The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-01-28

nothing If not exact as to localities, times
and persons.
In Idaho, the greatest state in tn,
'lnion," was the enthusiastic reply
greatest IN mines, in game, and in trout
too. She's young, Ida is, but she is 8
screamer. All last winter was housed
with gang of bright chaps in a we'll
built cabin in the Sawtooth mountains
We were nestled in a snug little pocket al
the foot of the range. The early part oil
the winter had been pretty severe, and
mad Kept us closely confined. An occa.
sional forenoon's shooting at stray elk or
mountain sheep had been our only inter
ruption in the daily cribbage and high
low-Jack monotony of the camp. A Mon
tana youngster named Rhodes and my
sell were the only two who could manage
skis with any great skill, and as the drifts
had been unusually deep most of the
others had been unable 10 founder very
far from home. With the first week of
January came bright weather again.
There was a thaw of some three days
length, then sharp night, and the next
! morning Rhodes got out his fly rol and
says: Dick, l feel like eating fish for
supper
Me, too said /. and we strapped on
our skis and started for the Little Queens
river, clear water stream that empties
INTO the Queens river, branch of the
/ Bose. We found a fine, hard crust all the
way down the long divide, and, feeling
pretty lively, m ade the run of nearly five
| miles in eight minutes.
"'Angels couldn't fly faster,' said
Rhodes, when we stopped at Cowl's spring
| to dine.
"'If they can l hope they haven't any
fallen timber in their country / put in,
rubbing my SHIN, for l had struck the end
OF a hemlock limb IN my mad flight which
nearly threw me.
Early In the forenoon we got to Blu.
vile, the loneliest layout in the whole
Sawtooth country. 1t was once a BOOM
ing mining camp, all staked out. lot of
hustiin' fellows back of it, store located
and all that, and nothing is left there
now. dozen or so of forsaken log cab.
ms are all that mark the site of the
settlement, and it was in one of these we
pitched our camp. The rough table and
bench and even the cot on which the
miner used to snore were in good condi-
ton and were of great use. The big, roar
ing blaze we kindled made the place very
homelike, and after a hasty snack, and
piling together in a corner of the hut
plenty of fresh logs, we set out for the
Little Queens.
I'VE had not far TO go, for the deserted
camp was on a ridge just above the creek.
Away to the south we could see the grim |
white cap of old Gray lock, around the |
foot of which creeps the deep, black |
Queens river. Down toward it, through |
the long, narrow gorge trailed the small, |
crooked creek.
"The edges of the river were frinced |
with rhinlr Ill
coves where there was a slack current were
entirely frozen over The banks were
deeply crusted with snow, in some places
TO depth of or 10 feet, where the drift
had settled. 1t was ticl0lish business TO
move around on these steep edges with
our clumsy skis and with fishing rod at
the same time. Once or twice / tripped
and thought l was in for an ice-water
bath sure, but | saved myself by a lively |
scramble.
1T takes an old timer to catch a good
string of trout in winter fishing. Where
the novice fails generally is by working
Ihe runs and riffs as he would in the
spring and summer months. In the
warm days he would do we'll, too, for the
lsh would be out feeding in those very
places. In sharp weather, however, they
Ill gather in schools in the deep, still
POOLS. Fifty or more big ones will lie hud-
lied up together in the center of an eddy
Ike herd of sheep in a norther trying TO
Ieep warm. 1t is of no use to use 1y |
lnless one adds bit of beef or pork ,
o the hook to tempt the rascaIs
Wy own tayorite rig is big Red Jane ,
led on a No. hook, and above the ,
arb l place dangling bit of salt pork. ,
This red and white, of course. is very :
howy and seems TO be attractive. Rhodes
hat day used only a pork bait and he !
lnded more and bigger ones than /. He ,
ut the pork into ribbon-shaped strips
bout nGlf an inch wide by three long. I
he hook he inserted in one end of the =
ait ana this left an end to trail loosely in ,
ne water. by an occasional wiggle of the \
od he could impart a wonderfully life :
Ike motion TO the pork minnow, and from $
nc bank, wherever II showed. il appeared :,
Ike real, silvery sinner. /;
I'VE could take twenty or more good
sh from each deep hole, and when the -
lort afternoon was done we had about
inc dozen, weighing from a half pound Z,
two pounds, but none of them very n
lump. The fish seemed to be half
arved. and in very poor flesh, but for all &,
at they bite only the more greedily. and | n
lve the same delicious flavor. when ! n,
oleu or lfled, as the summer fish, |
hey do not make very game fight Il,
Their, seem to be sort of numb, and only n
sist for minute or SO. Any one of the n
me trout We yanked up on the snow SO n
SLY that day, four or five months later in
ould have made the water boil and our ar
DIS crack before coming ashore. ~
That evening when VIC got back un the
lge to our hut we found three more fr
,rthies who had followed our trail later in
the day. The crowd got around the "
, fire, ate a royal supper, and then
ioked and played cards till bed time. ha
lree days We put in at this fun, and II,
len we started back for our real home IN
all felt we'd done enough fishing TO of
Ike up for what we'd lost the previous &c
MINER. tell you the chaps who pack tri
AZ their tackle at this season don't up
ow all they mss" and the promoter of dI.