Wichita eagle., 1888-07-24
SOME FISH STORIES.
Marvellous Trout Catches From the Riv.
ers OF Colorado and New Mexico.

Marvellous Trout Catches From the Riv'
ers OF Colorado and New Mexico.
To the Editor Of the Eagle.
In my last said we were at the Bra
EOS river. The first thing was to pick
out camping place. In our case it did
not take long as had my mind fixed on
place long before we arrived on the
| spot, and fine place it was: small,
level place at the shore of the river, fine
grass, tall pines enough to make it shady,
and good water and good fishing within
a rod of the tent. In such place it did
not take long to put up our tent and pre-
pare for business. After supper we
looked around and found MIR. Ballou
about forty rods from US, then about the
same distance up we found Capt. Bell,
an old acquaintance; then half a mile
farther up was an English outfit-there
was a live lord and live duke; they
were having sport in America, sir; they
were hunting as well as fishing; they
| had their chief huntsman, pack of
dogs and man to handle them, two
men to dress fish or game, cook and a
man OF all work, making quite an outfit;
but there were but two Englishmen, the
rest Americans. The lord and duke put
on great deal of style but they were
good sportsmen and very social. In the
morning we rugged up our fishing tackle
ana commenced catching trout. They
were larger than the trout
IN the Santa Clara, for
as a rule the larger the stream the
larger the trout. We got all we wanted,
and enough is as good as a feast. We
had them cooked in every conceivable
way-had them fried, baked, chowdered
and some ways that are not in Mrs.
Hales cook book, but in all styles they
were pronounced excellent. An expert
at the business can catch from fifteen to
as high as forty pounds per day, but
about twenty pounds is good days
work, for it is not often they fish except
in the morning and towards night.
These mountain streams are regular
rushing, foaming rivers, the kind that
Southey had in his mind when ne
wrote there
The waters comes down at LAHORE"
They are full of rocks, and in the Brazos
they are very slippery, and If man has
the nerve and constitution for he re-
quires BOTH to get into the cold, rushing
water and wade up or down, which ever
he chooses, and fish for two or three
hours, he can get all the fish he wants,
and strange to say, he will become fasci-
mated with the business. 1t is so in my
case and l am not carried away with
anything but trout fishing. 4 man
wants a good outfit to have the full
amount of satisfaction. | do not think
Ike Walton ever ished in these
western rivers. have rod
twelve feet long, reel with
1875 feet of line on it, a leader six feet
long with four flies on it, With such
an outfit as that [ can use about Is feet
OF line and wade down river and have
command of both sides of it. Some have
a more stylish outfit, lighter-and per-
haps more costly but with the exception of
those that fish for the market, find that
a little Mexican boy with an alder pole,
cheap line and hook, all worth ten cents,
catch as many fish as most any OF those
that fish for sport.
We fished on the Brazos about week,
then went up on the Rio Chama about
25 miles from the Brazos and about five
miles from the town of Chama. The
river is larger than the Brazos. but it has
one advantage: the rocks are not slip
perry so that person can get better
foothold. The fish average larger than
in the last river. Wolf creek, tribu-
tary of the Chama. is small stream but
full of trout, although on account of the
bushes it is not very desirable place to
fish.
Along the rivers are some fine scenes.
Tho capop on fba (,hap,a u-ac wild !
wicked looking place, mountains on each
side that reach up among the clouds, |
sides nearly perpendicular, and rocky. |
large rocks of various sizes have |
rolled down into the river and |
around these the water rushes and |
roars seething, foaming and boiling
in every form imaginable. making the |
whole scene one to be remembered by us.
Yet we caught trout in them. A person
mas to be careful where he puts his feet,
Is the water is too deep and runs so
swiftly that he can not wade.
We are near the Colorado line, and the
next rivers are the Conejo and Rio
Irande. The rivers are lower than last
year, and the country over which we
nave passed is very dry-grass very poor
up in the mountains. There
S more snow than last year and there
nave been but a few days since we struck
Oorsey's ranch, in New Mexico, but we
rave seen snow in large quantities on the
and on Oumbres mountain,
IN the 18th of July, we found large
banks of snow-it was but 5000 feet
nigh, yet it was as cold as snow in Feb
'uary and the night was very cold.
Yours, GEO. A WHITE.