The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-04-19
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1920.
TROUT AND TROUT LAWS.

Denudcd of the picturesque verbiage in
which they appeared i'll Saturdays Re
former the beliefs of r. S. Childs con-
corning Vermont trout fishing are:
That it is wastefu to attempt to stock
streams with trout fry, which frequently
are not properly handled in transit;
That the present six-inch law protects
the small trout rather than TIE large
.oncs;
That the open season is too long;
That all laws pertaining to stocking
streams. open season, etc, are shame
lcssiy violated" and ought to be repealed ,
so that the trout may have an oppor
tuuity to reproduce naturally as they
did 100 years ago.
llr. Childs bears the reputation of hav- I,
ing been trout fisherman of no mean
skill as well as a shvewd Insurance agent,
and shares the opinion of good many
fishermen in regard to the value of fry
| for restocking purposes. Yet when a fish
culturist of lifelong experience like A.
| II. Dinsmore makes the positive assertion
that dollar for dollar more benefit will
come from the use of fry, properly plant
ed, than fingerlimgs and stands ready to
prove it by actual comparative expert
mcnts that have been conducted in Gale
donia county over a series of years, no.
body but a person with more obstinancy
than common sense would refuse to be
open to conviction. 1t is true that mauy
fry aud lingering. have been lost through
foreclosures in transit, and that is one
Of the reasons why the Windham County
Fish and Game club and other similar
organizations have been formed. That
= they have reduced this loss materially
z can be proven beyond question.
l As for Mr.. Chlds's criticism of tn,
\ siX-inch law on the ground that it pro
1 tccts the small fish rather than the larg
\ ones the obvious answer is that if tn
1 small fish weren't protected Their
4 wouldn't be any large ones. There is
I growing sentiment, however, in favor o
I determining the limit by number (rcgard
less of size instead Of weight, and
I would not be surprising if an effort wer
made at the next legislature to brin
4 about such change
The Reformer agrees with Mr.. Child
4 that the open season for trout is to
1 lcng, especially as far as the interest
l of Vermont fishermen are concerned, b1
| it is probably fair to say that the inte
I csts of the states summer resident
\ many Of whom own considerable propert
- here should be given consideration. Flu
= thermore, it should be remembered tn;
the cost of the fish aud game departmel
j. more than met by the license fees,
\ That Mr. Childs's reference to waste
4 the taxpayers money is inaccurate unle
he refers to these license fees, the owe
! whelming proportion of which are chee
Z fully paid by men interested in fish a
4 game who would be glad to see the fe
raised
The proposal that all laws should
repealed, on the assumption that tro
would reproduce faster and our streal
furnish better sport if there were no
strctions or efforts to assist Nature,
ridculous. In the first place, the con
tons Of former years have been
changed by the cutting of forests, et
. : that the streams themselves give l.
: chance for natural reproduction. TIL
: again, the accessibility of streams a
the number of fishermen have so
J creased with the advent of the autor
-. bile that the proportion of fish to fish