Litchfield enquirer., 1881-06-30
|i'9SIsFtr From the N. Y. Evening Post. st '''''
 t,a,A Trout Fishers Elysium.

From the N. I Even1ng Post. z,
 ', ,a,a,4A Trout K Fishers isl Elysium. ,o' ya
 sioi,1a 1sd mori 77T7T sW es ,bsisniH ui 0%S isFsP1B R sn abosE net1 nisss bpfail nlies Sullivan county" With aE most 8 thousand square smiles of area3its pop. dlation is sparse, and its towns of respectable size, few and scattered. Scarcely does the traveller ontthe cars pass it's Borders before he hnds himself in country so wild and pictur- esqce that the railroad and telegraph seem a travesty on surrounding nature, As far as the eye can range stretch hill, mountain and rock piled together in fantastic chaos. The train traverses tunnels with long minutes of gloom, crawls over airy trestles. roars through deep rock cuts, and climbs grades steep enough for lively winter coasting. Where the train stops one sees dismal group of weather beaten structures or, short distance away, some sprawling village hung upon hillside or seem to have perched rather than settled, and their houses on the distant hills look like dove cotes more than the abodes of men. -.egt aad
 But this rugged region, far remote from the hives of industry and trade, has it's uses in the gracious eeonomy of nature In the summer, when storrid heats reflected from wall and pavement make life Tn the city a burden and 2 regret, the city dwellers hie them hither in crowds to drink in new life with the fresh breezes, pure air and sparkling waters The fame of the county, however, rests more just. ly upon it's reputation as an Eden of the ang- Ter. The whole region is honeycombed by springs whose waters throughout the year maintain an even temperature in the winter they never freeze, in the hottest summer they never become warm. On the streams which they feed they impress something of their own vitalizlng and equable character. Creeks, brooks and rvulets rarely or never run dry in the longest droughts. Their waters are SO clear that every pebble in pool ten feet deep is seen as through air and whether tunbling over rocks, sweeping on in wavy rapids or breaking into long ripp ,I7the trout finds in them all hospitable home. He can see from afar the unwary fly that skins the surface The larv8 that live below must abide in one long struggle for existence if they escape their speckled foe; and the stretches of white sand are peculiarly favorable for the matching of the trout fry in September or October. All these elements combine to make the streams of Sullivan county historic in the annals of American angling. Here are the Beaverkill, the Nevesink, the Willowemoc and dozen tri- butares to name which is to make many a gray-haired angler voluble with stories of ear ly prowess of rod and reel. Just at this sea son the country teens with fishermen; every train from New York brings out it's half dozen parties loaded down with angling paraphe naila; and each new conner boasts of some fresh n- yention of the rod maker among the many which have made modern angling an art as we'll as a recreation.
 In the most sequestered part of the region which have described six of us have just closed a delightful pilgrimage. A big three seated wagon took us fourteen miles into the backwoods from station which as an an- glers secret must be nameless Our home for week was a little hamlet just below where two large streams meet. The one rises almost to the dignity of a river, with deep pools and long reaches of swift water the other dashes down through steep hills and dark ravines, leaping into the air and seeming as it speeds to gather fresh impulse and pu- rity. All around us were mountains stretch ing up along the streams in two great vistas. One vast dome-shaped promOntory, rising di rectly in front. seemed to keep watch and ward over the meeting of the waters The other surroundings of the little village of per haps thirty unpainted houses were of the weirdest cast. Where there was an open field, the great half decayed stumps still rising through the dark soil told how lately Che clearing had been made. Even these cleared fl ields are worth but thirty dollars an acre. Fires that in years gone by had swept through the woods had burned tho bark from many of the largest trees, leaving them standing with bare limbs stark against the sky, and the for ests were filled with the decayed trunks of giant hemlocks felled for their bark, which is used in the tanneries with which this region abounds. Throw rich growth of vegetation into one of Dore's most sombre sketches, and the picture of our sporting ground is con- plete.
 A little boarding house, kind faced host and his bustling wife received our party-at a dollar day for each person-and after night of solid sleep our sport began. The story of trout fishing in New York wilds has been too often told to need long repeating. One day succeeus another in the sameness of it's pleas ure. The most ardent angler rose first with the rising sun and succeeded usually in mak- ing noise enough to rouse the whole party. There was a wholesome breakfast of eggs, ham, trout, honey and buckwheat cakes. Then the big wagon and blackboard as ten der distributed the fishermen for miles around and they returned one by one from noon up to o'clock, according to the ardor or ambi- ton of each. This epitome of each days do. ngs must be filled in with the wanderings along streams so clear that the mere light of them is a revelation to those who have never seen large bodies of running spring water. One must think too of the successful casts with worm and fly, of delicious siestas under rustling naples, of the pleasant reunion of tired anglers at the evening meal, of big appe- tites tired bodies and sound slumbers. Let us add some figures which will measure the success of the party of six who were all more or less experienced anglers and with two ex- captions fished four complete days. The trout were caught for the most part on worms but many were hooked upon the variety of fly with white wings and iridescent body known as the stcoachman" -.. ----- - :