As soon as the ice disappears they will be found gambolling in the salt water streams, and leaping readily at the fly. At such times, on lucky days, immense numbers are taken. In March they have run up the sluiceways and are in the lower ponds, lying sullenly in the deepest water ; then is the cow-dung, politely called the dark cinnamon, the most attractive fly. In April, May and June they are scattered, and entrapped by the hackles, professor, ibis, and all the medium sized flies. In July and August they have sought the headwaters of navigation, the cool spring brooks, and hide around the weeds and water-cresses, whence the midges alone can tempt them, .rvv; ^-^ , - - , . , Any flies will catch fish, cast in any manner, if the fish are plenty and in humor to be caught. A few fea- thers torn from the nearest and least suspicious chicken, and tied on an ordinary hook with a piece of thread, will constitute a fly in the imagination of a trout, pix>- THE AMEMGAN TROUT. 17 vided he follows, as he sometimes appears to do, the advice of the young folks, shuts his eyes and opens his mouth. I cannot recommend such tackle, being con- vinced the most skillfully made is the best ; but 1 do advise simplicity of color. One of the best of all flies is the female cow-dung, made of a dark cinnamon color, and after the pattern used in England ; there is a green- ish abomination unjustly foisted upon American inven- tion that is worthless. The hackles are in my opinion altogether inferior, except the black-winged hackle, which, of a bright iivarm day, is irresistible. The ibis and professor, dressed d V Americaine, with yellow floss body and red tail, are both excellent flies. The coach- man is the best evening fly, and will attract trout long after the angler can see to strike them, and when the sound of their plunge alone entices him to continue his eflbrts. The May and stone flies are good, and of late years a fly of mixed red and black, with wings, called by some, from his colors, the devil-fly, has come into vogue. The palmers are only to be despised and-avoided. In sum- mer, of the midges the yellow sally, the alder fly, the little cinnamon, the black gnat, the black arid red ants, and in fact all others, are attractive. The water is then covered with myriads of many-colored flies, and there is hardly any Artificial but will find its representative among the real life. These are but a few of the flies that can be pur- chased in the. shops, which yearly invent new varie- ties, regardless of truth to nature or the recommend- ations of experience. Many have no names whatever, ftnd in others the workman has given his fancy such play 18 THE AMERICAN TAOUT. that they are nnrecognizable. In these pages, when tlio name is given of any fly described in Bonald's " Fly- Fisher's Entomology," it is intended that it shall be dressed after the directions therein contained. A more full description of the various flies, both in use and to bd found in our waters, will be given hereafter with some directions for tying them ; but a great deal must be left to the practical experience of each fisherman, according to the range of waters he is in the habit of Ashing. Good luck,*that synonym for all the virtues, does not depend so much upon the kind of flies as the skill in casting, and a poor fly lightly cast into the right spot will do better execution than the best fly roughly cast into the wrong place. The lure must be put where the fish habit, often before their very noses, or they will not take it ; and when they lie, as they generally do in run- ning streams, in the deep holes under the banks, where the bushes are closest and cause the densest shade, it requires some skill to cast properly into the exact spot. Sacrifice everything to lightness in casting ; let the line go straight without a kink if you can, drop the fly into the right ripple if possible, but it must drop gently on the surface of the water. An ugly splash of a clear day in pure water, and the prey will dart in every direction, and the angler's hopes scatter with them. ? r : A beginner may practise a certain formula, such as lifting the line with a waive and a smart spring, swinging it backward in a half circle, and when it is directly behind him, casting straight forward ; but as soon as ho has overcome the rudimentary principles, he should cast in every manner, making the tip of his lod cut full oir- m- THE AMERICAN TROUT. 19 cles, figure eights, and all other fignres, behind him, according to the wind ; bearing io mind, however, ever to make his flj drop as gently as a feather. He should use his wrist mainly, and practise with each hand, and should never be otherwise thai ashamed of a bungling cast, though he be alone, and none but the fish there to despise him. If the line falls the first time with a heart- rending splash all in a tangle, it is useless to make the next cast properly. The fish have found out the trick, and know too much to risk their necks in any such a noose. A skillful fisherman can cast almost any length of line, but practically, fifty feet, counting from the reel, is all that can be used to advantage. Some English books say only the leader (gut links) should alight in the water ; but this is nonsense, for at least one half the line must fall into the water, unless the fisherman stand on a high bank. With a long line the difficulties of striking and landing the fish are greatly increased ; in striking, there is much slack line to be taken up ; in landing, it requires some time to get the fish under control, and he is apt to reach the weeds or a stump. ^ That most excellent fitiherman and learned scholar, Dr. Bethune, in his edition of Walton, Part EL., page 73, says that candid anglers must confess that nine out of ten trout hook themselves ; this may be so in streams teeming with fish, where a dozen start at once, frantically striving to be the first f but in clear, well-fished streams, not one fish in a thousand will hook himself; and on Long Island an angler would grow grey ere he filled his basket if he did not strike, and that quickly. Striking, to my mind, is by far the most important point, and hundreds of fish 20 THS AMBRIOAN TBOUT. have I seen escape {f^^ want of quickness. It mnst bo done quickly but Bt(^r Ijr, and not with a jerk, as the latter is apt, by the double action of the rod, to bend the tip forward and loosen instead of tightening the line. There are days when fish cannot be struck, although they are rising freely ; whether they are playing or over-cau- tious, I never could/ determine ; whether they are not hungry or the water is too clear, they put man's capacities at defiance. Their appearance must be signalled to the eye, by that reported to the brain, which then directs the nerves to command the muscles to move the wrist ; and ere this complicated performance is completed, the fish has blown from his mouth the feathery deception and has darted back to his haunts of safety. A fish will occasionally leap up, seize the fly, discover the cheat, and shaking his head, jump several feet along the surface of the water to rid his mouth of it, and do this so quickly as not to give a quick angler time to strike. How often fish are caught when they rise the second time, as then the angler is more on the alert, whereas on the first rise he was off his guard I How often fiph rise when the angler's head is turned away from hip. line, or when he is busy at something else, and how rarely are they caught 1 In my experience it is so gi^eat a rarity, that it might almost be said they never book themselves. In the lan- guage of youth, the only hooking they do is to hook off. Dr. Bethune, page 97, says the rod should not exceed one pound in weight. Indeed it should not, and if it does, it exemplifies the old maxim, so far as to ha\o a fool at one end. J£ we could fish by steam, a rod exceeding a pound and measuring over fourteen feet might answei THS AMERICAN TROUT. 21 well) but in these benighted days, while wrista are made of bone, muscles, cartilages and the like, the lighter the better. A rod, and if perfection is absolntoly indispens- able, a cedar rod of eleven or twolye feet, weighing nine or ten ounces, will catch trout. Cedar rods can only be obtained in America, and then only on compulsion, but this wood makes the most elastic rods in the world. Tliey spring instantly to every motion of the hand, and never warp. They are delicate ; the wood is, like woman, cross- grained, but invaluable if carefully treated. The reel shonld be a simple click, never a multiplier, but large barrelled, and fastened to the but with a leather strap. The line, silk covered with a preparation of oil, tapered if possible at each end, and thirty to forty yards long. The basket, positive, a fish-basket ; the angler, compara- tive, a fisher-man. Thus equipped, go" forth mildly approving where the writer's opinions coincide with yours, simply incredulous where they do not. Ere you begin, however, you may wish to know the size of the fish you can catch, a matter of no little intricacy, for though we all know the size of the fish we have ourselves caught, there is always some one else that has caught larger. My largest trout, at the time thic is written, was taken on the Marshpee River, on Cape Cod, and weighed three pounds and fourteen ounces. But it is said there were inland .brook trout exhibited at the New York Club by a mem- ber in the year 1867, the two largest of which weighed cleaned six pounds and a half each. *'I have my doubts." These fish should have weighed, when first taken, nearly eight pounds, double the size of any trout, 2S THE AMSRIOAN TROUT, other than sea trout, I have eyor seen or before that lieard of. In my opinion, they were lake trout, caught, perhaps, from a small pond, and bright colored. It wai claimed they were taken with the fly, which lake trout will not ordinarily touch; but, unfortunately, it was also said, that two weighing about five pounds each were caught and landed on one cast, and that this was done twice. Now confidence in our neighbors' truth is the framework of society, but there is a limit to human credulity, and catching two five pound trout at one cast, is at the very verge of that limit. No one, except by the most incredible good fortune, could kill two such fish on any ordinary fiy-tackle, with any ordi- nary fiy-rod. The hooks would almost certainly tear out, and no strain could possibly be kept on the lower fish, which, by slacking up his line and then darting away, would probably go free. But great luck alone could enable a person to land two such fish ; the lower one would never drown, being at perfect liberty — ^by the by, trout, never die in the water, they always save enough' life for one final rush — ^and when the upper fish was landed or gaffed, the lower would go off in a jiffy. When a person claims to do this twice in a day, he must De pronounced a lucky man indeed. "We caught our big trout in the Marshpee, and we will tell you how we did it, though the words make us blush as we write them. "We were young then, and it is to be hoped innocent ; and having gone to Sandwich, on Cape Cod, in search of untried fields, discovered a jolly, corpulent landlord, named Teaaedale, who, with bis friend, Johnny Trout, so named jocosely, wero the THE AMERICAN TROUT. fishermen of the neighborhood. That was before the stream was preserved for tlie benefit of the " Poor Indian," and poorer fishermen mulcted, as at present, in five dollars a day for th . ];^nvilege of fishing. We drove to the stream, almost six miles, Teasedale enlivening the early June moniing with snatches of hunting songs, and when there plunged recklessly in. Oh I but the water was cold — a dozen large springs poured in their freezing contents — and the blood fairly crept back to our hearts. The stream ran through a narrow defile, overhung witli the thickly tangled vine and creepers, rendering a cast of the line impossible, and had worked its way far under the steep banks, making dark watery caverns, where the great fish could lie in wait for their prey. "We removed the upper joint of our fly-rod, which was heavy and strong, and leaving the line through the last ring of the second joint, we put on a bait next co the fly in beauty and effect, the minnow. The water was freezing cold — the closely entwined boughs and leaves shut out the heav- ens above, and we were alone in the shadowy darkness I with the tenants of the deep. The herring frequented [the brook, and pursued by the large trout, darted in Bhoals between our feet. It is always a good sign when the herring are running, and we had excellent luck. There are several ways of putting on a minnow, and [if a person from ignorance or necessity must poach, let lira poach well. There is the gorge-hook loaded with lead, the snell passed by the baiting needle at the mouth )f the bait and out at the tail, bringing the hooks which re double at the mouth. It is highly recommended by >me English books and their American imitators, but iPiPPPUPW^PPIWW^IP^lWPP^iPWI 24 THE AMEftlOAN TSOUT. in my experience is more useful, unbaited, for catching snapping mackerel, young blue-fish, than for any other purpose. There are the gangs of hooks, consisting of two or more small hooks back to back, one of which is inserted in the side or back of the bait, with another small one further up on the line, which is inserted on the lip or nose. It answers well for some kinds of fishing, and for large bait, but does not work well with small fish. The bait is not bent sufficiently, and does not spin readily. ^^^ ■'•^*'''^ '*'-■■• -^^ ■ ' ■"*■' '=''* '''■' ''^ ^rim-^'>'^ '• '-^ Then there is the old-fashioned large single hook, thrust through the mouth, down the fleshy part of the back and out at the side, or out at the gills and back through the mouth into the side. The objection is that bait is apt to work down on the bend of the hook, or the trout is apt to take off the tail of the bait without being hooked. '. ' The other, and I think the best plan of baiting with dead bait, is the same as the last, with the addition of a small hook to thrust through the nose, that tends to retain the fish in its place, and allow the hook to be car- ried down further toward the tail, and still make the bait spin well. Minnow is never properly baited, unless it spins freely with every motion of the rod, and it must ever be kept moving. Of course the line must be armed with the swivel-trace, and in baiting with dead minnow a Limerick hook should be used, under any other circum- stances never. • - The dead minnow is preferable for rapid water. In ponds the minnow should be alive, in which case the hook is to be inserted in front of the dorsal ^, and the THE AMERICAN TBOUT. point may be left under the skin, or exposed, bb the poacher pleases; I prefer it covered. It should not penetrate the flesh. In the Marshpee I was using a single hook, keeping the bait well ahead of me, and creeping cautiously in the freezing water, watching the tiny float as it danced its merry course along, now borne swiftly over the rip- pling current, anon caught in an eddy and returning on its track, and then again resting motionless in some dark and quiet pool. It was scarcely visible beneath the dens^ shadows, and once in a while it would disappear from my straining sight ; then followed a sharp blow with my rod, a fierce tug, a short fight between fear, despair and cun- ning on the one side, and strength, energy and judgment on the other. Tlie prey once hooked, and skill there was Tiot ; it was a mere contention of two brute forces, in which the weaker went to the basket. An exhibition of skill or tenderness would have resulted in an entangle- ment round the nearest root, and the loss of fish, leader and hook. Still, there was excitement; the situation was romantic, the narrow gorge, the deep and rapid stream, the closely matted trees and vines, the ever- changing Eiirface of the current, which adds beauty to the tamest brook, all combined to lend enchantment to the scene. The fish were large and vigorous, fresh run from the sea, where they had, the Winter long, been a terror to the small fry, and early death to juicy and imsuspicious shell-fish. Tliey fought fiercely for life and liberty, their homes and their household gods, and, alas! too often successfully. The risk of their escape added to the interest of the occasion, and ililppn^^iinM>u>..i i"jj««w»!pi 'T^ — THE AMERICAN TROUT. the number of hening darting past gave continual promise of the presence of their arch enemy, the trout. I had half-filled my basket, and had met with wonder- ful escapes and terrible heart-rending losses, mingled with exhilarating successes. I had made about half the distance, as well as we judged, and felt proud and happy as no king upon his throne ever did or will. My rod, though a fly-rod, was whipped every few inches with silk, and thus strengthened had stood the unequal conflict admirably. Still hoping for better things — who will not hope for the impossible ? — I strode on. Below me the current made a sudden turn at a bend in the stream, and eddied swiftly under the overhanging bank. The brook almost disappeared in what was evidently a vast cavern deep in the bowels of that bank. In such watery palaces, amid the worn rocks, the tangled roots, the undulating moss and weeds, fierce eyed, monstrous trout delight to dwell. In such fortresses they await unwary travellers, and dark deeds are done in the congenial darkness — outrage, riots and murder stalk boldly about. The migratory herring, harmless and unsuspicious, peers in and starts affrighted back, then peers again, at last ventures forward, and then, compelled by instinct to ascend, tries to dart hastily by ; there is a sudden rush, a frantic struggle, a piteous look entreating mercy of pitiless hearts ; for an instant the water is dyed with blood and then flows on, washing all trace of the deed away. . ' I approach the den carefully, the feather-like float dancing merrily far ahead over the rippling tide, and as the line is paid out, swaying from side to side, close in THE AMERICAN TRdtTT. front of the roots that fringe the bank, still not a sign ; a step forward — the water carries it nnder the bank out of sight. I stand still, expectant ; nothing yet ; I creep cautiously to the very bank, and thrust my rod in the water, aye, under the bank its full length. What's that I Ah I what a tug I I have him, the monster, the Giant Despair of the wayfaring herring. How he pulls! I must have him out of his retreat ; it is a great risk but my only chance. I strain my rod, my line, almost my arms, to the utmost ; he comes, disdainful of surreptitious advantages, relying on his great strength ; he has not taken protection of weed or stump. Now, my boy, do your utmost; yes, leap from the water, dart down with the current ; I must give to you a little ; no line can stand that strain ; but you will never reach your lair again. Turn about, head up stream, that is what 1 want ; there is a sandy bank above us, can I but reach it and land you there. Ah I you perceive the danger or have changed your mind ; how you fly down stream with the slackened line hissing through the water behind you. Well, go, you will soon turn again. Already, beautiful, you have passed the bank ; now, rod, be true ; line, do your duty. The pliant ash bends, the upper [joint has passed below the but in a wide hoop. He I comes, his head is up ; if I can but keep it out of water I he dashes the foaming waves with his strong tail ; one [more effort ; bend rod, but do not break ; he is out of rater ; I have him. He is dancing on the yellow sand lis last dance in mortal form ; his changing hues glancing fn the mild light, his fierce mouth gasping, his bright udes befouled with sand and dust, his glittering scaler m 28 THE AMERICAN TROUT. torn off by the sharp etoiies. His efforts grow fainter, the flashing eye dims, a few convulsive throes and he is quiet ; the grim hand of death has pressed upon him. He is indeed the prince of monsters, tlie paragon of giants ; so thick, so deep, with so email a . head for so large a body ; such brilliant hues : the fins so red, the blue and carmine spots so numerous and delicate. I wash him off and stand gazing at him in my hand regardless of further sport. I have captured the king, and care not to follow his subalterns. I lay him gently in my basket ; he will not lie at full length. I cover him with moss, filling the little room left, and forcing my way through the overhanging bushes, and, reaching the broad light of day, proudly await the arrival of my companion. Then the moss is carefully removed, and the beauties of my darling are unveiled, and flash and gleam in the sunlight. * .' ' ^ * '»'. There are several ways of landing a trout, Vnt not all equally sportsmanlike. Large trout may be gaffed, small ones landed in a net, and where neither of these means is at hand, they must be dragged out of water, or flirted up among the bushes, according to the taste of the angler and the strength of his tackle. A tyro was once fishing on the same boat with me, using bait, when he struck his first trout. One can imagine how entirely misspent had been his previous existence, when it is said he had never taken a trout, no, nor any other fish before. It was not a large fish ; such luck rarely falls to the share of the beginner, and in spite of what elderly gentlemen may say to the con- traiy, an ignorant countryman, with his sapling rod THE AMERICAN TROUT. 29 and coarse tackle, never takes the largest lish nor the greatest in quantity. Were it otherwise, sportsmen had better turn louts, and tackle makers take to cutting straight saplings in the woods. My compauion, never- theless, was not a little surprised at the vigorous rushes the trout made to escape, but his line being strong and rod stiff, he steadily reeled him in. Great was the excitement ; his whole mind was devoted to shortening the line, regardless of what was to be done next. We had a darkey named Joe with us to row the boat and land the Ush, and our luck having been bad during the morning, he was delighted at this turn of affairs, and ready, net in hand, to do his duty. The fish was being reeled up, till but a few feet of the line remained below the top, when, with a shout of " land, Joe, land him," my companion suddenly lifted up his rod, carrying the , trout far above our heads. There it dangled, swaying to and fro, bouncing and jumping, while the agonized fisherman besought the darkey to land him, and the latter, reaching up as far as he could with the net, his eyes starting out of his head with wonder at this novel mode of proceeding, came far short of his object. Never was seen such a sight ; the hopeless despair of my friend, the eagerness of the darkey, who fairly strove to climb the rod as the fish danced about far out of reach. What was to done ? The line would not render, the rod was so long we could not reach the tip in the boat ; and the only horrible alternative appeared to be my friend's losing his first fish. The latter, however, by this remark- able course of treatment, had grown peaceable, and when he was dropped back into the water, made but 80 THB AMERIOAN TJ'.OUT. feeble efforts, while my companion, as quietly as he could, worked out his line till he could land him like a Christian. Great were the rejoicings .wlven the prize earned with so much anxiety was secured. That is the way not to land a trout. One afternoon of a very boisterous day, I struck a large fish at the deep hole in the centre of Phillipse's Pond, on Long Island. He came out fiercely, and taking my fly as he went down, darted at once for the bottom, which is absolutely covered with long, thick weeds. Tlie moment he found he was struck, he took refuge among them, and tangled himself up so effectually that I could not feel him, and supposed he had escaped. By carefully exert- ing sufiicieut force, however, the weeds were loosened from the bottom, and the electric thrill of his renewed motion was again perceptible. He was allowed to draw the line through the weeds and play below them, as by 80 doing tliey would give a little, while if confined in them he would have a leverage against them, and could, with one vigorous twist, tear out the hook. When he was somewhat exhausted, the question as to the better mode of landing him arose. The wind was blowing so hard as to raise quite a sea, which washed the weeds before it in spite of any strain that could be exerted by the rod, and drifted the boat as well, rendering the latter almost unmanageable, while the fish was still so vigorous as to threaten at every moment to escape. I besought the boatman, who was an old hand and thoroughly up to his business, to drop the boat down to the weeds and let me try and land my fish with one hand while holding the rod with the otlier. He knew the dangers of such a rHB AMERICAN TROUT. m course, and insisted upon rowing slowly and carefully for shore at a shallow place sheltered from the wind, although I greatly feared the hook would tear out or the rod snap under the strain of towing both weeds and fitjh ; once near shore, he deliberately forced an oar into the mud and made the boat fast to it, and then taking up the net, watched for a favorable chance. He waited for some time, carefully putting the weeds aside, until a gleaming line of silver glanced for a moment beneath the water, when darting the net down, he as suddenly brought it up, revealing within its folds the glorious colors of a splendid trout. That was the way to land a trout under difficulties, although I still think I could have done it successfully by myselfl ,: - w; ^. j^ .' Generally, the utmost deh'cacy should be shown in killing a fish, but there are times when force must be exerted. If the fish is making for a stump, or even weeds, he must be stopped at any reasonable risk of the rod's breaking or the fly's tearing out. A stump is the most dangerous ; one turn round that, and he is ofi', leav- ing your flies fast probably in a most inconvenient place and many feet below the surface of the water. Bui remember the oft-repeated maxim of a friend of the writer's, who has been with him many a joyous fishing- day, that " One trout hooked is worth a dozen not hooked." Small trout are more apt to escape than large ones, because the skin round the mouth of the latter is tougher. With either, however, there is risk enough , the hook is small, and often takes but a slight hold ; the gut is delicate, and frequently half worn through by continual casting. /'■ SSI THB AMERICAN TRODT. "Fibtk are, in a majority of inetances, hooked in the comer of the npper jaw, where there is but a thin skin to hold them ; by long-continned strnggle, the hole wears larger, and finally, to the agony of the fisherman, the hook slips ont. There are occasions when force must be exerted, and then good tackle and a well-made rod will repay the cost. At dnsk one night I cautiously approached the edge of a newly-made pond that was as full of stumps as of fish, both being about the extreme limit, and casting into the clear water, struck a fine fish of three-quarters of a pound. Not one minute's grace did he receive, but I lugged and he fought, and after a general turmoil I suc- ceeded in bringing him to land, in spite of weeds and stumps and twigs, which he did his best to reach. The same was done with seven fish after a loss of only three flies, and with a rod that weighed but eight ounces. A rod is not so apt to break from a fair strain as from a short twist ; of course, if you strike i large fish as you raise to cast, or catch in the bushes behind you when your line is extended, any rod may break. This, how- ever, rarely happens, and you are as likely to break tlie tip by trying to pull the line through the rings with your hand, or by lifting a small trout out of water and swinging it in past you, as in any other way. In drawing a fish to shore when you have no landing net, step back and bring the strain evenly on your rod, and it will rarely give way. If you find the fish takes down the current and you are unable to hold him, follow him if you can, and if not, point your rod toward him and bring the strain on the line. The hook may tear out, or the gut may break, THE AMERICIN TROUT. 33 or even the line may be lost, but you will save your rod, wliile otherwise you would probably lose both. In laudhig a fish, wait till he is pretty well exhausted, bring his mouth above water and keep it there till he is drawn into the net, and warn vour assistant to remove tite net at once if he gets his head down. Vy diving after hini with the net/ the assistant would certainly not catch tlie fish and might tangle one of your other flies. The fish should be led into the net, and the latter kept as still as possible ; he knows as wel) ag you do what it is for, and if his attention is drawn to it, will dart ofi* as madly as ever. Th<^re are occasions and situations where a fly cannot be used, and a minnow — called down East, from the Indian name mummychog, a mummy — cannot be obtained. In such cases it becomes necessary to fall back upon first principles. A grasshopper, twitched along the surface of the water in a way called skittering, is an eflective bait, although an imitation grasshopper, as well as an imita- tion minnow, does not answer and will not deceive trout. Salmon and trout roe are used, and it is said, contrary to the writer's experience, with great success. Gentles, which are grubs hatched in meat that has been fiy- blown, are a favorite bait in Europe ; but, in spite of their beautiful name, are horrible objects and not in vogue with us. Caddies, or the larvae of the Phry- ganid