The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-04-14

The open season for trout fishing be-
gins tomorrow, but of course not even
the most enthusiastic fishermen would
invade a trout stream on Sunday and
viii curb their impatience until Mon
day, when there will be rush on the
part of local fishermen to the various
trout streams in this part of the state
that have regulations.
There are many sections in Pennsyl-
Vania where mountain trout abound to
greater or less extent, but probably
no section in the state is so well pro-
vided as Luzerne, Carbon, Monroe
Wyoming, Columbia, Pike and Lycom-
ing counties. The valleys and even
mountains are a perfect network of
streams, and every stream is trout
stream. 1t is true that for a number
of years the waters were well depleted,
but the persistent stocking that has
been kept up regularly the past five
years or more,a well as the stringency
of the fish laws has had a marked
beneficial effect, and during the past
two or three seasons there has been
very noticeable increase in not only the
trout in the streams, but in the num-
pCl NduS III uuIlHS Unc season.
PROSPECTS ARE GOOD.
During the past two or three weeks
experienced anglers have been taking
stock of many of the streams and they
now give it out that it is unquestioned
that the coming season will be
good one for trout in this section. The
winter just about ended has not been
hard Of af
the mountain streams but had an
abundance of water at all times, so
that there were no fish destroyed by
freezing streams, as has been the case
the past two years. The only depletion
in any way was by the floods of sew
eral weeks ago, when a good many
trout were washed out of the channels
and left high and dry when the waters
receded. Many of the mountain streams
appear alive with fish, so that anglers
anticipate good sport.
The best hooks are steel, and German
silver continues to be used for rod
ferules. The complete innovation is a
new spinner like the bowl of a shallow
spoon. The new one is shaped like n
four-cornered cigar with both ends cut
off, so that it is two inches long. Each
edge has half-inch wing and treble
hook or tandem on smell 1t is hollow
and almost floats. 1t was designed to
troll over and along patches of weeds.
No one has invented a hook yet which
will not catch on snags, but will hold
a fish. There are any amount of snag
releasers and some few alleged snag
avoiders, but the latter also have a
way of keeping clear of the fish Jaws
which counterbalance their value
PEST ARRANGEMENT.
The best arrangement so far brought
out is one which appeared along the
Mississippi, Missouri and other west
ern rivers. No one knows who invent
ed it. The hook is a fly used for bass
and trout trolling. 1t is tied on a two
ought hook for western customers. The
feathers are very heavy and are so ar
ranged that the thickest of them covers
the barb of the hook The fishermen
drag them over almost anything IN the
water and the point does not catch.
The fish of western streams are fierce
biters, and not nibblers, like the most
fastidious ones of eastern waters. and
they crush the feathers in and hold the
hook.
bait with their mouths shut and the
feathers would keep the hook out Of
their Jaws, The flies are tied upside
down, accodring to eastern notions, the
wings covering the barb. Added to that
they have two sets oI wings, one at
the head and the other halfway down
the body, Some of the flies are over
two inches long and are colored from
red to green and blue. They are made
to order for the wholesale and retail
trade.
The best flies are all made with the
wings reversed. That is when the
feathers are tied on the hooks they are
laid along it with the tips toward the
SMELL Then they are bent back and
tied over the feathers again. The hut-
tering fly is sometimes mistaken for
the reserved winged one The but
terer has its head at the bend of the
hook and its tail is along the snood
The tiuttering flies are smaller in pro-
portion because they keep the wings
and legs spread, instead Of lying down
on the hook, as in ordinary flies.
MADE WATERPROOF.
Flies are made waterproof now for
'AiO 6NilNl al tldNlt, WHICH Is SOnlelnlnS
new n cement is used instead of silk
thread to lay the hook to the silk worm
gut and the body is closely wound with
silk worm gut slightly stained to the
color of the body. The water does not
penetrate the gum, and rs it is not
easily torn by Il fishs teeth II is prob
ably an Improvement which will last.
Rod-makers have tried all the woods
hot oil,
ideal rod. Next to bamboo the lance
wood rods are the most popular
Lancewood fly rods range in price from
81 to $l5, and men who have used all
kinds of rods prefer to have a lance
wood than any split bamboo made. A
lancewOod hangs" better than split
bamboo in some hands, and on the
hang" of a rod depends a good deal
Of the pleasure of fishing from the
standpoint of sportsman, The hang
of a rod is its balance with the inde-
scribable feel added. With the reel
attached the rod should balance if
rested at the middle of the hand grip
1t is toD-heavy when the fulcrum is
advanced beyond the grip toward the
tip of the rod.
The reels are about the same as ever
Some are a trihe lighter. Others a bit
heavier. The principle is that of a
crank which turns a spool once, al
though there are self-winders on the