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ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 OF 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 AT 
 
 Cornell University 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 WILLARD A. KIGGINS, JR. 
 
 in memory of his father 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis bool< is in 
 tine 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. 
 
J ; ._\' i" 
 
THE 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK: 
 
 EMERACrNO 
 
 ^t llateral fistorg of Sporfkg ^\k\, 
 
 THE ART OF TAKING THEM. 
 
 WITH INSTR0CTI0W3 IK 
 
 FLY-FISHING, FLY-MAKING, AND ROD-MAKING; 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR FISH-BREEDING. 
 
 TO WBICH IS APPENDED, 
 
 DIE^ PISCATORIiE 
 
 DESCRIBING NOTED FISHING-PLACES, AND THE PLEASURE 01' 
 SOLITARY FLY-FISHING. 
 
 IHtiettattbr bjitf) Biflfits iSngrttiinijs on Woolr. 
 
 By THAD.' NOERIS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 PUBLISHED BY E. H. BUTLER & CO., 
 
 LONDON : .SAMPSON LOW, .'ON & 00. 
 
 1864. ^ 
 
V9Ua 
 
 f4l 
 
 36C379 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 
 
 B. H. BUTLER & 00. 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District 
 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 HEAKS & nUSENDERT, ASHUEAD, 
 
 aTBRBOTTPERS &. ELECTROTYPERS. rRINTER. 
 
POLLOWING PAGES ARE DEDICATED 
 
 att ititit ®iui 
 
 "HOUSELESS ANGLERS:" 
 
 " ALL THAT ARE LOVERS OF VIRTUE, AND DARE TRUST IN PROVIDENCE, 
 AND BE QUIET, AND GO A-ANGLINQ." 
 
TO THE EEADER. 
 
 In offering this book for the perusal of those who may feel suffi- 
 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 he 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 o^ the subject have yet been offered tn the 
 
 (7) 
 
Vni 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, 
 " I 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 ofiences 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 arangling." 
 
 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 
 
 pome of my angling friends, one or two of whom had read parts of 
 my manuscript, urged me to publish, and overcame my scruples as 
 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 Friend ; 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 as a 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 manufaotui-e for himself, his own rod, flies, and tackle, of a 
 quality for service and efieotiveness, which will not suffer in comparison 
 with those to be procured in any good tackle-store in the country. No one 
 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- 
 \u<^. If you write, you could not help giving aid to the attainment of a 
 tiuer 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 cont-ent" 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 fiah in this book are from nature. The 
 laarine species, found in the chapter on salt-water fishing, are reduced 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 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 j 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 TOTHEKEADBE. 
 
 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 beautiful 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. Koe ; but they are gone, and with them most of my pleasant 
 hours, even as a shadow that passeth away and returneth not." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Adsbess to the Reader . . Page S 
 
 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 ? — Diflerent 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 REMAKKS 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 . . .39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TACKLE IN GENERAL. 
 
 Hooks. — Sinkers. — Swivels. — Gut. — Leaders. — Snoods. — Lines. — 
 
 Reels. — Rods. — Bow Dipsys 63 
 
 (13) 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK IV 
 
 THE PEKCH FAMILY — PERCID^. 
 General Remarks on the Percidse. — Great number of American 
 genera and species. — Paucity of European species. — Distinguish- ' 
 ing marks. — Their abundance and variety in the Valley of the 
 Mississippi. — Migratory habits.— The Rockfish or Striped Bass, 
 Lahrax lineatus. Rockfish Tackle. Rook-fishing on the lower 
 Rappahannock. — The White Perch, Lahrax pallidtis. Perch-fish- 
 ing. — The White Bass of the Lakes, Lahrax alhidus. White Bass 
 taken with the artificial fly. — Fresh water Bass of the South and 
 West, Qrystes salmoides. , Bass-fishing. Bass Fly-fishing. — Black 
 Bass of the Lakes, Orystes 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-arlai, Pomoxis hexicanihus. — The Yellow Barred 
 Perch, Perca fiavescens. — The Sunfish or Sunny, Pomoiis vulgaris. — 
 Bream, Ichthylis ruhricvnda. Bream-fishing on Bayou La Branch. — 
 The Pike Perch or Ohio Salmon, Lucioperca Americana. — The 
 Buffalo Perch, Ahlodon grunniens . ... 77 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PIKE FAMILY — ESOOID^. 
 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, Esox esior. 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 . . 127 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CARP FAl^ILY — GYPBINID^. 
 
 Remarks on the Cyprinidse. — The Sucker, Catostomus communis. — 
 Buffalo Fish, Catostomus bahulus. Buffalo Fish as an article of 
 
CONTENT'S. 
 
 XV 
 
 diet. — The Chub or Fallflsh, Leucosomus noihus. 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 . . . 1.53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HEKEING FAMILY — OLUPEID^. 
 
 Remarks on the Herring Family, from the " loonographic Encyclo- 
 paedia." 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 prcesiatilis. Its delicacy 
 and value as food. Migratory habits. Shad taken with the min- 
 now. Shad-roe as bait ......... 16.5 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CATFISH ANB EELS. 
 
 Catfish, Siluridce. Extract from Iconographic Enoyolopsedia. Cat- 
 fish of the Atlantic States and Western waters. — Eels. Observations 
 on the Petromyzoniidw (Lamprey Eels), on the Murmnidce (Common 
 Eels), and on the Gymnotidce (Electric Eels). — The Common Bel, 
 AnguUla vulgaris. ^Fishing for Eels. Migratory habits. Young 
 Eels as bait. Eels not hermaphrodites . . . 177 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SALMON FAMILY. — SALMONIDJE. 
 
 Remarks on the Salmonidse. — 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 Eastern States. 
 Great numbers in California, Oregon, abd British Possessions. 
 
Xvi 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 Oa7iadensis. Error in 
 referring it to the species Salmo truita of Europe ; their dissimilar- 
 ity. Its a£Snity to Salmo fontinalis (Brook Trout). Sea-Trout 
 fishing in the Tabbisintac. Mr. Perley's and Dr. Adamson's account 
 of SearTrout fishing. Their abundance in the rivers falling into 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and annoyance to Salmon-fishers. — The 
 Schoodic Trout, or Dwarf Sainton of 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 Adirondahus. Trolling for Lake 
 Trout. — Back's Grayling, Thymallus 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 191 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 
 Introductory Remarks. — The Sheepshead. — The Weakfish, or Salt- 
 Water Trout.— The Barb, or Kingflsh.— 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 ... 277 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 TEOUT FLY-FISHING. — OUTFIT AND TACKLE. 
 
 Wading-Jacket. — Trousers. — Boots. — Creel or Basket. — Landing-Net. 
 — Rods. — Reels. — Lines. — Leaders. — Flies. — The Whip . . 305 
 
CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TROUT FLY-FISfflNG. — THE STREAM. 
 Casting the Fly. — Theory of strict imitation. — Striking and killing a 
 Fish. — Likely places, how to fish them 327 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SALMON-FISHING-. 
 
 Tackle used in Salmon-Fishing. — Eods.^Reels. — Eeel-lines. — Cast- 
 ing-lines. — Salmon-flies. — Materials required for Salmon-flies for 
 American rivers. — Salmon-flies for the rivers of Nevr Brunsvrick 
 and Canada. — Theory and practice of Sabnon-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. — 
 Gaffing. — Camping on the river. — Camp equipage. — Protection 
 against mosquitoes, black-flies, and midges. — Clothing, &c. — 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 . . 345 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SALMON-EIVERS 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. — Metapediae. 
 — Cascapediacs. — Bonaventure. — Tittigouohe. — 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 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 tying on drop-flies, illustrated. — A gang of hooks, illustrated. — 
 Receipts. — For making wax. — For dyeing gut. — For dyeing feathers 
 and dubbing 405 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FLY-MAKING. 
 
 Implements. — Hand-Vice, Spring-Pliers, &c. — Book for holding mate- 
 rials. — Materials. — Hooks. — Gut. — Tinsel. — Dubbing. — Hackles. — 
 Wings. — To tie a plain Hackle. — To tie a Palmer. — To make a fly 
 with -wings ... . . ■ 419 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BOD-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 441 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 . PISH-BEEBDING. 
 
 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 vrith fish and introducing suitable aquatic plants . . 459 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DIES PISCATORI^. 
 
 The " HovsELEss Anglers" . .... Page 489 
 
 The Noondat Roast . . - . 497 
 
 First Nooning — Tront-flshing 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 
 
 Fly-Fishing Alone . . 567 
 
 The Angler's Sabbath . ... ... 589 
 
 Conclusion . . . . . ... 599 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOWS. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE— VIEW OF THE GRAND FALLS ON THE NIPISSI- 
 
 6UIT, Fkoh a Photoobaph by RrssEL, of St. Johh, N. B. 
 RIVER SCENE ^ . . . ... Page 5 
 
 MALACOPTERYGII AND ACANTHOPTERTGII— POSITION OP PINS 
 
 IN THE TWO ORDERS . . 67 
 
 POSITION OP TEETH AND GILL-COVERS . 68 
 
 HOOKS AND SWIVELS . . ... 65 
 
 ROCKPISH, OR STRIPED BASS . . . 81 
 
 UNCLE ROLLY ... 89 
 
 WHITE PERCH.— GRAY PERCH . . 90 
 
 FRESH-WATER BASS OP THE SOUTH AND WEST . . 99 
 
 BLACK BASS OP THE NORTHERN LAKES . 103 
 
 CRAPPIE, OR SAC-A-LAI . . . Ill 
 YELLOW-BARRED PERCH . .114 
 
 SUNFISH, OR SUNNY . ..... 115 
 
 PISHING POR SUNNIES . . . 117 
 GREAT NORTHERN LAKE PICKEREL . . .131 
 
 CANADIAN BOATMAN ...... 134 
 
 MASCALONGB ....... 135 
 
 POND PIKE ....... 138 
 
 GORGE-HOOK ..... 139 
 
 THE MAJOR .... 146 
 
 THE HOSTLER TELLING A PISH STORY . . 150 
 
 THE CHUB-PISHER'S IMPROVED UMBRELLA . . 160 
 
 GIRL PISHING FOR ROACH . . 162 
 
 (xxi) 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 BROOK TROUT ....-•• 1"* 
 
 SALMON . . . . 206 
 
 GROWTH OF THE YOUNG SALMON . . 224 
 
 SALMON-FRY.— PINK AND SMOLT • -227 
 
 GUIDE . . 247 
 
 GREAT LAKE TROUT ■ ^49 
 
 LESSER LAKE TROUT . . . • • 265 
 
 GANG OF HOOKS, BAITED . . ... 258 
 
 SMELT . . ..... 263 
 
 CHILDREN ON A TROUT STREAM . . . • .274 
 
 SHEBPSHEAD .... . . 280 
 
 WEAK-FISH . .... 283 
 
 BARB OR KINGFISH .... 286 
 
 SPOT, PI6FISH, OR GOODY . - 289 
 
 CROAKER .... ... 291 
 
 KBDFISH OF THE GULF OF MEXICO . . 293 
 
 BLUEFISH OR SNAPPING MACKEREL . 294 
 
 SPANISH MACKEREL . . . .296 
 
 POMPANO.— CREVALLB .... 298 
 
 BOAT .... ... 302 
 
 TROUT-FLIES .... .305 
 
 LANDING-NETS FOR FLY-FISHING . ... 307 
 
 HEAD OF A TROUT .... 325 
 
 THE OLD SPRING BY THE ROADSIDE . . . .342 
 
 REEL FOR SALMON-FISHING ..... 348 
 
 SALMON-FLIES .... . . 353 
 
 RIGHT AND LEFT-SHOULDERED, AND DIFFICULT CASTING 362 
 
 BARK-PEELER'S HORSE AND STABLE . . . .376 
 
 CANOEMAN ... ... 402 
 
 TYING ON HOOKS AND LOOPS . . . . .406 
 
 SPLICING LINE AND ROD .... 408 
 
 KNOTS .... .... 409 
 
 GANG ...... 409 
 
 SETTLER'S CABIN . . ... 416 
 
 PIN-VICE AND SPRING PLIERS .... 420 
 
 PLY-MAKING . . . . . . . .429 
 
 FEATHER CUT FOR WINGS .... 434 
 
 " PLEASE, SIR, GIVE ME A FLY-HOOK ?" . . . 438 
 
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. xxiii 
 
 PACK 
 
 BOb-MAKING— V TOOL AND DRAW-PLATB .449 
 
 MAKING QUARTER-SECTIONED TIPS . . 460 
 
 MALACCA CANE ...... 451 
 
 FISH-BREEDING— HATCHING TROUGHS . . .468 
 
 EXPRESSING THE SPAWN .... 469 
 
 OVA AND YOUNG SALMON . . . . .477 
 
 SCIENTIFIC ANGLING ...... 482 
 
 SAW-MILL ON TROUT STREAM . . . .494 
 
 AFTER THE ROAST ...... 500 
 
 " THEE MUSN'T 60 THROUGH THAT RYE !" . . . 510 
 
 A THIEF'S PORTRAIT ...... 528 
 
 UNCLE LOT . ... 544 
 
 BLACKSMITH'S BOY ... . . 552 
 
 DISCUSSING THE DRAFT . . . . . .554 
 
 OFF FOR A DEER DRIVE ... . . 556 
 
 WATCHING FOR DEER . . . . . .664 
 
 STONE THROWER ....... 570 
 
 SAND-PIPERS . ...... 586 
 
 RIVER SCENE ...... 59* 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 ANGLING. 
 
"QuiVEBUfQ fears, heart-tearing cures, 
 Anxious sighs, untimely tears, 
 
 Fly, fly to courts, 
 
 Ply to fond worldlings' sports. 
 Where strained Sardonic sniiles 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, fty, 
 Sad troops cf human misery : — 
 Come, serene looks. 
 Clear as the crystal brooks, 
 Or the pure azured heaven that smilee to see 
 The rich attendance on our poverty; 
 Peace, and a secure mind, 
 Which all men seek, we only find." '^ 
 
 Walton. 
 
CHAPTEK I. 
 
 ANGLING. 
 
 Its harmonizing influenoee. — 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 
 Eeynolds, 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 Eoach. 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. 2y 
 
 and shot ; the best squirrel dog, and the use of his father's 
 lobg 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 afiect contempt for their more 
 humble brethren, who have not attained to their 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. 
 
30 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 Eough-and-Eeady 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 
 
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-fished, 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 " Izs. 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. Sometimea 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 Eock 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 allflsion 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 Reported, 
 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 
 of&cers, 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 
 Yankees might have it and be ; but it would be inde- 
 corous to record the admiral's mild expletive. 
 
 The True 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 
 Koach, 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 
 
84 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 evei 
 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 emergenc}', 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 ttbe 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 oast ! 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' trayel 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 I" 
 
 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 i^st, 
 And the river runs merrily by." 
 
36 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 When noon comes on, and the trout rise lazily or merely 
 nip, lie 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 I 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!" 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 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 wild not any thing made that was made." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL REMABKS 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 Fish, according to the definition of naturalists, is a 
 vertebrate animal with red blood, breathing through water 
 by means of branchiae, 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 earliest fishes appear in the upper Silurian 
 system, immediately beneath the Old Eed 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 " Lepidosteus" (the Grar-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 gays, " 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 eniire 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 Otenoids 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 " Otenoids," 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 a comb. 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 
 
GBNEEAL REMARKS ON FISH. 4^ 
 
 continues in his earnest manner: "The dynasty of the Ganoids 
 was at one time co-extensiye with every river, lake, and sea ; 
 and endured during the unreokoned eons, which extended 
 from the time of the lowfer Old Eed Sandstone until those of 
 the Chalk. I may here mention, that as there are orders of 
 plants, such as the Rosaose, 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. 
 ***** ipjjg delicate Salmonid^ and Pleuronectidse 
 families to which the Salmon and Turbot belong, were 
 ushered into being as early as the times of the Chalk ; but the 
 Gadidse 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- 
 
GENERALRBMARKSONFISH. 43 
 
 • iluction of viviparous fish, the Shark, for instance, and others 
 that produce their young alive, as they are of little interest 
 to the anginas far as sport is concerned. 
 
 Natur^sts 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 Salmonidse, 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 Eed 
 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 Gyprinidee 
 requiring less for the vivification of their eggs than other 
 fresh-water species. 
 
 Grif&th, in his Animal Kingdom, says some of the Pelagian 
 genera 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 Gaddidse, 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 RBMAEKS 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 ajre anadromous, as the Salmon, Sea Trout, Smelt, 
 Shad, and Eiver 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 
 'iome 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 ScQmhridse, 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 ^\e 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 pa,n-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 tlie 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 thfe 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 Avell 
 as Salmon, do not wander any considerable distance from 
 the m.ouths 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 AMERICANANGLER'SBOOK. 
 
 When the temperature of the air is below sixty-five, it is 
 very easy to wrap a Eoach or Chub of six inches long, in a 
 wet handkerchief, and bring it home alive. "White Perch, 
 Lahrax 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 
 hi ^ string of Catfish, -vV^hich 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 ( f 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 traflS.c, 
 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 
 Grermany, 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 REMARKSONFISH. 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 Bmmerson 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 who 
 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 Goregonus (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 fflSH. 5I 
 
 on tte animalculse 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 Eock- 
 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 terra 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 cap'able 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 tbe 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 tempenature 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- 
 aection 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 
 Weakflsh, 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 ANGLE R'S BOOK. 
 
 iug ; 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 Umhrina) 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. 
 
 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 attEiches it to a 
 higher being, as with the dog. "With blunted sense of hear- 
 ing and voiceleiss, 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 Linnaeus. 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 palasontology ; 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 Malacopterygii. 
 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 " Acanthopterygii" 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 Malacopterygii ; 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 
 
6ENERAL REMARKS ON FISH. 
 
 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- 
 copterygii embrace those that are called "abdominal," from 
 having t^e 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 Salmonidas and Esocidse, 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 tlie peculiar shape of the second 
 dorsal of the first figure ; it is one of the characteristic marks 
 of the Salmonidse. No other family the angler meets with, 
 has it except the Saluridae (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 
 al)le 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. 
 
 Linnaeus 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 
 Eevolution), 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, Eafinesque, 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. Boso 
 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. Eichardson produced his "Fauna Boreali," 
 
60 AMEEICANANGLBK'SBOOK. 
 
 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, Eedfield 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 j'ou, Scholar, that tiogeoes walked on a day, with n 
 friend, to aee a country fair ; where he saw ribbons, and looking-glasaea, 
 and nutcrackers, and fiddles, and bobby-horses, and many other gim- 
 cracks ; and having observed them, and all the other finnimbrunB that 
 make a complete country fair; he said to hia friend, " Lord, how many 
 things are there in this world of which Diogenes hath no need I" 
 
 Walton. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TACKLE IN GENERAL. 
 
 Hooks. — Sinkers. — Swivels. — Gut. — Leaders. — Snoods. — Lines. — Heels. — 
 Rods. — Bow Dipsys. 
 
 In these observations it would be well to have some set- 
 tled plan or order in which Tackle should be mentioned; 
 I have, therefore, thought it better to commence at the bot- 
 tom and go upwards. 
 
 Hooks. — 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 
 
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 
 Irish 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 Eivere, 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 
 sisies. 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 QEJfERAL. 
 
 65 
 
TACKLE IN GENERAL. 67 
 
 as I have found them common at Mackinaw amongst the old 
 habitans, at an early period of my fishing experience. 
 
 It is said, that Prince Eupert 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. : 3, 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 book. 
 
63 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 right is a "hook" Swivel, and that on the left a "box" 
 Swivel. 
 
 Sinkers.— 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 j 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 
 a piece 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 troUers 
 should be well supplied with i hese useful little articles ; steel 
 swivels should be used for fresh- water, and brass swivels for 
 salt-water fishing. 
 
 Floats are made of cork, hollow wood, or quills, of a great 
 variety of shapes and sizes. The quill is preferred for Eoach, 
 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, Snoods, Traces, &c. — Silk-worm gut, which 
 
TACKLE IN GENERAL. Qi) 
 
 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. 
 
 Leaders. — 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 
 oflf 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. 
 
 Lines 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 o£ a reel-line 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 its 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 Eeel by American anglers and mechanics ; some of 
 these, it is contended, are not improvements. 
 
 The balance-hajidle, 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 
 liai)le 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 ANGLBE'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. Eeels 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. 
 
 EoDS. — 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 ot 
 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. 
 
 The Bow Dipst. — A friend has lately shown me a Chinese 
 contrivance, which was brought over many years since by an 
 
74 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 old Bast India merchant ; it may have caused the introduc- 
 tion of the " bow-dipsy" in Philadelphia. This is a 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, &c., &c., 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 PEEOH FAMILY 
 
" As inward love breeds outward talk, 
 The hound BOme 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 is 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 — PEECID^. 
 
 Obneral Remaeks on the Percid/E. 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. 
 
 The Rockpish or Striped Bass. Labrax Lineaius. — Rockfish Tackle. — 
 Rockfishing on the lower Rappahannock. 
 
 The White Perch. Labrax pallidtxs. — Perch Fishing. 
 
 The White Bass of the Lakes. Labrax albidus. — White Bass taken 
 with the artificial fly. 
 
 JFresh Water Bass op the South and West. Grystes salmoides. — Bass 
 Fishing. — Bass Fly Fishing. 
 
 Black Bass of the Lakes. Chystes 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 hexicanlhus. 
 
 The Yellow Barred Perch. Perca flavescens. 
 
 The Sdnfish or Sunny. Pomotis vulgaris. 
 
 Bream. Ichtkylis rubriciinda. — Bream Fishing on Bayou La Branch. 
 
 The Pike Perch or Ohio Salmon. Lucioperca Americana. 
 
 The Buffalo Perch. Ablodon grunniens. 
 
 De Kay, whose work on ichthyology was published in 1846, 
 says, there were more than sixty genera and six hundred 
 species of Percidse 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 P&rca flavescens. 
 Cuvier describes comparatiyely few as being found in Europe ; 
 while here the Percidae 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 Percidae are, edges of gill- 
 cover or foi;e 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 Percidae 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 Eoekfish, 
 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 gerifera. 
 
 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 foal, 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 atorse-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. 
 
V AN ' 
 
 o 
 
 CS 
 
 a 
 a 
 
THE PERCH FAMILY. gj 
 
 THE ROCKFISH, OE STEIPED BASS. 
 
 Labrax Lineaius : Cuvieb. 
 
 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 5J 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 ANGLEE'S BOOK. 
 
 The first dorsal has nine stout spines ; tlie 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 anno3'^ance to the fishermen by tearing their nets, and 
 allowing the shad and herring to escape. 
 
 An erroneous opinion prevails, that Eockfish 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. 
 
 Rock-Fishing. — The first dash of a Eockfish 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 piill 
 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. 
 
 Eods of various lengths are used in angling for Eockfish. 
 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. 
 
 we 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 ; for a 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. y5 
 
 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 
 OQ 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 Eock- 
 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 Eockfish, 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, thougli 
 a white rag answers the purpose as well. Half flood is the 
 best time of tide for such fishing. The pearl minnow should 
 - be 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. 
 
Sij A M ERIC AN ANGLER'S HOOK. 
 
 At the Eancocas 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 Eockfish, from ten to fourteen 
 inches long, with the pearl 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. I 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 fishing 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 Eockfish, 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 Eockfish, to 
 place him in 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 Eockfish 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 Eockfish is said to be coarse, and is 
 not esteemed. . , 
 
 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 Eappahan- 
 nock, near its mouth. On the morning after my arrival, my 
 host improvised a bout with the Eockfish ; 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 
 sufUced 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 into 
 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 Eockfish, 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 
 EoUy 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 
 Roily 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 FAMIIiT. 
 
 89 
 
 inucli quiet satisfaction in his first success witli it; while 
 Uncle EoUy laughed at his tactics. We went home and ate 
 the stewed head and shoulders of a large Eockfish 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 Eockfish of twenty-five pounds, which Uncle 
 EoUy 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 
 
 ■" L'ncle Holly." 
 
90 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 WHITE PERCH. GEAY PERCH. 
 
 Labrax pallidus : De Kay. 
 
 Color — back, bluish gray; sides, silvery gray ; belly, wbite ; 
 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 ; P 14 ; V 15 ; A3, 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 Lalrax rvfus, 
 or Ruddy Bass. I believe as he did, that the two are distinct 
 
THE) PEKCH FAMILY. 91 
 
 species. Holbrook, quoting Gmelin, calls it Labrax Ameri- 
 canus, and falls into the same error as Ouvier and Storer, 
 making no specific difference between the two. 
 
 Labrax rufus is a northern fish, seldom if ever found south 
 of ISTew 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 Euddy 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 ANGLEE'S BOOK. 
 
 market for food," is an error so glaring, as to cause one to 
 suppose, that the explorations of the naturalist in c|,uestion, 
 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 Eichmond 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 
 E'orester 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 ofi'. 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 AMEEICAN ANGLBK'S BOOK. 
 
 the Perch and Eockfish 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. Two 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, whicli 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 
 <''iire a three-pound Eockfish, 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. In a 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 AFGLEK'S BOOK. 
 
 Perch-fiehing in tlie montli 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 Eockfish 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 :— Out off the heads 
 and tails, and fry the fish enough to lay them open, and take 
 out the backbone and ribs, dividing each fi§h 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 PBKCH FAMILY. 97 
 
 THE "WHITE BASS OF THE LAKES. 
 
 Labrax alhidus : De Kay. 
 
 De Kay says : " TMs fish is bluisli 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 is a 
 very common fish in Lake- Erie, and is known at Buffalo 
 under the name of White Bass." 
 
 In the year 1844, I 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 I 
 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 
 7 
 
98 AMERICAN ANGLBE'S BOOK. 
 
 in Detroit Eiver. 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 
 
 FEESH-WATBE BASS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST. 
 Grystes salmoidea : Cutiek. 
 
 This fish is known, under various names, through the wide 
 extent of its habitat. In the neighborhood of Eichmond, it 
 is called the James Eiver 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. Eye large. 
 Mouth very large, lower jaw longer. The vomer has brash- 
 
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 Eiver, in the lagoons of the 
 Dismal Swamp, in the Eoanoke, 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 Grulf 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-oftj 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- 
 sissippi. 
 
 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 PBECH FAMILY. IQl 
 
 board of the flat-boat wliicli 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 Eock Island, Illinois. He 
 
102 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 waded Eock River and fished for Bass as for Trout or Salmon, 
 and killed a great many, some of wMcli 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. 
 
 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 NOETHBEN LAKES. 
 
 Orystes 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 ANfiLER'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. Yentrals 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 Eouse's Point, on Lake 
 Champlain. I have been particular in my description, and 
 find it diflfers 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 patent is most generally 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 certainly, 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 
 and 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 Eivers, 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 PBRCH FAMILY. IQiJ 
 
 the Thousand Isles, is by the New York Central Eailroad to 
 Eome, thence to Gape Vincent, and early next morning by 
 steamboat to Alexandria Bay ; where Eowe Brothers have 
 quarters that would have delighted Father Izaak himself, and 
 where boats and oarsmen can always be jjrocured. Anglers 
 from all the towns of New York on the Central Eailroad 
 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 of&cer 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- 
 eripk hook about an inch and a quarter across the bend, with 
 a white feather whipped to the back of it. 
 
108 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 THE STEIPBD BASS OF THE OHIO. 
 
 Perca chrysops ; Rafinesqub. 
 
 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 " Eockfish" by the 
 early settlers of Kentucky, who supposed it to be identical 
 with the Eockfish of the Atlantic States. It differs, however, 
 in the number of stripes on its sides ; the Eockfish 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 junc- 
 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 SHOET 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. 
 
110 AMERICAN ANGLEK'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. 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 
 ^'^^^^s. 
 
 CRAPPIE, SAC-A-LAI, OR CHINKAPIN PEECH. 
 
 Pomoxis 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, witli dark irregular transverse 
 markings. Teeth on vomer, tongue, and palatines acute, they 
 are small, and recurved on maxillaries. 
 
 The specific name, Mexicanikus, is significant ; its anal fin 
 being armed with six spines, which nymber 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 crfeoles of Louisiana as 
 the " Sac-^-Lai," where it is also sometimes called " Chinkapin 
 Perch." In the neighborhood of St. Louis, Mo., it was called 
 originally " Orappie," 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 si^e, 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. [13 
 
 As soon, tlien, as the water becomes clear in the lakes and 
 ponds, there is a great turnout amongst the fishermen of St. 
 Louis. But to have good sport with the Grapples, 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 Grapples. 
 
 Grapples 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 penden,t from the hook ; in fish- 
 ing with the latter, the bait should be kept in motion. 
 WornK are objectionable, as they attract the smaller fish, 
 while they are not fancied by Grapples. Shrimp are generally 
 used by the Kew 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. As the mouth of the Grapple 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. 
 
114 
 
 AMERICAN ANSLEB'S BOOK. 
 
 
 YELLOW BARRED PERCH. 
 
 Perca Jlavescens ; 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 oranije ; 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 ^enus 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 
 {dux 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 
 t3rrannical 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. 
 
 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. 
 
113 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 BEBAM. 
 
 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 Percidse. 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 Eed-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 " Ichihylis incisor" is the Blue Bream, 
 or Copper-Nosed Bream ; it seldom exceeds eight inches in 
 length. The other, " Ichthylis ruhricunda" is the Red-Bellied 
 Perch, or Red-Tailed Bream. 
 
 There is yet another Percoid, with brilliant sides and dark 
 green mottled back, known as the Goggle-Eye, 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. ^g 
 
 Bream are taken mth 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. 3 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 Branch, 
 about thirty miles north of New Orleans, on the Jackson 
 Eailroad, 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 : Cutier. 
 
 Of the many misnomers given to fisli, 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 Percidae. The scientific name " Lucioperca" (Pike 
 Perch), adopted by Cuvier, indicates its af&nity to the Pike 
 as well as the Perch. Eecent ichthyologists, however, 
 amongst whom is Mr. Theodore Gill, are in favor of placing 
 it in a sub-family, " PercinEs." 
 
 Having no specimen at hand, we copy from Mr. Gill's 
 " Synopsis of the sub-family Percinse," 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. 121 
 
 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 AUe- 
 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 Eiver. 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 PBECH. WHITE PERCH OF THE OHIO. 
 
 Ahloden grunniens : Rafinesque. 
 
 Although this fish is known by the above common names, 
 it is not a species of Percidee, but belongs to an entirely different 
 family, that of Scienidse. It is the only Scienoid found in 
 our rivers, and is confined to those on the western side of the 
 AUeghanies, 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. 
 
 Eafinesque'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 
 Eater. 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-fish, 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 
 
 The fish here described, though quite common in the Ohio 
 Eiver, 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 moluscs and Crustacea found in its new habitat. It has 
 the true characteristics of the Scienoids, which are moluse- 
 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 Prum-fish. 
 
 When young this is one of the most beautiful of the 
 Acanihopterri. 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 Gruide," 
 (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." 
 
CHAPTBE y 
 THE PIKE FAMILY. 
 
"Green air thy waters — green as bottle glaae 
 
 They lay stretched thar ; 
 Fine Muscaloagy and Oswego Bass 
 
 Are ketched thar ; 
 Wonst the red Injuna thar took their delights, 
 
 Fisht, fit and bled ; 
 Now the inhabitants is mostly whites 
 With nary red." 
 
 From " A Node to Lake Ordario,^^ found in the 
 " K N F&[yper Papers" — quoted from memory. 
 
OHAPTEE V. 
 
 THE PIKE FAMILY — BSOCID^. 
 
 Remarks on the Pike Family. Mascalonge pictured by Ouvier. — 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. 
 
 The Great Lake Pickerel. I!sox lucioides. — Trolling from a boat for 
 Pickerel. 
 
 The Mascalonge. Esox esior. — Angling for Mascalonge. 
 
 The Pond Pike, Hsox reticulatus. — Pike-fishing. — Trolling for Pike with 
 the gorge-hook. — Pike-fishing in Eastern Virginia. 
 
 The Great Bltte Pike. 
 
 The Little Pijle op Long Island. 
 
 The Streaked Pike op the Ohio. — 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, Usox estor. 
 The figure is incorrectly colored, and in its markings re- 
 sembles the Great Northern Pickerel, JEsox lucioides, rather 
 than the fish it is intended to represent. ' There are but few 
 species of Pikes found in Europe. Usox 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, 
 fiichardson, 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 Esocidse, assigns the 
 Great Garfish of the Southern and Western States to this 
 family, calling it " Esox 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 Grar, 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 Esox 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 chaii\ 
 {catenato hamo), and drawn out by oxen {bourn 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 ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 which the cook found a black ribband and keys. Quoting 
 Dodsley's Eegister, 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 Eastern States. In the Middle States they are 
 called " Pike," and in Virginia and further South they go by 
 the name of " Jackfish." 
 
THE PIKE FAMILY. 
 
 131 
 
 GEEAT LAKE PICKEEBL. 
 Esox hicioides. 
 
 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 in<^uced 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 as I could. The figure at the head of this 
 article is a reduced copy of it. As I 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. I33 
 
 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 -onth some 
 artificial spinning bait; of these the murderous implement 
 called the spoon is in general use. A stout troUing-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 
 twt) 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 
 yotir 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. 
 
o 
 la 
 o 
 
 a 
 
THE PIKE FAMILY. 135 
 
 MASGALONG-B. 
 
 JEsoxestor: 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 oval spots of mjich 
 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 thkn 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. Eyes 
 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. Eice 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. JgiJ 
 
 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, OK COMMON PIKE. 
 
 The smaller species of Pikes are confined almost exclusively 
 to the streams on the eastern slope of the AUeghanies. 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 capt.ured 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 a Gorge-Hook. — 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 th^ other end of the gimp, for the 
 purpose of taking off or putting on the bait after it is placed 
 on the 
 
 OORGE-HOOK. 
 
140 AMERICAN ANGLE R'S BOOK. 
 
 The disgorging-liook 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. It 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. 
 rf 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. On a 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 afber the ice is gone, 
 and soon recovers condition. He may be 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 trailing the bait from a boat, as it is 
 rowed along. Still, after one has taken the magnificent 
 
THE PIKE FAMILY. I43 
 
 Striped aud Fresh-water Bass, Trout, "Weakflsh, Barb, and Eed- 
 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. 
 
 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 Eidge, 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 Eio 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 
 Joliannis 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 Caesar, 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 Eights. 
 
 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 
 
 [ERICAN 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. \^<J 
 
 GEBAT BLUB PIKE. 
 
 This fish has a broad short snout, which is very different 
 from the dncklike 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 Esox fmciatus. 
 
148 AMERICAN . ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 THE STREAKED PIKE OF THE OHIO. 
 
 Esox vUtatus : Rafinesque. 
 
 Of the Pikes found in the Ohio, Eafinesque says : — " There 
 are several species of Pikes in the Ohio, Mississippi, Wabash, 
 Kentucky, &c. I have not yet been able to observe them 
 tlioroughly. 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, &c. They are easily taken with the 
 hook, and afford a very good food, having a delicate flesh. 
 
 " Streaked Pike. Esox 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. I49 
 
 Mississippi. It is called Piconeau 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." 
 
 I 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 Ch^ib 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-taUe 
 after its head and tail were cut off '^ and that it was necessary to 
 have a tin boiler naade 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 wantonness. 
 
 " Let them that list, these paatiiues still pursue, 
 A nd on such pleasing fancies feed their AH, 
 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 daff'odil, 
 
 Purple narcissus like the morning rays. 
 Pale gander-grass, and azure culverkoys." 
 
 Jo. Davors, Esq. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CAEP FAMILY — CYPEINIDJ!. 
 
 Remarks on the Cyprinidj!. 
 
 The Sucker. Catostomus communis. 
 
 Buffalo Fish. Catostomus habulus. — Buffalo Pish as an article of diet. 
 
 The Chub or Fallfish. Leucosomus noihus. — 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. 
 
 Roach, 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) 
 
154 AMERICAN ANGLEK'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 fln. 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 SUCKBE. 
 
 Catostomus communis : De Kat. 
 
 There are several species of the genus Catostomus known 
 by this common name ; they appear to be ubiquitou,s 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 ; it is 
 sucked in by the fish ; the moti^jn of the cork is slight, the 
 angler striking as it moves off, or as it is drawn geiiily 
 under. 
 
 BUFFALO FISH. 
 
 Caiosiomus hahulos : Rapinesqce. 
 
 In mentioning the specific characteristics of this fish, Eafi- 
 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 k 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 astonishiitg 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 CAEP FAMILY. 157 
 
 THE CHUB, OE FALLFISH. 
 Lettcosomus nothus. 
 
 There are several species of the genus Leucosom,us found in 
 the Eastern 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 strea'ms, 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 hare 
 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 urill 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 Cbub-fisher, and who stands up 
 for his favorite, writes thus in his defence-; I insert his 
 remarks, word for word : — 
 
 " I 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 BOOK. 
 
 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. IQ\ 
 
 THE EOAOH. 
 
 Of course no angler will fish, for Eoach 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 Greek, and at Eed 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 
 m the dock itself. 
 
 "When fishing for Eoach 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 Eoach 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. 
 Eoach 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 HEERING FAMILY. 
 
*2iiaJ.>7- Lady (raising the window). I say, man — thee with the wheel- 
 harruw— what does thee ask for shad? 
 
 Colored Fishvender. Hay dar! (turning quickly round and touching 
 the rim of his bellcrowned hat) From three fips, mtirm, 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, shad J let go my knife and 
 
 for^, fresh shad! Whih ! here dey go! 
 
 Old Times in Philadelphia. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HERRING FAMILY — CLUPEID^. 
 
 Remarks on the Herring Family, from the " Iconographio Encyclo- 
 paedia." — 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 proBstatilis. — 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 Encyclopaedia 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. 
 
 " Clupeid^. The fishes of this family exhibit considerable 
 analogies to the Sahnonoids, 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 ANGLER'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 Eomans, 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 Encrasicholus 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 Glupeidse, with non- projecting upper jaws, are divided 
 into various genera, as Glupea, 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 Glupea, 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 European species, is represented in 
 America by one of much finer flavor, the A. sapidissima, or 
 
THE HERRING FAMILY. 1G7 
 
 common American Shad. This well-kno-wn species com- 
 mences its entrance into our rivers, at periods varying from 
 Janviary 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 sprattv^ ; but vastly 
 more so the common Herring, Glupea 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 regular 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 
 
Igg 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, an4 
 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 130,000 
 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. Eecent 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 {sakr en blanc 
 and saurer). To white-salt Herring, they are gutted on being- 
 caught, and packed in barrels, with a thick brine poured ovfer 
 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 ANGLBR'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 Bdekelson, 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 ehngata, the representa- 
 tive of C. harengus. Besides Ahsa sapidissima, or Shad, 
 already mentioned, Ahsa tyr annus 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. I71 
 
 would 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 East Eiver. 
 
 THE SHAD. 
 
 Alosa prcesiibilus : De Kat. 
 
 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 
 a small 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-ro^. A friend of the writer, a novice in 
 
174 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 angling, some ten or twelve years ago went to Fairmonnt, 
 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 Eockfish ; 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 Eelb, and sick as that." 
 
 "One Sat'day night 
 Be niggas went a hunting 
 Be dogs dey run de Coon, 
 Be Coon he run de Wolver, 
 De Wolver run de Stiff-leg, 
 Be Stiff-leg run de Bevil, 
 Bey run him up de hill, 
 But dey cotch him on de level. 
 
 " Sat'day night come arter, 
 Be niggas went a-fishin', 
 Bey call for Billy Carter, 
 'Case he want to go a-caUin\ 
 Bey filled de jug an' started 
 For de Pocomoka river, 
 Chicken-guta wus better bait. 
 Bey dug a gourd o' wurrims." 
 
 From a song of the " Peasat,try of the ^uih" — banjo 
 accompaniment omitted. 
 
CHAPTEK Viri. 
 
 CATFISH AND EELS. 
 
 Catfish, Siluridm. — Extract from Icouographio Encyclopaedia. 
 
 Catfish of the Atlantic States and Western waters. 
 
 Eels. — Observations on the Petromyzontidos (Lamprey Eels), on the 
 
 MurcenidcB (Common Eels), and on the Oymnotidce (Electric Eels). 
 The Common Eel. Anguilla vulgaris. — Pishing 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 BncyclopEedia 
 on the Siluridse, as well as an account of the different fami- 
 lies of anguilliform fishes known as Eels, from the same 
 work. 
 
 " SALUEiD.a!. — 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 Europe, 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 Siluridae. It 
 difters 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, 
 Silurus, 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 Pimehdus and Noturus ; the former with a distinct 
 adipose dorsal, the latter with this dorsal confluent with the 
 caudal. Numerous species of Pimehdus (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 witli in Galeichthys, Arius, and Bagrus, the former 
 charaeterized by the high dorsal and pectorals. 
 
 "South America exhibits some Siluroids of especial inte- 
 rest. Conspicuous among these are Arges cychpum, 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 Silurua 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 ANGLEE'S BOOK. 
 
 CATFISH OF THE ATLANTIC AND WBSTBEN 
 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 ; so I 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 to a 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. IQ[ 
 
 There are two varieties of these monsters in the Ohio and 
 Mississippi : the " Mud Oat," with a broad flat head, and the 
 " Channel Gat." The latter is far more active and stronger 
 than the former. 
 
 In my boyhood, I frequently went Catfishing with a rustic 
 angler, whom I shall never forget. After breakfast, one of 
 the servants would appear with a gourdfuU 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 Font'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 
 Font's tail left in the mud, as he sat on his hurdles. 
 
 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, 
 I am informed by a brother angler — the same who writes in 
 
182 AMERICAN ANGLE 11. '5 BOOK. 
 
 defence of the Chub, and on whose statement I can rely 
 ■with entire confidence — that in his younger days when going 
 to a large mill-pond to bathe, he was struck with the move- 
 ments of a Catiish 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-fiitch : a little rich milk 
 should be poured in the stew before it is taken off the fire. 
 
CATFISH AND BBIig. ^^gg 
 
 EELS. 
 
 Observations from the " Iconographic Encyclopaedia." 
 " Peteomyzontid^. This family, the last of the Der- 
 mopteri, is also without lateral fins : a continuous median nii 
 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 Eel, and Ammoceetes, or Sand Lamprey. The former 
 have a circular mouth provided with numerous teeth, and 
 fringed with cilise 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 Pimehdus, 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 pp-esent day they are the favorite food of 
 epicures. 
 
 "The Mursenidse 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 Eels, 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 Eel 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 night 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. Eels 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 Gymnotidse, 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, Oymnotus electricus or Electric Eel, 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. IgS 
 
 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 along 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. Eoused 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 Eels 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. Bach cell is separate and 
 independent, answering to the cell of the galvanic battery. 
 
136 AMERICAN ANGLBB'B 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 Eel 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 Eel, 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 
 Grreat did with the Grordian Knot ; and take out his jack- 
 knife and cut his line ; thus reducing the many knots to one. 
 
 Albeit the Eel is a " slippery 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 Eels 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. IQT 
 
 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 Kockiish. 
 
 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 Eels in a 
 night. They are speared at night in the upper Delaware ; 
 the reflection from the torch giving them a white, glaring 
 appearance. 
 
 I 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 hol§ to drive his implement into, without seeing 
 them, and draws it out with the impaled Eels 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 witli 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 Eels 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 Eels, on account of 
 thpir 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 knov 
 "Where joy, heart's ease, and comforts grow, 
 
 You'd scorn proud towers, 
 
 And seek them in these howers; 
 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 fountanis, 
 Which we may every year 
 Meet when we come a-fishing here.'' 
 
 Walton. 
 
CHAPTBE IX. 
 
 THE SALMON FAMILY. — SALMONID^. 
 
 Remakks on the Salmonid^. 
 
 The Brook Trout. — Scientific description. — Habits and manner of breed- 
 ing. — Growth. — Difference in size between Trout of still waters and 
 those of brisk streams. — EjBEect 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. 
 
 TaE Salmon. — 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. 
 
 The Canadian Trout, or Sea Teout. Salmo Canadensis. — Error in 
 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. Adarason's account of Sea-Trout 
 fishing. — Their abundance in the rivers falling into the Gulf of St. 
 LaviTence, and annoyance to Salmon-fishers. 
 
 The Schoodic Trout, or Dwarf Salmon or the St. Croix. Salmo Oloveri. 
 — 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 Graymng. Thymallus signifer.— Dr. Richardson's remarks on the 
 Grayling. 
 
 (191) 
 
]^92 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 The Smelt. 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. 
 
 The Capelin. Mallotus mllosus. 
 
 The Whitefish. Coregonus alhus. 
 
 Trout Bait-fishing. 
 
 The family of Salmonidx 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 fontinalis. 
 
 The Salmon. Salmo salar. 
 
 The Canadian Trout. Salmo Canadensis. Known as the 
 Sea Trout. 
 
 The Schoodic Trout. Salmo Oloveri. Of the St. Croix Eiver. 
 
 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 Grrayling 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, 0. viridiscens, the Smelt. 
 
 Of the genus Coregonus, we have ten species described by 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 193 
 
 ichthyologists, and perhaps several more of which no descrip- 
 tion lias yet been given. As none of this genus are sporting 
 fish, I have only referred to G. aUbus, the large Whitefish. 
 
 Of the genus Mallotus, we have only one species, M. 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 Salmonidse, 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 Salmonidse 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, 
 (tfin hardly be appreciated, unless one enters into an investi- 
 gation of all the statistical information on record. 
 
 13 
 
194 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 BEOOK TEOUT. SPECKLED TROUT. 
 
 Salmo foniinalis : Mitchil. 
 
 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 
 
p 
 o 
 
 !4 
 o 
 o 
 
 n 
 U 
 
 EH 
 
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 i 
 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 
 ur 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. I 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. 19*; 
 
 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 cast, in 
 the Eaquette Eiver, 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 
 helow 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. ^99 
 
 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 flrom 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 aflS.nity to it ; it is 
 a ffesh-water Bass, Qrystes 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. 
 
 Food of 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 gnat, 
 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, seizing 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 AN&LER'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 AUeghanies, 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 in 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. 203 
 
 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 
 
204 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 on it :— " Taken by J. E. Oady, 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 Eiver, 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 
 to a 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 S. Page, of the firm of 
 George S. 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. 206 
 
 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. E. 0. Stanley, of Maine, in the early part of the 
 present nxonth. 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 Gloveri. 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 
 size- of 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 solar : Linn^us. 
 
 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. Eichardson, 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 "WarringtQn's table in lower "Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
o 
 S 
 >j 
 «t 
 tn 
 
 SI 
 
 m 
 
 EH 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 207 
 
 Hendrick Hudson, when he first ascended the river that 
 bears his name, recorded in his journal, "many Salmon, 
 Mullets, and Eays 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 once 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 Europe 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. 
 
 of the Britisli and Eussian possessions, contain them in vast 
 n ambers. 
 
 Dr. Suckley, in his report on the fishes collected on the 
 Pacific Kailroad Survey, says, in that part of it devoted to 
 the Salmonidse 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. Eiley 
 &-Swan, proprietors of the Salmon-packing estafblishment at 
 the mouth of the Puyallup Eiver, have taken three thousand 
 at one haul of the seine.'' Fisheries, I am told, have been 
 established on the Bel and Eussian Elvers 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 Eiver 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, 
 and that such is also the case to a great extent with the 
 barbaric tribes of northern Asia above the sixtieth parallel, 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 209 
 
 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. Eichard 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. 
 
 "I have said that the fish are dogged and sullen. All 
 sportsmen know what I 'mean. Prevent them ftom 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. 
 
 "In 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 "Eeport upon the Fisheries of New 
 Brunswick," Dr. Adamson, in his appendix to his "Salmon- 
 14 
 
210 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 FisHng in Canada," and other writers, speak also of the 
 former abundance of Salmon in the Canadas. Mr. Nettle 
 says, " The late Eobert Christie, so many years the member 
 for Gasp^, 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 the 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. 211 
 
 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. 
 
 Scientific 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 
 
212 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 of Propagation. — 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 tlie 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 
 
 213 
 
 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. 
 
214 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 efifbrts 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, i-s 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 suf&- 
 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 ia 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 labors, 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 AMBKICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 action of the fish and water breaking down some of the gravel 
 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 ova 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 : 1st, 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. 217 
 
 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 shorter 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 Eiver- 
 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 foiir-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. 219 
 
 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 cTun 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 from ^ a 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 w'as repeated, and 
 the result was ever the same. 
 
 "It 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 
 
220 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. 
 
 " It is during the deposition of ova that they are destroyed, 
 and the great destroyers of them are river Trout of every 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 221 
 
 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. 
 " It 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 
 
222 AMERICAN ANGLEE'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 op 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 -to 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, foi 
 the sustentation of the infant Salmon. In connection with the 
 sac and incipient fish, several ^onduits, 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. 
 
 " At a 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 tbe 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 tbe body, and the 
 transverse bars are plainly apparent. 
 
 "At six months the young fish measures from 'three and a 
 quarter to three and a balf 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 larvae 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 
 \>y degrees taking their place. 
 
224 
 
 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.' " 
 
 ■' It 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, it 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. £25 
 
 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. Eepresents its size when three months old. 
 
 5. Eepresents the size at five or six months old. 
 
 Figure 6, on page 227, shows the size at ten or eleven 
 months. 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 
 
226 AMERICAN ANGLER'S, BOOK. 
 
 Spe(3ies, 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 is a " 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 difi'erent 
 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" say's 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 irorri 
 information received from the best sources, and from reason- 
 able conclusions drawn from premises already laid down, it i« 
 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 wateie, 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 
 ihief food of the Salmon at sea. 
 
 From all accounts there is a disparity in the size of 
 A.merican and European Grilse. It appears from the " Book 
 
230 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 ei^ht 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 malesj 
 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. 231 
 
 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 Matuke Salmoit. — We now come to the mature fish ; 
 no longer the rollicking hobbledehoy, 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 the 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, land 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 July a bright fish 
 of ten pounds, loses its pearly hue and stout proportions as 
 the summer wears away. Its fins, which were white and 
 
232 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. 
 
 "Ephemera" 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 authoi 
 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, &c.) 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. 233 
 
 in his report upon tlie fisheries of New Brunswick, says, 
 he has been told of several taken in the Eistigouche that 
 weighed oyer 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 Eiver 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 
 y^ear mentioned, at the request of his Grace of Sutherland and 
 Mr. Loch, M. P., Salmon were caught in the Eiver Shin, 
 shortly before the spawning season, and conveyed to the four 
 
234 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 rivers above named, amongst wliicli 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 Eiver Shin, 
 spawn where their ancestors had spawned ; but no, they leave 
 their own natal shallows, pass down the lake, through the 
 Eiver 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. Eevisit them — for 
 what ? Being nubile, to perform the nuptial rights, which 
 they do where their forefathers begat theni, 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, sach 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. 235 
 
 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 or two. 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 
 
236 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. 
 
 Food of the Salmon. — 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 jiimp 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 rivei 
 from which it migrates. 
 
 Eegarding its food while at sea, Dr. Knox says : " The tint 
 of its flesh, its superior flavor, and its wonderful growth, is 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 237 
 
 owing to its feeding on the eggs of various echinodermata and 
 Crustacea." Sir Humphrey Davy supposes the Sand Bel 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. 
 
238 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 THE CANADIAN TEOUT. SEA TEOUT. 
 
 Salmo Canadensis : Hamilton Smith. 
 
 With a view of correcting an error whidi prevails in regard 
 to ttis 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 
 figiire 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. fdntinalis), that the Canadian Trout has red spots, 
 which S. 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 European 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, "Eiver 
 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 hie work on British fishes, says : " Doctor MoCulIoch 
 ptates, 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 difSculty." — 
 Journal of the Royal Institute, No. xxxiv., page 212." 
 
240 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 Salrtio trutta, 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 vnthout 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. 24] 
 
 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 Salmonidse, 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. 
 
 C. 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 Sea Trout {S. truUa) 
 
 Canadian Trout {S. Canadensis) . . . 
 Brook OT 'Riyer Trout (S. foniinalis) . . 
 
 There being only a difference of one ray in the pectorals, 
 which may be accidental. 
 
 Although I have taken some trouble to prove that S. Cana- 
 densis and S. 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 
 
242 AMERICAN ANGLEK'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-hoa,t, from which an angler had 
 nothing to do but cast his flies, and take wheelbarrow4oads 
 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 sing]e 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 terrof 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 the 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 called, the bodjr 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. 
 
 " In 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 take most of the 
 Irish flies, but the red hackle, in all its varieties, is the 
 
244 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 favorite. A brilliant hackle, over a yellow or fiery-brown 
 body, kills everywliere, 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 Gharlottestown. 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 ea^ 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. 
 
 245 
 
 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. 
 
 "I 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 
 
246 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 "Eough 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 
 a rise 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. 
 
 247 
 
 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 AMEEICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 THE SCHOODIC TROUT, OE DWARF SALMON OF 
 THE ST. CROIX. 
 
 Salmo Gloveri: Girakd. 
 
 The only scientific account I can find of this fish is given 
 by Girard ; it was brought to his notice by Mr. Townsend 
 Grlover, 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 to 
 the female or proper to both sexes, I am not prepared to say, 
 from want of sufiicient 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. 249 
 
 to the sea, but continuing to breed under sucli restraint, 
 produced dwarfed fish, and apparently a new species. Others 
 think it a hybrid, the produce of the Salmon and Brook 
 Trout, which is improbable. 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 al-e taken at a cast, pulling hard, 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 lbs. 
 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 Bastport, 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. 
 
250 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 THE GREAT LAKE TEOUT. 
 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 
 preventiag 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. AVith us they are most abundant in Lake 
 Superior, though they are taken in quantities in Lakes 
 Huron, Brie, 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 
 
o 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 pa 
 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. 
 
 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 Naymacush spawns along the shores of 
 the lakes in the month of iTovember. 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 doiibtless 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 Naymacusk 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. 
 
TUIS SALMON FAMILY. 
 
 255 
 
 THE LESSER LAKE TROUT. 
 
 Salmo Adirondakus : Nobis. 
 
 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, sometimee 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, 
 farther 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 I'lO ; 
 pectorals 13 ; venti'al 9 ; anal 2-10 ; caudal (forked) 3-22, 8. 
 There are two rows of teeth on each side of the roof of the 
 
256 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 avejage 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 m.ustang. 
 
 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. 
 
 I 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, gafied, and lifted in. If the fish is large, the 
 boat is backed towards him, or follows ; and as he likely has 
 17 
 
258 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. 269 
 
 BACK'S GEAYLING. THE STANDAED-BBAEEE. 
 
 Thymalhis signifer : Richardson. 
 
 Dr. Eichardson, in Ms "Fauna Boreali-Americana," gives 
 not only a glowing description 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- 
 file 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. Eichardson 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 Eiver, 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. Eichardson. 
 
 There is a smaller species of Grayling {Thymallus thymal- 
 hides) 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. 
 
 i3*iS 
 
 s 
 
 i>^-^-^. 
 
 
 
 -.-^J 
 
THE SALMON FAMILY. £63 
 
 THE SMELT. 
 Osmerus viridescens : De Kat. 
 
 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 Earitan, 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 Thad. 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 i 
 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 ; aides silvery ; belly brilliantly white. Branchial rays 
 8 ; D. 11, C. 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 0. viridescetis 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. 
 0. viridescens (the northern Smelt) attains the Ifength of 12 inches. I 
 have seen the new species here described in quantities at New Brunswick, 
 New Jersey, but never exceeding 6J inches exclusive of caudal. 
 
 " Storer enumerates 14 rays in the pectorals of O. viridescens, but 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 
 flsh. It is the smallest of all the Salmonidse, except the two genera of 
 Scopulus and Malloius. It is the only fish of the Salmon family, besides 
 the Brook Trout, found in our waters, and the only species of anadromous 
 salmonidcE 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. 
 
 " It 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 oast 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. 
 
 " I 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. 
 
 266 
 
 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 in 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. 
 
 " It 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 Coregonua or Thymallua. 
 
 " In 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 SalmonidcB, though it may be covered with thick skin or fat, 
 concealing the rays 1 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." 
 
2Qfi 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 I 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 grsited 
 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 
 
 CAPBLIN. 
 Mallotus villosus 1 Cuviee. 
 
 This, with the exception of the genus Scopulua, is the 
 smallest species of Salmonidse found in American waters. 
 Dr. Eichardson 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 
 
268 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 ■warning, and over goes the seine smootlily 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. 269 
 
 THE WHITEPISH. 
 
 Coregonus albus. 
 
 There are not less than thirteen distinct species of Corego- 
 nus described by ichthyologists. Dr. Eichardson, in his Fauna 
 Boreali- Americana, mentions seven: G. albus, the Attihawmeg; 
 0. tulibee, the Tulibee Coregonus ; G. artide, Le Sueur's Her- 
 ring Salmon ; G. quadrilateralis, the Bound Fish ; G. Labrado- 
 ricus, the Musqua Eiver Coregonus ; G. lucidus, the Bear 
 Lake Salmon Herring ; G. Hurongus, the Lake Huron Salmon 
 Herring. De Kay describes three species : G. albus (the large 
 Whitefish brought to our markets from the great lakes during 
 the autumn months, and identical with the Attihawmeg of 
 Dr. Eichardson) ; G. Otsego, the Otsego Lake Whitefish (now 
 almost extinct) ; and G. 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 Eound Fish mentioned by Dr. Eichardson 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 Salmonidse, 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; C. 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 16J inches long, 
 and 4| inches broad. 
 
272 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 BAIT-FISHING FOE TEOUT. 
 
 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 fine 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 Eock- 
 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 flannel 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 
 
274 
 
 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. 
 
OH AFTER 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 glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 
 Glasses '.tself in temjicyts ; in all time, — 
 Calm or convulsed— 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 Invi&iblc."' 
 
 Ctron. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHIlJ'G. 
 
 Intkoductort Remarks. 
 The Sheepshead. 
 
 The Weakfish, or Salt-Watee 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 rROSTPisH. 
 The Porgt. 
 
 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, Kockfish, 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. 
 
 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 
 theni. 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 Eockfish, 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 touched up the Eockfish 
 in the afternoons at the islands. 
 
SALT WATER FISH AND FISHING. 279 
 
 THE SHBBPSHBAD. 
 
 Sargis ovis : Mitchil. 
 
 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 
 
28ft 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. 
 
i ALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 281 
 
 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 strolig 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 
 
282 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 Eailroad. 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 Easy," I am disposed to 
 " argue that point." 
 
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHIXfi. 283 
 
 WEAKFISH. SQUETEAQUB. SALT-WATEE TEOUT. 
 
 Otolithus regalis : Cuvier. 
 
 The most striking chaTacteristie 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 (0. thalassinus), if taken in the waters of 
 the New Jersey coast — as doubtless it is — may be easily 
 confounded with the first (0. regalis), which figures at the top 
 of this page. Though closely resembling each other. Dr. 
 Holbrook says they differ in their habits ; that 0. 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 Carolinensis is marked with numerous spots 
 oi^the 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 forma- 
 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, and a 
 quarter or half ounce bullet for a sinker, you may allow your 
 
SALT-WATER FISH AND FISHING. 285 
 
 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 stifBsh 
 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. If the 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. Tliey are 
 generally fried or broiled. 
 
 * I have 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. 
 
 THE BARB OR KINGFISH. 
 
 Umbrina nebulosa : Stoker. 
 
 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 alhurnus, is identical with the 
 animal pictured above; both species are called Whiting at 
 Charleston. 
 
 This fish ( Umhrirva 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 ; moiith small, and beneath ; 
 
SALT-WATER FISH AND PISHING. 287 
 
 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. 
 
 Barb Fishing. — 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 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 
 
288 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 PISHING. 289 
 
 SPOT, PIGFISH, OE GOODY. 
 
 Leiosiomws obliquus : Cutier. 
 
 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 to a 
 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 ANGLE K'S BOOK. 
 
 along the New Jersey Coast is " Goody." It is known at 
 Lewes, Delaware, where it sometiq;ies 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 out 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 3 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. 291 
 
 THE CEOAKEE. GEONIEE. 
 
 Micropogon undulaius ; 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 
 
292 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 ofi) 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 PISHING. 293 
 
 RBDPISH OP 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 w;ater 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 BOOK. 
 
 BLUEFISH. SNAPPING MACKEREL. SKIP-JACK. 
 
 TAILOR. 
 
 Temnodon saUaior. 
 
 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 PISHING. 995 
 
 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 foe Bluefish.— The usual mode of taking this 
 fish is by squidding. The squid is generaUy 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 MACKEEBL. 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. 291 
 
 A Spanish Mackerel -which cost me the moderate price of 
 sixty-two and a half cents, on the last day of August three 
 yea?s 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 ofi" 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 anjr great 
 numbers, and were fished for with fine tackle and all the 
 necessary appliances, they would no doubt afibrd 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. 
 
 I 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 ANGLBE'S BOOK. 
 
 THE POMPANO. CRBVALLfi. 
 Barthrolomceus pampaniis ; Cuvier. 
 
 This fish has Bot 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. 
 
 I have 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-WATKR FISH AND FISHING. £99 
 
 " The Crevall^ or Cavalli makes its appearance in the waters 
 near Charleston in the mouth 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 DEUMFISH. 
 
 Pogonias cromis : Cuvier. 
 
 " 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 FLOUNDEK. 
 
 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 BLAOKFISH. 
 
 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 ai;e angled for without a 
 float. A sinker or dipsy suitable to the force of the current 
 is required ; the hooks, No. 1 or 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 Eock 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. 30]l 
 
 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 PROSTFISH. 
 
 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 POEGY. 
 
 Pagrus cujyrops : Cutieb. 
 
 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 
 
302 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 branohed 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. 
 
''Sing, sweet thrushes, forth and tsing! 
 Have you met the honey-bee 
 Circhng upon rapid wing 
 Round the angler's trysting-tree ? 
 
 Up, sweet thrushes, up and see I 
 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?" 
 Stoddaat, 
 
 " And 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." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
TROUT PLIES. 
 
 1. Ginger Hackle. 
 2.' Grouse Hackle. 
 
 3. Dotterel. 
 
 4. A Palmer. 
 
 5. I?ed Spinner. 
 
 G. Coachman. 
 
 7. Alder Fly. 
 
 8. Yellow Sally. 
 
 9. Gray Drake— A Mny Fly. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 TEOUT FLY-FISHING. — OUTFIT AND TACKLE. 
 
 Wading-Jacket. — Trousers. — Boots. — Creel or Basket. — Landing-Net. — 
 Rods. — Reels. — Lines. — Leaders. — Flies. — The Whip. 
 
 Wading-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 suffipiently 
 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 
 
 "W^ding-Tkousers should be of heavy, strong woollen 
 material, to stand the usual wear and tear in wading rough 
 streams. 
 
 Wading-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 k1 , 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 Ckeel 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. 
 
 Landing-Net. — I 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 PLY-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 
 
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. 
 
 Fly-Eods. — 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 iish 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 stijBlsh 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, ^ ; at twenty -four inches, i^; at four feet (the first 
 ferule), -^j ; at six feet, /^ ; at eight feet (the splice, or upper 
 ferule), /j ; at ten feet (the middle of the tip), 3% ; at the 
 extreme tip, 35. 
 
 The butt of a fly-rod should be of well-seasoned white ash, 
 the middle joint of iron wood, 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 "Eod 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 
 scarcely 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 fer.ule, 
 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 
 
;ji0 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 Coin or Wandle, or such as 
 
TROUT FLY-FISHING. ^H 
 
 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 Eemington'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 oil 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 stifBlsh, lifts 
 the line more readily from the water. 
 
 Eebls.^-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. 
 
 LiNES.^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. 
 
 Leaders. — 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. 
 
 Flies. — 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 FLT-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." Every fly-fisher can read Chitty, Eonalds, Rene, 
 " Ephemera," and others, with interest and profit. Though 
 I do 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 
 
3]^4 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 of a red-headed woodpecker tied to the top of his hook. 
 Notwithstanding all this, there is still a harmonious hlending 
 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 flics 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. 
 
 Hackles and Palmers. TJie Red .RacJcle. — 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. It is 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 Machle, 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.f 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 FLT-FISHINa. 315 
 
 the body of red or crimson mohair, wrapped with gold or 
 silver thread ; hackle dyed crimson. It is seldom used as a 
 drop-fly. 
 
 The Brown Maclcle is scarcely inferior to the Eed. I have 
 used it with great satisfaction on the subsiding of a freshet, 
 when the water had become rather bright for the Eed Hackle, 
 on the same sized hooks, and especially as a stretcher, from 9 
 A. M. to 4 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 Eed 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 for a 
 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. 
 
 Blade Hackles are better for drop-flies. As they are ased 
 
316 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 ohiefly 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 fly 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 Orizzly Hackle is a good drop-fly on a bright day towards 
 floon ; 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 Orouse 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 Aving-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 tinsel 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 
 Bed, Brown, Soldier, and Gringer Hackles are quite as suc- 
 cessful as stretchers. The Eed Hackle, I am in the habit 
 of dressing on hooks from No. 3 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 Flies. — Of the great variety described in English 
 books on fly-fishing, I place foremost of all, the Great Bed 
 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 Eed 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 Eed 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 Eonalds, which 
 resemble each other closely ; they are good for the evening, 
 or on well-shaded waters at midday. These are the Gockwing, 
 Golden Dun Midge, Yellow Dun, Skyhlue, Whirling Blue Dun, 
 and Little 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. 3J9 
 
 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 ton 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-Fly. — Next to the Eed 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 ben. 
 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, iu 
 Sullivan County, N. Y.; it also does well on the still waters 
 of the Adirondacks. The hook should be No. 2 or 3. 
 
320 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 
 (Twjut) 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 Men 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- 
 sel, 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-PISHING. 32I 
 
 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 Men 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 dinger Hcickk, with a light yellow body, is my favorite 
 evening fly. 
 
 Any of these flies are tied to order, and by the angler'? 
 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. 
 
 The Whip. — 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 
 
322 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 fovir, 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 stifij 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, i. e., 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 difierent 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 FOE TEOUT. 
 
" I NEVER wander where the bordering reeds 
 O'erlook the muddy stream, wliose tangling weeds 
 Perplex tlie fisher; I, nor choose to bear 
 The thievish nightly net, nor barbed spear; 
 Nor draiu I ponds, the golden Carp to take, 
 Nor trowle fur Pikes, dispeoplers of the lake. 
 Around the steel no tortured worm shall twine, 
 No blood of living insect stains my line; 
 Let 1IIC-, 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." 
 Gat. 
 
a 
 c 
 
 > 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TROUT FLY-FISHING. — THE STREAM. 
 
 Casting the Ply. — 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- 
 rities as Chitty, " Ephemera," and Eonalds. 
 
 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 diffibult 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) 
 
328 AMERICAN ;AN GLER'S BOOK. 
 
 aad 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 hackward motion of the line is chiefly imparted 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-FISHINfi. 33^ 
 
 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 is 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 ca^ 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. Exjjerience 
 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 easting 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-FISH INK. 333 
 
 the weight of the line thus increased, helps the oast. If it 
 could be accomplished, the great desideratum would be, 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 surfaca, 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 Eed 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. I 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 Jin 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, Eonalds, and others. 
 
TROUT FLY-FISHING. 335 
 
 Striking and Killing a Fish. Striking. — Various direc- 
 tions have been given about striking a fish when it rises at 
 the fly. Some maint^rin 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. Either 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 rufling 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 
 files 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. 
 
 As a 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 afibrds them no harbor or hiding-places. 
 
 Where a large rock projects above the surface in water of 
 sufiicient 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 lie about. 
 
 If the stream has a long still reach, one generally fishes 
 irom the shallower side, finding his cast opposite where it is 
 
TROUT FLY-FISHING. ^^J 
 
 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 no 
 excessive rise in the stream, until it is time to spawn. This 
 is frequently beneath the overhanging alders ; there chitck 
 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 
 
340 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 tree or two on the bank with drooping boughs, Trout are apt 
 to collect there, for they love the shacfe. Plere, 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 fresh 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 thiHeen-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 is 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. 34I 
 
 here is, let the current carry your flies down stream, until the 
 dropper bobs enticingly on the water. Play them on each 
 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. 
 
342 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 (Jast, 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-PISPIING. 
 
' I LOVE to Bee 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. 
 
 •' I love to see a man of care 
 Take pleasure in a toy ; 
 I love to see him row or ride, 
 
 And tread the gi-ass with joy. 
 Or throw the circling Salmon-fly 
 An 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 flU its evening path with flowers. 
 As fresh as those of morn." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SALMON-FISHING. 
 
 Tackle used in Salmon-Fishing. Rods. — Reels. — Reel-lines. — Casting- 
 lines. — Salmon-flies. — Materials required for Salmon-flies for American 
 rivers. — Salmon-Flies for the rivers of New Brunsvrick and Canada. — 
 Theory and practice of Salmon-fishing. — Salmon-fishing compared with 
 Trout-fishing. — Casting the fly. — The straigjit^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. — Gaffing. 
 
 Camping 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. 
 
 EoDS. — 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. In a 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 ANfiLEE'S BOOK. 
 
 the butt, and, as a consequence, the more the upper part wilJ 
 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-PISHINd. 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- 
 baad 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. 
 
 Keels. — 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-FISHING. 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. 
 
 Keel-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 quaxter 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 o£f the superficial coat, which enables that which is in the interior to 
 dry well, and, in time, to get stifle. 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 fcr 
 two or three hours, which will cause the mixture on it to 'flow' (11s 
 
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. 
 
 Casting-Lines 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 is long enough. As the water becomes 
 clearer, the length should be gradually increased by adding 
 lengths 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-Flies. — 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 vrhole. 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. 35I 
 
 the fish. Notwithstanding the minute directions .given fojr 
 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- 
 tipn 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 ffom 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 diflPerent 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 assortment 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 is 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 " Eough 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 ben, 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. 3 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 antennae 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-turkev 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 
 
>■ 
 ei 
 S 
 
 o 
 as 
 
SALMON-FISHINS. 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 tail 
 a single feather from the golden pheasant's topknot, reddish- 
 brown hackle, and jay legs. 
 
 " The Editnn 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 is 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 Lcmgevin. — 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." 
 
 Casting, 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 serArice when 
 combined with some practical knowledge of the art. It would, 
 therefore, be well for the beginner to learn all he 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 tho\ight, 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 beneath 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. '' 
 
 A few words in the first place as to holding the rod. — A 
 right-handed man will naturally grasp it with the right 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 Avill do the reverse, that is, grasp with his left 
 hand above the reel and cast from the hft 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 ghape my hints 
 accordingly. 
 
 The first thing, is to get out as much line as one intends 
 
368 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. 
 
 ISTow, with a smart spring of the rod, the angler lifts his 
 fly from the water to make the first oast, and directs its course 
 backwards over his right shoulder until he thinks it ha.s 
 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-PISHING. 359 
 
 riew of the line the point of the rod describes ; the dotted 
 line is the course the fly takes, 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, until he gets 
 the habit of making the rod perform neatly, what he, by mere 
 physical efibrt, would do clumsily. Another thing that he 
 has learned in Trout-fishing will also be of service to him ; 
 it is that lowering of the point of the rod the least hit, 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 oft' 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 on a 
 preceding 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 
 agaicst 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 up 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-PISHING. 3(}1 
 
 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 "Ephemera" 
 directs, to shift one's hands ; that is, to grasp the rod 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 ; 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 clift" rises immediately behind his 
 hack, 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 ®f 
 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. 
 
362 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 % 
 
 '"-Jf 
 
 /:,-. 
 
 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 well as 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 oK Then 
 there is a side-wind blowing up stream or down stream, 
 requiring 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-^olus. 
 
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 counterfeit. 
 
 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. * 
 
 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. 
 
 Steieing.- — 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 
 suf&ciently to do so. 
 
 Playing a Salmon. — 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 so as to 
 bring its whole spring to bear on the fish, and by no means 
 allow him to "straighten" on ,you {i. 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 circumslianees, particularly if by coming 
 
SALMON-FISHING. 355 
 
 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 perfeet 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 ANGLER'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 
 additional force, at such time. I 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. 
 
 Some writers give directions as to what part of the body 
 
SALMON-PISHING. '^Q'J 
 
 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 thu 
 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 jome 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 Equipage. The Tent.^ThQ 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 tlie ground. 
 
SALMON-FISHINU. QQQ 
 
 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," 
 /SO 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. 
 
 I 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, &c. 
 
SALMON-ITSHINa. 371 
 
 Clothing, &C. — 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, kni-f es 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. 
 
 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, &c. 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. 
 
 Cooking 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 suificient 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. 
 
 Gold Salmofi.^PvLt aside part of the fish boiled for dinner, 
 and eat it cold for supper ; it is extremely delicate. 
 
SALMON-FISHINa. 373 
 
 iSoitsed 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 moans 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 
 Palls 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. 
 
!74 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. * 
 
 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, &c.) 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 and Custom on the Eiveb. — 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 looked 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 
 
376 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 before, cast a fly admirably, and hooked his own fish, and 
 killed thera 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, results 
 beneficially to all. Such course is frequently resorted to. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 SALMON EIVBES OF THE BEITISH PEOVHSTCBS. 
 
'' Thou pausest not in thine allotted task, 
 
 darkling River! through the night I hear 
 'i'hy wavelets rippling on the pebbly beach, 
 
 1 hear thy current stir the rustling sedge 
 That skirts thy bed. Thou intermittest not 
 Thiue everlasting journey, drawing on 
 
 A silvery train from many a woodland spring 
 And niouutain brook." 
 
 Bbtant. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SALMON-EIVEES OF THE BEITISH PROVINCES. 
 
 Salmon-Riters of Lower Canada. — Salmon-rivers emptying into or 
 tributary to rivers flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
 Salmon-Riveks op New Brunswick. — Mirimichi. — Ristigouohe. — Meta- 
 pediac. — Cascapediacs. — ^Bonaventure. — Tittigouohe. — Nipissiguit. 
 
 SALMON-RIVERS IN LOWER CANADA. 
 
 The following extract from "Salmon-Fishing in Canada,'' 
 (a book to -whicli I have before had occasion to refer), is so 
 fall 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 Elvers, 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 tTie most important of these fine rivers. 
 
 "ST. PAUL'S. 
 
 " North Shoke. 
 
 " Discharge into River St. Lawrence. 
 
 Esquimaux . Fine Salmon-river. Formerly yielding 52,500 Sal- 
 
 mon each season. 
 
 Corkewetpeeohe Neighboring stream. Contains steady run of Sal- 
 
 mon. 
 
 Ste. Augustine Well supplied with Salmon. 
 
 Sheep Bay . Considerable size. Good Salmon-fishery station. 
 
 Little Meccatina Discharges large body of water by several channels. 
 
 Fine Salmon-river. 
 
 Netagamu . Large, deep stream. High falls inside. Swarms 
 
 of Trout. Salmon ascending it only to the 
 falls. 
 
 Napeteteepe . Empties into spacious bay. Abounds with Sal- 
 
 mon. , 
 
 Etamamu Celebrated for its Salmon-fishery. 
 
 Coacoacho Discharges into fine basin. Good Salmon-river. 
 
 Romaine Large, but shoal stream. Salmon abound. Is re- 
 
 markable for a rare, beautiful, and flavorons 
 quality of white or silver Trout. 
 
 Muaquarro . . Bold, rapid river. Affords fine Salmon-fishing with 
 
 fly. Good net-fishery station. 
 
 Kegashka Salmon abundant — steep rapids impeding their 
 
 ascent. Fishery in bay. 
 
 Gt. Natashquan Famous stream. Salmon of finest kind and nume- 
 
 rous. 
 
 Agwanish Large stream. Good Salmon-fishery location. 
 
 (N.E. bound of " Lordship of Mingan.") 
 
 Pashasheeboo Tolerable size. Fair fishery. 
 
 Mingan . . Excellent net and fly-fishing for Salmon. Pools 
 
 always hold a heavy run of large fish. 
 
 Manitou Branch of the Mingan, equally good and well 
 
 known. 
 
 Saint John . Very large stream. Splendid Salmon-fishery. 
 
 Magpie . . Tolerably good fishery for Salmon. Rapid little 
 
 river. 
 
 Saw Bill . Considerable stream. Chief net-fishery, 
 
 Manitou . Large — obstructed by perpendicular fall. At its 
 
 mouth both Salmon and Trout resort. 
 
SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES 
 
 381 
 
 ' Moisie . . . Noted for numbers of weighty Salmon. Extensive 
 
 and lucrative net-fishery. Fine fly-fishing. 
 Ste. Marguerite (enftas) . Excellent river for Salmon and Trout. 
 Pentecost . . Pull, swift stream, much frequented by Salmon. 
 
 Stationary fisheries at the mouth. 
 Trinity (Bay) . . Favorite river. Salmon and Trout fishing, for net 
 
 and rod. 
 Goodhout . . . Fine Salmon-river, widely known as such. The 
 
 net-fishery in its tide-water and adjacent bay is 
 
 very productive. 
 English, . . . Empties into deep cove. Salmon-fishery. Plenty 
 
 of Trout. 
 Bersimis . . 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. 
 Nipimewecaw'nan . Tributary of Bersimis. Fairy-like stream. Falls 
 
 nine miles inside. Exquisite fly-fishing. 
 Jeremie . . . Small. Trout only. Fur-trading post, chiefly. 
 
 Golomhier . . Grood Salmon-fishery. 
 
 Plover . Do. 
 
 Blanche . . . Do. 
 
 Laval . . . Picturesque and wild river, alternating with gentle 
 
 rapids and deep narrow pools. Besides valuable 
 
 net-fishery, it affords abundant Salmon and Trout- 
 fishing. 
 Sault de Cockon Steep falls hinder ascent of Salmon. Famous for 
 
 Trout-fishing along the estuary border. 
 Portneuf . . 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. 
 Grand Eacoumain . . Once famous for Salmon. Mill-dam has now an 
 
 artificial fishway. Fine net-fishery for Salmon in 
 
 bay. 
 G. Bergeronne Good Trout-stream. 
 
 L. Bergeronne Fair Salmon and Trout river. (Both the Bergeronne 
 
 rivers are within few miles of Sagueuay and 
 
 Tadousac.) 
 
 Discharge into River Saguenay. 
 St. Margaret [en Iiaut) 
 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 . Formerly good fishery, 
 
 Murray . Flows down beautiful valley. Yields Salmon. 
 
 Du Gouffre . Much deteriorated. 
 
 Ste. Anne Pretty river, and latterly has afforded fair Salmon- 
 
 fishing just below the chute. 
 
382 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 MoDtmorenci 
 Jacques Cartier . 
 
 Cataract at moutli. The upper water swarms with 
 
 (river) Trout. 
 Excellent Salmon-stream. 
 
 Du Sud 
 
 Ouelle 
 
 a. Mitis . 
 
 Matanne 
 
 St. Ann 
 
 Mount Louis 
 
 Magdelaine 
 Dartmouth 
 
 York 
 
 St. John's {du Sud) 
 
 Grrand 
 
 (J. Pabos . 
 
 South Coast. 
 
 Promises to become again » good Salmon-rirer. 
 
 Mill-dam and ftshway. 
 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 Gasp€ basin. 
 
 Abounds with Salmon. 
 
 Do. do. do. 
 
 Do. do. do. 
 
 Fine Salmon-fishery. Mill above. 
 Salmon-fishery. Superior station. 
 
 a. Bonaventure 
 
 Nouvelle 
 Matapediac 
 
 Kistigouohe 
 
 Patapediac 
 Mistouohe 
 
 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 Kistigouche. 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-EIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 383 
 
 varieffjr 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 Eailway, now in operation to St. 
 Thomas, will be opened next autumn to Eiver 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.) 
 
 Section 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. 
 
 " 24. The open season for Salmon-fishery limited betv^ixt 1st March 
 and 1st August. Fly-surface fishing extended to 1st Sep- 
 tember. Exception in procuring spawn for scientific pur- 
 poses. 
 
 " 25. Spawning pools of Salmon protected against all fishing. 
 
 " 26. 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. 
 
 " 27. Owners of dams must attach fishways thereto. 
 
 " 28. 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 knot. 
 
884 AMERICAN AN&LER'S BOOK. 
 
 Section 31. Trout-fishing illegal between 20th October and 1st Fel*iary. 
 " 33. Netting for Trout in any lake or stream prohibited, except 
 upon the River St. Lawrence. 
 36. Purchase, sale, or possession, during prohibited seasons, of 
 any Salmon or Trout, made a punishable ofieuce. 
 
 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, &c., 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. — The 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. S., 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. 385 
 
 "in days' Salmon-Jishing on the coast of Labrador, in June and July, 18£ 
 
 
 
 
 hy J M. S. 
 
 No. of Days 
 
 Salmon. 
 
 Grilse. 
 
 Length of 
 Weight. Largest Fieh. 
 
 1st day, 1 
 
 
 
 13 lb. 
 
 2d ' 
 
 1 
 
 • 
 
 lOJ, 
 
 3d ' 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 5, 6, 10, 12, 38, 40i,* 3.9 and 3.11 
 
 4th ' 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 7, 8, 10, 12, 23, 24, 
 
 5th ' 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 ^, 5, 6, Hi lU, 19, 38, 3.9 
 
 6th ' 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 5, 6, 19J, 30, 34, . 3.6 and 3.7 
 
 7th ' 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6, 12, 24, 26, 36f, 3.8J 
 
 8th ' 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 12, 14, 36J, 3.9 
 
 9th ' 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 6, 9, 25i, 3.3 
 
 10th ' 
 
 2 
 28 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 5, 22J, 29, 3.5 
 
 
 673 lbs. 
 
 
 Average 
 
 weight 
 
 of Salmon ... 21 J lbs. 
 " Grilse .... Sf " 
 
 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, Eomaine, Watashquan, 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 AMEKICAN 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. 
 
 " I 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." 
 
 Either 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. B., 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. 387 
 
 give an account of the only one I ever fished (the Nipissiguit) 
 at the end of this chapter. 
 
 The Mirimichi. — A 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 
 'Eocky 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: 
 
 " I remain, yours truly, 
 
 "S." 
 
 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 Eisti&ouche. — 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 
 
5ALM0NRIVEH S OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 389 
 
 ascended the river, but its upper waters and tributaries most 
 likely furnisb good fly-fishing. 
 
 The Matapediac— To get to this river, if approached by 
 way of St. John and Bathurst, one must go to Dalhousie, and 
 fVom there to Campbelltowu, 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 Gasoapediacs. — These rivers, both the Little and 
 Great, as well as the Bonaventure, are on the northern shore 
 of the Bay of Ghaleurs. 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 Eiver, 
 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 DOOK. 
 
 The next river, which enters on the south side of the town, 
 I had the pleasure of fishing last summer, spending six 
 pleasant weelcs in doing so ; it is the most famous river in 
 the province. I will describe it at length. 
 
 The Nipissiguit.* — 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 tbirty- 
 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- 
 
 * It appears strange that the author of " Salmon-Fishing in Canada," in 
 giving the foregoing list of rivers, including those flovring 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. 391 
 
 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 
 be athletic, 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, Eankin & 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 Chamherlain brothers: "The 
 following are good men : John, Peter, and Bruno Chajuberlain ; 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 tliat 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 of&cers 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 Rook, 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 tlio upper part of the river. The land on each side of the 
 "Eoiigh "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 conseq"ftence, 
 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. 
 
 Bound JRock, 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.'' I 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-RIVBKS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 395 
 
 he tapped the Salmon on the head with a short bilkt of wood ; 
 "Bon poisson I" 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 renewed 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. 
 
 Bittahock, 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 brokea and lifted from 
 horizontal strata, and piled with remarkable accuracy' in 
 parallel layers like mason's work. 
 
 The next station is Mid Landing. Plere 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 Bocks, 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 th e 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 Eough "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 loams 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. 397 
 
 In winter the gorge is filled -witli 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 cliff's, 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. 
 
 "Eock 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-RIVBKS OP BRITISH PROVINCES. 399 
 
 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 oast below, 
 and a continuation of "Eook 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 
 Eock Pool, and half that number from the caqap, 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 jiist 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 ANGLBK'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 in a 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-RIVBRS 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 Eistigouche, 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 sach 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 Eiver, 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 Eistigouche 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 
 
402 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 to a 
 hundred pounds sterling. In this country, the preparations 
 for a trip, travelling expenses, hire of canoe-men, stores, and 
 diflFerence 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/ 
 
CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 EBPAIES, 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. 
 
 Receipts. — 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 fiy, 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 Tie on a Hook. — 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 
 ano-lers termed the invisible knot. 
 
REPAIRS, KNOTS, LOOPS, AND RECEIPTS. 407 
 
 Loops. — 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 3. 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 Splice a Line. — 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 before 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 
 
 To Splice a Eod.; — Trim off the fractured ends obliquely, 
 making a long 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. 
 
 Knots. — In the next cut. No. 1 is the anghr^s singk 
 knot; it is used in tying a line. No 2 is the angler^ s douhh 
 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 
 
 GrANQS. — The subjoined cut represents a gcmg 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 foe Dyeing 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 
 watch, 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 2J or 3 minutes. 
 
 "No. 2. — An azure tint, more pink than the last : — 
 
 " 1 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 this color. 
 
 " No. 3. — A dingy or dirty olive (a very good color) : — 
 
 " To ingredients of No. 2, add, 
 
 3 scruples Qviercitron 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 : — 
 
 ■' IJ scruple Quercitron Bark, 
 1 scruple Alum, 
 6 grains Madder, 
 
 4 drops Muriate of Tin, 
 
 1 scruple Cream of Tartar, 
 
 Immersed 2J minutes." 
 
 Dyeing Feathers and Dubbing. — 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. 
 
 " Becipefor Blue. — With 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. — Water 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. 413 
 
 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 col(^ water, and rinse and dry as 
 before. Take care that the dyeing liquor be cool before j,on 
 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, &c., 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 a very 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. Eeinsert feathers 
 or fur, &c., and boil them for another half-hour. Einse 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. — Water 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 varying 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 in a 
 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, Ac- 
 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. 4-15 
 
 boiled in a similar liquor, will become brown or amber. 
 Wben 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 diificult 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 
 well as 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." 
 
 Ifet; 
 
416 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 Chitty says lie 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 (anglicfe cohler's) wax in a suf&cient 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. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 FLY MAKING. 
 
 27 
 
"To frame the little animal, provide 
 AH the gay hues that wait on female pride ; 
 Let Nature guide thee; Bometimes golden wire 
 The shining helliea 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: 
 Pilks of all colors must their aid impart, 
 And every fur promote the fisher's art." 
 
 Gat. 
 
OHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 FLY-MAKING. 
 
 Implements. — Hand- Vice, Spring-Pliers, &c. — Book for holding materialK. 
 Materiais. — Hooks.— Gut. — Tinsel.— Dubbing. — Hackles. — Wings. 
 To tie a plain Hackle. — To tie a Palmer. — To make a fly with wings. 
 
 Befoee attempting a description of this art, it ■would be as 
 well to acknowledge tliat few amateurs attain the neatness and 
 dexterity of those who follow it as a business. To 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 
 Eonalds, with their elaborate illustrations. So it is with some 
 doubt as to enlightening the learner that I attempt it, but 
 
 (419) 
 
420 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOR. 
 
 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. 
 
 Implements. — 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, &c., &c. 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 wants, 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 mufij 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 
 
422 AMERICAN ANGLBK'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, &c. 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 dear 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. 423 
 
 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 talk about 
 
 Hooks. — 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 larvso, sticking out 
 
424 AJIERICAN 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 
 little 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 chairs 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 vario\is 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 aiid 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 ANGLEll'S BOOK. 
 
 fly-fishers, a " Hackle," or a " Palmer," though neither has 
 wings, is known as " a fly." 
 
 I 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 stifily, 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, anA 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 
 are generally imported to one's order. If the reader wishes 
 to try his hand iat dyeing them for himself, as I have said 
 of dubbing, he can find receipts for the different colors in the 
 preceding chapter. 
 
 Wings. — 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 brown 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 (antennae), 
 but from my experience, I am convinced that feelers on a 
 Salmon-fly are about as useless as the long tails made of silk- 
 
•i28 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 worm 'gut, which English fly-makers append to Trout-flies, 
 with a vague idea of imitating the tails of the ephemeridae. 
 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 TIE Hackles and Palmbes. — 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 3. 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." 
 
 I 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 
 
FLT-MAKI.NG. 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 difiicult 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 an^ 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 last 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-MAKINQ. 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 Fly with Wings. — " 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 
 
 AiMERICAN 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. 
 
 fSf. * 
 
 ■>■ 
 
 
 - ^,.;- - .-3^-* ■ 
 
 ■<< 
 
 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: — First, 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-MAKINS. -±35 
 
 numerous as the legs or bristling hairs of larvte. 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 a^ain, 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 6, 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. 
 
 Tails. — 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 
 Avrapping-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 ANCJLER'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 % 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 Phryganidse and similar families, which fold their 
 wings flat on their backs when at rest. Those with tails 
 belong to the Ephemeridse. 
 
 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 
 Jinack 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. 
 
438 
 
 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 There is one- tiling 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 Sik, give me a Fly-hook I' 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 EOD-MAKING. 
 
"All things are full of labor, man cannot utter it: the eye is not 
 Bsitisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that 
 hath heen, is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that 
 which shall ho done ; and there ie no new thing under the sun." 
 
 ECCLESIASTEB. 
 
CHAPTBK XVII. 
 
 EOD-MAKING. 
 
 Woods used in making rods. — Wood and Malacca cane for fly-rods. — 
 Materials used by toateur 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 illtistrated 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 tlie 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) 
 
442 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 he made them smooth and to fit neatly bj 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. 
 
 Woods used in Eod-making. — 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 called 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 booljs as Carpinus ostrya. It has a smooth 
 cylindrical 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. 443 
 
 wliite, even to the heart, and the laminae 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 AjMbrican 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 Fly-Eod 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, suiBciently 
 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. 
 
KOD-MAKING. 445 
 
 To MAKE A Tip {Anglid " Top"). — Take a piece of good 
 Malacca cane, as long between the joints as you can get it. 
 Split oft' 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 a Rod. — 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 in. the 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 ofiE". 
 
 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 hoiled 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 penetrate 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. 447 
 
 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 riibbing 
 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 it 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 tlie 
 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 : theee 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 A EeNT AND GrLUED, OR QuAETBB-SeCTIOJST 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. 
 
 X^ 
 
 o o o O O O 
 
 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 Q 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 ANGLBK'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 B. 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 
 I have shown where the seams are in the butt ends or sections 
 in the figures F, 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 Malacca 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 easilj 
 avoided in splitting. Tips may be made in the same manu'-r 
 the quarters being drawn through the V tool, and glued and 
 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 ob 
 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 so 
 
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 as a 
 quarter-section tip does. 
 
 Glue. — 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 iishing. 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 fifteen 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, a hnife file, annealed (or, as it is sometimes called solder- 
 ing) wire, a small smooth-faced hammer, a light wooden 
 
ROD- MA KING. 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 
 Avith 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 A M E II I C A N 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 pufts 
 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. 
 
 Tlie 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 ofi) the inner surface should be scaled 
 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 jou 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 
 etraining 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 ta 
 throw out a few hints for the benefit of anglers who wish to 
 amuse themselves in-doors, or instruct those who seldom 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 Bast 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 XVIII. 
 FISH BREEDING. 
 
" And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly, the moving 
 creature that hath life." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FISH-BKEEDING. 
 
 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. 
 
 Eemaeks on Fish-Ponds, and the manner of PEODUC- 
 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 ANGLEK'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 kinji, who had just returned from an excur- 
 sion to the head waters of the Croton for woodcock, 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 Eiver 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. 4(31 
 
 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 Kiver Chub," 
 the magnificent fresh-water Bass, Grystes salmoides. They 
 were taken from the James Eiver 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, Lahrax palUdus, is prolific in ponds and 
 canals. It is even said the Eockfish 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- 
 
4ti2 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 ing not more than an eighth of an 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 
 rill 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. 
 
PISH-BKEBDING. 463 
 
 I have 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 thie 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. Bach 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, i.s 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. 
 
 Aetipicial Fish-B reeding.- — 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-BRBEDINCJ. 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. E. 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 he 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 Pourcray. 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. 
 
 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 suificiently 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 ia 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. Bach 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 thp troughs 
 are covered with gravel, the water — which may be supplied 
 through a quarter-inch jiipe — 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 
 wlien 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 
 
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. 
 
 " If 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. 
 
 " If, 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 iish in this condition is kept captive 
 for any length of time in a circumscribed place, her eggs will 
 spoil. 
 
 " If 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 satu-rated 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 long 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 cullender, 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 
 Qot 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 
 Ehine, I liave 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 
 eggs 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 
 poui 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 mal^ 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 
 fi-'om 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 BSle, 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 
 
FI SH-BEEEDING. 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 breed? may be 
 crossed. Any two species of the Oenus 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. 
 
 Tbeatment of the Fecundated Eggs. — 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. 
 
 " In 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. 
 
 whicb covers about a quarter of its circumference. This line, 
 wliich seems whitisli 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 
 movements, 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 
 egg becomes a little opaque, and as it were fu:furaceous. 
 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, hut has not served to form any part of its 
 organs, being now oast ofip, 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-BRBEDINa. 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. 
 
 Vsiii/ 
 
 " 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 ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 Scotland, by Mr. Shaw, to wMch I have referred ia 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 sacrific- 
 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 ; 3 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. 
 
 Feeding- Teotjghs. — 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. 
 
 Food for Young Trout. — 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, Eoach, Minnows, &c., may be advantageously intro- 
 duced, but not in 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-BREBDINS. 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 AQUAEIUM. 
 
 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 aqnatic 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 foe 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 Jinown 
 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 Eoach, 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 Eudora 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; Valisneria spiralis, hornwort, water 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, &c., I discarded them, and found that Eoach, 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^. 
 
" Ye who love the haunts of Nature, 
 
 Love the Bunshine 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 PISCATORI^. 
 
 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 dififer 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." 
 
 (489) 
 
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 I 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 sulyect 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 PISCATORI*. 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, 
 
 Whereas : 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***** 
 
 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 a few 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, hut 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 PISCATORIiB. 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 oast 
 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 be 
 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 arangling." 
 
THE NOONDAY ROAST. 
 
' SouE boys belonging to an old field school, 
 Dismisaed 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 talten." 
 
 Bird (not JV. P) Willis. 
 
THE NOONDAY ROAST. 
 
 I 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 hng how 
 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 sufiice 
 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 AMERICAN 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 
 stravj 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 PISCATOKI^. 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 
 aay 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 is 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 
 simple 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 
 
 AMBRICAN 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 famishes 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. 
 
" But he heard the Wawoneiisa, 
 Heard the Whlppoorwill complainiiig, 
 Perched upon his lonely wigwam ; 
 Heard the ruahing Sehowisba, 
 Heard the rivulet rippling near him, 
 Talking to the darkeome forest ; 
 Hoard the sighing of the branches, 
 As they lifted and subsided 
 At the passing of the night^wiud ; 
 tieard them, as one hears in slumber 
 Far oft murmurs, gentle whispers." 
 
 LOSQFELLOW. 
 
TEOUT-FISHING EST HAMILTON COUNTY, N. Y. 
 
 FIEST'NOONING. 
 
 [Scene, the shady bank of a Trout-Stream. — Time, after the Roast. — 
 Present : Nokman, Walter, and Nestob.] 
 
 Walter. Well, about fishing at Lake Pleasant and Louie 
 Lake ; how do you get there ? 
 
 Nestoe. 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 garriilous 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 ujjper end of the lake, near the stream of 
 water which connects Lake Pleasant with Eound 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 Eiver 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 — toiigh, 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 Eound 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." 
 
 ISTOEMAN. 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 
 
DIBS PISCATORI^. 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-lncky" 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 Eiver. ■ 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 ? 
 
 Nob. 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. 
 
 Nob. You say you cannot fish the still waters without a 
 boat ; where do you get one if you are far away from your 
 quarters ? 
 
 Nes. 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 
 
DIBS PISCATOE.1^. 507 
 
 week or ten days tlie 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. 
 
 Walt. 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 criterion 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^f 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. 
 
 Nob. 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. 
 
 Walt. 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. 
 
 Nob. 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 PISCATOEI^. 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. 
 
 Walt. 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 ? 
 
 Nes. 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 pever could he 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." 
 
 Walt. 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 musrUt go through 
 
 that ryeV 
 
 f^-^^- 
 
SECOND NOONIKa. 
 
 TROUT-FISHING IN NEW HAMPSHIEE. 
 
" If oTi cJe groun' you chance to lie, 
 You 800U find out de blue-tail fly. 
 
 Jinny crack corn, I don't care." 
 
TROUT-FISHING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 SECOND NOONING. 
 
 [Present : Joe, Walter, and Nestor.] 
 
 Joe. 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 soaae bread and butter and 
 some salt and pepper. 
 
 l^Exit Joe, jingling his small change in his pocket. "l 
 
 [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.] 
 
 l^Chir commissary returns, and reports.^ 
 Joe. No bread ; potatoes, a quarter peck, small ; butter, 
 half a pound ; eggs, a short dozen ; pepper and salt, "quantum 
 sujr Expense, twenty-nine cents. 
 
 Walter. 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. 
 
 Joe. If you have dined now, Nestor, tell us about fishing 
 in New Hampshire. 
 
 Nestok. 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" 
 
 [Job takes his seat on a stump, and "ab alto ioro sic incipit."] 
 
 TROUTING IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 I HAD 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 
 I had my doubts. I knew I 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 fic- 
 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 PISCATORI.'E. 51," 
 
 Buck 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 Eastern 
 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 AMiClilCAN 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 Colehrook, 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 t» 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 fore-legs, 
 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 PISCATORl^. 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, his 
 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. We reached 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 his neck. 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. At night 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. 
 
")18 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK 
 
 Having prepared ourselves for repose, out vrent the candle, and in cauio 
 
 the musquitoes. N had brought with him a concoction prepared liy 
 
 some medical friend, vrhich 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 on our way back, or 
 
DIES PISCATORIiB. 519 
 
 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 a, 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 wore 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 mysplf, 
 pack and all, reposed softly in the morass. The mud was knee-deep ; 
 exhausted nature 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 bis 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 conscinusnpss of im- 
 mense and impregnable strength — 
 
520 A j; E R I C A N ANGLER'S BOOK 
 
 " There is a pleasure in the pathless wood." 
 
 It would have afforded me satisfaction, there and then, to have knocked 
 hie 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 ia 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- 
 <med 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 
 liad not reached the acme of fishing. As before stated, I had heard all 
 
DIES PISCATORIvE. 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 1 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 I 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. The brook rolls brightly 
 before thee ; the forest is deep and 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 rooks, 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 
 pools, 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 
 
 a quarter of a pound. Follow N 's suggestion, and put up u, notice 
 
 on the bank : " Small Trout are requested not to bite !" 
 
 Now heave again. See there I — that was a pretty jump he made ; but 
 
AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 ho misseil. 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 3'ou 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 unreserv- 
 edly that that was a " iish 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 
 
DIBS PISCATORl/1?. friS 
 
 he could do or make anything in the world. I believe 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- 
 nuts ; 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 
 
52-1 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 a forked stick, and then and there we fed. We then cleared away tlie 
 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 difBculty 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 biroh-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. 
 
 Alter eating and drinking we lit our pipe.-*. 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 tlie 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-oat ; but 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 VISCATORI.5:. 525 
 
 fished with them in the Diamond River. I endeavored to manoeuvre 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 ; I had them in perfection. Our guide was a first-rate boot-jack, 
 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 
 
526 A M K !l 1 C A N 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-fiehing 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. 
 
 Joe. Well, what do you think of it ? 
 
 Nbs. 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. 
 
 Joe. He is right aboiit 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." 
 
 Walt. Keep them to read in the saw-mill some rainy day. 
 
 [Exit Walter, with sketch-hook.] 
 
 Joe. But hold on; here is "Hans Breitmann's Barty :" 
 
D lES PIRCATORI^. 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! 
 
 Job. Well, then, be quiet, while I read you the adventure 
 and impressions made on the mind of the gentleman who 
 attended 
 
 HANS BRBITMANN'S BARTY. 
 
 Hans Breitmann gife a barty — dey had biano blayin — 1 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 keeks of foost rate Lager Bier — und venefer dey knocks 
 de shpicket in, de Deutsohers gifes a cheer. I dinks- dat so vine a barty 
 nefer coom to a het dis year. 
 
 ^ Hans Breitmann 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 sohlap me on de kop, und de goompany 
 fought mit taple leeks dill de coonstaple made oos schtop. 
 
 Hans Breitmann gife a baxty : 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. 
 
 Job. 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 ? 
 
 Job. I admired the effasion 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. 
 
 The Thief that stole our Dinner. 
 
THIRD NOONINR. 
 
 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 lifo-blood, 
 Filling all the air with splendor 
 With the splendor of its plumage? 
 
 " Yes; it is the sun descending, 
 linking down into the water ; 
 All the sky is stained with purple, 
 All the water flushed with crimson! 
 No; it is the Hed Swan floating, 
 Diving down beneath the water; 
 To the sky its wings are lifted. 
 With its blood tlie 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 !" 
 
 LOXGFELLOW. 
 
TEOUT-FISHING IN THE EBGIONS OF LAKE 
 SUPEEIOE. 
 
 THIRD NOONING. 
 [After the Roast. — Present : Norman, Moret, and Nestor.] 
 
 NoEMAN. You say, Nestor, that you have been to Lake 
 Superior, and that there is fine fishing there. 
 
 Nestor. 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 Eoberts 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; 
 
532 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 July 30, 1858. "Weight, 6^ pounds ; length, 24 inches ; cir- 
 cumference, 13 J ; taken in the Batchewaunaung, Canada West. 
 At the same time took six more. Weight of the seven fish, 
 31 J pounds." Roberts says that Mr. Oady'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. ' 
 
 I have been told also, that the Canadian steamers, which 
 ply between Toronto and Chicago, stop at several points on 
 Manitoiiline 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 Sup^erior ? 
 
 Nes. 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. 
 
 Nob. 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 PISCATORI^. 533 
 
 " 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 T^te 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 d la- Gamanche, 
 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. — What a lonesome, beautifully monotonous scene! 
 After twenty minutes' gallop we saw trees in a hollow at a 
 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 boa.t, 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 Slrait 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 the' heads of 
 the nails and the seams in the hull of a steamboat as it lies 
 
DIES PISCATORI^. 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 
 hous& 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, it is 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 crack rifle- 
 shot, and his connection with the Goon 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. I am told that there is fine Trout-fishing 
 in Carp Eiver, 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-euli ! that's a ■whopper, 
 
 Nes. Which, the fish or the story ? 
 
 Nob. Both — the story, in particular. You ought to have 
 asked that man io fall a pound or two. 
 
 Nes. 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 againj] 
 
 "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 is a 
 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 PISCATORI^. 537 
 
 Gap, 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 an3rfching 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. 
 
 " I found a portion of the tribe of Chippewas encamped at 
 the lower end of the rapids, just above the village. Barbier 
 §ays 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 front 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 
 
538 AMERICAN ANGLBK'S BOOK. 
 
 delicious, resembling the Shad somewhat in flavor, but not so 
 bony. I have 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, I 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. 
 I 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 prdduoed 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 Ehe fish. After- 
 
DIES PISCATORIiB. 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, 
 1 am told, can be waded in most places, and that it affords 
 fine fishing. If the 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. 
 
 " In 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 thin 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. 
 
 " I spent one Sabbath at the Sault, and attended worsliip 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. 
 
 " I 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 as I 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." 
 
 NOE. (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." 
 
DIBS PISCATORIiE. 541 
 
 Nes. 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 Eed 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. I'll 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, 
 listen a while and I will tell you ; 
 I'll tell you 'bout de Nigger Gin'ral, 
 I'll 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 landin', 
 Becase he called him Uncle Gable. 
 
 " ' how dy do, my Uncle Gable V 
 ' no I ain't your Uncle Gable !' 
 ' yes you is my Uncle Gable.' 
 ' no I aint your Uncle Gable, 
 For I do know your Uncle Gable, 
 A man belong to Major Prosser.' " 
 
542 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 Now I call that hexameter 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.) 
 
 " Day 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 Cullln. 
 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. 
 
DIBS PISCATORI^ 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." 
 
 MoBBY. 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 ? 
 
 Nob. 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'Afric[ue. 
 
 Mob. Perhaps if your friend Dick Cooper was alive, since 
 you have such an opinion of his talents, you would use your 
 inflaence 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 AWGLBR'S BOOK. 
 
 jour letter; it is a sketcli 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, I am told, he at last disappeared, and nobody knew where 
 he went to ; the people of the neighborhood called him, 
 
 The Fish-Hawk. 
 
FOURTH NOONING. 
 
 TROUT-FISHING IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 
 
 35 
 
"The sounding cataract 
 Ilaunted him like a passion : the tall rock, 
 The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, 
 Their colors and their forma, were then to hini 
 An appetite; a feeling and a lov^ 
 That had no need of a remoter pb^rm 
 By thought BuppUed." 
 
 WOEDSWORTH. 
 
TEOUT-FISHING IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 
 
 FOURTH NOONING. 
 
 [Scene, a Saw-Mill.— Time, after the Roast.— Present : Norman, Job, 
 and Nestor.] 
 
 Job. How it pours ! 
 
 Nes. 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 Ickef with worm-bait, under the fall of the 
 dam. 
 
 Nob. 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. I'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 Eaquette Eiver 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 I 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, 
 Eound 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 Ohamplain. 
 I'here you take the boat which runs to Eouse'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 PISCATORI^. 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 niglit, 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. 
 
 Joe. 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. 
 I'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 Oarsons. 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 propensitj 
 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 ? Gk) 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. 
 
 NoK. 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. 
 
 NoE. 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 ? 
 
 Nbs. I give it up; it is all a matter of fancy, and my 
 
DIBSPISCATORI^. 551 
 
 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. 
 
 Joe. 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 improved 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 ANSLEE'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 Kaquette Elver, embark at his house. 
 
DIES PISCATORIiE. 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. 
 
 Nbs. 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, troUing-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. 
 ['11 show you a sketch of a pair of Bill's retainers — Walter 
 took them as they were discussing the subject of the draft. 
 
 Joe. 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 ? 
 Nes. 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 BOOR. 
 
 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. 
 
 NoK. 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 Waker 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 eni excursion ; that is, if he 
 
DIBS PISCATORI^. 555 
 
 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 Adirondaeks so hackneyed; the "carries" 
 from one lake to another, as you go from Martin's to the Ea- 
 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 Eaquette, 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. 
 
 Joe. I have heard that hunting is as great an inducement 
 to go to the Adirondaeks as fishing. 
 
 Nes. It is with most persons ; a friend who encamped for 
 nearly a month on Wolf Pond, beyond the Eaquette, 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 ANGLBK'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 ofi" 
 on a drive. Here is a rough copy of one of my artist's 
 sketches. 
 
 Job. 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 PISCATORI^. 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. 
 
 Joe. 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, I am 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. 
 
 Joe. 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 ANGLEK'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 ofi" blue coat, buff waistcoat, and drab trousers ; who 
 were "aufait" in politics and card-playing, bacon, mutton, 
 Madeira, and old whiskey; and could tell you the pedigree of 
 bvery race-horse between tide- water and Blue Eidge ; 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 h/rning." 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 steailing upon them, when it 
 was only the north-west wind rustling the dry tops of the 
 " haun" 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 PISCATOKI-S). 659 
 
 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. 
 
 Nob. 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 Eodgers 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 Eodgers 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 Eaquette, below Fish Hawk and 
 Setting- Pole Eapids, that weighed over two pounds. He was 
 not as successful at the mouth of Bog Eiver, 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 Eiver 
 Falls, while those who trolled, took Lake Trout as large as 
 ten nnd twelve pounds. 
 
 Joe. How do you get into the Eaquette Eiver 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, Eound 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 Eaquette. 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 PISCATORIiE. 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 Eegis 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 Eaquette you are twenty 
 miles from William Martin's. 
 
 The Eaquette 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 Goregonus, 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 Grwynaid 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 Eound 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 ISTovember. 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. 
 
 Nob. 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 Salmonidae 
 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 Ooregonus, which 
 
DIBS PISCATORI^. 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. 
 
 Job. 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. 
 
 Joe. 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. 
 
 Joe. "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 ? 
 
 Nbs. That is a natural hunter, my young guide, Beuben 
 Eeynolds, watching for deer. 
 
FLY-FISHING ALONE. 
 
"To him who in tho love of nature holds 
 Communion with her vieible forms, she speaks 
 A various language ; for hie gayer hours, 
 She has a voice of gladness, and a smile. 
 And eloquence of beauty, and she glides 
 Into Mb darker musings, with a mild 
 And healing sympathy, that steals away 
 Their sharpness ere he is aware." 
 
 Bryant. 
 
FLY-FISHING ALONE. 
 
 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 unruifled 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 himself; 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-wh^," 
 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) 
 
5(l8 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 
 
 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, like the falling of the great oak in the 
 stillness of the woodsy 
 
 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 pf 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 anglers 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 PISCATORIyB. 569 
 
 put on a good sized coachman witli 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 a swirl ! 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 ! I'll 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 ; I'll 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. I'll 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 larvae 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. Oh, 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 ofi" 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 
 
DIBS PISCAT0RIJ5. 671 
 
 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. "Eeal 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 AMEEICAN 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. What if 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 Caesar 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 releases 
 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 ; of 
 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 PISOATORI^. 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 
 no healthier recreation.— — But I have sat here long enough . 
 I'll 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 oi 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 AMBKICAN 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 i^earer, 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 PISCATORI^. 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 awakeii 
 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 
 sliilliTigs 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. 
 I'll give you a pair of flies — real gay ones. 
 
 Dining ahne 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- 
 cative. 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 "Oonroy's journal -flies," which have 
 
DIBS PISCATORIiE. 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 wonH 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 is 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 
 
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 Caesar ! 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 PISCATORI^. 579 
 
 raountain, 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 as if 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." 
 
 I'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 oa 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 in a 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 all 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 I 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-hraut 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 below here, last August. I can just see 
 their shanty from here. " Instruments of cruelty are in their 
 
DIES PISCATOEI^. 581 
 
 habitations. mj 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" 1 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 I He threw his whole length out of water 
 — ^try it again — I can't raise him. This won't do. Am I 
 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 
 « 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 snufif-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." I'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, 
 and ' the 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 PISCATORI^. 583 
 
 the gay Lothario, were you ? I know- some scaly 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, 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 I am 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 AMERICAJSt ANGLEK'S BOOK. 
 
 for a little fishing. May -be he has never read what William 
 Howitt says, in his " Eural 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 tr\ie 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 banks 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 epjoy ■ 
 meut to which the feelings of cities and palaces are dim. The 
 heart of such a man — the power and passion of deep felicity 
 
DIES PISCATORI^. 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. 
 
■' Thb first meu that our Saviour dear 
 Did cliooBe to wait upon Ilim liere 
 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 peaoefally the Sabbath dawns on the weary angler I 
 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 ANSLBK'S BOOK. 
 
 fast acts as a remiuder 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 
 "Caesar," 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 hurdles, 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 PISCATORIiE. 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 iioor, 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 — " Eeuben 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 fnah furnace, at least there were none when I was 
 a boy; but there was "Eebecca 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. 
 
 iu 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, 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 it 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 " Eemember 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 PISCATORI^. 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 ANSLER'S BOOK. 
 
 as many miseries beyond riches, as on this side them :' and 
 yet Grod 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 PISCATOEI^. 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 faniily 
 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 ia heart, for they shall see God. Blessed 
 be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
596 AMERICAN ANGLEK'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 in the 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 w e 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 PISCATORIjE. 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 nil 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 A-lmighty 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 blessiiigs 
 " 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. 699 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 One who has had the patience to read the foregoiag 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 
 I 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 erf 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 iflere Pot-fisher and Snob. If such be the case 
 I am content. " It is a very pretty quarrel as it stands," but 
 to every Honest Anglee — whether a fly-fisher or a bait- 
 fisher, adept, or struggling with adverse circumstances in 
 his eflforts to reach the higher branches of the art, I tender 
 my sincerest Sympathies. 
 
 And now, dear Eeader, may you by keeping a conscience 
 void of offence, keep at peace with yourself and 
 
 The Authok. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ablodea grunniens, 122. 
 
 Alosa preestibilus, 171. 
 
 Anglers' Sabbath, 689. 
 
 Angler, What and who is an angler ? 29. 
 
 The Fnssy 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 au 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, 469, 464. 
 
 Hatching Troughs, 468, 471. 
 
 Expressing the Spawn, 469. 
 
 Treatment of Fecundated Eggs, 475. 
 
 Food for Young Trout, 479. 
 
 Tjick's Grayling, 259. 
 Bait, Fishing for Trout, 272. 
 Barb, or Kingfish, 286. 
 Barthrolomoeus pampanus, 298. 
 Bass. Black, of the Lakes, 103. 
 
 Trolling for, 105. 
 
 Fresh Water of the South and 
 West, 99. 
 
 Oswego, 110. 
 
 Striped, or Rockfish, 110. 
 
 Striped of the Ohio, 108. 
 
 Short Striped, 109. 
 . White of the Lakes, 97. 
 Blackftsh, 300. 
 
 Bluefish, or Snapping Mackerel, 294. 
 Bream, 113. 
 
 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, 165. 
 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, 366. 
 Catfish and Eels, 177. 
 Catfish, extract from Icouographic Enoy- 
 elopsedia, 177. 
 
 Catfish of Atlantic and Western 
 States, 180. 
 
 Care for the young, 182. 
 Catostomus babulos, 166. 
 
 " communis, 154. 
 Clupeidje, 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 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cooking Pish. 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. 
 Cyprinidse, 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, 667. 
 
 The Anglers' Sabbath, 689. 
 
 Conclusion, 699. 
 Drumfish, 299. 
 
 Eels, observations on, 183. 
 
 The Lamprey, 183. 
 
 The Electric, 184. 
 
 The Common, 186. 
 Esox lucioides, 131. 
 
 estor, 135. 
 
 vittatus, 118. 
 
 Fall fish, 157. 
 Fish-Breeding, 460. 
 
 Artificial, 464. 
 Fish, Definition of, 39. 
 
 G-eneral 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, 61. 
 
 Internal organization of, 52. 
 
 Travelling on land, 50. 
 
 Mucous secretion on, its use, 64. 
 
 Teeth of, 54. 
 Fish-Ponds. Manner of stocking them 
 
 by ova left in the soil, 48, 461. 
 Flies for Trout, 312. 
 
 " " Salmon, 350. 
 Flounder, 299. 
 
 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. 
 Gymnotidse, 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. 
 Iron-wood, 442. 
 
 Jackfish, 130. 
 
 Jack fishing in Eastern Virginia, 144. 
 
 Kingfish, 286. 
 Knots, 409. 
 
 Labrax albidus, 97. 
 Labrax Uneatus, 81. 
 Labrax pallidus, 90. 
 Leaders, 69. 
 
 Leiostomus obliquus, 289. 
 Lesser Lake Trout, 265. 
 
 Trolling for, 256. 
 Leucosomus notbus, 157. 
 Lines, 70, 312, 349. 
 Long Beach, 278. 
 Loops, 406. 
 Luoioperca Americana, 120. 
 
 Mallotus villosus, 267. 
 Mascalonge, 136. 
 Micropogon undulatus, 291. 
 Mingan River, 386. 
 Mirimichl, 388. 
 Moisie River, 385. 
 
 Fishing in, 384. 
 Mosquitoes, protection against, 369. 
 Mullet, 300. 
 Mursenidae, 18.3. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 603 
 
 New Brunswick, rivers of, 386. 
 Nigger Gen'ral, The, 541. 
 Nipissignit River, 390. 
 Noonday Roast, The, 497. 
 Nooning, 1st, 603. 
 
 " 2d, 511. 
 
 " 3d, 529. 
 
 " 4th, 545. 
 
 Ohio Salmon, 120. 
 Osmerus viridesoens, 263. 
 Otolithus regalis, 283. 
 
 Pagrus argyrops, 301. 
 Perca flavescens, 114. 
 
 chrysops, 108. 
 Perch Family, 77. 
 Perch, White, 90. 
 
 Yellow barred, 114. 
 
 Buffalo, 122. 
 
 Fishing, 92. 
 
 Chinkapin, 111. 
 Percidse, remarks on, 77. 
 
 Grreat numbers of American spe- 
 cies, 77. 
 
 Paucity of European species, 78. 
 
 Distinguishing marks of, 78. 
 
 iVIigratory habits, 79. 
 Petromyzontidae, 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. 
 
 Pishing, 139. 
 
 Trolling for, 139. 
 
 Pishing in Eastern Virginia, 143. 
 
 Pliny's, 129. 
 
 G-esner'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-flshing, 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, 446. 
 
 To stain, oil, and varnish, 446. 
 
 Wrapping, splicing, Ac, 447. 
 
 To make a rent and glued tip, 448. 
 
 Ply-rod adjusted for light or heavy 
 fishing, 452. 
 
 Perules, 452. 
 Rods, 72, 308, 345. 
 
 Sao-£l-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. 
 
 Plies, 350. 
 
 Materials for Salmon flies, 362. 
 
 Flies for rivers of Xew Bruns- 
 wick, 353. 
 
 Flies for rivers of Canada, 356. 
 Casting the Fly — 
 
 Theory and practice, 356. 
 
 Compared with Trout-fishing, -367. 
 
 The straight oast described, 368. 
 
 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 % 
 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, 236. 
 
004 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Food of, 234, 236. 
 
 Dwarf, of the St. Croix, 248. 
 
 Cooking, on the river, 372. 
 
 Law and custom of the river, 374. 
 
 Rivera of British Provinces, 380. 
 ^almonidae, Salmon Family, 191. 
 
 Remarks on, 191. 
 -jimo salar, 206. 
 
 Canadensis, 238. 
 
 eioveri, 248. 
 
 Namaycush, 250. 
 
 Adirondakus, 255. 
 
 Fontinalis, 194. 
 S;ilt Water Fishing — Introductory re- 
 marks, 277. 
 
 Sheepshead, 279. 
 
 ■Weakfisb, or Salt-water Trout, 283. 
 
 Barb, or Kingfiah, 286. 
 
 Spot, Pigfish, or Goody, 289. 
 
 Croaker, 291. 
 
 Redfish, 293. 
 
 Bluefish, 294. 
 
 Spanish Mackerel, 296. 
 
 Pompano, 298. 
 
 Drumflsh, 299. 
 
 Flounder, 299. 
 
 Sea Bass, 300. 
 
 Blaokflsh, 300. 
 
 Mullet, 300. 
 
 Tom Cod, or Frostfish, 301. 
 
 Porgy, 301. 
 Sammy Shourds, 278. 
 Sandre, 121. 
 Sargus ovis, 279. 
 S'.'icntific Terms : — 
 
 Acanthopterygii, 56. 
 
 Ctenoids, 40. 
 
 Cycloids, 40. 
 
 Malacopterygii, 56. 
 
 Thoracii, 57. 
 
 Abdominal, 57. 
 
 Placoids, 40. 
 
 Ganoids, 40. 
 Sohoodio Trout, 248. 
 
 Fishing for them, 249. 
 Scouring earth-worms, 273. 
 Sea-baas, 300. 
 Sbad, delicacy as food, 171. 
 
 Migratory habits> 172. 
 
 Taken with a minnow, 173. 
 Shad-roe as bait, 174. 
 Sheepshead, 279. 
 Sinkers, 68. 
 
 Smelt— Great numbers of.— on Northern 
 Coast, 265. 
 
 In Schuylkill and Raritan, 263. 
 
 Quantity sent South, from Boa- 
 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 aaltator, 294. 
 Tent, 368. 
 
 Thymallua signifer, 259. 
 Tom-Cod, 301. 
 
 Trout-fishing in Hamilton County, New 
 York, 603. 
 
 In New Hampshire, 513. 
 
 In the regiona of Lake Supe- 
 rior, 531. 
 
 In the Adlrondacks, 547. 
 Trout Fly-fishing — Outfit and tackle. 
 
 Wading jacket, 305. 
 
 Trousers, 305. 
 
 Boots, 306. 
 
 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. 
 
 Umbrina nebulosa, 286. 
 
 Wax, 415. 
 
 Waxing silk and thread, 406. 
 
 Weakfisb, 283. 
 
 Whitefish, 269. 
 
 Value as food, 270. 
 
 How taken, 270. 
 
 Habits, 271. 
 
 THE END. 
 
t inert I 
 
 7 ?■*