Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-07-10
DAILY GAZETTE.
from the N. Y. Journal Of Commerce.
EXTRAORDINARY SPORT.
FLY FISHING FOR sHAO
A New and Very sucosssrut r,u.,,m,u,

ne" and Very Successful Experiment..
we have quite treat for that large class of our
readers VINO are sportsmen and espacIailv foe
tuVse VINO are lovers of "the gentle art" In the
Io.oWIng letter OF our weli-known correspond.
ent' This Is the first published accoint Nv an
experienced angler, Of the new sport md tbero
= no nlgher authority in this country than the
signature thereuntO annexed Thousanda of
tnose VINO are given to this recreation wIll trea-
III ois description, and next year, In
sue months OF May and June, Connecticut will
1e gay with those who will avail Ihemseives Of
me opportunity thus afforded.
TAKING suAD'wIrM THE FLY.
HARTFORD, July Sd, 1878
Like many anglers, had read brief newspaper
paragraphs which have from time to time an
n ~ s'atlng that shad had been taken with
1eS " an the Connecticut river but have been
uhaole unable to meet with any one who could speak on
the subject from experience. Accordingly de-
eelmlhed 70 settle the question for myself wheth-
81 81 snad Wlll take fly, by going up to IIolyoke
ana making few casts.
tas nrst bobber very small H. pure lemon color
BODY and wings and tail; for second hobber n
sSsen drake OF the same size. ThesA were all
SSiI". H'es' a'l very small, and tied the most
St Soate gut AS threw the cast down stream.
lust 10 the tall OF the rapid, the first bobber was
sHeeH with the sharp rush of a heavy fab Ue
ulu NOT snow above water, but took the fy head
oa...i on, Iuu went away with n gentle swing. The
own eyes, felt II with my own hands and "a i
salo this to myself-he made long swift rnsb.
and tnen up into the air he went cleaning IN
sIvcr and purple, nohie shal Then ensued one
- ~ nC'' 0eautltul struggles have ever known
Win hsh He was full Of life, rushed IN arainst
tue current, down stream with It, now across and
BACK, now diving for deep water always ON the
move, now and then out Of water showing hrs
s uso1u whlte sld1 as he sWerved aud swung around
tne Ooat on nifty feet of line coming IN with graat
un~ilngness, and yielding only after fifteen min
utes Of fair fight '''
Do you know ths beauty OF the sbad when
HeSu esugntE This, my hrst shad taken on a Ay,
as lifted hun in the landing net. seemed 10 Is
the most gorgeous fish had ever seen His hact
vas f1descenf with every color known to the eve
ana bis sides white aA snow
east again aud let the line pay out hfly or six.
sIi.Sr ana ana moved ihd rod geuty from side to
@@ANS 10 give the lies cant across the current
Al less tnan three minutes had a gentle touch.
not unlike the nibble of a fish aud a short but
easy stroke instantly hooked hIm. He took the
Sll nY' the black and blue. He was a six Mound
nsn more active and lively than the first. Il was
Iull nfteen and think over twenty minutos he,
lore could bring him to the landing net. Il
had been raining quite briskly when these TWO 6sh
rose, and now 1t bad ceased Fifteen minutes
. .nore pIsssa before It began to rain again, and
then sharp stroke, suddenly followed by anotbeg
puzzled me, until Saw that two shad had risen
one having taken the lemon, and the other the
green drake Thus all three flies had done sery.
tSe' anu aIler tnat did not make any change.
put went on taking fish on this cast until about
Iour o'clock, when 1t was necessary to leave for
the return home '~~'S -
can assure the angler that there is no better
sport tnan tue action of a shad on fy rod His
nght Is the perfect poetry Of molten. l neye9
"a" more beautiful picture than was presented
when = had one on his little N6rris rod
again. - ~s-AA 1'i'
II shad rise to the 4 at Holyoke, why not else
Wnere see no reason why they should mot b.,
Iaeen as well at the railroad bridge az WaFehonss
KVlnt near Hartford, or in the Hudson, Delaware.
Fooomac aud other rivers. l am inclined TO think
any small dies will prove successful, but INV ex-
Perence OF a single day would lead me to recon-
.asno yellow eolOrs in one or two of them. + l
nave no doubt that any hy-fsherman of experi.
ence may 30 tomorrow to Holyoke and fish in
tne evening and the following mornlng, and kill
thrty or forty shad. Perhaps il Is getting late
IN the season. Next June I have no dOnbt hun
areds will enjoy the sport, and as the river Is
Vide and there Is plenty Of room for all the rods
tnat may come, the sport will probably be lively.
have written this letter for the information Of
orOther anglers, who, have no doubt viii be
glad to have the question definitely answered by
my asAnFanee that have killed shad with the a v
And that It Is worth doing. Faithfully yours