The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-24
TROUT UNDER A sNAG.
How Judge Stimson Saved a Big Six.
FOUNDER.

| "A tremendous shower fell upon tina
| stretch of the Thomson Just after ]
caught my first fish in Estes park the
other day, and then-weH. things
| hunlned Tor while,' said Judge Jere-
mlah StimSOn of Hartford. Conn wbo
! is known throughout New England as
an insurance attorney and a fisherman.
And, as the white-haired old gentle
man said "hummed,' he smiled-a ge-
niaL genuine smile that seemed TO
mean much for the sport he had en-
Joyed with the fish.
Il had felt a bit discouraged. for I'm
Ealt an hours faithful casting I had
landed but one trout-a little fellow
winch seemed to have struck my fly
because he didn't know what else 10
90. But when the rain came it was all
on, as the boys say. 1 never saw
such biting in all my life The silent
stream sweeping along with not a sign
OF life became a scene of excitement
The rain poured down in great. big
shiny drops and each one made a
splash, and for every raindrop II
seemed 10 me there was a trout. They
jumped in all directions at once. The
pretty little Thompson was trans
formed. From a placid mirror it be-
came swfriing river filed with fish
i changed flies and tied on a large
white moth. No sooner did my fiy
settle on the water than there was a
CLEAN and a tug and 1 had hooked n
hvety native trout caught them
with amazing rapidity. l am no fish
hog and 1 do not care for easy fishing.
but this was exhilarating. And II
was not easy, either, for the fish were
large and lusty- They struck my hooks
as il they intended to break the tackle
and pull me into the river. I lost
four hooks and broke a tip, but for
tunately l always carry an extra one
along. so il only stopped my fishing
for about five minutes. The rain con-
tinued to fall in sheets and the willy
trout. which before had scOrnfully re-
fused my flies. now could not take
them fast enough. Every two min
utes 1 had a fighting beauty on the
line, and was exercising my skill to
the utmost. The fish seemed to be
large and about the same size. They
averaged about a pound and a half,
although some were twice that size.
4 had landed forty-two and the bit
ing at that particular place seemed
slackening a bit, when I happened to
look down stream a few rods.
In a deep. dark pool. close to a
curve in the bank, a veritable pande-
monium seemed to prevail The trout
were fairly dancing with the raindrops
on the surface. The flash of their
shining bodies blended with the falling
water and made rarely pretty scene.
Hastily | made my way through the
tall grass around the bank and stood
beside the water again. ] east 4
great red salmon fly into the turmoil
Of ieaping trout and rain. I have in
bygone days had my doubts about
gaundy flies for trout, but this time
they were dissipated. l know that
quiet little flies like the hackIes. gnats
and miliers are usually the best To en-
tice the wariest of fish from his haunts.
But this was no ordinary day in the
mountains. n mild-hued fly would
have been unnoticed in the torrent of
rain. The big crimson fly was just
the thing. They could all see it. And
they did. Half a dozen fish started
for it at once and two were together
when one struck l had him on the
bank ten minutes later and he was
a beauty he weighed nearly four
pounds.
~ continued fishing until I had
eighty-one trout. for there were plenty
Of people at Wind River lodge 10 eat
an l could catch, and then some. l
was about to stop for the day. in spien-
did humor with the world, and glory
ing in the storm which had brought
me such luck. when at final cast I
hooked a monster. After one wild bolt
he stopped. He was 50 big he scarcely
budged- He seemed to be sulking near
the bottom Of the stream. After a mo-
ment / realized that my fly was fast
in a snag Now il would have been
easy for me to have cut that line and
let the fly go, but what fisherman would
let so good a fly go. without an effort
10 set it? ] laid aside my basket. coat
and pole and into the stream I went.
carefully but firmly, The water was
cold and the storm more violent than
ever. but 1 kept thinking of a big,
bright red fly faithfully sticking to
some old root and I couldn't bear 20
abandon it after the fish it had caught