and that nothing should be done until a perceptible
jerk on the tip signals that the hook has gone home.
Even then some do not strike when heavy fish are in
the pool, but it is generally a good plan to do so, in
order to imbed the hook more firmly. As a rule keep
the hands off the line, as a sudden strike when it is
straightened out may part the leader.
The enthusiastic trout often misses the fly in its
zeal, but when the water boils in a salmon-pool and
Changing the fly remains untouched you may be
the Fly fairly sure that there is something wrong,
and (especially if this occurs more than once) it is
probably the fly. If such a suspicion arises work
the fly about a little, letting it sink and then pulling
it in. If this has no effect reel in and change the fly
to a smaller size of the same pattern, wait five or
ten minutes, and try again over the same spot. If the
exact distance is to be insured it is better not to
reel in, but to pull the line through the rings and
let the coils lie in the bottom of the canoe. When
convinced that the pattern of fly is not wanted by the
fish, change to some quite different variety. In a
word, experiment until success is attained. In all
cases wait a few minutes before trying the same
spot again.
For a few moments a hooked salmon does not
seem to appreciate his position, but this is only the
calm before the storm, for suddenly the line begins
to go and the reel to sing with a crescendo that rises
Fishing 287
to prestissimo and fortissimo agitato. This is one
of the soul-stirring moments of the battle, and rivals
the excitement of landing after a fifty-foot Playing
skee-jump or turning a sharp corner in a the Fish
racing-car at a mile a minute. One wonders whether
the fish is ever going to stop, and visions of a line run
out and snapped off the reel arise like ogres. But he
usually does pause before such a catastrophe occurs,
and soars majestically into the air at the end of the
rush, generally giving the angler time to reel in a
good deal of line before dashing off for another rush
and leap. The battle is then on and the problem
is to tire out the fish and bring him to gaff before he
can break away, either by sheer strength or by
entangling the line in some natural obstruction.
The rule is to make haste slowly, for it has been
calculated that no good fish can be killed safely in
less than a minute for every pound of its weight.
When the salmon leaps from the water the old rule
was to drop the tip of the rod in order to reduce the
strain on the tackle, but Mr. Wells has proved that
this is a fallacy, since such relief cannot possibly
be communicated to the other end of the long, heavy
line in the very short space of time occupied by the
fish in leaping. The rule is, therefore, to keep a
taut line at all times. If the fish doubles back, belly-
ing the line, reel in as fast as possible. In a word,
never allow slack line. If he sulks and jigs, i. e. tugs
at the line with a succession of short, sharp jerks,
simply wait for him to finish this disconcerting
manoeuvre. If he threatens to run out all your
line, which would be fatal, follow him with the canoe
or on foot, as the case may be. There are lurid tales
of fishermen chasing down-stream for miles after a
288 The Way of the Woods
runaway salmon of uncommon weight and prowess,
but these may be somewhat exaggerated. Experi-
ence is the best teacher, and when you have played
twenty salmon, and lost a certain percentage of them,
you will know more about the art than I could impart
in twenty chapters.
When your fish is thoroughly sick, and shows his
sides from time to time, draw him gradually up to
the spot where the motionless gaffer waits.
Gaffing
The salmon may come to life several times
at sight of his new enemy, but at last the gaff is
pushed deftly under the fish, and, with a quick
upward movement, the quarry is impaled upon it,
dragged up on the shore or into the canoe, and knocked
on the head as soon as may be.
H. P. Wells: The American Salmon-Fisherman;
B k Salmon and Trout, in The American
Sportsman's Library; Chas. Hallock: Sal-
mon-fishing.
FRESH-WATER SALMON
Hornaday and others distinguish two chief varie-
ties of salmon living in fresh water, the Ouananiche
(pronounced Wanna-neesh') (Salmo ouananiche) and
the Sebago Salmon (Salmo sebago) of Maine, though
scientists are as yet by no means agreed as to the
difference between these or between them and the
Salmo salar, which divides its existence between salt
and fresh water. It may be quite a matter of en-
vironment. Both are called land-locked salmon,
though only the Maine fish seems entitled to the
name, as the Ouananiche has access to salt water
and frequently does descend to it.
Fishing 289
THE OUANANICHE
Mr. Hornaday speaks of the Ouananiche as a
"fierce-fighting fresh- water understudy of the At-
lantic salmon. . . . When first taken from the
water, it has a beautiful peacock-blue colour which
disappears at death, changing to the light-grey
back and sides and silvery belly of the Salmon. . . .
The Ouananiche is a fish which loves rapids and
rushing water as a mountain sheep loves crags and
precipices. Because of the strenuous life it leads,
it is beyond doubt the most vigorous and athletic
fish that inhabits our waters." This dictum will be
generally subscribed to by most fishermen. Mr.
Eugene McCarthy, in his Familiar Fish, thus char-
acterises the Ouananiche :
None of the fresh- water fish can equal its fighting powers,
and, pound for pound, it will outfight even the salmon.
Ouananiche are great smashers of rods and tackle, unless
one understands how to play them, especially when they
make their numerous high jumps from the water. It is not
an exaggeration to state that these jumps will average at least
five to six, and frequently will number ten to twelve feet.
And such leaps ! Two or three feet out of the water, often
toward the fisherman, then a rush deep down, a pause, a
succession of jerks that would seem to tear the hook loose,
a wild rush of varying distance, and a run back, almost to the
angler's feet. A fish weighing three and one-half or four
pounds will make a fight lasting ten or fifteen minutes,
often longer; and that means hard work for every moment
for the fisherman.
The chief habitat of the Ouananiche is Lake St.
John and its tributaries, in the Province of Quebec,
and the Saguenay River, its outlet to the Gulf of'
19
2go The Way of the Woods
St. Lawrence ; but many other waters of that region
contain it, though less known.
The fish probably spawn partly in the lake and
partly in the stream. They seem to be mostly in the
lake in spring, descending into the rapid water about
June. The spawning season is October. In the lakes
they will almost never take the fly. Anatomically
the fish differs in no respect from a small salmon, but
the colouring is more brilliant. It feeds day by day
throughout the year, and has a slimmer body and
more powerful fins. The average weight is less than
three pounds, though it grows to three times that.
The expert angler of the Grande Decharge of the
Saguenay takes him only on the fly.
A heavy trout-rod, say of loj feet and 7 or 8 ounces
will fill the bill, though some prefer a grilse-rod.
The line will be size E, and the leader
Tackle
six feet long and of light salmon gut of the
best quality. The usual thing is to use two flies,
the upper one a yard from the tail. Sizes 6 and 4
are large enough, and the favourite varieties are
Silver-Doctor, Jock-Scott, Popham, and in fact most
of the best-known salmon patterns.
In the Saguenay the fishing is generally from a
canoe, for the proper management of which in the
difficult water two guides (French Canadians) are
necessary. The casting is mostly not from the canoe,
but from different points of vantage, where the angler
lands. The fish are found in the rapids and especially
in the foam-covered eddies, into the midst of which
the flies are launched. When your fly is taken strike
smartly, after which, if the fish is hooked, "look
out for squalls !" He will plunge down, run up, leap
Fishing 291
wildly, turn and rush and jig like an electrified
grilse; in fact he may be treated like one. Keep a
taut line always. Ouananiche are generally netted
like trout.
THE SEBAGO SALMON
Those who have fished for both the Ouananiche and
the Maine land-locked salmon are generally of the
opinion that the former is the gamier fish, for the
reason that it inhabits more strenuous waters. There
are, of course, places in Maine where, either in the
streams or fresh-run into the lakes, the fish are as hard
fighters as their Canadian cousins. They are heavier,
weighing from a pound up to 15 pounds, the average
in Sebago Lake being over 8 pounds. In spring it
may be taken with the fly, like its Quebec cousin,
but later trolling with the minnow, phantom, etc.,
must be resorted to.
The Ouananiche and its Canadian Environment,
by E. T. D. Chambers; The Leaping Ouananiche
and How to Catch It, by Eugene McCarthy; Biblio-
The Land of the Winanishe, in the volume graphy
on Angling in the Out-of-Door Library (Scribner's) ;
Fly-fishing for Ouananiche, by Louis Rhead, in
Outing for July, 1906. It is a regrettable fact that
many books on salmon-angling contain so little about
the fresh-water salmon. The volume on Salmon
and Trout in the American Sportsman's Library, for
example, never so much as mentions the existence
of the Ouananiche.
BLACK-BASS FISHING
There are two varieties of the black-bass, the
292 The Way of the Woods
small-mouthed (Micropterus dolomieu) and the large-
mouthed (Micropterus salmoides), the two fish be-
ing very similar in appearance, though the large-
mouthed is not quite so slender and has the angle of
the mouth reaching behind the eye. Its scales are
also larger. Of the two- the small-mouthed has the
greater reputation as a game fish, though Dr. Hen-
shall thinks this due to the fact that the small-mouth
is oftener found in cool, clear waters than his cousin,
and that, in the same water, there is no difference
in their game qualities. Both fish are hard fighters,
strong and resourceful, and will frequently leap from
the water even on a slack line. The fact that the trout
almost never leaps on a slack line has led bass-fisher-
men to claim the palm of gameness for their favourite.
This claim has hardly been substantiated, though
one may say that the black-bass possesses a little
more of the bulldog nature than the more beautiful
and aristocratic trout. The usual colour of the bass
is a fine greenish bronze, though this may be dark
or light.
The small-mouthed black-bass inhabits preferably
clear and cool streams, as well as lakes and ponds
fed by them or by springs. Hibernating
at the bottom of lakes and streams, it
emerges in early spring from its state of torpor and
seeks its spawning bed in streams having sandy or
gravelly bottoms about the month of May, the
spawning season lasting till July, different fish
spawning at different times, according to environ-
ment. The male fish works out a depression in the
soil, in which the female deposits her eggs, which are
then covered by the male milt. It takes but two
Fishing 293
weeks, or even less, for the eggs to hatch, during
which time the nest is guarded by both parent fish,
unlike the trout, which neglects its nest after the eggs
have been fructified. The male bass even watches
over the hatched-out fry for several days after hatch-
ing. The fry attain a length of about an inch in a
month and grow to six inches by autumn. A pound
per year is about the normal rate of increase, and
five pounds is a very large weight for a black-bass,
though fish of nine and ten pounds have been taken.
FLY-FISHING
The remarks upon rods for fly-fishing contained in
the chapter on Trout Fly-tackle apply also to bass- rods,
except that a rod under six ounces should Tackle for
not be used, the average bass fly-rod being Fly-fishing
an ounce or so heavier than that. It may be from
9 to ioi feet in length. Split bamboo is best. The
butt should be rather more stiffish than in a trout-rod.
Lines and leaders are similar to those used for trout,
though the leader need not be over six feet in length,
but must be stout. Bass-flies are usually made with
very large, flaring wings and in brilliant colours. Dr.
Henshall thinks most of the stock flies too large and
recommends the "largest trout flies, tied on hooks
Nos. 4 to 6." Among the best patterns are the dif-
ferent hackles, the Coachman, Montreal, Professor,
Grizzly-King, Jungle-Cock, King-of-the- Waters, etc.
There are also the so-called buck-tail flies. Very
few bass-flies bear any resemblance to living insects.
The bass is a voracious feeder, resembling in his
habits the gamey brook-trout of northern waters,
and he evidently takes the fly not for some particular
294 The Way of the Woods
insect known to him, but just for some kind of pos-
sible food, to be captured first and rejected if un-
desirable.
Morning and evening are the most favourable
times, unless the day is overcast. Fish down-stream
and observe the general rules laid down under trout-
fishing. The flies (two, or sometimes three, are
generally used at a time) are kept wriggling when
on the surface, but are allowed to sink a foot or so
from time to time. One must try every ruse, as the
bass is as fickle as the trout, and the flies should be
often changed until success attends. When a rise
is seen or a tug felt strike like lightning, though not
brutally, as the fish will, except in still water, prob-
ably have hooked himself, and it is chiefly a matter
of setting the barb well in. Keep a taut line, and
make the fish earn every inch he pulls out. Netting
the bass is precisely similar to the same operation
applied to trout.
OTHER METHODS
Dr. Henshall mentions as legitimate methods,
aside from fly-fishing, for bass, casting with the
live minnow, trolling, and still-fishing. He condemns
trolling with a hand-line as unsportsmanlike, and
also, by inference and failure even to mention them,
all many-hooked contrivances, such as phantoms and
minnow-gangs. It seems somewhat inconsistent,
after taking this high and proper standpoint, that
he should advocate the torture of a live minnow for
the sake of sport. As the minnow is generally hooked
through the nerveless lips, the biassed angler will
bring forth the old argument that it is not hurt. Why
Fishing 295
not go a step further and aver that the little fish
hugely enjoys being jerked through air and water until
insensibility befalls? The true sportsman has no
place in his heart for mollycoddles, but the practice
of such cruelty as this should disgust every right-
minded being. Let the reader decide for himself.
The minnow is hooked through both lips, or, when
very small, under the dorsal fin, on a single snelled
hook, size i to 2. A braided silk line, size Casting
H, is best and no leader can be used, since with
the lure must be pulled up close to the tip for Minnow
the purpose of casting. The casting-rod, which has been
developed during the past few years, is from 8 to 9 feet
long and preferably of split bamboo (best quality up
to $30.00; Orvis casting-rod, fine quality, $15.00).
It has the reel-seat above the hand and weighs from
6 to 8 ounces. A still shorter variety, originating in
the West, is from 4^ to 6 feet long. The reel must be
a multiplier containing fifty or sixty yards of line and
as light as possible. Very beautiful multiplying reels
for bait-fishing have been made in this country, and
particularly in the State of Kentucky, for more than
half a century, and the Kentucky reels still maintain
their reputation. The best of them (not all made in
Kentucky) are expensive Meek's No. 3, $28.00, No. 4,
$30.00; "Talbot Special," $50.00 to $60.00 (with
jewelled bearings); ordinary Talbot, $20.00; "In-
trinsic," $15.00; Milam's, $20.00; J. vom Hofe
(60 yards) , $8.00. All these reels have click and drag.
The Talbot is jewelled; all the others cost about $4.00
more for jewelling. Of course all makers turn out
cheaper reels that are of good quality, but a multi-
plying reel should be a fine one or a very cheap one,
296 The Way of the Woods
to throw aside after a short time. The best
American reels last for many years. They
should be kept in special leather cases and
carefully cleaned and oiled. Very
little oil should be used, and that
of the best quality.
Casting with the short bait-rod
is an art which has only recently
been developed. The regular over-
head tournament cast for distance
can be employed in throwing the
minnow only very gingerly, since
the delicate lips or skin of the
fish would otherwise be torn out.
With a frog or other tougher bait it
is generally used. It is called cast-
ing from the reel, and is a West-
ern development, like the short rod
invented to perfect it. Two va-
rieties, the wrist-cast and body-cast,
are distinguished. For the wrist-
cast the rod is held pointed at
| ^ the spot where the lure is to alight ;
the reel (on top) is turned a little to
the left and the thumb rests on the
crossbar. The lure hangs about 18
inches from the agate tip. Raise
FIG. 64. thg whole arm slowly over the
wo-piece s h ou id er bending forearm and
Casting- Rod
wrist backwards until the rod
points a little towards the ground. Then cast
the lure forward by a sharp, snappy jerk, re- IG '
membering how, in your youth, you chucked casting-
a green apple from the end of a stick. The Rod
Fishing 297
body-cast is an effort to add to the strength of the
arm, wrist, and hand that of the whole body, the
arm being held more extended
and the whole forward move-
ment made more round-arm,
somewhat as a cricket bowler
delivers the ball. Added im-
petus is often got by a pre- FlG . 66 ._ Casting . Reel
liminary run. Casting with a
longer rod is usually done more from one side
to the other than overhead, in order to avoid
the jerk that is likely to throw off the lure.
Those who intend to devote themselves to bait-
casting should secure Lou S. Darling's Tournament
Casting.
When the minnow strikes the water it is allowed
to sink half way to the bottom and is then slowly
reeled in. When it is seized by a bass do not strike,
but let him have it for a few seconds even
if he should start to run, but it takes some
time for him to get it well into his mouth.
When he seems to have it firmly (the
angler can usually tell by the strong and
steady pull, felt best by the thumb on the
reel-spool), set the hook by a smart strike.
The battle is then on and differs from that
with a trout only when the bass leaps from
the water, in which moment taut line
FIG 6 s ^ ou ^ especially be avoided, though it is a
Casting- grave question whether in so very short a
Spoon time any movement of the angler's can be
communicated to the other end of the
line quickly enough to have any effect, one way
or the other. With a very long line certainly not.
298 The Way of the Woods
Casting is also done with a small trolling-spoon
with one hook, or two single hooks.
Trolling is done from a slowly-moving canoe or boat
along the edges of weeds, rocky ledges, or
wherever bass are known to lie.
A minnow or single-hooked troll-
ing-spoon may be used, all three- or more-
hooked contrivances being considered as
worthy only of the pot-fisherman, who wishes
to bring in a good string, however captured.
A short trolling-rod should be used.
Still-fishing from bank or boat is done
with rod, line, leader, and dead bait, which
may be worms, helgramites, craw-
Still-fishing *\ J . . , ,.
& fish or some other piscine delicacy.
This should not be allowed to lie on the
bottom, for which reason a float is usually
employed. The most efficacious bait is a live
minnow; let the hard-hearted use it if they
like; the true sportsman should certainly not.
Dr. J. A. Henshall's Book of the Black-
Bass, More About the Black-Bass, and Bass,
Bibliog- Pike, Perch , and Others ; The Basses,
raphy by Harris, Bean, and Rhead; Fish-
ing and Shooting Sketches, by ex-President
Cleveland. FlG - 68 -~
Trolling
Top for
MASCALONGE, PIKE, AND PICKEREL Steel Rod
Of the Esocidce, or pike family, those likely to be
encountered by the dweller in the northern woods
Fishing 299
are the Mascalonge, the Pike, the Western and the
Eastern Pickerels. All its members are distinguished
by long bodies and -heads, with flattened, elongated
snouts and big mouths containing many sharp teeth,
in the jaws and even on the tongue. They are all
voracious, bloodthirsty pirates, which live mostly
on other species of fish. When taken in good water all
the Esocida are good eating, especially the pickerel.
THE MASCALONGE
This great fish (Esox nobilior), the largest of the
EsocidcB, grows to a weight of eighty or more pounds,
but one is seldom seen nowadays that will go over
thirty pounds, and the majority fall far short of that.
Its habitat extends from the St. Lawrence and Great
Lakes waters westward through northern Wisconsin
and southward to the upper Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. It is also found in Chautauqua Lake in New
York and Conneaut Lake in Pennsylvania. It has
a dark-grey-greenish body, the shades of which differ
with different regions, so that many varieties have
been named, though with very doubtful authority.
It may be distinguished readily from the pike by the
fact that the spots of a mascalonge are always darker
than the ground colour, whereas those of a pike are
lighter and bean-like in form. There are many ways
of spelling and pronouncing the English name of
Esox nobilior, but that given here is gradually becoming
the standard.
It spawns in shallow water in early spring. Its
flesh is edible, As a game fish it ranks high, though
it relies wholly on strength, exhibiting little resource.
The proper rod is a bass-rod of 8 or 9 ounces; a
3 oo The Way of the Woods
multiplying reel with- plenty of No. E line and Nos.
3 or 4 hooks on gimp snells and swivel to connect hook
and line complete the outfit. A minnow, either alive
or dead, or a frog, may be the bait, though most
fishermen prefer a No. 4 trolling-spoon, which, how-
ever, should have but a single hook. The boat is
rowed slowly along the edges of 'the pads and weeds,
the lure is cast and reeled in again slowly. As in
other fishing, open water should be gained as soon
as a fish is hooked, in order to afford- it less opportunity
to foul itself and the hook. Large mascalonge are
usually gaffed, though many shoot them through the
head with a .22 rifle. If gaffed the fish should be
knocked on the head as soon as pulled into the boat,
or sooner if an opportunity occurs. When a fish
strikes the spoon in trolling the boatman should turn
the boat at once, so that the angler can reel in facing
the fish. In still water still-fishing for mascalonge
is common, the bait being a half-pound fish, usually
a sucker. When a strike comes give the fish time
enough to swallow the bait. If you succeed in hook-
ing a ten-pound mascalonge on heavy bass-tackle you
are not likely to forget the ensuing battle very soon.
Dr. Henshall speaks of taking a 4o-pounder on a
nine-ounce rod! For trolling the steel rod is not bad.
THE PIKE
The Pike (Esox lucius) is the only member of his
family which inhabits the waters of Europe. With
us he is often confounded with the pickerel, but he
can be readily distinguished at least from the East-
ern pickerel by his light-coloured, bean-shaped spots,
whereas the pickerel is marked as with a net of
Fishing 301
darker hue than the ground colour, and has a much
lighter belly. The pike is a northern fish, being
found in the upper Mississippi, the Great Lakes,
and Lake Champlain and the vicinity of these waters,
and thence northwards to Alaska. Occasionally it
occurs further south. In some regions it is found
together with the mascalonge. Fifteen pounds
weight is the usual limit, though it has been caught
as heavy as twenty-five pounds, and four feet long.
The pike is fished for with the same tackle, though
it may be somewhat lighter, as the mascalonge and in
much the same manner. The "Henshall" rod (made
by Orvis, Manchester, Vt.) is as good for pike as for
bass, and with it should go braided silk line, size F,
and No. 2 or 3 hooks. Trolling is the usual method,
but casting the dead minnow or spoon with a rod
is much finer. It is not generally known that both
pike and pickerel will afford good fly-fishing, large-
sized, bright flies being used.
THE PICKEREL