The New York herald., 1921-03-31
Trout Fishing.


ure out of trout fishing. One Is to
go fishing. The other is to prepare
for it, think about it, talk about 1t
and always be just about going to do
1t. The advocates oil this second
method have had a lot Of JOY in the
last month or so. The false early
spring. the appearance of rash young
insects before their time, the absence
Of snow from the country-all these
have put the mind of the fisher on the
great game In the cellar or the attic
he has toiled over his tackle.
A rod, whether 1t is ever used or
not. can always stand vanishing. A
reel can be taken apart and oiled a
thousand times. 4 line can be water
proofed and tested every week. Flies
can be mended as often as you please.
The fireside fisherman has by this
time done the job over and over
again. Now that the day is at hand to
&c fishing-for the season opens in this
State on Saturday-he begins to Won
der whether his office can spare him.
whether 1t isn't too cold for trout to
come TO the fly, whether 1t Is worth
while trying the impoverished brooks
near by. After wondering the chances
are that he will lock up his wonderful
tackle and prepare for golf.
The other extreme Is the fisherman
whose whole mind is on getting to the
waterside. He buys new line and
dozen flies the night before the sea-
son opens, he goes to the battle with
leaky boot, his reel always has
something the matter with 1t. But he
gets there, he vets his line and maybe
he gets trout.
Maybe. we say, because the men
who 60 trout fishing In this part Of
the country on the opening day have
few delusions about the probable re-
suit. Usually IL Is miracle IL a wild
trout is caught on fly within fifty
miles of New York 80 early In the
season. More than that. the man with
the can of worms---and there are
thousands Of these practical wrerches
cannot he certain of bringing any
thing to the frying pan except the
bacon. Too often the water is so
high or so icy that no intelligent,
comfort loving trout would come near
the surface.
But this, as every trout fisherman
knows, is n different spring. 1t Is a
spring unlike any within the memory
Of the oldest trout. Unless trout
carry calendars they must think,
from the sunshine, the grass, the tenn
perature and the insects, that the
year Is near the first Of May. BY
Saturday every trout, like every prac-
tical fisherman, should be up and
abroad and doing.
We cannot here tell trout fisher
men where to go. The wise fisher
man goes where almost nobody else
thinks there Is trout. II he is a
businesslike fisherman he already has
postal card from his rural corre-
spondent. Joe. the barber sportsman
Of Porridge Crossing. telling him that
there ought 10 he something doing on
Miller's Greek about two miles aorth
Of the railroad track; If they don't
bite there follow upstream beyond
Johnsonburg and fish the east fork.
The prospective angler will put the
postal in his creel to bear company
with lines, reels. split shot, disgorgers,
drinking cup, cake Of chocolate
and the dozen other things which are
needed to keep q creel we'll filed. In
early April creel does not expect to
have trout popped into IL; but this,
as we have remarked, is a very diff.
ferent spring.
oh, yes. flies. They are matter of
eternal dispute among early casters.
The man who fishes only occasionally
and who cannot remember when to
use certain flies will, as usual, buy
few white mllers, black gnats and
Cahills. Then he will add some vnrie-
gated horror. All these cast equally
well, but the miller is best. because