Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-12-07
THE YELLOWSTONE.
A Pleasure Trip Through a Far
Famed Western Region.
Fishing i'm Mountain Streams by
Distinguished Men.


There are a great many fabulous
stories told of the fishing in the far
West, and especially in the streams
which flow through the Rocky noun.
tains, That trout are plentiful 10
these waters is certainly true, but the
the generally received stories about
catching them by the hundred with
pieces Of red flannel or fat meat, and
with no exertion on the part Of the
angler, are without a vestige of truth
The impression with many persons
who have heard the wonderful ac
counts, so often given by some imagi,
native persons, of trout fishing in the
West is that nothing can affect thu
voracity Of the fish, and that thu
sportsman can select luxurious sea-
upon some messy rock and drsl
them out until his appetite for slaugh,
ter is satisfied. This is a great mis-,
take, as any "tenderfoot' will dis
cover as soon IS he ventures into thu
Rockies. a~
Upon my late trip from Greer
river, on the Union Pacific, to Liv
iugstone on the Northern Pacific,
was disabused of much nonsense abouI
the trout Of the Rocky mountains.
have had considerable experience in
trout fishing, in the mountains of Vir.
ginia and in Colorado, and went on
this trip fully equipped for the sport
My flies, reel and splint bamboo rods
we're, il seemed TO me, faultless, and
the Presidents array Of tackle wal
enough to bewildtr an entire ishinl
club. You can imagine our surprise
not to say CONSERVATION, when at the
first three camps we came in with
only a dozen trout each, the largest
not weighing over a pound; while the
soldiers and teamsters, with theii
snake poles or sticks, and a piece O
Irvine tied on the end, brought int
camp large strings of fish, many o
them weighing over two ponds. Il
did not require either time or patience
to discover the cause Of our defeat.
At the next camping place, neal
Torrey's lake, in Wyoming, quietly
reconnoitered the banks Of noun,
tain stream, where a number Of team,
sters were fishing with tackle impro
vised for the occasion, their only bai
being grasshoppers, and when the eau
ton with which they crawled around
the rocks and bushes, stealthily drop,
ping their bait into the eddies made By
the rapid current, and then yankinl
the wary trout out Of the water with.
out a seconds delay, the mystery wa
fully explained. From that time | an
preached the stream with the watch.
tul tread Of an Indian, taking advan
tage Of every means Of concealment
and | am glad to say that the struggle
between fancy tackle, as it is derisively
called, and the hoop pole, twine strinl
system went each day in our favor t
the end. | mention this to emphasiz,
the statement that caution, skill anC
work are as necessary to successful
trout fishing in the Rocky mountain
as elsewhere.
We iound. the best fishing in tn,
| Gros Ventre and Snake rivers, par
ticularly in the latter. In one after
moons fishing the President and my
self caught in the last named strosn
ITO pounds Of trout, and among then
q fish weighing 81 pounds. 1t was Q
the white species, and the gamest lisl
have ever killed. There are tw,
varieties OF trout in the Rocky noun
tain streams, the yellow and whit
\ treat. The termsr attain considera
bic size, generally weighing from on
to two and half pounds, but they ar
sluggish, and give up after a Sigh
struggle, aifording little sport. D
the other hand the white trout fight
vigorously and viciously until ez
hausted, aud is equal in strength an
courage to any fish have ever seer
saw the President take three whit
trout at one cast, weighing togethC
seven pounds, and il is hardly necel
sary to say that with . six ounce rod
required both skill and patience to az
complish the feat.