The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-09
FISHING A TROUT STREAM
Hints That Are Timely and Valuable
for Anglers After Speckled
Beauties.
The Outfit Necessary to Insure
Success and to Afford Per-
sonal Comfort.
How to Work q Pool for All There Ii In
It-Selecting q Spot to
Fish.

Having fixed your mind upon some un-
tried or tried and ~favorite trout stream, nd
the time when you will start. the excite
ment and preparations begin. Your reels
are overhauled and fabricated, your eight
ounce split bamboo rods examined, the fly
book replenished, new casting ines made.
and old ones repaired, your fishing tank"
reviewed, to make sure that it contains q
small box of tools, u "hank'' of gut for ex-
ira snoods and costing lines, a pair of nip
pers, SCISSORS, drinking cup, and small bot
ties of Oil, of tar, and alcohol, to keep of the
gnats and mosquitoes, q lump of shoe
makers wax, securely wrapped in a fold of
bladder, fuse, and common matches, q
knife, hammer, and q corkscrew. gloves.
extra lines, linen thread, and waxed ends,
needles and thread, beeswax, and a baron.
eter, and then await with heroic patience
the starting day, says the American Angler.
For the first trial in the pool whore your
practiced eye has already selected the spot,
YOU loop on a golden pheasant for a
''~stretcher," n governor for a "coaxer,''
and a "coachman" for a ''dropper,'' and
then sneak Eyes, 'sneak" is the proper
word here,) cautiously toward the spot"
Noiselessly and skilfully whip out your line
to the desired length, and with a quick,
graceful motion of the wrist make your
first "grasshopper" cast. A ~half-pounder
swirls toward your drop-1y, breaks the
water enough to indicate his size TO your
practioed eye, and is gone. An electric
thrill shoots through YOU elbows and darts
along your spine. With a quick motion
you retrieve your line and cast again, but
mt fharo po~-u n yryba -, alec e., . x,;--4.
or two-giving him time to re-
greet his loss Of that fat fy; now
cast there again, che-chuR! che-r-r-r-you
have him! Watching and waiting, the
instant your fly struck the water he took it
with a spring that carried him moro than a
or 1t may have been taken before the fly
struck the water at all. OF course YOU
struck lightly, but as quickly as possible;
ALWAYS do 80 with a fly; you cannot strike
too quick; a worm or bait they may gorge
il YOU wait and give them time, but an arti-
seizes the artificial fly it is as far in his
mouth or throat AZ it ever will be: therefore
it is sound to repeat, you cannot ''strike''
too quick after you have seen or felt the
trout.
Having fairly hooked him, and believing
there are more like him in the same pool,
lead him gently and noiselessly awav where
you can give him play, and iually land
him with your net and deposit him safely
IN your cfeel. Be particularly careful not
within ten rods of YOU. The cool and
skilled sportsman will often take from one
to twenty out of the same trout hole" in
the same day.
Having done that pool, glide cautiously
down to the %''ritlles'' and eddie. behind the
boulders that are likely to be there, cast in
the best places frat, and then cover the
whole ground, leaving no nook or spot VI
tried. You will in this way soon learn
whether the trout are that day in the pools
or on the RIFLES or scattered along in both.
When the discovery is made, work tho
ground accordingly.
Tho reasons for always fishing down the
stream ESPECIALLY if the brook or river be a
rapid one) are 80 numerous and palpable
that they need not be recounted here.
When the water is unusually low and the
day clear. seek the deep pools and shady
hiding places. But when the water 10 at
medium height. just after a rain, the trout
are apt to lie close along the earth banks,
where they search for the worms which the
moisture brings to the surface of tho soils
to be washed away and carried along by the
rapid stream, and gobble them up US they
wriggle by.
Fish slow. Never be in n hurry, except
when you are tired and it is II o'clock, a
beautiful grass island just ahead of you,
and your friend, who carries the "rafresh-
monts," is sitting there waiting for you.
If trout ara plenty bu6 do not rise, change
your flies and tactics until they do, or, fail
ing in that. wind up and go home and
smoke your pipe. 1t is an off day, and to
persist without a change of weather is a
waste of time.
In shallow. rapid streams use long rub
her boots for wadinc, to the soles of which
are fitted and securely fastened sole leather
sandals, in which hobnails are thickly
rlveted, or hobnailed brognns with wading
GfNnEjnu1 of yrbhHp ,l~ah 90 1a1, 800,
from slipping on tho Shiny pebbles and
rocks.
Have your landing net staff hollow, so as
always to be able to carry an extra tip, and
screw into the butt end to keep the tip dry.
and in its place a tight fitting stoprer, with
a thread above and below the shoulder, n
beyond tis shoulder and thread form a
steel spike to hold you steady in the swift
current and on the smooth stones while
wading. When not used in wading reverse
the stopper, inserting the spike in the tube,
using the thread on that side of the shout
der to hold it in its place. You will use
yourheed as we'll as your muscle, and Il
thousand and one nice points will soon be
learned, and become part and parcel of
your angling culture, and will tend largely
to enhance your pleasure and to fill your
creel.
The common brook trout deposit their
spawn in the g~ravolly beds of the streams
Ill the autumn months, while the mountain
or California trout spawn in the spring, and
80 rapid is their growth that in three years,
all things being favorable, their size may
reach to ten ounces and afford attractive
sport for the angler and a delicious break
fast for the epicure.
They should be wiped clean of slime,
rolled in corn meal or -four, fried quick and
brown i'll a very little hot lard or butter,
seasoned and served up hot.
Apparatus to Discover Comets.
The constituencies OF selenium to lipht ha 8