New Britain herald., 1927-06-25
NARDEN NICE CHAP
i, TO real FISHERS
Game Protector Eliminates on
f. FralfS Of Mankind

weather tanned individual IN Khaki
brooches. puttees, flannel shirt.
shiny badge and a big smile. 1t
was The much hated, much feared
game warden.
though he was the type that was
much hated or much feared. No
heavy revolver swung at his belt.
no hand cuffs dapgled from the
shirt pocket. He might easily have
been taken for camper If 1t wasn't
for that shiny badge ON the left
side OF the flannel shirt.
1t was hot and the brook had
quieted down until that productive
hour Just preceding darkness when
the trout would begin feeding again.
The fisherman waded over to the
bank and sat down. The warden sat
down beside him and took a prof.
fered cigarette. They smoked
awhile in silence and the warden
spoke.
Catching many today-ought to
Be- a good day for trout little later
Dr."
The fisherman showed him his
creel with four eight-inch beauties
resting on the grass covered bot
tom. The warden gave them pass
ing glance. did not haul them forth
to be measured or turn them over
In search Of fingerlings that might
rest beneath them. Merely a glance
and a murmur OF congratulation
and then he lost interest.
do you catch many fellows TAX
ing out small trout?" the fisherman
asked him. seeming story in this
lean. Drowned warden.
"Oh. We catch few-not as
many as we'd like to CATCH" he
answered gazing at the end Of his
cigarette. You know It's mighty
big Job to cover all the lakes. ponds
and brooks in the district we are
assigned to. We work on chance
basis altogether-those we run
across we catch. There aren't any
alarms sent out unless the violation
is too fragrant such as market fish
ing or dynamiting or some other of
the heather things that are being
done once in while"
5, Size Up Man First
do you examine every mans
basket that you run across" the
warden was asked.
mo. That depends lot on the
man that's fishing. watched you
for quite a little while and I knew
by the way you handled your rod
and the way you worked your bait
that you weren't interested in any
four inch trout. You can easily tell
q four inch man--he's usually q
novice at the game that hasn't
caught enough fish to speak Of and
Is out for anything he can get with
which he can impress the wife.
kids are bad too. It's hard TO
check up on a kid and find him
with basket Of lingering trout
that would bite at the bare hook
and aren't very hard to catch. Nine
times out Of ten it's kid about the
size Of some kid we've got back
home and we hate to drag him
into court for it. Usually good
talking to and soaring suffices but
ometimes we have to haul hem
into the Judge and let him scare
them some more. It's tough on tie
hid but it's harder on the fish.
"Our laws are different In a way
from most laws. I suppose you
eould call 1t a law against personal
liberty II you felt that way about
It. The fish were placed in the
brook by Nature and I suppose us
every mans privilege to take them
ont, no matter what size. That would
- all right II this was couple OF
hundred years ago but now, with
the trout getting scarcer and scarcer
Aevery year. something had to be
done and we're the result.
! THE laws are mighty fair too.
Take the season law. Trout begin
spawning late in June and continue
through to September. A trout
caught in July in this section of
the country means several hundred
1Ges destroyed. Further north they
spawn in lats fall so summer fish
ing can keep right on until the first
Of September. Even Massachusetts
akts its residents fish until July is.
that's 4 law that works all right
In, tho northern part Of the state
but down near Connecticut 1t gets
Q lot Of spawn trout.
''Now bass spawn before summer
.-sometime in May or June, think.
Therefore the law lets them spawn
In peace until July and then lets
down until fall. The limit law Is
only fair. Suppose some fellow gets
into 4 brook on a day when he has
t. hide behind tree to bait his
hook. He can catch, 40 or so trout,
r. he puts in enough time but that
would mean that you. If you were
fishing the brook the next day,
would be out that many trout. He
Is entitled to 20 and we figure that
10 man can use more than 20 trout.
Even then the figure Is high-Td
Sather see It put at Is to a person.
Job Not So Bad
Pleasant work? Well. yes, I
Guess it's lot more pleasant than
most jobs I've seen, I'm out in the
open most Of the time and the av-
erage run Of people I meet are
mighty fine. The foreigners are usu-
ally scared to death when they see
my badge but they get over that.
Are they worse than Americans?
No, / don't think so-except that
they don't seem to take kindly to
this license law. They stick pretty
close to the length law and the
limit law. Hunting now--they seem
to think anything that flies is good
enough for load Of buckshot. I've
caught them with everything from
vesper sparrcws to domesticAted
guinea hens.