The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-06
THE ANGLER.
Night Lines and Explosives Are Being Used
in the Paper-Mill Greek,

in the Paper-Mill Creek.
Now for trouting. Sunday being an off
day from the grinding-stone and the first
real holiday of the open season, passengers
on the early boats and trains leaving this
city for the north and south need not feel
at all alarmed or embarrassed at the ap-
pearance of strange and grotesque crowd
of boys and men with baskets strapped on
their shoulders and gumboots covering
their neither extremities.
People dressed as described are lovers of
nature and of quiet sport. They are rep
resentatives of the so-called gentle art pas
time, and, generally speaking, good-hearted
fellows who are always ready to share their
catch with their less fortunate companions.
Seldom anglers quarrel. A growing,
snarling angler is a curiosity, put occa-
sionally the curious is met with during
the first few weeks of the open season for
trout-catching.
1t is by no means a difficult thing to
select from the angling army proper a
raw recruit. A veteran stream whipper
can detect new broom with closed ewes,
as the tyro, although he may be totally
ignorant of the art of trout-fishing, can
out-talk dozen practical fly-casters
When on a stream the novice is a most
confounded nuisance, as he will act ex-
actly opposite to the wishes of the anglers
who have learned from years of experience
that much caution and discernment must
be exercised when wading a creek SO as
not to discolor the water or disturb the
fish in any way.
The man with the new basket and
angling outfit, nnless he should be in the
company of some good advisers, is certain
to kick up more sediment when wading a
l. =, g 81
is not sleeping beauty by any means, but
on the contrary the denizens of the noun
tain streams are at all times on the alert
and take warning at the least thing that
happens out of the general routine.
What more strange and frightful to a
speckled or silvered beauty than a metro
politan dude who, to be in the swim, must
invest in an angling outfit. Everything he
carries must be new, not barring the cigar
cite, which is luxury the new-man-on-
the-stream cannot dispense with. One
trial generally satisfies the novice that
trout-hshing is by no means the pleasant
and rosy pastime he had been given to I'M
derstand. During the day, while in his
wild dash through the stream, he meets
with many mishaps. His boots are nail
less and when least expected he finds him.
self on all-fours with the cold and chilly
water running down his back. The under
growth in some parts is heavy and the new
man-on-the-stream has discovered, much
to his chagrin, that to make successful
passage through the bramhled barrier
he must get down on his marrow
bones and crawl. If he is of
constitution that is not impregnable
to the attacks of poison oak he may count
upon few weeks of torture which only
those who had caught on" can illustrate
correctly, and of course such small incl
dents as may be accounted for in the way
of scratched hands and faces and blistered
feet are unworthy of mention, as they are
of a very common kind. However, not
withstanding the many unexpected sur
prises the tyro will meet when on a troutine
outing he can certainly hope for forgive
ness from the master mechanics of the rod
if he will but adhere to the golden rule,
which is to proceed cautiously when in the
lead of brother angler and not kick up a
cloud of disturbance at every step he takes.
Indeed, the angler who will adhere to dry
land and keep out of the wet as much as
possible is certain to return at the end of
the days whipping with the better basket
of fish.
Commissioner Emeric cannot have an
eye on his deputies at all times, conse-
quently he cannot be held responsible for
many unsportsmanlike proceedings some
of the deputies have been accused Of
However, as the old adage truly says:
1--WE do not have to go from home ALWAYS
to find SURPRISES The CALL has come
out fatfooted on the question of fish and
game preservation, and whenever the
Commissioners or their deputies fail to do
their sworn duty the CALL will apprize the
sportsmen and anglers of the state of the
fact. Mr.. Emeric has unquestionably in
augurated tirst-class policy in the direc-
ton of protection to game and fish, and to
pursue it he must necessarily remove anv
officers who will shrink from or neglect q
duty he is owing the taxpayers of this
State.
So far as protection to fish is concerned,
the CALL has excellent information now at
hand of the manner in which the fish law
was observed last Sunday on Paper-mill
Creek, in the vicinity of Tocaloma, which
place is now noted as a hotbed for the
foreign poaching element. Night lines
and explosives were freely used in the cap
ture of steelheads which had congregated
in the deep pools of the creek in the imme-
diate vicinity OF Tocalonla. 1t is said that
a deputy Fish Commissioner was on the
stream on the day in question, but if he
had been on duty he certainly neglected to
visit the poachers' paradise.
Several fisn, ranging in size from six
inches to two feet in length, were displayed
by gentlemen OF easy trade to sportsmen
who were waiting over until Monday so as
to get the cream of the opening day of the
season. The successful poach-
ers would give no explanation as to how
they had captured their beauties" but
they seemed to be in no wise alarmed
when given to understand that Fish Com
deputy was somewhere in the
In fact thew smiled cnn