f." il^% ',"1 ■■.^\ .0 .** ,. ,xV^" ^U "■^r- ~S ■■■• — "bo^ A^ v- 'c^. ,0 o ^. -■^' - •^^> f^^ C' Say, fellow, it you are among the lucky ones who have a wife, take her along with you out in the glorious paths of nature, lead her into the walks of the great out-o'-doors, take her along the water trails, the running stream, the placid lake. She will make a pal that is a pal and great will be the joy of the evening campfire with your mate under the starlit blue bowled sky as the moon shoots down its beams o' silver only to j be • br.pken into countless particles by the restless lake waters. When Mrs. Dixie came trotting up the trail with this nine and a half pound pike after a fifteen minute battle, all by her lonesome, in a cranky canoe, say, fellow, the smile on her face was worth a million. Take friend wife along next time, old timer, make an angler out of her, you'll find Irer a dead game sport on trail, in camp, rain or shine. I FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Practical Information on Game Fish: How to Land Them; the Correct Tackle and How to Use It BY DIXIE CARROLL Editor of "The National Sportsman" and Fishing Editor oj "The Chicago Daily Neivs, " President oJ "The American Anglers' League," Author of "Lake and Stream Game Fishing" CINCINNATI STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 1919 Copyright, 1919, by STEWART & KIDD COMPANY A// rights reserved Copyright in England ^^2 ^^'^'^ ©01.A5296G9 TO MY BROTHERS BYRON v., LATE OF THE U. S. NAVY, ALBERT JAY, ENGINEERS, A. E. F. FRANCE; WILLIAM W., FIELD ARTILLERY, A. E. F. FRANCS, ALL GOOD "PALS" ON LAKE, STREAM, CAMP AND TRAIL FOREWORD Dear Dixie: When the wild and rabid fishing fan secures a toe-hold on one of your books and spreads him- self out on the over-stuffed sofa preparatory to a feast of piscatorial reason and flow of soul, he cares little if anything about prefaces, preambles, pro- logues, introductions, and the like; to him these things are nothing more than the sprigs of parsley ornamenting a sirloin steak. What he wants is the real meat, so he brushes aside all such paltry decora- tions and immediately plunges into the delights of masticating the substantial food you offer him. Yet it is possible that, when his appetite is for the moment appeased, and he gives himself up to the languid pleasures of digesting what he has read, he may turn idly to the frothy and frivolous para- graphs of a foreword. It is for this reason that these words are written. It is possible, too, that a natural curiosity causes him to wonder what man- ner of man it really is that has prepared for him the delicious morsels, the delectable tid-bits on which he has just fed, and he desires a more intimate knowl- edge of that man's personality. In other words, he vi FOREWORD fain would take a peep behind the scenes and see the wheels revolve, as it were. And having played Watson to your Holmes for, lo, these many years, I am, perhaps, not altogether unqualified to guide him. A word picture of you seems superfluous, since the frontispiece of your last book, " Lake and Stream Game Fishing," carries a smiling, if not speaking likeness of yourself, and I understand that this book has enjoyed a very wide circulation. One of the striking features of this frontispiece, by the way, is the splendid set of teeth you reveal therein, and I trust I am violating no conventionality in stating that I know them to be of original growth and not a factory product. The smile already referred to would seem to in- dicate that you are a person of jovial disposition, and I am prepared to take oath that such, indeed, is the case. Only once have I known you to lose your invariable good humor. The occasion was when a certain game-hog wrote you a bragging account of the hundred and odd ducks he had killed In a single morning, winding up his letter with the state- ment that his gun didn't shoot as close as it used to, and what should he do to keep the shot from scat- tering? Never shall I forget the terrible frown that mantled your brow as you dictated the reply: "Use one shotl" FOREWORD vii My earliest Information concerning your intense interest in all things piscatorial was gained from an incident related by your father. It seems that the cat boat from which the two of you were fishing on Chesapeake Bay overturned and subjected you both to an involuntary cold bath. Then as dad swam ashore, with son perched on his back, you had the sublime nerve to call his attention to a school of fish loafing near by and to remark that if your land- ing net had not gone down when the boat upset, you would bet you could get a dozen of 'em at one swipe. From that time forward, I am told, you have been fishing or telling other people how to do it. Coming down to a more personal knowledge of your tastes and habits, it may not be out of place to state that, so far as I have been able to judge, your favorite feed Is baked beans, your favorite drink a seltzer lemonade, and your most favored indulgence a cat nap of perhaps a quarter of an hour after a session with the aforesaid beans. One habit of yours alone Invites my criticism and, I re- gret to say, my deep resentment: this is the little trick you have of tossing about in bed like a derelict tramp steamer on a storm-swept sea and planting your Icy feet with unerring accuracy in the small of your bunkie's back. But we all have our frailties, and I am not revealing this shortcoming of yours to the world so much with the idea of giving you a viii FOREWORD knock as to be accurate and faithful in my role of biographer. As to your knowledge of all that pertains to fish and fishing, and your delight in the great out-of-doors world, your books and articles speak for themselves. But it may be of interest to some to know that in the preparation of these writings your methods are some- what unique, in that you are just as liable to rouse the rest of the bunch in camp by getting up in the middle of the night, lighting the old oil lamp, and scribbling away on pieces of birch bark until dawn, as to switch on the electric current at home and pound away for interminable hours on the noiseless type- writer which the other member of your firm long ago insisted was a necessary adjunct to her peace- ful slumbers. Having had the privilege of reading the manu- script of your latest book before it went to press, I feel certain that a perusal of it will enable even the oldest hands at the fishing game to fatten their bat- ting averages. Here's hoping that they do so, that they make a lot of home runs, and that their fouls may be few and far between. Faithfully yours, Robert H. Moulton. PREFACE There is a reason for everything. The reason for this book, following " Lake and Stream Game Fish- ing" is that it may be the encouraging of the tyro to follow the call of the out-o'-doors. If it but starts one more fellow to the water trails it will have done some good, if it makes the pleasures of fishing more enjoyable to others it will have done more than its duty. Fellows of the rod and gun, brothers of the out- land trails, men of the quiet camp-fires, hear me now you all who know the teasing whisper of the wind as it soughs through the pines, the laughing voice of the fast-running stream waters, the quiet murmur of the placid lake as the waves kiss the moonbeams sent down from the starlit sky above, the deep silence of the nightlands of the out-o'-doors, you are the chosen children within whose being beats the heart that is true and from within come thoughts that are pure and golden. No man can commune with nature without being bettered thereby, no man can view the wonderful work of the Great Architect without a keener un- derstanding of his greatness. The out-o'-doors is X PREFACE a great church, It preaches a sermon to every man every time he has a chance to sit right up In the front row. The follower of the call of the out- lands is a man every time and true blue, he is on the square and can look you in the eye without drop- ping the lids. Let my prayer be always that my friends may be from the ranks of the keen fellows who know the yearning call of the red gods, from the ranks of the fellows who sneak away every chance they get to whip a lake or stream, or hike along the woodland trails, fellows who give you the glad hand of true friendship with a grip that you feel and know is coming from the heart. Kismet ! (Carroll Blaine Cook.) Timberedge Lodge, McNaughton, Wis. Nov. 19, 1918. INTRODUCTION It seems funny to introduce Dixie to the anglers. He has been writing outdoor stuff for so long and through so many sources that it seems that all anglers must know him. As editor of the leading sportsman's magazine, the National Sportsman, and fishing editor of the Chicago Daily News as well as some fifty other large metropolitan newspapers from coast to coast, Dixie has no doubt developed the fishing bug in more people than all other writers in the past ten years. The outdoors is a teacher, a leveler. It shows us just what a minute atom we are in the world. Na- ture is great and wonderful and it brings us back to the cities, cleaner, better citizens. To become one of nature's children is an opportunity that should never be neglected and to follow the teachings of one who has communed with old Dame Nature her- self and learned her secrets of forest, lake and stream, will mean much more pleasure to be derived therefrom. May your old one-lunged typewriter never be- come rusty, Dixie, and may you pound out many xii INTRODUCTION more breezy, " pal to pal " stones of the outlands along water trails, not only for the enjoyment of the embyro angler, but also for us old-timers. Sincerely, Don Leigh, Fishing Editor, Chicago Evening Journal. Chicago, Nov. 27, 19 19. CONTENTS PAGE Throw Back the " Little Fellers " . . . . i Bass Fishing o' Nights 6 Night-Casting Tackle ii Night Water Work 15 Hot-Weather Baits 19 Going Deep for Them 23 ''Wiggle o' the Worm 27 Hail to the Spoon 31 More About the Spoon 35 Playing the Spoon 39 Fall Fishin' 43 Fall Baits 47 More Fall Baits 51 Fall Musky Fishing 55 Stream-Raised Small-Mouth Bass 60 The Floating Bass Bug 64 Some Bass Bugs 68 Facts About the Bass 73 Hail to the Small-Mouth 78 Some Fly Selections 83 A Bit About Flies 88 More About Flies 92 Wind-Up on the Flies 96 Reelspool to Lure 100 Worming for Trout 104 A Bit About Queer Baits 109 On Handling the Plug 114 Early Season Plugs 119 j:4iooKs THAT Hook 'Em and Hold 'Em . . . .124 A Bit About Steel Rods 129 A Bit About Reels 134 CONTENTS PAGE Backlashes and the Reason 139 A Bit About Trolling 144 Tackle Box Odds and Ends i49 A Bit About Canoes 154 Camp Kit for Canoe Trip . 159 Personal Kit for Water Trails 164 Inside the Grub Sack 169 On Handling the Canoe i74 The Ones that Get Away i79 The Mud Minnow, Here's to 'Im 184 What Ho! The Pike Family 189 Among the Jumpers i94 Luck and Skill 199 Tackle in the Off-Season 204 Fifty Wall-Eye Pike and How They Came to Gaff 209 Fifty Pike and How They Came to Gaff . .221 Fishing Tackle, Outdoor Equipment for Camp, Trail, Lake and Stream 233 Pflueger-Supreme Casting Reel 235 Telarana Nova Leaders 237 Pflueger-Redifor Anti-Backlash Reel . . . 238 Fly Rod Wiggler 240 Heddon's Dowagiac Casting Rods 241 Baby Crab Wiggler 242 Wilson Wobblers and Getsem Bait .... 243 Shannon Twin Spinner 245 Hildebrandt Night Bug and Buck-Tail Shiner . 247 Pflueger-Surprise Minnow 247 Pflueger All-in-One Minnow 249 Lowe-Star Spoon 250 Hildebrandt Spinners 251 Tuttle's Devil Bug 253 The " Rainbow " Reel 254 " Takapart " Reel 255 Rush's Tango Midget Surface Bait .... 257 Pflueger Golden West Fly-Casting Reel . .258 Pflueger Luminous-Tandem Spinners . . . 259 CONTENTS PAGE Pflueger-Avalon Salt Water Reel .... 260 Kingfisher Lines 262 Palmer Cork Body Floating Grasshopper . . 263 Peckinpaugh Night Bug and Bucktail Shiner . 265 Reinforced Silk-Wound De Luxe Steel Fishing Rods 266 OsPREY Lines 267 Beetzel Reel 268 Babe-Oreno and Midget Surf-Oreno .... 269 " Been There Bait Casting Hook " . . . .271 The Booster Bait and the Producer Weedless Hook 272 Schoonie's Skooter Bait 273 King Minnow Net 274 McCoRMic Mermaid Bait 274 Creek Chub Wiggler 275 Keep-'Em-Alive Fish Stringer 277 Hanson's Irresistible Bait 278 Olt's O. K. Spinners 279 Peters' Spoon-Swiveled Insect Bait .... 280 Schilling's Lucky Angle Swivel Spreader . .281 The Liar Convertible Minnow 282 Ref's Bass Bugs 283 Wyman Hair Flies 284 Shakespeare Level Winding Reels 285 " Y & E " Automatic-Combination Reel . . . 287 Milam Rustic No. 3 Reel 288 Evinrude Motor 289 Theroz Mess Kit 291 Thermos Bottles 292 Kampkook Stove 293 Pelletier Hand-Made Snow-Shoes 294 Telescope Cot Bed 296 The Red-E Folding Broiler Stove and Oven . . 297 Comfort Sleeping Pocket 298 Perfection Cape 299 FuMo Mosquito and Fly Chaser 301 Taplex Handy Warmer 302 CONTENTS PAGE The McMillin Auto Bed 303 Keen Kutter Jr. Shaving Set 304 Stonebridge Folding Lantern 305 Schilling's Auto-Camp ,. 307 Danz Bags 308 Kapo Kantsink Garments 309 Ever Ready Auto Bed 310 Aerothrust Motor 311 Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9 . . . .312 Raz Creel Harness 313 Parr Folding Frog Box 315 DuxBAK Clothing 316 Bradley Sweaters 31? "Wear-Ever" Aluminum Ware 319 Broadbill Duck Call . 320 Fly-Tying Material 321 Olt's Game Calls 322 Heinz Foods 323 Anker's Brand Bouillon Capsules 324 White House Coffee 325 Teco Pancake and Teco Buckwheat Flour . . 327 Ry-Krisp 328 Farwell & Rhines' J'lours and Foods .... 329 Grape-Nuts 331 Instant Postum 332 Gossom's Quick Made Powdered Soups . . . 333 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FEL- LERS " OUR CREED. " To encourage the re-stocking of lakes and streams ; to advocate the observing of all fishing laws ; to throw back uninjured the undersized fish ; to catch game fish in a sportsmanlike manner with rod, line and reel, in order to make the sport of fishing better in the years that follow." It's a great little game, this fishin,' old-timer, and while much has been written for the beginner on the " how " of landing the game fins, little has been written on keeping up the supply. When we lope out to the fishing waters we have the deep-seated desire to come back and dangle a few big fellows before our admiring friends and shoot a line of bull on the wonderful fight the game fin put up in his efforts to outmatch our tackle skill with his wily craftiness and antihook knowledge. Every keen fellow who answers to the call of the water trails knows that there is more in fishing than 2 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the mere landing of the underwater veterans. In the spring the wonderful greening up of the trees and underbrush strikes a responsive chord in the angler and the budding outdoors shoots a rapid-fire tingling into the jaded nerves, suffering from a long winter's session with the steam radiators, movies, and dodging the high cost of living. Right through until old lady Nature brilliantly mints the leaves In countless tints of gold the pulsebeat of the fisherman throbs in unison with the great spirit of the out- doors. The whispering of the wind in the pines, the laughter of the rushing stream waters, the flash of the dying sun on the quiet lake, the plaintive call of the loon as the moon shoots down its beams amid the silence far greater than you have ever expe- rienced in the walled-up cities builded by man. These are all the heritage of the fisherman and are a few of the wonders that make the sport more than a mere matter of getting the fish. GREAT CHEST DEVELOPER Of course, old man, regardless of the pleasures of the outdoors, very few if any of the knights of the arching rod and humming reel like to come home without a fair-sized creel or stringer. It is part of the game for the victor to come swaggering in with the spoils of battle, it makes everyone feel better, the pals think you are " some " fisherman, the wife proudly flaunts the string before the neighbors and THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FELLERS " 3 you yourself throw another outward and upward angle to the chest when you look 'em over for the last time before they hit the frying pan. Every true sportsman who angles for the game fins wishes to make the sport better each year so that he can enjoy it and lead his friends into the walks of the outdoors that they may become fellow craftsmen of the cleanest of recreations. And to keep fishing on the up-move there is one little old rule that every fisherman should follow to the last card, and that is to throw the " little fellers " back. These small, inquisitive youngsters have never had the expert training to enable them to evade the barbed hook, and they generally take a wallop at the lure, because they don't know any better. It isn't sport to land 'em, and if you toss the little rascals back into the wet, maybe they will grow up into a sure-enough old " he-whop " with a kick' in his tail like a sick mule, and great guns, man, you may be the lucky dog to hook 'im later when he puts up the grand old fight of the foxy underwater warrior, that sets the thrills to racing through the veins and the short jumps climbing up the backbone. NIX ON THE TAPE MEASURE There sure is no place in the gang for the fisher- man who stretches the tail and pulls the mouth of the fish in order to get just enough length to work 'em into the legal limit — the tape-line fisherman is in a 4 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS class by himself, and don't ride with the big crowd. There are generally plenty of big ones in waters where the little fellers live, only sometimes it takes a bit keener work to coax them into the air — but when they do strike, old scout, the battle is worth the wait, and perhaps to this plunging, rushing fight you can thank some other fisherman for throwing back the little feller. Above is the creed of the American Anglers' league, an organization with members all over the country, and this creed is the entire object of this body of followers of the water trails. Any fisher- man, anywhere, may become a member by agreeing to hold up the creed and call it to the attention of other anglers he may meet in whipping stream or lake. It carries the fellowship of the outdoors and each member is an advocate of the laws to protect the finny tribe so that their number may increase and their size make 'em fit for the heavy-weight class. MAKE FISHING BETTER Every fisherman in this neck of the waters should join in this movement to make his favorite sport bet- ter in every way. The restocking of lakes and streams, with regularity would make of any " civil- ized " waters mighty good fishing, and then to follow the American Anglers' league creed would keep those waters in good shape from year to year. The large number of fellows who would get acquainted THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FELLERS " 5 with the sport of fishing through this work, would enjoy a close-up of old Dame Nature that would make for better citizens and give them a dash of " pep " that would make them face the daily battle with a flash to the eye and a spring to the step. As the seasons open, old-timer, the boys will begin their pilgrimages to the waters in quest of the shin- ing golden fleece, and here's hoping they wear as a brassard this clean-cut creed of the true sportsman, and that they have luck on lake and stream and up- hold this creed as their creed so that the days of angling may be better now and in the years that fol- low. BASS FISHING O'NIGHTS Old-timer, have you ever lounged back on the close-packed sod, with your favorite jimmy pipe do- ing its bit to soothe your nerves, old Dame Nature turning out the lights and closing up things for the day? The camp-fire just hittin' it up on low, with a star shootin' down here and there in the blue- bowled sky and the jeer of an idiot loon breaking the silences of the wonderland; then off to starboard you hear a splash and a flop in the water, then an- other and many of them. Doesn't it make your sporting blood tingle as the old " he-whops " do their sonata of the evening waters? It's music to your ears, this overture of the flopping bass as they do an " Annette Kellermann " after a fleeing min- now, and it sure is a winning bet that you are over- looking some real sport in the fishing game if you do not slip into your canoe and meet the advancing enemy half way and take a flier at night-casting. For a line of sport that has more thrills tacked onto it than any other angle of the game, night-casting has the rest of the herd eating grass at the starting post. Many of the clan of the arching rod and the sing- ing reel have overlooked this five-reel thriller and 6 BASS FISHING O' NIGHTS 7 thereby missed a session with a set of nerves they never knew was a part of their system. If, on your first night-casting expedition, you don't experience a series of jumps and kicks to your vertebra that shoots the tingles and joythrobs racing through your veins, you are of a different make-up than the ordi- nary old scout who follows the gladsome call of lake and stream. Pick out a nice little bay where the waters run into shallows shorewards, the kind of a bay where the minnows are at home, and give this httle old bay a close once-over, locating a point at which to anchor your craft for your night foray on the playful bass as they gorge on the little " fellers." As the day- shadows begin to lengthen into dusk, quietly work your boat to the anchorage, which should be selected for casting on all sides, drop your anchor and take your time, old scout, slip into an easy position and dream a few dreams of other days. Soon enough you'll hear a splash off to the left near the weed patch, make your cast and zing! he strikes. In the excitement you give him the butt and he breaks water just off there in the distance, and you play him up to the net with a thrill that gives you new life. Take a bit of time now, don't rush the game. As things darken up and you cannot distinguish the shore line nor the windfalls and weed-beds, the mystery of the game begins to work into your system, and at the next splash of the leaping bass your cast goes out, 8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS perhaps a bit short or a little overshot, because of the excitement of the game, but he strikes, and now, with the real simon-pure black night encircling you, you have a real piece of work cut out for your skill in the fishing game. You niggardly give him a bit of line and clamp on the thumb as he steals for the underwater snags, and you reel him in as the cold sweat beads on your forehead at the mystery of the game. As you net this old veteran of the watery recesses, you just about lose all control, as the next flop comes right beside the canoe; then there are fl^ops all around you and the work starts in earnest, as you hope to remember the lay-out of the bay and trust to luck and the nine gods as you swing a cast off into the blackness around you, which is punctured here and there by the splashes of the game fins in their playful feeding. My first shot at the real dark night-casting was an accident, and the sport was so fine that it made a regular nighter out of me. But I hit the game with- out any preparation, and the excitement of that night remains as the most thrilling experience of my fish- ing life. A good old pal and myself were making camp after a fairly fine piece of late-evening fishing. Things had darkened up a bit and we were slowly slipping along the water, trying to pick out our course without hitting more than the usual number of snags and windfalls. Fact is, we had lost our bearings and were trusting to luck and instinct to BASS FISHING O' NIGHTS 9 make camp without an accidental wetting, when off to the right the big flop of a man-sized fish sent a thrill through our nerve centers. The pal made a cast off In the direction of the splash; the Immediate strike came like a battering ram, and as he played him up to the canoe, with a couple of breaks to the air, my own nerves took a few jumps when I slipped the net down under him. And say, old-timer, when we lamped this large-mouth, that tipped the scales at seven and a quarter pounds, and heard his pals doing their jig on the top o' the water, we were both as crazy as loons. Right away we shot two casts that developed as nice a pair of back-lashes as ever fell to the spool of a reel. Plump in the middle of a bass family and the reel tied up with a twisted bunch of line, we both had strikes and pulled them in hand over hand, and the rest of the casts were made by swinging the plug around in a circle and letting it fly out among the floppers. Of course this style of casting was not ethical, as it were, but wholnell can be ethical with the pulse doing about 106 and a bunch of the bass trying to jump Into the canoe to bite your fingers off? The canoe was a jumbled-up mess of lines, plugs, nets and fish, but the climax came when a big pike took the pal's plug, and started in on a bunch of fancy tricks right close up to the canoe. For twenty minutes we had a great old time trying to land this " regular " guy without taking a Brodle into the drink. For a bunch of thrills, this lo FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS was sure a great producer, and when we finally made camp we were dyed-in-the-wool night-casters, but we were strong for preparedness for that kind of stuff in the future. We decided that the right kind of tackle was the " safety-first " of this night stuff, and that night-casting had more punch to it than all the rest of the game put together. NIGHT-CASTING TACKLE There are two kinds of night-casting, either of which are sure-fire winners. Moonlight night, and the simon-pure black night, both good fishing-time with a winning kick to the inky-black affair as the real thrill producer. For moonlight-casting you can let your canoe glide along the outer edges of most any bay or cove and cast into the shore and cover considerable water, but for the black night, with just the stars burning out here and there, you must select your fishing waters during the day and study them well, because your casting is going to be a bit of judgment on your part without any helpers along the side lines to give you distance and loca- tions. For night-casting a great deal depends upon the tackle, and it would be simply playing tag with fate to use a nifty bamboo rod for this sport; at times you must give the butt and do a bit of pumping, and who wants to subject a pet split-bamboo to such rough usage? Make the rod a steel one, and one that has plenty of backbone and stiffness. Long casts are not at all necessary, and a good stiff steel rod will tickle a fighting bass behind the gills with more success than any other kind, and do the job II 12 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS without suffering any during the operation. Should you by any species of luck hook a pike, or, great guns ! — a musky, there is quite a bit of satisfaction out there in the black darkness to have your paws wrapped around a good stiff old steel rod, and get the lay right, old-timer, you'll need all the help a good strong rod can give you to bring a life-sized roughneck to gaff when you cannot tell whether he's coming to you or making a drive for the far end of the lake. In the matter of reels It is a choice between the Anti-back-lash or the level winders, unless, of course, you feel like doing a bit of knitting and cussing in the great old handicap of backlashes. Between the self-thumbing reel and the level-winder there is not much choice, as they both are the real stuff for the night game. The Ideal reel, however, for night- casting is the tool that combines both of these fea- tures, and two reels In this class that stand out like " four of a kind " are the Beetzsel and the Pflueger- Supreme. Either of these reels makes night-casting a pleasant occupation. The South Bend Anti-back- lash and the Pflueger-Redifor Antl-back-lash are good workers In the self-thumbing line, and the Shakespear level-winder is an excellent tool for night use. The fifteen-pound test line is plenty strong enough and the soft-braided No. 6 silk casting-line used for general casting Is about right, although a line testing NIGHT-CASTING TACKLE 13 at twenty to twenty-five pounds is not amiss if you are fishing in waters inhabited by the big fellows. And just chalk this up on the score-board, the big fellows are great night feeders. This is especially so in the warm summer nights, at which time some of the larger fish are brought to gaf?. As to the plugs for this end of the game, your selection should be entirely of the surface or semi- surface variety, as the underwater lures are taboo, they have too much of an inclination to slip down to the bottom and lovingly cling to any old thing they can hook onto. And then, again, why use an under- water plug when the fish are all flopping around on the surface? For the real dark nights, the all-white lures are the best, and particularly those coated with the luminous enamel which glows like the dampened head of an old-style parlor match. Let a couple of these luminous plugs lie out in the sunlight for a short time, or expose them to the glow of your camp light before paddling out to your fishing waters, and the glow they shoot off in the darkness will make any flopping bass curious enough to give them a wal- lop. Not only do they help the baas to become in- terested, but you can see them yourself at consider- able distance and keep in touch with your lure as it wobbles in through the black. That these luminous plugs are the real stuff was shown to me quite vividly last season when on a little night-casting jaunt. I threw a walloping cast over 14 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS towards a fairly loud splash and succeeded in twin- ing my line around the limb of a windfall that stuck up out of the water, the plug dancing in the air about six inches from the surface of the water. This wig- gling plug was too much for an over-zealous bass; it sort of got his scales all ruffled up, and he up and strikes that Pflueger-Surprise minnow, hooking him- self. He sure cut up a bunch of tricks, half in the water and the rest up in the air. He kicked up such a rough-house that another bass joined him in the fight for the shining plug. I find, also, in the plug line, that the surface bait which kicks up a little riffle as it reels in makes an added attraction, al- though most of the strikes are made by the fish as the plug hits the water, or very soon after the splash, in fact, a good-sized splash when the lure strikes the water helps show 'em the way, and how easy it is to locate the bait. A mighty good plan is to either use all weedless hooks on your plugs or to substitute the trebled hooks with the twin hooks which ride points up. In this way you will avoid a lot of trouble, especially if the waters you fish are weedy or full of snags. Of course you may not hook all your fish, but you will not haul in a mess of weeds every shot, and who ever had a fish strike a lure when it was buried in a litter of straggling weeds? Here are a bunch of spoons and spinners that are all good at- tractive lures for bait casting. Natural baits such as the minnow, frog, pork rind or chunk are assisted greatly as a lure when used with a spoon or spinner in bait casting. No. 1 is a Skinner white enameled- spoon with tail hook; No. 2 a South Bend Bucktail spinner with a sinker and weedless; No. 3 a Becker-Sheward "Been There" weedless spinner with tying rig for frog and twin trail hooks; No. 4 a Joe Pepper spinner; No. 5 a Jamison Shannon Twin Spinner; No. 6 a Al Foss Pork Rind Min- now; No. 7 a Pflueger Lowe-Star spoon; No. 8 a Hildebrandt Slim Eli Spinner with fly; and No. 9 a Prescott Spinner. A layout of twirls and spins that ought to attract most any game fish and effective in lake and stream casting. Right for any tackle box and well made stuff. NIGHT WATER WORK The white plug and the luminous affairs have it all over the other colors, but here is a little tip that is worth trying out on your first moonlight casting trip this season. If you have ever indulged in the pleasure of fly-casting in the evening when the stars were out and the sky clear and fine, you have evi- dently found that the darker flies were more attrac- tive to the fish than the lighter feathery fancies. This has been the way the cards stack up with me, and I account for it by fhe fact that the darker fly stands out more clearly against the lighter sky, as it rests on the dark water; in fact, it silhouettes against the sky, while the lighter flies blend in with the re- flected light of the sky background, and the fish, looking up from the bottom, see the dark fly more plainly than a lighter one. Having this dope from past performances at tossing the flies in the evening, when the Hildebrandt people brought out the black spinners I tried these out and found them quite effective lures for late afternoon and evening fishing. Mulling this dope around in my think-tank, at the tail end of last season, I darkened up a couple of plugs with black shoe polish and used them for cast- ing in the evening and on one or two moonlight 15 i6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS nights. Say, old top, these black lures made good with a kick, and this season I expect to give the dark- ies a thorough try-out for the clear evening and moonlight fishing. Therefore, the tip to the live- wires to blacken up a couple of old surface plugs and take a try with them this season. It's a safe bet that some of the tackle people will be putting out dark or black lures when they wise up to the fact that they are good dope for evening fishing. A part of the kit for night fishing that you should not fail to tote along is an electric flash lamp, one of the pocket variety. There is nothing that will come in more handy than one of these little lights for the moments when you are landing a fighting bass. I use the small, flat light, because it fits well in the hand and can be held along the landing-net staff without any trouble, and is, I think, easier handled than the round-shaped lights. I also slip a small-caliber revolver in my pocket for the shot of grace for one of the big pike or musky, if I am blessed with luck enough to connect up with one of these big fellows during the night. Trying to play a big fin until you can gaff him is somewhat of a risky game in the dark, and I have no desire to take a ducking through a miss-balanced effort to play and land an old he-whop of the watery recesses. Another thing that will be found mighty valuable is a compass. This little invention of the heathen Chinee will make it easy to steer a clean course back NIGHT WATER WORK 17 to camp, and making camp in the dead o' night when you have nothing at all to steer by is no kid's trick. I use one of the luminous kind with the wrist strap, which is plainly visible at night and in a handy posi- tion for steering. For a landing net, make it with as large a mouth as possible, and don't try to gaff the fish at night. Although we never have had an accident, there are so many chances to pull a boner at night-fishing during the excitement that a fellow should cut down the possibilities as much as possible and make the percentage lower. Esepecially in July and August you will find the night-fishing game worthy of your efforts; in these months particularly are the grand old bass feeding at night, and, shucks, there is no better time to catch fish than when they are feeding. In many civilized lakes close in to the large cities, where it is often hard to land even a few bass during the daytime, you will find that a little try at the night-fishing stunt will bring you a fine string of bass. In these waters the bass are pestered to death during the day, and they generally wisely lie in the deep pools and wait until things quiet down a bit at night before they go on the feed. For the night caster the thrills of fishing are mul- tiplied many times over the usual daylight stuff, and it is sure a cool cuss who can remain calm and col- lected after the big fins begin their flopping sport. If you have a weak heart, old-timer, stay away from i8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the great night sport, because you're sure going to find it chock full of excitement from the first cast to the last back-lash. To really have a successful night-fishing trip, you should go prepared for that kind of fishing. No fellow wishes to subject his fine light tackle to the strenuous work he will surely run into while flirting with the flopping fins of the dark waters. HOT-WEATHER BAITS There is one spot that should never be overlooked in hot-weather fishing, and that is the lone water- soaked log that is usually found more or less in the lake country. This old snag will be found with one end just about sticking out of the water, the other running far down in the water and imbedded in the sand or mud bottom. It's a hundred-to-one shot there are bass down around this veteran of the for- est. One of these old snags I remember well; it got to be a regular habit, as we passed it each day, re- turning from fishing a string of lakes, to stop and let a minnow or frog down along this snag and take out a bass or two before we paddled over to our camp. And the lone little snag sticking up out of the water; it may be only the smallest of branches, but a cast over alongside may mean a fine bass. I have thrown a minnow close in to the smallest of snags and been nearly taken off my feet by the walloping strike of a big fish. When a fellow is out for fish the best place to look for them is in their favorite spots, and the windfalls and logs are sure some regu- lar bass homes, especially in the hot weather. In fishing a pool in a stream I found a little trick picked up from a Cree Indian a certainty in getting 19 20 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS a fish nearly every time I tried It. This foxy " na- tive son " of the North woods placed a frog on a little piece of birCh bark and let it float downstream, just as it passed a bowlder and swung into the edge of a fine pool he gave the line a little jerk and off the birch bark hopped the frog and made for land in a natural swim, but he only kicked about a dozen strokes before a big old bass snapped him up for keeps. I have worked this stunt a score of times and it generally ended with a bass on the business end of the line. At times the grasshopper makes a great little stream bait; this is usually so in the afternoon or evening. To work him right get on the side of the stream from which the wind is blowing. If you will just lounge back in a comfy position for a few minutes and watch a pool, you will notice that the wind carries the hoppers out onto the water as they hop around the shore; then, shortly, there will be a little splash and the water rings show where the hopper " ustobe " but is no more. He has made some old bass happy. Catch a few hoppers for bait and use 'em natural. Don't run a hook through them and take all the hop away, but lay the hopper along the shank of the hook and wind a little black thread around his body and the hook and cast him lightly out on the water. Let him kick round him- self and don't try to help make him flop naturally by a lot of short jerks that only show the bass that HOT-WEATHER BAITS 21 there is a string to the bait, and they certainly don't want to connect up with no string. This method of handling the hopper is also mighty good for the fast water just as it enters the pools, that is, if you let the water carry the hopper along naturally. When he hits the edge of the quiet water he will do a bunch of kicks that sure will attract some of the game fins that are always hanging around those places. As a general thing the minnows are more numer- ous in the warm streams and lakes. The minnow from the river or creek makes the best bait, espe- cially those taken from the swifter water, besides be- ing more vigorous and lively than their brothers from the warmer lakes and ponds, they have a more silvery shine which makes a decidedly attractive lure to the game fins on the lookout for a fancy feed. For bass the silver shiner or dace makes a good bait for most any time or condition of water, and it is particularly good for dark and cloudy days and in rough water. The river or creek chubs are a hardy lot, and they have a tough mouth that holds well on the hook, and the fact that they have a bit more pep than the shiner makes 'em a favorite bait with lots of fishermen. On bright, clean days the chub is a mighty good lure. About tbe best allround minnow that seems to cheer up the bass into a striking humor is the mud minnow. This minnow is a dark little fellow with yellowish golden sides and belly, and its husky constitution makes it a prime favorite. 22 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS He is the liveliest chap in the whole minnow fam- ily and he is on the job every minute that he is in the water. There never was a bass that could re- sist the " Salome " dance of the mud minnow, and I have used the same minnow to land as high as three bass before he lost his kick. The small sucker, redfin, or silver-side, the darter, slender silver-side and the blunt-nose minnow all make good baits. A strange thing in the bass game is that these fish seem to show a preference for minnows from other waters than those in which they live, which may account for the popularity of the min- now from creek and stream. When you take a flier at the hot-weather stuff, old- timer, just remember to go about the game quietly, let the bait down to where the game fins are, and feed 'em the line of food they have a fancy for. At the same time, of course, you gotta brush up your gray matter and locate the fish in their underwater retreats, where they have gone to enjoy the cool waters in the deep pools. If you go after them in the hot weather you'll get 'em — but you have to rub the bait right against their nose. GOING DEEP FOR THEM There is no time in tlie fishing season when more ■skill is needed on the part of the angler than during the hot weather, and that is the time, old scout, when your knowledge of the fish and their habits pays big dividends. The game fins are decidedly particular about their hot-weather menu, and they often pass up a line of feed that would make 'em stretch their skins to get it either early or late in the season. When the mercury is on the 'high-notch move and the water takes on that glassy surface stuff, the fish are tailing around looking for the cool spring holes in the deep pools and they do the most of their feed- ing very early in the morning, late in the afternoon and during the evening and night. During the most of the daylight hours they are hugging the bottom, just lying around in a lazy sort of a way digesting their food. At this period you can whip the surface to a foam without coaxing them to a strike; it's a case of sending your bait right down to them if you expect them to give it the double O. For a few hours in the very early morning you will generally find the bass in the shallows feeding, and at this time you can cast with the semi-surface artificials with fair success, although a nice little piece of pork rind with a weighted red Ibis fly makes 23 24 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS a dandy casting lure for the early a. m. stunt. After their morning feed, back to the deep pools hike the game bass, and you don't see much of them again in the bait-casting game that day, until very late in the afternoon or evening, when another shot at casting usually puts a few on the stringer. In fact, the evening casting is more successful than the early morning. The real bait that makes 'em nervous and gives 'em enough pep to make a strike is the live natural food of the fish, the minnows, frogs, crawfish, worms and grasshoppers. These baits, if sent down to the game fins, are the one best bet in the hot daytime. If you are after bass, old-timer, locate a spring hole or sand bar anywhere at a depth of from twenty to a hundred feet down, if your fishing waters run that deep, arfd let your little old live bait settle and you'll get bass while the other fellow gets muscular exer- cise doing the casting act. Right in midseason, when it was hotter than Billybedamn, I have had some fine bass fishing for small-mouth. Of course some of the fellows will pass the buck that this is nothing but still-fishing, but there is an angle to the game that puts a kick into it that will make it a mighty diverting sort of a stunt if you play it right. Take your fly-rod, or if you don't cotton to that kind of fishing, get a cheap steel rod about ten or twelve feet long, use your regular bait-casting reel and slip into the game. Hook on a minnow and GOING DEEP FOR THEM 25 give it a short cast, sort of a side swipe and without any more force than to carry the bait out about twenty feet from the boat, so that it lands very hghtly on the water. This is necessary, for the reason that a lot of your success depends on the wig- gle of the minnow down there in the bass country, and he sure won't have any wiggle if you wallop him out on the water with a smack. When you get your strike way down below and the line telegraphs the short signal to you, don't strike, but give the bass a chance to run with the bait, because he does that every time with the live bait, and striking at once, after his strike, simply means that you will tear the bait out of his mouth or in half. The bass of the hot weather doesn't take much of a hold on your bait at the start, and when he makes his run let him have the line. He may run ten feet or a hundred — there is no rule or reason to the length of the run, it's entirely up to the old he-whop and the humor he is in. When you feel the pull no longer, on the line, dope it out, old man, that he has stopped and is turning the minnow around in his mouth and swal- lowing it head first, give him about ten seconds to do this stunt and then strike him and set the hook firmly in his tough old mouth. Now the real sport begins, if you are holding the butt end of a long whippy fly-rod, like old Dan Patch, the bass makes a run that arches your rod from tip to butt and almost makes it a complete cir- 26 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS cle, and when you begin to take away that fifty or a hundred feet of line, your work is cut out for you. At times the scrappy rascal will make a direct run to the surface and catch you with a slack line, and making his famous break water will give your hook a shake, and good night! he's gone. It takes speedy work with the reel to save him. At other times he will sulk on the bottom and make you tug and strain your tackle and patience to work him up. Often he will sneak into a crevice In the rocks. If there are any down below, and you can jig-saw quite a bit before you bring him up and he has sense enough to work around the sharp edge of a rock so that you will saw your line in two trying to work him to the net. Last season, while fishing with Earny Wendt, one of the best little guides that ever dipped a paddle, we would locate a school of small-mouth bass and quietly fish the school until we had the whole outfit. In one pool we took eight bass out of a school of eleven that Earny could count as they lazied around on the sandy bottom. We dropped our mud min- nows over the side and let them slowly sink down among the bass, and often two or more bass would make a dart for the minnow, the lucky fellow mak- ing a run wit*h his prey until he thought It was safe to stop and swallow It. The run of these bass averaged from forty to ninety feet. This was hot- weather fishing In midday with the thermometer registering about 90 degrees. WIGGLE O' THE WORM A few seasons ago, at a lake that is considered very civilized waters and which has been fished to a fare-you-well and summer-resorted to a finish for the past twenty years, three fishermen landed as nice a bunch of small-mouth bass as you'll meet in many a day's fishing, and on a hot August day with a sun that burned through their shirts. These three old- timers at the bassing game located a spring hole in ninety feet of water and from this cool spot landed forty-eight small-mouth, ten of which ranged from three and one-half to five pounds. And the bait they used in this foray of pleasure was the common, wiggling angleworm. That same day many fisher- men were casting along the short line and failed to string enough bass to make a man's-size breakfast. In the angling derby the little old " fish " worm of our youth has not received half the credit that is due him. This is probably due to the fact that he has been overlooked in the mad rush for the vari- colored artificials that have made bait-casting the most popular end of the game. Then again, the fact that fly fishermen generally tilt the nose skyward when the worm is even mentioned probably has given it a black eye with the beginner, who, above all 27 28 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS things, hates " likell " to have the experienced angler think that he is a tyro at the sport. But you can chalk this up in your think tank, old scout, when the fly fisherman fails to coax 'em up to the top with the feathery fancies he tosses to them, he usually takes a look up and down stream to see if anyone is watch- ing him, then with the coast clear he sneaks a bait- box out of his coat pocket and hooks on a worm, or " garden hackle " as he -styles it, and takes a little flier at worming, so that he does not come back to camp with an empty creel. 'Tis a great little friend in need, this wiggling angleworm, for the reason that he can wiggle his way into the affections of nearly every fish that swims most any time of the season, and they sure cannot overlook him in the hot weather. There is a lot in hooking the worm so that he will have a chance to wiggle, and you can take it from Uncle Dixie, the wiggling worm is the one that at- tracts the fish. Slip the hook through the skin of the worm about an inch from 'his liead, then skip about half way down his body and slip the hook through another little nip of skin, then about an inch from the tail end slip the hook through another little nip of skin. This gives him two dangling ends and a wiggling loop in the center, and in hooking him be sure and only slip the hook through a very little nip of the skin and not through the entire body, which kills 'em and takes their wiggle away from WIGGLE O' THE WORM 29 them. Don't slip the point of the hook into their mouth and slide the worm along the hook, covering it way up to the shaft; it is not at all necessary to hide the hook, what you want to do is preserve the wiggle. To get the best results from the worm in the hot weather, or in fact any kind of weather, they should be cleaned or scoured. When you dig 'em out of their home grounds they are full of earth and until they are cleaned they do not make the best bait. The attractive pink color of the clean worm is some- thing that makes the wise old fish cross-eyed; it makes them scrape their fins to get to it, and it is a simple matter to give 'em a cleaning. They should be washed as soon as dug up out of the ground. Just drop them in a pan of water and stir them around or shake roughly, then place them in an earthen jar or crock and put in plenty of moss. The big point to remember in the " care of the worm " is to wring the moss thoroughly so that all the water is eliminated. The moss must be kept dry in order to extract the moisture from the worms, as this toughens them for the hook. It takes from three days to a week to clean the worms right. Every day during the cleaning stage change the moss and throw out the dead or sick worms and feed them a slice of bread, broken into small bits, and a couple of spoons of milk or cream poured on the moss will shape 'em up in fine style. Sounds like a joke to 30 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS wash and feed your pet worms, but say, old-timer, if you have never offered a wiggling pink home- raised worm to the finny tribe, there's a jolt of sur- prise due you when you do. While you are shaping the worms up for the hook, keep the crock in a cool place, and if you happen to use an old flower pot, be sure and cork the hole in the bottom or you won't have any worms to raise. The frog as a bait is a sure-fire winner in some lakes and streams and in others he only shows up with the also-rans. But a good lively frog as a still- fishing bait generally gets the bacon, and you have to keep your eye on the little cuss or he'll sure fool you. After giving him a nice little gentle toss-off into the weed-beds you wait for the strike as you reel in a bit and let him have a little play; all the time, however, he may have been eyeing you from some point of vantage, as he has a habit of crawling up on a lily pad or windfall and resting there while he should be swimming around trying to coax a game fin into striking, 'Course you cannot blame the frog; it's a sort of a safety first with him, the only thing to do is to keep him moving a little, back and forth along the bottom. A little dipsey sinker or a couple split shot help take him down. The smaller, medium-sized frogs, those little white- bellied, green-backed ones, make the most attractive bait. HAIL TO THE SPOON Way back when you and I and most of the gang were kicking around in knee panties and just break- ing out of the kilts, our dads who answered to the rollicking call of the lakes and streams were teasing the game fins into striking with the spoon. And many a big fish has answered to the tantaUzing flash of the spoon as it glided, darted or revolved on its way through the water. Most of the spoons of the early days were of the wobbling, darting class; this was just a bit before the advent of the more modern idea of spooning, the revolving type which is so popular today and justly so because these twirling beauties certainly attract fish. However, the old-time darters were standbys in their day, and many game-fish have made their last strike at them. The Old Lobb, shaped a trifle longer than the bowl of an ordinary teaspoon; the Onondaga, a slim-shaped spoon that darted and re- volved at will or as the speed of its movement was increased in the water; and the Oneida, a fat-shaped spoon that had an erratic dart which followed no set route or schedule — all were pets and fish-get- ters. Many of the old-timers still swear by these old 31 32 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS patterns, but a glance in their tackle-box will gen- erally show up a couple of the modern beauties either fluted, hammered, or plain. The old wob- bling, darting spoons have a place in any tackle-box and are great little flashers of light as they dart from side to side. This makes them very attractive to the curious fish, especially the pike, pickerel and musky, as they lie in wait for the passing small fish upon which they gorge their tummies. The larger fish are particularly subject to the fascinating glide of the spoon and strike it with a wallop that often bends it double. One of the earliest spoons of the darting type was the Buel spoon, following closely the shape of the bowl of the teaspoon, in fact it is claimed that young Buel, while washing his dishes at camp one day, ac- cidentally let a silver teaspoon drop into the water, and as it glided down towards the bottom an over- zealous lake trout, that could not resist the scintil- lating flashes of light reflected from the spoon, made a dart as it and cracked his teeth in the effort. Be- ing of an inventive turn of mind, the youngster filed the handle off the spoon, drilled a hole in one end, to which he attached his line, and in the other end he drilled another hole and eyed in a long-shanked hook. This simple arrangement caught many fish, and for years was the model from which other spoons of the early days were patterned. A little later, out in the West, an old-time fisher- HAIL TO THE SPOON 33 man of Delevan lake, puttering around his cabin, doped up the Delevan spoon by hammering a half- dollar piece Into a concave shape with a sort of nicked tail at one end and an eyed ring on the other side. This old sport of the southern Wisconsin lake region eyed on two long-shanked hooks and, as minnows and shiners were the accepted bait for bass at that time, he hooked a minnow on each of the hooks. Trolling out into the lake to go to his usual fishing-grounds, he was kept busy hauling In the bass and putting on new bait. The fishing with the new spoon was so good that he did not find It necessary to keep on going until he hit his old spots, and when he flashed his string on the unsuspecting public and then flashed the new lure on the fishing fans he had to cut out fishing himself and hammer out these new spoons for the boys of other days. This was the beginning of the famous old Delevan spoon that has a wonderful string of fish to its credit. A few years later, over on the fine old St. Law- rence river, G. M. Skinner put a real up-kick into the spoon game when he decided that the spoon which revolved regularly In one direction was what the big fins were really looking for. And to give the spoon this steady revolving movement, G. M. slipped a few flutes on an oval-shaped brass spoon and on the first tryout he hooked up with a wallop- ing big musky that snapped his teeth shut with such force on the strike that Skinner knew he had made 34 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS a ten-strike with the new lure and that he had some- thing that would make the real old grand-daddy of the tribe sit up on his tail and take notice. The flutes not only added to the movement of the spoon, but also broke up the flash of light from its surface so that it shot through the water in a dozen different shafts, penetrating the watery recesses in a coax- ing way that could not be resisted. Up to this time most of the spoons were of large size, when along comes John Hildebrandt, one of the best-known old-time fly-casters of Indiana, with an idea that something ought to be done for the fly- fisherman, to add a bit of attractiveness to the fly which a lot of bass were passing up, probably be- cause they were nearsighted and could not see it. Anyway, " Big John," as he was lovingly termed by his angling pals, came through with an idea that helped make the spoon the attractive bait it is. He reduced the size of the spoon greatly, in fact his first spoon was made from a hammered dime and a bent hairpin. One trial with this little spoon and Big John found that the whirling spoon gave an added bit of motion to the fly and also the flash of light seemed to be just what the big fellows were waiting for. The boys of the present day can thank John Hildebrandt for pulling down the size of the spoon which added it to the casting end of the game, where it is just as effective as it ever has been in the trolling end. MORE ABOUT THE SPOON It took the late W. T. J. Lowe of Buffalo to fancy up the spoon in gold and silver, and the famous Star and Buffalo spoons finished in these metals in beaded or plain styles have made a place in spoon line that is second to none. While on a trip for musky a few years ago I had a very accommodating guide whom I wished to remember for his many kindnesses dur- ing the trip, so I sent him a couple of the Lowe Star spoons as a little friendly token. Two seasons later, while in the same locality, I met this old guide of former years and was surprised to find him wear- ing one of the Lowe spoons as a watch charm. He just couldn't toss that gold and silver beauty into the water for ordinary fishing, it looked so darned fine, he said, that he was going to make a musky hop clean out of the water to take it off his watch chain if it came to a showdown. An interesting bit of information regarding the early use of the spoon hook and artificial bait to coax the finny tribe out of the deep was brought to my attention some time ago by Harry R. Phillips, a well-known and popular angler. It is in regard to a quotation from a book, " A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean for Making Discoveries in the Northern 35 36 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Hemisphere," written by Capt. James Cook and Capt. James King about the voyages of Captain Cook from 1776 to 1780. The quotation is in re- gard to the fishing game in the Sandwich islands, and from the dope, those old-timers must have been some fishermen with their hand-made tackle. So that everyone gets a fair chance at the credit for in- troducing the spoon hook in the sport 'of fishing, I quote the paragraph from this old book published in 1796: " Their fishing hooks are of various sizes and figures; but those which are principally made use of are about two or three inches in length and are formed in the shape of a small fish, serving as a bait, with a bunch of feathers fastened to the head or tail. They make these hooks of bone, mother of pearl or wood, pointed and barbed with Httle bones or tor- toise shell. Those with which they fish for sharks are very large, being generally of the length of six or eight inches. Considering the materials of which these hooks are composed, their neatness and strength are amazing; and indeed, upon trial we found them superior to our own." Like all fisher- men, it is a ten-to-one shot that the boys of the crew bought up the entire supply of this new-style bait before they left the islands. The spoon is a very effective bait and can be used with no other adornment than that which the maker has endowed it, or it will be found an added at- MORE ABOUT THE SPOON 37 tractiveness when used with any of the natural foods of the game fishes, or the artificial substitutes. The glittering, flashing whirl of the modern spoon in front of a minnow, frog, pork rind or chunk is some- thing that awakens the curiosity or anger of most any of the game boys. For the big old wolves of the waters, the musky, pike and pickerel, the spoon has always been a favor- ite lure, and now that casting for these bush-whack- ers of the weedbeds has become more popular, the smaller-sized fluted, pebbled and plain spoons have ridden to glory through the great granddads they have brought to gaff. About a number three to six makes a good-sized casting-spoon for these fish, and for trolling, which is the method followed by the majority of fishermen in quest of these scrappers, the most popular size is number six or eight. The main thing in the spoon line is to remember that the small-sized spoons have been getting the big fish dur- ing the past few years, as they have been used more and more by the clan, and that it is not at all neces- sary to load up the line with the great big spoons of the African war-shield size. In using the spoon alone as a casting lure, the average fisherman will find it a bit light with the short bait-casting rod, and to give it a little more heft, tack on a few small split shot or a dipsey sinker. Most any likely looking water makes good casting with the spoon, and for the pike family off the edges 38 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS of the weed-beds is a winner. Allow the spoon to sink a bit after casting and reel in slowly, just fast enough to keep the spoon twirling. And the fellow who has a good run of success with the spoon is the old scout who fishes it slowly. That is a point in the correct use of the spoon that only comes with experience, the usual method being to snake it in through the water as fast as possible in order to throw another cast. The most strikes with the spoon alone come when the lure is moving in the water and not when it first strikes the surface. I have watched, many a time, a large pike follow my spoon and then made him come through with a strike by giving the slow-moving spoon a slight sidewise jerk that gave it a wobble that probably gave the fish the impression that he was going to lose some- thing if he did not act quick. Slow reeling in of the spoon on the cast is just as important as slow trolling with the boat. PLAYING THE SPOON More fish are often lost by hurrying the spoon through the water at too great a speed when troUing than through any other method of its use. In the trolling end it is a very easy thing to slip the boat along too fast and rush the spoon right away from a lazy old fish as he lolls around waiting for an easy piece of feed to slowly kick past him, and a good way to keep the speed down is to watch the tip of your rod as you troll along. When the tip is bob- bing up and down in a slow regular motion you are hitting the pace about right, and at the same time this is a sure-fire indication that your spoon is revolv- ing, which is what it should be doing to attract game fish. As soon as the rod slips into a steady pull without any bobbing, you will save time and prob- ably fish by reeling in and shaking loose the bunch of weeds picked up by the hook. Weeds are a neces- sary evil in the spoon-troUer's life, because the fish are among the weeds and to get them it is necessary to ride your spoon down deep in the water where the fish are loafing in order to get 'em. The surface troUer never has half the chance of the underwater sport when it comes to landing a good-sized string. In making a selection of spoons, you have a col- 39 40 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS lection of nearly every shape and size to pick from. They come in nickel, brass, copper, aluminum, and pearl. Some are decorated with a dash of red, others jet black or white. I have found the white enameled spoon a very attractive lure and a word in favor of the pearl wobbling spoons is well de- served by that particular spoon. Many fishermen have passed up the pearl spoon, probably because it seems frail and not strong enough to hold a large fish without breaking, and thus have overlooked a good bet in the angling derby. Then again, it may be from the fact that the pearl spoons have not been tooted as much in the present day as in the past. I have never had a pearl spoon break while landing a fish, and have brought to gaff quite a few pike and bass with this old-time bait. In certain waters it has proven a lifesaver, and for evening fishing its blue- white flash has been the last call of quite a few game fins. It is particularly good for the October bass fishing when trolling for these fish is often produc- tive of a fine string. You will naturally stock up with more of the mod- ern revolving spoons than any other, because they are made right and have a rep for landing the fish, but it is well to shuffle a few of the long-shaped wob- bling, darting spoons in the tackle-box, the same old spoons that were favorites with the anglers of other days. These spoons are not only effective because they have an erratic movement in the water and cast PLAYING THE SPOON 41 their light shafts to great distance, but they also make a good casting-spoon without much fluttering in the wind. They are good for bass, pike, pickerel and musky and for wall-eyed pike and lake trout they make a humdinger of a bait. They are espe- cially good in stream fishing and on a rough day on lake waters. As a general thing the condition of the waters you fish will determine the color of spoon you use ; how- ever, in an off-hand choice, you could make it a cop- per spoon on a bright sunny day with a clear calm water, while on a cloudy day, with the surface broken and rough, the brass, nickel or silver spoons are usually more killing. For the dark days and marly waters I have found the white enameled spoon one that makes 'em sit up and take notice. A spoon that is too bright and shiny when used on a clear day will send such a flashing signal through the water that the wise old birds of the underwaters never even give it a thought; in fact, it seems to scare them. In order to make a spoon more attractive I have let them accumulate quite a dirty, tarnished appearance, and then to give them a bit of a fishy look have shined them just a trifle in a striped effect, somewhat Hke a perch. A spoon used this way will some- times make a killing on a bright day. Taken all around, the spoon as a fish attracter stands high in the annals of fishing; some of the largest fish ever landed in the different species have 42 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS answered to the luring flash of the twirling teaser. It is a bait that can be used throughout the entire season with good results, and to this old-time mem- ber of the tackle-kit we doff the lid, because it will do its share in getting the fish if you give it half a chance. FALL FISHIN' There is no time in the entire fishing season that is more delightful than the fall or autumn, and at that, old-timer, the big game fins have more scrap tied up in their tails in the cool of the fall than they have in the warm summer days. The early spring fishing is generally on a par with the fall sport. After the water feels the cooling effect of the fall days and the frosty nights, its tem- perature slips down a bit and the gay tail-kickers become inoculated with a bunch of pep that puts ginger in their fight. And the woods and all outdoors seem to be doing their best to show off the wonderful beauty of na- ture, just to slip a fellow the info that it is not all of fishing merely to fish. After the first frost has nipped the leaves and they have changed to count- less shades of yellow and orange, with the golden tints and dashes of red standing out in patches against the darker green of the pines, then between casts we can drift along and thank the nine gods that we are on the water trails in the fall. The hot days of July and August have been shot into the discard, and with them all the thousands of 43 44 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS insect pests that Increase the cussin' average of the fishing gentry as they try to interest the lazy fins in a varied assortment of baits and lures. And another thing in favor of the fall game is that you do not have to arise before the sun in order to get to the fishing water while the fish are still in the shallows feeding, nor do you have to wait until dusk or darker to take a cast at them with some chance of finding them in a striking humor. The bass and wall-eyed-pike slip into the shallows most any time of the day in the fall to feed on the minnows and frogs, and also to enjoy the warmer water along shore. And the musky, the old roughneck of the water recesses, has a strong set of teeth in fine shape for striking purposes, while the gums of the pike and pickerel have passed through the sore, swollen stage of August and these fish have an appetite that they are willing to satiate on anything from a spoon to a cedar plug. In September the game fish come back strong after the dull and sluggish days of summer, when they have been devoting most of the daylight hours to a lazy siesta on the bottom In the deep, cool pools, and with the cooler days of October, and even up into the snows of November, you can select most any kind of a plug or lure and stand a good chance of landing the big ones. The colder waters seem to make 'em want to fight the highly colored artificials ""SBSF; Do you recall a day in camp when the game fish seemed to»be off the feed and neither you nor the pals can raise a strike — then you happen to get 'em coming and things brighten up on the instant. But Oh! boy — when you come up the trail with a fair stringer and the pals greet you with smiles, enjoying your triumph even Avhen things broke bad for them — then, fellow, you know the real joys of the water trails. Good pals in the woods and on the waters are jewels to be cherished. Incidently the large bass in the foreground dangling on the stringer of Don Leigh? Fishing editor of the Chicago Evening Journal, weighed six and a half pounds and was landed by Mr. Leigh with a Pflueger-Surprise Minnow, rainbow color, the rod was a Jim Heddon number IS, one piece construction, long tip and short butt, giving good play without the restraint of a ferrule to cut down the action. FALL FISHIN' 45 out of pure cussedness, and they wallop the plug with a strike that often sends it high in the air. At this time casting for the game boys is the real dope. It gets them in the waters close inshore, and the splash of the lure simply makes them more anxious to get to it. The fish are right on edge and keenly alive to what's going on in their home waters. In this nature assists them by keeping the waters clearer than at any other time of the year. The lakes have passed through the blooming stage and all of the underwater vegetation has cast its seed and settled down for the winter, while the rivers and streams are at a flowage that is not subject to the thaws and freshets of the spring and summer. This all assists the fish to the extent that they can see to a greater distance, and more caution and skill is nec- essary and a longer cast required than earlier in the season. For an artificial for fall fishing for bass, makes a selection of the standard-sized lures of the minnow shape, and for the small-mouth bass, particularly, the midget-sized plugs sure are killers. In the mat- ter of colors, the all white with a bit of red is fine for the darker days and the rainbow or green- backed, white-bellied lure for the sunny days. Al- though a fellow does not have to be so finicky as to the color, shape, or style, as the bass have just enough pep and cussedness to take a crack at most anything moving in the water. 46 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS The wall-eyed pike are sure fond of the green- backed minnow, and they are in the deeper pools generally, although when they do come into the shal- lower water you have to send your lure down to them, as they are always bottom feeding, and for that reason the lure should be of the underwater variety and not a surface or semisurface. The wall-eye is a mighty hungry fish at all times, and especially in the fall he is on the drive for a feed. Even up into the cooler days of November he makes a conscientious biter. Although the wall-eye answers to the call of the artificial plug in the fall, don't for a minute over- look his favorite dish, the minnow, and of all the minnow family that tickles his palate, the mud min- now from the small streams is the bait that makes him jump through the hoop to get it. A small spinner adds to the attractiveness of the minnow, its flash shooting into the far reaches of the underwater nooks and crevices. FALL BAITS The minnow and frog are great little live baits for the fall bass, and when hooked on a weedless hook can be lightly tossed over among the weeds. And take it from Uncle, old-timer, that's where you get 'em. The spring-raised frog has just about grown up to where he is a fine tender morsel for the bass, and these wily old game fins flirt around among the lily pads and weeds watching for the luckless frog as he kicks his way through the water. Cast the frog with an easy toss, so that he will land lightly and not with the long sweep of the plug cast. A cast of 20 or even 15 feet into the weeds is plenty and keeps the frog lively after he lands. Let the frog sink a bit, then reel in slowly for a couple of turns of the reel handle, then a slow-up for a few seconds so that it will sink again, and then another slow reeling, and thus work the frog out through the weeds as though he were on his way home for a feed. Don't be afraid to shoot the cast right into the weeds and especially close up along shore, as that is where the bass are generally feed- ing, particularly in the morning or afternoon. Flirt- ing with the outer edges of the feedbeds will not 47 48 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS bring half as many strikes as going right in for them. The Shannon twin spinner baited with a pork- rind strip makes a crackerjack fall bass lure for the weedbeds, as it is weedless and at the same time has two spinners that revolve right above the point of the hook, which eliminates all chances of short strikes. You can throw this bait right into a mass of weeds and it rides back free and clear without trailing along a ton of weeds. As the October days come along there is one dainty of the bass diet that has become scarce and therefore is highly prized as an appetizer by the lucky bass that finds one, and this natural food is the crawfish. The soft-shelled crawfish feels the bite of the frost and digs into the mud and sand bottoms for his winter hibernation, and only a few of the huskier hard-shelled fellows are stirring around. These tough-shelled old crawfish are too hard for any but the largest bass to masticate, and the medium-sized bass are crazy for a bite of the white meat of the food that they have feasted on during the season. The fact that crawfish have become scarce seems to whet the appetite for them, as is the case with any food that has become scarce. When a natural food becomes scarce, an imitation of that food is, as a rule, more liable to be successful than at any other time. The Heddon's baby crab wiggler, which is an imitation of the crawfish, is a very taking lure for October. FALL BAITS 49 Of all the fish that are on their fighting mettle in the cooler days of the fall, the musky, pike and pick- erel are sure there with the kick in their tails, and they seem to be full of the old Nick, the way they range around looking for something to pick a scrap with. And after they do strike, the fight they put up will give you a bit of rapid-fire action that will make the blood tingle and the nerves do a series of jumps that will give you thrills enough to last through the winter until the next season comes around. There is one lure that makes these old rough- necks see double to get at, and that is the spoon. This is the old reliable standby trolling dope for the fish of this species, and with a good-sized shiner, sucker, or frog hooked on behind a Lowe-Star spoon, it's an easy bet that you can interest the big fellows. Casting with a smaller minnow or shiner and a No. 3 sized Hildebrandt spinner makes a com- bination that the musky cannot resist. Troll in water about six to ten feet deep along the edges of the weedbeds and over the underwater weeds, also over the rock bed and points of land that run out into the water, as well as the quiet coves and bays, and keep the boat moving just enough to twirl the spoon. Fast trolling has killed more chances at getting the fish than any other angle of the sport; you don't want to pull the bait away from the fish. Take a slant at the tip of your rod, and if 50 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the tip Is bobbing regularly you know that the spoon is turning around In the water. Should the bob- bing of the tip stop, you can figure that you have picked up a lay-out of weeds, and the only thing to do is to reel In and take 'em off the hook, as the fish are not going to dig through a bunch of weeds to strike a lure. MORE FALL BAITS Don't overlook the pork-rind strip or chunk in the mad rush for the fall game fins. This is a capital lure for any of the game fish at this time and works well with a weedless hook and spinner. The Al. Foss pork-rind minnow, the Prescott spinner hook and the Becker-Sheward Been-there spinner work well among the weeds for bass. Tack a little red flannel cloth at the head of the pork-rind strip, or tie a bit of red yarn on it, and the lure will be more effective. It seems that this combination of the wiggling pork rind with a little red to set off the white of the rind has a teasing ef- fect on the humor of the bass. While the bass come into the shore shallows dur- ing September to feed, you will still find them in the deeper pools if the day be one of bright sunlight and warm. If such is the case, seek out the same old holes you fished during the warm days of sum- mer and take a shot at the bass in these waters. Trolling deep through these holes with a minnow and the line weighted with a heavy sinker that will take it away down to the bottom where the fish are, will usually bring a stringer of nice-sized fish. Trolling for bass on a cloudy day is likely to be SI 52 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS more successful with a small spoon; this is particu- larly so when the bass are in the shallows, and for the fellow who tires of throwing the festive casts the trolHng game is a good bet, especially for Sep- tember. The minnow-shaped spoon of either silver or pearl is quite a taking lure for the bass troll, and I favor the pearl under the circumstances, as its green- ish blue flash is somewhat similar in tint to the sides of the minnow. These pearl spoons are quite light and ride high in the water, the decided curve to the spoon also keeping it near the surface. To over- come this high-riding, wobbling lure, tack on a keel sinker, which will also keep the lin«e from twisting and kinking. The ordinary brass or nickled spoons are attrac- tive trollers and I have always found them better if used a bit tarnished and not highly polished. And while shuffling up the spoon deck, don't over- look for a minute, old scout, the Pflueger-Tandem spinner. This finish to the spinner is a winner in most any kind of water and makes a decided hit in waters where the white artificial plugs have been successfully used. Troll about ten feet under water and most any shore waters are good for trolling for bass in Sep- tember. A good average depth for trolling is in about 20 feet of water. Real trolling for bass is not merely to drag a bait or lure through the water MORE FALL BAITS 53 at any old speed or depth, but this end of the sport should be given as much attention by the angler as casting or any other style of fishing. The amount of line out and the speed of the boat controls the depth at which the bait rides, and when you get a strike make it a point to remember the length of line and the speed of the boat and keep about that average, as the strike indicates the depth at which the fish are feeding, and that's the place you are likely to find the next one. A bit of pep can be added to the trolling game by the use of a steel fly-rod. Of course the rod should be straight out behind the boat to reduce the strain, as it has not enough back-bone to stand the continued pull of the lure. When you get a strike with a fly-rod and about 40 feet of line out, with a husky bronze-backer at the business end of the line, it is sure sport to play him with a whippy, long fly-rod. To the fellow who passes up trolling with the short five-foot rod as a sport without any kick, just take a flier at the game with the fly-rod. A bait that has been in a way overlooked by a big bunch of fishermen is the Phantom minnow. This lure in the silver or gold color makes a high- class underwater bait. In using it, however, a little above the average speed can be given to the boat, as the Phantom rides very deep in the water. There is a style of fishing called " jigging " that is practiced by the settlers in the North woods coun- 54 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS try when they want to be sure of getting fish for a meal. They cut a pole about fifteen feet long and use a line about five feet longer than the pole and bait up an ordinary sproat hook with a minnow or frog. With this rig they let the boat drift across a weed-bed or along the shore line and across the entrance of a small cove from point to point, keep- ing the bait about a foot above the bottom, sounding the bottom every now and then so that they are sure of the bait riding at the right depth. This stunt can be worked with the long steel fly-rod and It is even more effective if you put a medium weighted coneshaped sinker on the end of the line and attach a three-foot leader with your bait at the end of the leader. In this way the sinker can ride the bot- tom all the time and not affect the bait, keeping It at the right depth all the time. Of the fall fishing time, September Is a mighty big improvement over the hot old August days, but, without a doubt, October shines as a month in which the game-fishing is full of dash and pep on the part of the fish, even If the angler does feel like playing close to the cabin fire. To really feel the fight par excellence of the bass, give him the once over after the frost has nipped the leaves and he Is on the hurry-up hunt for food to pack away and fatten him- self up for the winter's hibernation. FALL MUSKY FISHING Without a doubt, old-timer, the real kicking fight of the musky reaches full development in the fall, and the latter part of September and the entire month of October hold forth great promise for the gay " muskyteer " in his effort to bag this gamest of the game. And besides the fact that the musky is a more consistent striker in the fall, he also is a more strenuous fighter and gives the lucky angler a run for his money that sets the nerves on edge and the jumps on a race up the ver- tebra with a few extra thrills thrown in when the game cuss stands up on his tail and sends the spoon through the air with a rapid-fire shake of his huge body. This throwing of the spoon bait by the musky when he breaks water and makes his wonderful shake is not merely an idle tale from the musky waters. All he needs is a bit of slack and a chance to shake and unless the angler is quick to reel in the slack, it is a simple trick for the musky to throw the bait. And by the way it is no disgrace to fall the victim of a wise old bird like the musky and have him disconnect in this manner. I know of one clever caster who can place his cast with a fineness 55 56 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS that makes his casting the envy of many fishermen, and who had a fine old buck musky toss his spoon bait 30 feet through the air with such force that it left a beautiful black and blue bruise on his chest where it happened to land. THE EASY-CHAIR ANGLER Some of the wise chaps at the fishing game, who never lost a musky after hooking it, to hear them tell it, have a lot to learn from these husky freshwater free-booters. Lying back off the edge of a weed- bed, somewhere, there is an old, long-whiskered musky that has doped out a new trick or two that can probably even make these past masters in fishing talk strip their gears if they connect up with him. Or, old-timer, in other words, when you hook up with a high-volted bushwhacker of the watery re- cesses, you never know just what he will pull on you in the way of tricky action until the fight is over and the musky either brought to gaff or lost until next time. That's the very reason why some of the boys are confirmed musky fishermen and pass up the fast scrapping bass for a wallop at the big fellows. As a general thing the musky will make his first run after the strike, on a hunt for the weeds or other underwater refuge where he can hide or tear out the hook with its stinging point. If he has a chance to make deep water he will go down deep and fuss around on the bottom trying to rub out the FALL MUSKY FISHING 57 bait and in a case of this kind he will seldom break water until you work him towards the surface. In the fall, however, you find him again in the shallower waters and here you can look for a jump up out of the water quickly after the strike. The musky caught in the shallow water, say from five to fifteen feet, may even break water as often as eight or ten times during the fight, and the smaller muskies seem to jump up into the air more often than the real big old-timers. The old fellows are more likely to avoid the jump than the younger musky, as they develop a shyness with age and prefer to stay down out of sight If possible. SMALLER MUSKY SNAPPY FIGHTER For a rattling good fight, full of action and pep, the smaller musky, say ten to fifteen pounds, puts up a rapid, strenuous battle, some of the boys prefer- ring this game to the larger ones, although they don't make as handsome a mounting, nor give one the opportunity to salve up a story full of thrills like the big roughneck of the tribe. Taken anyway you look at it, the small, powerful musky is a great piece of sport when landed on light bass tackle via the casting route. One of the largest musky landed this season never broke water during a fight of nearly an hour and a half. Once he did come up to the surface and make a swirling curve In which his dorsal fin and tail 58 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS cleared the water. His main fight consisted of long runs of a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five feet, the battle of musky wile vs. tackle skill taking place in water with a depth of 25 feet and over. OFTEN SPRINGS NEW TRICKS Until you land the musky you hook, you can never know just what line of getaway stuff he pulls. He may corkscrew back on the line, twisting it around his tail and then with a snap of the tail breaking the line with the leverage thus secured; he may make a fast run towards the boat and before you reel in the slack, hit the air and throw the hook; he may shoot under the boat and tear the line on the bottom or there are dozens of little angles to his fight that may give him his liberty and the knowledge that the musky family have a great bunch of tricks tied up in their system should put the musky fisherman on his guard to outpoint the game rascals by clever, quick work from the rod end of the sport. A favorite casting bait is the sucker, about an eight or ten-inch black sucker sure makes 'em nervous, and you certainly can coax them to strike this lure. Usually the musky gorges a live sucker and when you strike him, the hook is generally well down the gullet and you set it sharply in a tender spot. I think that this pain takes a bit of the kick- ing fight out of the musky and that they are easier to land than when hooked on the pork chunk or spoon. FALL MUSKY FISHING 59 The pork chunk for musky casting should be about twice as large as the size on the market for bass casting and also a trifle longer than wide. A pork chunk of this kind, tacked onto a No. i-o Lowe-Star spoon makes a cracking good cast for the musky, and when you hook 'em with it the hook generally sets in the front of the mouth, and when hooked this way, they fight like a " helyon " to throw it out. In the matter of plugs for this game fellow, the usual bass lures make more effective baits than the large wooden affairs touted as the best bet in the game. No matter what bait you use, to get musky, you must stick to the game until you locate 'em and not branch off on the bass casting end. STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH BASS After returning from the last fishing trip, we play- ers of the singing reel and arching rod, followers of the lake and stream water trails, are generally looking ahead to the next one and planning for this foray on the gamy tail kickers and their relatives. While far from the rustle of the gurgling stream and lap of the wind-tossed lake waters, most any kind of fishing looks good to us, and even the pet goldfish in the globe in the sun parlor are sure taking chances of being yanked into the air on a bent pin or a midge trout fly. We like our bit of bait casting, shooting the plug or natural bait off on its curved flight to the weed bed or pocket in the lily pads where the large mouth lingers and the pike and musky lie in wait for the passing smaller fishes upon which they gorge. We like the bit of stream wading, tossing the live bait here and there among the likely looking brush heaps and windfalls and into the deep pools. We even hke to sit out in the sun and take a shot at still fishing with live bait, letting it sink down to the spring holes where the game fins have gone for a rest in the cooler waters. (So STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH BASS 6i And we are not ashamed to take a try at the little pan fish with the fly or a gob of worms, especially when all the big fellows seem to be off the feed or in such a humor that they fail to notice the seemingly endless selection of artificial and natural baits we offer them. And from all these varied manners of angling we draw forth the enjoyment and charm of fishing which touches our heart strings, and the thought of these past experiences merely whets our appetite for new lakes and streams to conquer; makes us able to endure the coming winter until spring again floats in with the greening up of the naked trees and opening of the trout streams for our first effort of the new-born season. Looking back over the entire deck of the fishing game and recalling many pleasant days on lake and stream with the different game fighters that live in the watery recesses of the undertakes and river beds, I feel like passing the blue ribbon to the small-mouth bass fly fishing on the running streams as the snap- piest sport in the whole layout. For real fishing, a day on a stream with these little bronze, red-eyed scrappers is a bit of sport to be remembered. And going after him with the fly with its single hook gives him a chance to make full use of his combative power to give you a fight that will teem with thrills before you safely net him or he gives you a saucy kick of the tail as a farewell salute as he makes his getaway. To tell an old scout of the fly-tossing brigade what 62 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS weight and length of fly rod to use is foolhardy; he has his own pet weights and to these he sticks like a " helyon; " but for the beginner at the sport a split bamboo of say nine and a half feet and a weight of five or six ounces is right and will prove effective for small-mouth bass fishing. This weight rod will be good for all-round use, and in the fast streams there are many times when the sheer strength of bamboo and line must be relied upon, although in wading the slower streams no fly rod seems too light, as you have more time to fight the fish, and taking your time, giving the rod a chance to wear down the bronze backer with its pressure, will eventually bring your fish to net after a wonderful fight. An interesting fact in the fight of the militant bronze-backed warrioi is that he has a habit of se- lecting his own fighting waters, and he will make for them regardless of the chances he runs. He may decide to fight it out in the swiftest part of the stream, or, after walloping the fly, he sometimes makes a drive for the bottom, there to rub the sting- ing feathery hook from his mouth. Unable to reach the safety refuge of the snags and rocks on the bottom that he knows so well, he will speedily change his tactics for the swifter current, making frantic leaps into the air on the slightest indication of a bit of slack in the line and then lying across the stream, take advantage of the flow of the stream against his curved back. He's playing a game to his liking and STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH BASS 63 you have your work cut out for you before you land him. All these joys and thrills of the battle royal can be had in fishing for him with the ordinary wet fly of standard pattern and design, or with the newer hair flies which are particularly kilUng for the stream-raised small-mouth. THE FLOATING BASS BUG To the keen sport of tossing the feathery fancies to the small-mouth has been added the thrills of dry fly fishing. Not the ordinary cocked feathery winged floating fly of the trout fisherman, but a sure honest-to-goodness floater designed entirely for the bass fisherman. This fly, in reality, is not a fly as one terms the flies of the trouter; it is more of a bug, miller or moth, and it has a cork body that keeps it on the surface at all times while the wings and tail are a combination of feathers and bucktall. When the bass are on the rise, making the surface for the unlucky hopper or butterfly that happens to misjudge his distances and light on the water, then the floating bass bug certainly shines as the greatest lure that ever helped send the jumps up the back- bone. During the past two or three years the bass bug has been given the once over on many streams by some of the best-known fly casters in the game, and the verdict has been unanimous in the judgment that it has added an angle to the bass fly-fishing game that increases the joy of the sport lOO per cent. These bass bugs are great little workers on fast water, and are generally nshed diagonally up and across the stream and then allowed to float down 64 THE FLOATING BASS BUG 65 with the current, and the long streaming tails and hackles of bucktail hair have a wonderfully lively wiggle as they make their way downstream; fact is the bass simply cannot keep from making a rush at these floating bugs. In a way the floating bass flies are not entirely new, as we have had Jamison's Coaxer Floating Flies for both bass and trout for a number of years, and these old-timers in the floating line are a mighty successful lure for the game bass; however, the bass bugs are different in that the body is smaller and shaped like the body of a bee or bug and tapering down to a point in some cases with the addition of the bucktail hairs, while the Coaxer flies are tailed with feathers exclusively. As is always the case with something new that has made good with a kick, and particularly when that something has anything to do with the sporting game, who made the first one and who introduced it to the game is a mooted question that is walloped around the ring until the poor cuss goes down, with the count. Will Dilg of Chicago, a well-known and skillful bass fly-caster, in a recent article in a sporting maga- zine credits Mr. B. F. Wilder of the Butterick com- pany, New York city, with tying the first dry fly to take bass on the Upper Mississippi, these flies being used with wonderful success by Mr. Dilg in this fly fisherman's paradise in the fall of 19 16. 66 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Hon. Carter H. Harrison, former mayor of Chi- cago, and a noted fly fisherman who has cast his fly in many waters, has this to say about the hair fly in the Wabasha waters of the Upper Mississippi: " For many years I have not been guilty of using bait in fishing, but I am free from conscientious scruples against hitching my fly to a small spinner when fishing for large trout or bass. " Several years ago a St. Louis fisherman intro- duced the ' Mississippi bug ' to these waters, a good- sized doodle bug tied with deer hair and black thread in imitation of a crawfish. To the simon-pure fly fisherman this critter is an abomination. Hitched to a spinner with a blade the size of a dime, it just about sets the average bass crazy. When the bass refuse to rise to the ordinary fly, I offer them the bug. Naturally I prefer the plain fly; it is a more sportsmanlike lure, and besides there is a rare pleas- ure in feeling the snap of a bass at a fly of your own tying. For years I have made my own flies. But if the bass show no hankering for flies I use the spinner and bug." No doubt the St. Louis fisherman referred to by Mr. Harrison was Walter C. Taylor, one of the cleverest stream bass fishermen of the Middle West. In introducing the floating bass fly to the Upper Mis- sissippi waters, Mr. Taylor used a Wyman hair fly which he had paraffined, one somewhat similar to the fly which is credited with over seventy small- THE FLOATING BASS BUG 67 mouth bass in two days from the St. Francis and the Varner rivers in Missouri. Mr. Taylor having landed the seventy fish being a true sportsman, how- ever, it is needless to say that the big majority of these fish were returned to the water uninjured. SOME BASS BUGS Going a little deeper into the floating bass bug matter, I have the following from Mr. Edward Wy- man, sportsman, angler, and big-game hunter, who is the real daddy of the modern hair fly. " The dry fly for taking bass has recently come into high favor in some districts where at times their merit has been established. As a rule of prac- tice. It is probably true that, for consistent results, the wet fly, well sunken, will take more fish, whether it be bass or trout, and one is convinced that the suc- cess that some men have with artificial minnows and other engines of warfare, used by bait casters, is due principally to their being taken to the notice of the fish by gravitation. " The season of the year and the controlling con- ditions must determine the desirability of surface flies. Some time back, Walter C. Taylor of St. Louis used one of my hair flies on the Upper Mis- sissippi, having paraffined the fly for a floater. On the occasion of its first use he had tried everything he had in his well-stocked kit, without any results, and as a last resort used the paraflined hair fly. With this fly he took seven fine bass in short order. This was at Alma, and Hank Hennings, the famous river guide, was with Mr. Taylor. 68 SOME BASS BUGS 69 " It has been said, ' a bass will take anything,' but if there is a more capricious fish than the small- mouth bass, one has never heard it named." No doubt, the Wyman hair fly should be given some credit for interesting anglers in the dry fly for small-mouth bass, and for which thought the fishing clan can be thankful, as these floaters are certainly winners in enticing the game fins to the surface strike, which is the most thrilling manner in which a fish takes a lure. I recall an experience of some three years ago in which I had eleven surface strikes from husky bass in about forty-five minutes, and all of these bass made a swirling strike, cutting the water with their dorsal fin and hitting the Surprise-Minnow an awful smack. Some of the bass started cutting through the water before the bait hit the surface, and of all the fishing experiences that come back to me in the off days, I figure these rapid-fire actors the most exciting bass that have answered to the call of my bait. Claude C. Refner, a well-known Chicago bass fisherman, ties a wonderful bass bug, following the coloring of some of the best known standard de- signs, the most popular of which are the following: Peet's Favorite, white body, brown stripes, white tail and wings: Dilg's Gem, orange, brown body, black stripes, brown and gray tail, brown turkey wings; Clarke's Fancy, white body, red tail and wings; Zane Grey, gray body, striped tail and wings; 70 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Carter Harrison, brown body, yellow stripes, fox squirrel tail and wings; Wilder's Discovery, yellow body, red stripes, red and white tail; Doctor Hen- shall, brown body, red stripes, brown tail, red and white wings. Dixie Carroll, white body, black stripes, golden pheasant wings and tail. These pat- terns have been standardized and are recognized as bass bugs that will meet conditions of practically any waters, in addition to which many different color combinations known to be particularly attractive to Mr. Bass are made up. Bill Huston of Mimeiska, Minn., one of the best-known bass fishermen, says that Ref's bugs have the regular flies skinned a mile and that he never had so much sport in all his fishing days as he had when watching the old bass busting the water like a charge of dynamite hitting those bugs. Call J. McCarty, all round champion caster at the Newark tournament in 19 16, ties a bass bug that is a wonderfully good lure and his dragon fly is something that makes a bass stand right up on his toes to get a chance to snap it off the surface. One of the best all round bugs that I have ever used for bass and rainbow trout is a clever hair bug tied by Orley C. Tuttle, one of the keenest fishermen of the Fulton chain in the Adirondacks. Orley's " Devil Bug," as he calls it, sort of resembles a small mouse and the lively wiggling bucktail hairs from which it is tied, certainly have an enticing SOME BASS BUGS 71 movement in the water that any self-respecting bass cannot resist. What the bass really think this devil bug is, I make no guess, but they have a fatal desire to give it a walloping crack like the loving kiss of a pile driver. This season I had Orley tie me a larger size for musky, and it proved equally as good for these game huskies. Used, of course, with a spoon as a helper, I had much keen sport with this bug, casting for musky and I am willing to play a stack of whites, that, as the hair fly and bug become better known as a musky bait, many of the clan will find much pleasure from using it for these big rough- necks of the water terrain. E. H. Peckinpaugh of Chattanooga, Tenn., ties a rattling good bass bug in many of the old line standard patterns that have been so successful here- tofore in wet fly fishing for bass, and these bugs certainly are attractive to the game ones. The Coachman, Silver Doctor, Yellow Sally and many others as tied by " Peck " have far more pep in at- tracting the bass as a floating bass bug than they have had in the past in the old style fly. All of which goes to show that the floating bass bug is here to stay and that it sure brings home the bacon. And at the same time it seems to make the bass crazy to get at it, just wakens every bit of pep they have and makes 'em charge it like a bull going for a red cloth. They take to it like a duck takes to water, and after they get hooked it makes 'em 72 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS sore as the dickens for falling for the bug. Prob- ably that's why they put up such a kicking fight to get loose from it. FACTS ABOUT THE BASS The basses, both large and small-mouth, are with- out doubt the most voracious of the fresh-water game fins and besides that they have more speed when in search of their prey than any of the other fishes and to satiate an appetite that seems to be un- limited, they are on the forage for food most of the time. The basses are a hardy race of tailkickers and they are scrappers from the earliest moments of their lives. To these two facts, we tossers of the fly and bait can thank the gods of the great outdoors for the large number of bass that are found all over this little old country. And to another good point of the basses we can give thanks and that is the family instinct which makes the bass, both the old daddy of the odd thou- sands of youngsters and the mother, zealously pro- tect the young flappers until they are able to skirm- ish around and hold up their own end. As long as the little cusses stick together around the home nest in a bunch, the parent fish guard them with a watch- ful eye and a set of spikes that can cut their way through any enemy, but let the youngsters assert their independence and strike out for themselves, 7Z 74 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS and it's a ten to one shot that they are more likely to be eaten by their own parents than by any of the waiting enemies in the outside waters. The spawning season for the bass varies as to dif- ferent localities and is often affected by the condi- tion of the season. A late cold spring will set it back considerable, while an early warm spring ad- vances it somewhat. In the South the spawning generally begins in March and in the middle and Eastern states it begins about the first week in May and extends into July, as a. rule the large-mouth start spawning about two weeks after the small-mouth. The small-mouth build their nests in the gravel or rocky bottoms as a preference or on a sandy or clay bottom as a second choice, while the large-mouth prefer to nest on the roots of the under-water plants. These fish bungalows are located in a foot or two of water, because the water in the shallows near shore is warmer than in the deeper pools and the sun gets a chance to shoot some of its heat into the nest. One family of a pair of bass certainly runs up into figures, they are great little anti-race suicide advo- cates. They average about 7,000 youngsters to the pound weight of the mater bass and at that rate a three-pound female of the species would have a nice little crowd of 21,000 tiny tailkickers start- ing out in life to make things interesting for the fishermen. Of course the entire outfit never grows up to the point where they pass the legal limit, but » No. 1 a Producer weedless spoon hook with a Booster bait, fine for casting for bass; No. 2 a Silver Soldier spoon for deep trolling for salmon and lake trout; No. 3 an Edgren Minnow for casting and trolling for bass; No. 4 a Pflueger Luminous Tandem Spinner, a rattling good bait for bass when they are down deep during the hot weather and excellent for trolling; No. 5 a Pfiueger Porpoise Hide Phantom Minnow, a great bait for wall-eye pike and fine for bass either casting or deep trolling; No. 6 a Pflueger Lowe-Star spoon, fine for casting for bass and pike and the larger sizes a great musky lure; No. 7 a South Bend Weedless bucktail spinner, fine for bass casting in stream fishing and lakes; No. 8 an Archer Spinner, good for casting and trolling for bass and pike; No. 9 Pflueger Lowe Buf- falo Bait, the smaller sizes of which are excellent bass and pike cast- ing spoons while the larger are great for big musky, pike and pick- erel; No. 10 a Jamison Fly Rod Wiggler, a fine artificial for the fly rod for trout and bass and I have found it very effectively used on the short bait casting rod riding a dipsey sinker ahead of it. All of these lures are worth while and will help the angler to interest the game fish nearly any time or part of the season. FACTS ABOUT THE BASS 75 enough of them do grow up to make things lively in the fishing game. After hanging around home for about a week or ten days, the roaming instinct asserts itself and the " little fellers " hike out for themselves and swim into the more shallow waters where the under-water weeds are abundant. At the time they leave their home and the protection of their parents they are about an inch in length and they travel in schools, snapping up every kind of insect life and even taking a chance at the small gnats and flies on the surface. When they get a bit older and reach a growth of about four inches they are well able to take care of themselves and they develop their audacity and voracity by making war on the minnow in the near-shore pools, chasing and battling far larger minnows than their own weight and size. This same battling nature and training from the fry stage up is what make 'em such grand old fighters when they get to the fishable size, and it certainly is a fact that the ones which survive the endless fight for existence in the watery recesses have accumu- lated a bunch of tricks that make them the keen antagonist that they are. From experiments with the large-mouth bass a few years ago, the United States fish commission gives us a few figures that show up the bass as a sure enough cannibal. Of 100,000 fish raised In the spring in one of the government fish ponds, only 76 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 30,000 were left when they were removed in the fall for planting. While the big majority of these fry weighed around two and three ounces, there were over 500 that weighed nearly half a pound each. These latter fish are probably the boys who grow up into the six and seven-pounders we all have a hanker- ing to connect up with on our fishing trips. At the same time one of these little rascals devoured five others nearly as large as himself in one week, when placed in a separate tank with them. With an ap- petite like that, this husky youngster would probably develop into one of the big old " he-whops " you often hear about, but seldom have the luck to meet up with. When the little fellows survive long enough to celebrate their second birthday they attain an aver- age length from 8 to 12 inches and sport a weight of about a pound and from that time on, fighting their way through life they add on about a pound a year until they attain their maximum weight unless they decorate the stringer on the way up. The maximum weight of the small-mouth is approxi- mately four to five pounds and that of the large- mouth from six to eight pounds. Those that sneak past these limits are sure some fish, and happy is the mortal who feels the strike of these pastmasters in the art of keeping off the hook. Food supply and range of water are conditions that govern the growth of the bass, as well as all FACTS ABOUT THE BASS 77 other fish and you will often find larger bass in a small deep lake than in the larger shallower waters. In the warmer Southern waters where the bass feed the entire year, their growth is greater than in the Northern waters where they turn into the mud and weeds and hibernate during the winter, but when they get out in the spring, they sure have more pep than their Southern cousins. HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH Of all the varied angles to the great sport of fish- ing that send the joy jumps through the system, fly fishing for the stream-raised, bronze-backed, red- eyed battler, the small-mouth bass, has the rest of the game panting at the starting point. The big old husky musky will produce a muscular fight that is second to none, the rainbow trout Is there with the fast jumping fight, the brown trout prefers to rough it a bit, the brook trout acts similar to the loose end of a live electric wire and the large-mouth bass has a smacking kick like an army mule, but for a real pleas- ure producer, place your bet on the small-mouth brother of the fast stream. The rod for the beginner at fly casting for bass should be a bit heftier than the trouting tackle for the reason that you will find It necessary to rough him more than the speckled beauties. He is an adept at finding the snags and rocks of the bottom and he sure knows how to use them to advantage. In deep water he will make a spiral dive in an effort to entangle the line around a root or snag and break it, when It takes a little roughing to bring him up again. The safety first of fighting the small-mouth is to keep him near the surface, to make It a top 78 HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH 79 o' the water battle; this is particularly so in fast water. This does not mean that the line should be kept so taut that you are in danger of pulling him through the air like a flying fish, but just the happy medium between taut and slack. Let the rod arch, make the spring of the rod be the force that tires the fish. Keeping the line pulled too strong is about as bad as giving the fish too much slack, as he is likely to make a getaway in either case. As the game little sport makes his leap into the air, take away the slack, but give him back a little line as he hits the water, so that he does not land on a taut line and tail off to other waters. THE WET-FLY GETS 'eM The sunken or drowned fly as a general thing will get more bass than the dry fly, that is, conditions are usually better for the wet fly than the floaters, al- though on the fast moving unbroken water or the more placid water at the head of a pool, the float- ing bass bug is a sure killer in the fly game. If you are fishing the fly in fairly deep water it should be allowed to sink quite a bit and the retrieve be made slowly; in pools with a depth of ten or twelve feet give the bass plenty of time to decide whether to take a wallop at your fly or pass it up. The bronze-backer has a preference to fighting the fast water and he likes the deep spots in the rapids, especially if there be a submerged bowlder 8o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS or log close by as a handy hiding place in time of need. Some of the largest scrappers of the family have been taken from these snug harbors of the game fins and generally the fellow who hangs out there is a big one who has pre-empted the spot and lords it over that neck of the waters. Toss your fly a trifle below the rock or log and retrieve it slowly with a series of slight jerks to give the fly a tremb- ling, dancing motion in the water to give it a semb- lance of life, but don't overdo the jerks, just about let the tip of the rod carry the trembling motion of the wrist to the fly. And, by the way, if you watch your fly you will be surprised at the amount of mo- tion it develops from a slight twitch of the wrist, due a lot, no doubt, to the vibration in the well tuned split bamboo fly rod. SPEED ON THE STRIKE In striking the bass via the fly route, make the strike the Instant the fish strikes or you will not find it necessary to strike at all. He never wastes a moment in throwing the fly. In clear fine water you will often see the bass make his dash for the feath- ery fancy, and if such is the case, strike the moment you first glimpse him and that won't be any too soon. You can afford to set the hook well as the small- mouth bass has a strong, tough mouth and setting the hook right at the start Is a little insurance on the rest of the fight. HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH 8i At times the small-mouth is a trifle capricious and refuses to answer to the. luring call of the fly. Often when he is in such a humor the addition of a very small spinner in front of the fly will encourage him to say " howdy," but make the spinner a small light affair, not larger than a dime at the most. As a strike coaxer, the spinner is generally equal to the occasion, but this slight added weight will soon put a kink in the lighter rods, which is another reason for the slightly heavier tackle for the small-mouth game. As to the exact size spinner that you should use on your own particular rod, that all depends upon the rod itself and in a few casts you can easily determine the spinner which best suits your rod and that can be used without subjecting it to strain. The small difference in weight of a spinner may seem of slight importance to the beginner, but with the life of a high-priced rod at stake, the angler can save a healthy nick in his bank-roll by going light on the spinner. KNOWS HIS HOME WATERS Just paste this fact up in your history of the small- mouth; he knows the waters he lives in and he has a habit of choosing his own battle-ground. He may make a dash for the swiftest part of the stream, or bore down to the bottom, halted in this effort he may strike for a run across the stream making frantic leaps on the slightest indication of a little slack in 82 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the line, or he dotes on curving himself across the stream, making the current help him in his effort to get away. He is playing a game to his liking and he is a past master at making a fisherman the laugh- ing stock of the waterways. That's the thing that makes the game of tossing the feathers to the small-mouth stream-raised bass the regal sport it really is and the fellow who comes in with a well-filled creel of the bronze-backed scrap- pers is a wonderfully lucky cuss, so help me Hannah. SOME FLY SELECTIONS Old-timer, since the first trout came up to the surface and said " howdy " to an artificial fly, that particular pattern was a favorite with the angler who happened to attract the attention of the trout with it. And he probably doped up a fine story of just how hard it had been to make that fly in order to get just the colors and style to make it the killer it was. After a few days when the big fins were off the feed and failed to answer to this fly's whistle, the old sport at the husky end of the rod started gluing and tying flies, and he has been at it ever since; that's why we have about 5,000 flies to select from in filling our little old flybook. Where they ever laid hold of the color combina- tions for the fly families is beyond me, and what the trout or bass really think these highly colored feath- ery fancies are, is entirely up to the fish. It is a mighty interesting thing to know, however, that some of the largest fish have come to grief on the gaudiest of the flies. And backed up against this record is the fact that some of the home-tied vari- ety, with no more pedigree than a barnyard rooster, have landed fish equally as large, if not larger. Taking the fly subject, both ways from the Jack, 83 84 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS I have about come to the conclusion that it is not entirely the fly or its coloration that makes a hit with the game fin, but the way that fly is handled by the fisherman. In fairly civilized trout waters, no mat- ter how well chosen has been your fly, or how well the cast has been made, if you have not placed it in likely spots and then handled it right when dropped, the further selection of flies will not be necessary. In fact you can take most any old ruffled-up, no-ac- count fly, sticking back in the corners of your flybook, and handled right, you can generally catch a few fish. Why, it's often just such an old fly you light onto last when changing 'em for the eagerly sought sure-fire killer you need at that moment, after having whipped everything else up, down and across the stream in an effort to coax the battling brothers out of their home waters. Of course, seeing these flies through the water as is the case with the fish, we have to give them some credit of knowing what they think they look like, it may be that the water blends the color com- binations into a mighty inviting dish to a hungry trout. We do not know, however, that you have to strike 'em with some speed, anyway, as they are quick to kn'ow that the feathery fly is not a grub- stake, and cough it out just about as speedily as they strike it. For night or evening fishing, " after dark " fish- ing, as most of the boys call it, use a dark-colored SOME FLY SELECTIONS 85 fly, and although this may seem a bit queer to the fellows who have not tried for the big fellows after the stars are out, it sure will come up strong as a creel jfiller. There is always more light reflected in the sky at night than in the stream, in other words, the waters are darker and the dark bodied fly will show up more against the lighter sky background than will the fly of lighter body. This light-colored fly will blend in more with the sky and be of less prominence to the trout. In tossing 'em something to eat you might as well make it as showy as pos- sible. Never make 'em worry about a piece of fish food on its way past their feeding-grounds. The time to make 'em worry is after you hook and net 'em. Let your dark-colored fly stand out in a silhouette of a good meal. Taking a slant over some back figures, we find that Mary Orvis Marbury, a daughter of Charles Orvis, a fly-fisherman of nation-wide popularity, collected a list of most popular flies from the many well-known fly casters who followed the call of the rustling stream. The 12 most popular patterns named from all over the country, receiving mention from 58 down to 18 times, were the Coachman, Professor, Moyal Coachman, Brown Hackle, Black Gnat, White Miller, Montreal, Grizzly King, Cowdung, Scarlet Ibis, Queen of Waters and Silver Doctor. While the above list shows a good variety of pat- terns and colors, the following selection made from 86 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the lists of well-known fly-fishermen last season will stack you up against a choice that is hard to tear away from. Coachman, Professor, Cahill, Queen of Waters, Royal Coachman, Wickham's Fancy, Stone, Cowdung, McGinty, Brown Hackle, Brown Palmer and Silver Doctor. After you have fished a bit with all kinds of pat- terns you will probably settle down to a few tried- and-true " pets," and swear by them, or at them, forever. Thad Morris had four favorites, Coach- man, Red Hackle, Red Spinner and Black Gnat, and Seth Green of other days placed his chances on four, the Grizzly King, Lake George, Seth Green and Governor Alvord, but when these old-timers failed to land anything worth while they probably blamed it on the weather, the condition of the water, or that the fish were off the feed. As a little old surprise party, forget your fly book some day and then try to improvise something you think will look good to the underwater vets. I re- call some time ago, while on a nice little piece of trout water without any of the tools of the trade, that a farmer's kiddle and myself had a bully fine time tying a few flies from home-raised materials. We took a bit of bucktall hair from a rug on the floor, braced that with a little stiffener from a " porky " skin on the cabin wall, wrapped it all with the only silk thread the settler's wife had, and that was white cotton. On one we wrapped a bit of red SOME FLY SELECTIONS 87 wool I stole out of the kid's undershirt, and on the other we hooked a couple of beads, and say, old scout, you should have seen the game little rascals crowd those two flies until they came apart from the rushing business and poor workmanship. Naturally, old-timer, you want as nice a selection of flies to show your friends as any other fishing pal, but take it from your canal boat friend, the way you handle and where you place the fly is the real reason for the bulging creels. A BIT ABOUT FLIES Way back in the early days, old-timer, even way back before Hector was a purp, in fact I think it must have been back about the stone age, one of our ancestors probably was lolling along a gurgling stream, or just loafing away the time, of which he had plenty to spare and nothing else besides his stone ax, waiting for a nice old gran'daddy bass to come along so that he could either spear it or swat it over the head with his ax, when he noticed a feather float- ing down through the air from a wood duck as it honked its way South to a winter home. The feather wafted through the air and dropped on the water, the wind tossing it lightly with the current. When, with a walloping drive, a nervous wreck in the shape of a man's size rainbow trout struck the feather like a Kansas cyclone and shot back to the bottom. Now, once or twice, our neolithic forebear had tasted a well-scorched trout, which he had grilled with a forked stick over a fire, but the wily trout were a bit too cautious to fall a victim of his slugging tactics in the fishing game. Mulling the feather idea over in his small amount of gray matter, he doped up the prehistoric fly, probably by tying a A BIT ABOUT FLIES 89 couple of feathers on a sharpened bone for a hook. And after his first try out at tossing the feathers to the game fins he spent the remainders of his days tying new designs in flies for himself and the rest of the anglers of his time. This is no doubt the reason we have so many pat- terns in flies at the present time, something over 5,000 different flies to coax the husky tailkickers out of their watery retreats. And about every now and then some fellow ties another style that makes 'em cross-eyed to take a chance at mouthing it. Of course, there are quite a few standard patterns that have made a " rep " for getting the fish, that are hard to beat, yet nearly every angler will swear by some particular pattern as the one best bet, and this fly holds the pet position in his fly book, while his fishing pal may fish the same streams and have, as his killer, a fly of an entirely different style and color. This brings us to the argument between the ultra- purist in the fly fishing game who claims that the flies used must imitate as closely as possible the nat- ural insects that are on the wing along the stream at the time of fishing, and the ordinary fly caster who tosses a standard tied feathery fancy to the waiting fish, changing to another of the same class until he finds one that seems to tickle their palate at that time, and this selection is not made after catching a few of the flying insects and comparing their Ber- 90 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS tillon measurements with the layout in his fly book. Of course, there is a lot of good common sense in imitating nature as much as possible in the making of flies, but the fly that has been successfully used to a greater extent than any other pattern does not imitate any particular insect that is found along the streams, and this little old winner is the Coachman. This green-bodied, white-winged, red-whiskered old fly has probably caught more fish than all the " close- to-nature " styles, and nearly every fly-fisherman has a few tucked away in his fly book, because he knows that it has a " rep " for getting the fish, and regard- less of his pets in the nature line, he has it there for emergency use in order that he can give it a whirl if all others fail. The Coachman has been a life saver to many a fellow in the stream, and for this fly of varied hue we have to thank the imagination of old Tom Bos- worth, royal coachman to three of England's rulers. King George the Fourth, King William the Fourth, and Queen Victoria. Tom sure tied a winner when he doped up the Coachman, and when he had the first one finished he likely hied himself off by his lonesome and gave it a tryout before he passed it around among his cronies of the rod and reel. The Coachman is tied after the conventional standard fly patterns, and fat old Tom Bosworth was about as far away from imitating the natural insects when he mixed the materials and colors for the Coachman A BIT ABOUT FLIES 91 as most of the plugs for bass are away from the nat- ural baits. I figure just a bit this way, old scout, that if the trout are coming up for the feed, they are tickled to death to vary their menu a trifle and take a chance on a fly that in all probabilities looks different to them from anything that has dropped on their waters before, and that the chances are just as good to interest them in a fly that is different, as they are to interest them in an imitation that probably does not fool them at all. In other words, the " some- thing different " appearance of the old-line conven- tional flies may look like a juicy dessert after a gorg- ing on their regular line of feed, while the man- made-close-to-nature effect may be passed up be- cause it does not look as good to them as the regular thing, and they also note the deception. MORE ABOUT FLIES In trying to imitate nature along the stream side, in the selection of flies, when we consider the keen sight of the trout, can we really say that we are fool- ing these game fins into believing that the imitation we toss to them is one of the regular stream insects upon which they have been feeding. May it not be more correct to think that we are tossing an insect to them and that they merely take it for another piece of food coming into their vision. When we consider the many conventional styles of flies that have been stand-bys in the fly game, flies that never have been much of an imitation of natural stream insects and that have been used throughout a season with good results, is it not a squarer deal for the keen-sighted trout to give him the benefit of the doubt, that although we are fooling him to the extent that he thinks our offering is a bit of feed, we are not getting a rise out of him because he takes the fly for a local member of the insect escadrille that flies over his battle front. Which brings us down to the point that spending half one's time on the stream chasing a bunch of in- sects and doping out their duplicates from the fly book, is losing a bit of time that could be used in 92 MORE ABOUT FLIES 93 whipping the stream and fiUing the creel. When you figure out that the trout has keen enough sight to tail off to the under-water log, rock or washed-out bank when you merely as much as show your arm above the bushes, and that they will continue to feed in plain sight if your dog happens to run down to the water and kick around a little while he laps up a drink, it's good medicine that you are more likely to interest him in something new and different than you are to make him think that your feathery offering is the second course in his regular meal. Next time you are on a stream, old-timer, toss a few odds and ends into the water, and as they float down around the bowlders or along the edges of the under-washed bank watch the old boys come up and nose these little offerings. I have had them come up and get acquainted with the ends of burnt matches, little wrinkled bits of paper, the colored revenue tax stamp from an old Bull Durham sack, mountain ash berries, gayly-colored flower petals, a twisted cigarette butt, and numerous other things. And it's a ten-to-one shot that they come up to see whether the passing article, with the strange appear- ance, was a bit of fish food. A fly that has been making quite a killing among the trout, bass, and musky fishermen during the past year Is the all-hair fly and the hair and feather com- bination fly. These flies are being tied In all kinds of hair, from the regulation bucktail down to albino 94 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS squirrel, and although none that I have seen Imitate any particular Insect or resemble In any way the usual stream-side flies, they certainly have been mighty luring to the game boys. The big point that stands out In their favor Is the wonderful wiggling motion of the hairs in the water. It seems that each individual hair has a nervous little twitch of Its own, and the combined bunch of twitching hair makes a lifelike movement on and In the water that the trout, bass, and musky seem unable to resist. Ed Wyman, a fly caster of note and a big game hunter, has been tying hair flies for a number of years, and these flies are certainly killers for bass, salmon, and musky. And the beauty about Ed's hair flies Is that they are tied to stay tied and they stand a bunch of rough use that the ordinary fly would go to pieces under. Any fisherman who is fortunate enough to get a hair fly tied by Wyman surely has added a fly to his book that will make him happy for life. Emerson Hough, the well-known author, who Is a fisherman from his shoes up, has been tying a buck- tail that will make him as famous as any of his books. The long straggling tail hairs on this fly give It mighty teasing movement In the water. Up to last season, Mr. Hough kept his bucktail fly as a personal affair among his friends, but the requests for them became so numerous, that about all he had time to do was tie flies. So the Emerson Hough MORE ABOUT FLIES 95 Bucktall Fly Is now being made commercially, and has taken its place in the fly family. Not only in the fly line proper has the hair been used, of late, but also in the tying of bucktail shiners and minnows. The Hildebrandt people, of spinner fame, have a small-sized silver shiner, light enough to be handled on the fly rod and still attractive enough to be effective as a lure for the game fins. These shiners are tied with a streaming hair tail that is a decided killer. WIND-UP ON THE FLIES There is quite an argument among tlie knights of the arching rod and singing reel as to who really tied the first hair fly, which is a natural consequence when anything starts on the road to popularity. Not wishing to jim the works any, as to who did it, I quote the following from " The Art of Angling," by R, Brookes, M. D., published in London back in 1760. " To make useful artificial Flies, you fur- nish yourself with a Pocket Case capable of holding the following materials : Bears Hair of divers Col- ors; as gray, dun, light and dark-colored, bright brown and that which shines: Also Camel's Hair, dark, light and of a color between both: Badgers Hair, or Fur: Spaniels Hair, from behind the ear, light and dark brown, blackish and black: Hogs Down, which can be had, about Christmas, of Butch- ers, or rather of those that make Brawn; it should be plucked from under the throat and other soft places of the hog, black, red, whitish and sandy. Cows and calves hair in all the different shades, from the lightest to the darkest brown, both of which are harsh, and will never work kindly, nor lie hand- somely. Flies made of the hairs of bears, hogs, 96 WIND-UP ON THE FLIES 97 squirrel's tail, camels, dogs, foxes, badgers, otters, ferrets, cows, calves' skins, etc., are more natural, lively and keep color better in the water than flies made of crewels and worsted stuffs, unless you mingle hair therewith." Which goes to show that the hair fly is not a spring chicken and that Old Doc Brookes, peace to his ashes, knew a bit about the hair fly way back in the early stages of the game. Although Doc gave his fishing friends the info on the hair fly, they probably never tied a fly in those days that had the lively crawl and movement of the present-time hair flies, nor were they tied as skillfully as those of to- day. I have one chewed up Wyman hair fly that has to its credit the landing of 55 small-mouth bass in the St. Francis river in Missouri, and 22 small- mouth in the Varner river in the same state. After all this mauling, the fly is still in shape to land more bass. Here is a fly made entirely of hair, with the exception of two small narrow feathers tailing out behind, that made the bass cross-eyed to get it and yet it does not resemble or imitate anything that ever flew over the Missouri streams. I make it that these bass were attracted by the wonderful movement of the hairs in the fly; that it looked like something to eat that was possibly getting away, and that the fly never for a minute fooled the wily bass that it was something that they had been feeding on as a regular diet. 98 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS And the fact that this hair fly stood up under the heavy work of landing such a number of lighting game fins shows up the hair as a mighty durable ma- terial for fins. Of course it had to be tied with care and skill to outlast the roughing it received, some- thing that few, if any, of the standard feathery flies would live through. C. C. Refner of floating bass bug fame ties a bucktail fly that carries an added attraction besides the lively wiggle of the hairs. " Ref " has doped up a prismatic coloring that lets the light shine through the hair in a scintillating way that seems to make the flies quite a bit more lifelike than the darker flies. It is interesting to note the hair fly, tied on a larger hook, is being used in the quest of the rough- neck musky and that it has been found a good lure for this gay dog of the underwater haunts. The large silver shiner with the hair and a few feathers is, however, a better lure for the musky, and the shiner or fly can be either cast with the fly rod or the shorter bait-casting tool. Unless one is a skill- ful manipulator of the fly rod, it is folly to subject a clean-cut tool of this class to the kicking fight of the musky, and at that it is some job to land this game cuss with a whippy fly tosser. As the hair flies and the hair and feathered com- bination flies become more generally used, their won- derfully effective action in the water will be appreci- WIND-UP ON THE FLIES 99 ated by the fishermen who find keen pleasure in whipping a bit of water to coax the game fins up to get acquainted. REELSPOOL TO LURE The rod and reel are considered such important parts of the bait-casting outfit that they have been touted as the last word in tackle lore, but the little old line, and from that piece of kit down to the lure, is a detail that really handles the brunt of the bat- tle and should be given greater care, or at least as much attention as either the rod or reel. Fish have time and again been landed after a rod has snapped and I know of one 30-pound musky that was safely played last season, after the reel had slipped loose from the reel seat and flopped down into the water and continued on its way to the bottom of the lake. The fact that the line held and that the leader was right is what finally brought this old rascal to gaff. Therefore, I do not think that the rod or reel are of any more importance than the line and leader, for, should either of these pieces of kit give way, no mat- ter how fine the rod or reel, the old " he-whop " is on his way to other waters and you are reelin' in the shattered hopes and a busted line. In the matter of material for the bait-casting line, we can throw everything Into the discard except silk. No other material has ever run even a close third to this product of the silk worm for a material out 100 REELSPOOL TO LURE loi of which to produce a line that will hold up under the burning wear of steady casting and at the same time not eat a hole Into your thumb. And the silk line should be braided and not twisted, as the twisted affairs will kink the top of a pickaninny's skyplece, and even at that, at times you will get a kink in the silk lines as every bait caster knows. Of the braided lines make a choice of the soft- braided ones, for the very good reason that they are easier on the casting thumb and less likely to put that member on the sick list, if you happen to be on a two weeks trip to the fishing waters and have failed to bring along an extra right-handed thumb. Steady casting for a couple of days, by the fellow who has not been doing much casting before the big trip, will soon enough wear on the thumb a bit and as a little old piece of insurance to have the thumb in condition for the rest of the trip — use the soft-braided silk line. Then another point in its favor is the fact that the soft-braided line spools more evenly on the reel and lies close and smooth, which is an advantage in favor of the next cast and a mighty good anti- back-lash remedy. It is surely a piece of false economy to buy a cheap line, or to wait until the last minute before your trip to rush In and buy any old line the tackle man has on hand. Many a bunch of joy-jumps have been I02 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS turned into gloom clouds by a poor line. Get a line with a good name behind it. A line of soft-braided silk, 50 yards to the spool, and one that you can depend upon costs about a dollar or a bit over that. You'll save fish and money by getting one around this price. Nearly every line maker has a card of sample lines showing sizes and test weights, it's a simple matter to send for one of these cards and make your selection before you stock up. For all round bait-casting there are two sizes of lines that really cover about everything a fellow needs, these are No. 5 or G size and No. 6 or H size, some makers using letters to designate sizes in place of numbers. The No. 5 size tests out around 20 pounds and the No. 6 tests about 15 pounds, and unless you are in waters in which you expect some of the great old barbarians, the musky or pike, the smaller size No. 6 will be found the most satisfactory for general casting. In fact, the fisherman who has passed a few seasons at the sport alluring, seldom uses a heavier line than the No. 6, as this size is plenty strong enough for the fellow who knows how to play the game fins. How long a line will last in the casting game, depends entirely upon the care given it. If you al- low it to dry out on the reel after the day's fishing, to mildew and become rotten, the life of the line will be short and the end sudden, but if you raise it a pet and dry it out thoroughly after fishing, keeping REELSPOOL TO LURE 103 It in an air-tight tube during the off season, you can use it when the fever hits you the following season. Turn your line every day or so, in this way the wear is somewhat evened up, otherwise the part next to the reel will be seldom used. Test the end each day, between the hands, not with a sudden jerk, but an even, slow pull and If the line is worn and weak- ened, cut the dead timber off and save fish and lures later. At the bait end of the line you should use a wire leader and either the gimp twisted wire or the straight piano wire leaders are good for the kit. These leaders are supplied with snaps and swivels and there Is no more useful and time saving part of the tackle than a leader so arranged. If you get a heavy close-up strike from one of the dagger- toothed villains you will thank your lucky stars that you have a strong wire leader between his teeth and not the bare line. You can loop your line into the end swivel and changing lures will take but a mo- ment's time to loosen the snap on the other end. And the swivel, old-timer, is a mighty small affair, but it sure does keep the line from kinking and snarl- ing. To see just what value it really is, make a few casts without one and then shoot out a few with the swivel in use and you certainly will see the difference. WORMING FOR TROUT In the early season when the trout streams are generally at flood, or at least a bit high, and the waters are roiled Or slightly colored with the mud and truck from along the shores, about the best little old bait that keeps you from coming home without a fin in the creel, is the angleworm. That little wig- gling cuss you used way back in the knee-pants stage of the game on the sunnies and other panfish. Some of the most experienced anglers of the fish- ing clan who, early In the season, carry a fly book filled with flies of every color and hue, are supposed to have passed up the fishworm in their flight to glory, but after giving the stream the once or twice over without coaxing a rise, they generally are able to search around in their hip pockets and locate a little box of worms hidden away for just such an emergency, and, if no one is looking, they hook on a nice, juicy common fishworm and take a shot with it. As the trout are bottom feeding on just such food in the early season and have their lamps pealed for the worms as they are washed downstream, it's a fairly good bet that the angler, with his experience at the game, lands a few nice ones regardless of the murky condition of the stream. 104 The bait casting rod, that short little joy stick which has made it possible for many, many fellows to get into the angling game. The ease with which it is mastered has opened up the wonders of the water trails to thousands of fellows, who possibly would not have had the nerve to try the sport by mastering the long whippy fly rod at the jump off. No. 1 shows the long tip of the Jim Heddon rod and No. 2 is the Heddon rod jointed, this rod is a split bamboo and a rattling good one. No. 3 is a light tip for light lures and No. 4 is the complete Horrocks-Ibbotson rod. with a medium heavy tip 'for heavier lures, this rod with a light and heavy tip niakes a fine combination and it is an e:?c;cellent split bamboo affair.. Rods No. 5, 6, and 7 are of my own make and range from Syi to 5 ounces in weight, they are personal pets of split bamboo which I have used for 12 to 15 years. No. 5 is a two piece, 6 and 7 are one piece with butt. ^ No. .8 is a Bristol steel rod, a fine one for musky, and No. 9 is a Bristol telescopic steel rod, a mighty handy rod to carry in the woods for all kinds of fishing as it is adjustable to any length from four to six and a .half feet. No. 10 is a Bristol steel pocket rod, made with very small joints and a handy rod to pack in small space or slip into the pocket, while No. 11 is a fifteen year old Bristol steel that has been carried on many trips during that time into the hinter- lands as a piece of rod insurance. It has traveled many miles on steel, stream and portage as a safety first against breakage of the .split bamboos. '.iiif •- I II M 254567 8 9 10 I WORMING FOR TROUT 105 Do not for a minute, old-timer, get the idea that fishing for trout with the worm is an easy proposi- tion. You need just as much stream knowledge, and far more stealth and care in approaching your pools, in early season worming for trout as you do in the fly-casting days when the duns begin to hatch and you match your feathered hooks with the colors of the stream insects that are flitting about. It is, of course, impossible for anyone to stack up a bunch of set rules on the fishing of all streams. Every stream has its own peculiarities and condi- tions, but there is one old rule that cannot be broken by the trout fisherman on any stream, and that is, " don't let the trout see you or your shadow." This is one of the standby rules that sure applies to the early season, when the trout are keenly on the look- out for anglers as well as food. If you are wading in the middle of the stream, don't for a minute think that the wise old spotted rascal, who may be hiding a foot or two under an overhanging bank, is asleep on the job; he knows and sees all that is going on right close up and for considerable distance. And if he sees you first, before the worm comes down In a tantalizing wiggle, he'll never slip into your creel on that trip downstream. As the streams clear up a bit and the waters fall to about normal the trout are more on the feed, and their food at this time consists of worms, leeches, crabs, helgramites and other underwater io6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS forms that are carried down to them by the flowage of the stream, and live worms used with skill and care will get the fish, while you can cast your arm off with a fly and probably get nothing but practice, which is sure not what the average fisherman is look- ing for. There is quite a difference between worming for trout and fishing for trout with worms. To merely hook on a couple of worms and throw out your line, letting the current carry it down lickety-split, half the time buried in mud and hidden by debris until a trout happens to nose it out and swallows it, is not worming for trout by any means. That is pure and simple still fishing, about as lively as fishing for sun- nies, and neither sportsmanlike nor much fun. The real early season sport with the worm is to use the same tackle as in fly-casting and to- cast into the most likely spots. Covering the swirl of water around the partly submerged bowlders, dropping your worm above the cut-under bank so that it will carry down along that hiding place ; around the roots of trees and in the pools formed by the piled-up brush and debris; and, most important of all in the rapids and shallow pools and at the heads of pools where the water is a bit swifter and more active, here you will generally fi.nd the big fellows gorging themselves. That's what makes 'em big — always sticking around where the feed is the thickest. The riggin' for worming for trout is a simple af- WORMING FOR TROUT 107 fair. Take the ordinary trout gang of two small hooks, about No. 8 size, tied to a looped leader. Tie this on your leader and you can either take one large-sized worm and hook it on the top hook leav- ing the short end to wiggle, and then hook it down farther on the second hook, allowing the other end of the worm to dangle loosely, or you can take two smaller-sized worms and slip one on each hook, in- serting the hooks through the middle of the worms. This later method is usually found more effective, as the worms are far more lively, and the more wiggle to friend worm the greater the interest cre- ated among the trout. And in the early season, after a hard winter, and the high cost of trout liv- ing setting new altitude records, believe me, there is nothing more alluring to the trout than aforesaid wiggle of the worm. In making your cast vAth the worm, go about it gently, as the worm is easier to snap off the hook than it is to snap off a fly in casting. Don't allow the worm to sink to the bottom, but give it a little motion and keep it in about middle depths. Your down-stream worm in middepths is quickly seen by the trout and he will rise to it with the same pug- nacity that he shows when taking a wallop at your fly. After the strike, you play him with the same tackle and use the same skill that you do in fly-fishing for him, and far be it from me to cause an argument with any of the fly-purists — but what makes the io8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS game unsportsmanlike is the point that has your uncle fanning the air. I figure, old-timer, that going after the game fins with what they are feeding on at that time — and playing 'em with light tackle — is playing the game fair, and the devil take the hindmost. A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS Regardless, old man, of the great number of baits and lures flaunted before you each season as you make your many pilgrimages to the tackle stores to gloat over the fine stuff lying around those places, there are a few that you have probably never used because you have not been hep to them. And in most cases these baits have been discovered by some- one who carelessly left the real stuff lying on the pier or about the camp and little old mother neces- sity made 'em put on their think-tank and dope up an emergency lure that would induce the big fellows to strike it and eventually land in the spider. Olaf Hanson, a genial mate on a freighter on the great lakes, a sailorman by instinct and a fisherman for the love of the game, pulled a fine one last sea- son. Olaf had a bit of time on his hands one blust- ery, cold day in May, while his good ship was tied up in Copper Harbor, Mich., so he ambled off to Tango lake and took a flier at his pet sport. But he forgot his spoon hooks and being an observing fellow with an inventive turn to his gray matter, Olaf doped up a spoon which brought back the bacon to the tune of a 29-pound pike, which is sure no big fin to be sneezed at. And, old-timer, you can figure 109 no FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS it out for yourself the peppery fight this gay rascal made In the cool waters of Tango lake, before be- coming doped up with the heat of a lazy summer. And Olaf's spoon was nothing more nor less than the half of a clam shell, picked from the sands along the shore. Not so bad for a lure at that, the pearly shine of the Inside of the shell and the dulled outer side probably made an Inviting flash as it wobbled through the water. At least It played the swan song of a big fin of the pike family, fine enough fish for any angler to match wits with. In rigging his tackles, Hanson bored a small hole through the clam shell, passed his line through the hole and let the shell wobble around on the wire leader. Tack this idea on the back walls of your brain cells, old man, so that you can be prepared for the next time you hit a likely looking piece of water and find the spoons among the missing. And even at that, what's the odds, give It a try out anyway some day when the big fins are off the other lures you have tried out and which don't seem to Interest them. Here's to the clam shell, long may It wobble, thanks to Olaf Hanson and his keen thinker. Bob Moulton, another simon-pure fishing fan, who would rather fish than do his knitting, and who has whipped many waters from coast to coast, copped the kitty with a spoon last season that made three muskies sit up on their tails and whistle for the breaks. Bob was out on a mighty Inviting piece A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS in of fishing waters with a friend who couldn't tell the difference between a fish hook and an anchor. The only thing on the launch that resembled tackle in the slightest degree was a couple hundred feet of heavy hand line and a few hooks, so Moulton gave the launch the once over again and found a small nickle shoe horn which he pounced on with a yelp of fiend- ish glee. He bent the small end of the horn on a right angle, passed the line through the hole, knotted it above and below the hole and walloped it out in the water for a ten strike. That the fish fell for this improvised spoon in its skipping glide through the water is shown by a string of three muskies rang- ing from eleven pounds up to sixteen. Of course, old timer, the moral of this is to always carry a few shoe horns in your off hind pocket, or if you must fish when the kit is back home in the safe, do a little Edison stuff and make up an emergency outfit from what you find lying around. For a live bait that has everything in the layout beaten at the starting post, you gotta doff the sky- piece to the goldfish. The mud minnow, which is a favorite, the shiner, chub, sucker or anyone of the minnow family don't show up at all when it comes to a bass bait that makes 'em cross-eyed to get at it. I had this tip passed to me last season and hogged it right up to now, because it was a killer and a sure fire bass teaser. The info on the goldfish was slipped to me by a 112 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS friend who got it first hand from a party who has used no other bait for any fishing during the past forty years and he has fished with this bait all over this country, also in Asia and South Africa, in fact, he first learned of it in Siam many years ago. I had a sort of feelin' that my friend was passing me a short line of bull, so I did not try out the goldfish bait until mid-season and on a hot sticky July day when the bass were down below looking for the cool spots. When I let that shining wiggling bait tail its way in among them, they probably thought it was easy money, because they took the bait like hungry wolves. There was simply nothing to it, the bass could not resist the golden lure as it flashed its invi- tation to them. A few days later, fishing with a pal on very civ- ilized waters, we caught three to one with the gold- fish against the mud minnow and chub. For still fishing for bass, or a light short cast letting the bait sink, when the fish are down deep, the goldfish is certainly some bait. The nearest thing in artificials to the goldfish is a Keeling Minnow. This bait is a two inch minnow of a copper color and a good small-mouth lure, but you have to let it go way down for the fish; it is exceptionally good in the hot weather for deep fishing. Here's a little dope for the tackle makers, the fellow who gets out a min- now of the color of the goldfish and makes it a short-sized plug is sure going to put on the market A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS 113 a winning lure. But to make it a winner, the plug will have to carry the shining, orange-golden color of the real goldfish. ON HANDLING THE PLUG Old man, when you lope into a tackle store and see the many different artificial plugs for unsuspecting fish, you are sure in a quandary as to a selection of what plugs will really get the fish. Naturally every plug-maker touts his bait up as the one and only sure-shot killer, and at that he is not far wrong — here's a bit of a secret, and one that will be well for you to tack away in your gray matter. Any old plug will get fish if you play it right and keep it moving in the water, but you certainly got to keep it moving. You could throw a plug on the water and let it float around all day, and every old game fin in that neck of the waters would let it float in peace, and about all you might expect would be a couple little minnows, or perhaps a perch to come up and nose it around out of curiosity. QUICK TRANSFER OF ROD Where the beginner at plug casting makes his big mistake, old scout, is in slipping up on an import- ant part of the casting game, and that little old point is the transfer of the rod from the right to the left hand the instant the plug strikes the water. Next to the placing of the plug with accuracy in the weed- 114 ON HANDLING THE PLUG 115 pockets, comes the importance of this transfer of the rod and the starting of the plug on its retrieve to the reel the instant it hits the water. And at that, I believe that it is equally important to start the plug homeward instantly, as it is to place it in just the spot you had aimed at. A bass is interested in the plug from the moment it strikes the water, and often this interest is awakened while the plug is in the air right above the water. The bass often starts on the move to make the strike before the splash of the plug, but it's a ten-to-one shot that he does speed up the instant of the splash, and he sure loses interest if the plug lies motionless on the water. The splash of the plug is an incentive to make him strike, and the quick move of the plug makes him think he had better get a move on or this choice bit of grub will get out of his bailiwick and be snapped up by his competitor in the weed-beds. TAKE UP THE SLACK This transfer of the rod from the casting hand to the other one takes practice to get it down to a fine action. As you make the cast on the forward sweep, your arm almost takes a horizontal position at the wind-up, with the elbow slightly forward of the body. As you thumb the reel with the heavy pres- sure to drop the plug where you want it, thrust your other hand out and grasp the rod grip so that the ii6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS instant the plug flops down on the surface you have the rod In position to begin reeling in the line with the casting hand on the reel handle. In order to start the plug immediately, give the rod a horizontal sweep backwards; this gives you a chance to take in any slack and start the line reeling in without leav- ing the plug motionless on the water for an instant. Do not make this sweep too far back or you will not be in a position to strike your fish the moment he strikes your plug, and with the artificial this is neces- sary. As you start reeling in the line, let the rod work back in front of you. This takes the strain off the rod, and you are always in a position to strike if necessary. If you get a backlash, however, all your trouble goes to naught, and if you experience a strike with a backlash in full bloom, good-night; you'll swear by every card in the deck that you will reel in the line more carefully next time. FLOATER FOR THE BEGINNER For a starter in plugs it is well to lay in a supply of floaters, the plug which comes to the surface when you stop reeling in the line. Most of the surface or semi-surface lures are floaters, and the beginner saves quite a bit of money due to this fact, as the underwater plugs have a great little habit of hunting the bottom and lovingly cling to the first snag or rock crevice In the neighborhood. For early season fishing the surface plug is the one that gets the fish, ON HANDLING THE PLUG 117 and in fact It is good right through the season, al- though about mid-season, when the weather is hot and especially for fishing during the daytime, at that period, you will get better results by using either an underwater plug or sending the surface affair down deeper for the fish. Nearly all of the floaters have eyelets or planes which send the lures down to dif- ferent depths and you can fish almost any kind of water with them, except the real deep pools or holes. In early morning and late evening fishing, when the bass are in the shallows, feeding, the surface lure is a rattling good bait, and for night fishing no other style plug has a look-in. RIGHT INTO THE WEEDS Of course, old man, you'll want to cast right Into the weeds when you find a likely-looking spot, and it Is some job to handle a plug in such places without hooking half the weeds In the lay-out. For work In the weeds, unless you strike a fairly open pocket, the plug with the trebled hooks Is bad medicine, and you should either cart a few lures equipped with weedless hooks or one with the twin-hook arrange- ment with the hooks pointing up. For a regular old- style weed rake, nothing has It on the underwater plug, and the floater Is shown up to good advantage in comparison. And don't be In the least surprised at the odd shapes to some of these little old fish teasers. ii8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Many an old " he-whop," that should have known better, has fallen to the lure of a plug that looks no more like his regular line of eats than " Uncle Tom " looks like Sandy Klaws. And keep in mind that every plug in the deck is a fish-getter, and that, if you give it a good try-out and keep it moving in the water, you are likely to surprise yourself as well as the fish by landing a whopper. EARLY SEASON PLUGS For the early season plug casting, when the bass are in the near shore shallows trying to coax a little warmth out of the low water after a hard winter, the sure-fire winner in the wooden bait line is the surface or semi-surface plug. For this shallow water stuff, you don't find it necessary to go way down for them and most of the floaters wiggle along from a foot to two feet below the surface anyway, which is plenty deep enough to catch the eye of the bass that may be kicking around along the route of the dippy, diving plug. Then again, in the early season the big majority of the strikes come the in- stant the plug hits the water, or as it starts on the retrieve. For this reason the surface plugs are far better than the underwater variety because they save endless trouble in snagging on the sunken logs and windfalls which, generally, are found in the shore waters selected by the bass as feeding grounds. Windfalls, underwater logs and brush heaps make the natural hiding place for the bass, and when you have to cast in among 'em, without any knowledge as to protruding limbs and snags, the fact that you have a floater will save time, trouble and your sweet disposition. To get a strike and a snag at the same 119 I20 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS time Is enough to make any fellow toss off a line of " langwedge " equal if not superior to the star out- burst of a freshv/ater sallorman. As to the color that seems to make the game fins cross-eyed to get at it, the white with a bit of red has it all over the balance of the paint box, and this little line of info is not chalked up from the expe- rience of one person, but from the data jotted down from the fishing experiences of some two hundred Waltons of the water trails. As a good bet on the early season plug, make your favorites the white and red combination. The red may only be a dash on the nose of the lure, along the flutes or on the head or top, but wherever it is, it adds to the at- tractiveness and seems to make big boys fightin' mad to wallop it. The next best bet in the color line is the green and white, the combination generally be- ing a crackled green back with a white belly. Fol- lowing this comes the rainbow and perch colors which lope in about neck and neck. With this lay- out of colors you should be prepared for most any water and weather condition, also for the varied feelings of the big bass as to the color that tickles 'em into a striking humor. And not only for the early season fishing will these colors be useful, but any time later they will be found a fine selection for the kit. And tucked away in this grab-bag of plug lore garnered from the actual fishing experiences of over EARLY SEASON PLUGS 121 two hundred of the keen fellows who angle for the gamy bass is one big point that stands out like a sore thumb, and that is the fact that the smaller-sized plugs are coming strong as sure-enough interest cre- ators among the game fins. Not so long ago all the plugs were three to five inches long, but some prac- tical chap in the tackle line slipped onto the smaller stuff and believe me, old-timer, there is a surprise in store for you, if you have overlooked the short, stubby " little fellers." They have a mighty nice casting weight and they act up in the water some- thing scandalous, with a jerky, sliding crawl that puts a crick in the back of a bass in his mad rush to give it the double O. And another thing that helps peg up a little more credit for the small-sized plugs, and that is you get very few short strikes with them, which of course means that your strike is more effec- tive. For the fellows who are not particularly fond of the trebled hooks on the plug, they can be had in most cases with either single hooks attached or with the twin hook. This twin hook is practically weed- less, as the hooks ride barbed point up, which also makes them just about snagless; two points in the favor of the twin hooks that should make them very popular in addition to which it is considered by many anglers as a more sportsmanlike lure. How- ever as far as hooking qualities go, I think that the upriding twin hooks are more effective on the strike 122 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS even than the trebles, and you are more likely to hook 'em for keeps with either the twin hooks or the singles, as the hook has more chance to work in and stay set than if the fish is hooked on the trebled affairs. The main howl about the trebled hooks on the plugs is that there are so many of them on a lure, some plugs being armed fore and aft with five trebles, making 15-pointed barbs waiting for the luckless fish, while singles on the same plug would only make five points that the game fin would have to evade in his effort to sink his teeth in the wonder- fully colored chunk of red cedar. It is seldom that a fish is hooked at the strike on more than one barb on a plug, and it is a mighty delicate question to answer, whether he would have been hooked or not had the plug been armed with singles. I believe that the single hooks are just as killing as the treble, in fact more so, but that the playing and netting of the fish so hooked, takes just a little keener tackle skill on the part of the angler than if the fish is originally hooked on a treble hook. Among the plugs that make a taking selection for the early season fishing are the Coaxer, which is a sort of an imitation of a pork chunk tailed with red feathers, it is small and a great little surface agi- tator, the felt wings and body throwing up quite a swirl as it comes in for the next cast. The Jim Dandy plug which has a staggering, slow crawl EARLY SEASON PLUGS 123 through the water, like a wounded minnow and a " bacon getter." The Baby Crab Wiggler which lives up to its name and wiggles into the affections of the big fins with remarkable ease. It has a back- ward crawl that would do credit to a live crawfish. The Babe-oreno, the child of the Bass-oreno and the little cuss has inherited all the good points of its dad with the added value of being small. The Tango, Jr. and the Tango Midget, two surface plugs that have the sure-enough minnow crawl of the larger Tangos. Then there are the Pflueger-Surprise minnow, which is a wooden plug without any hardware tacked on to make it dart, and it sure has a darting motion that gets 'em; the Creek Chub Wiggler with its nat- ural scale finish and a wonderful minnow-like dart- ing swim, and the Wilson Wobbler with the famous flutes that send it through the water with a swim- ming motion just as natural as the live minnow; the McCormic Mermaid Minnow with its peculiar wig- gling swim and the Schoonie Skooter which has a wonderfully developed dart that is quite like the natural minnow, not to forget the Liar Bait which glides along with a motion that is some enticing to the game fish family. Then there is the Getsem Bait, a pork chunk shaped plug that rides along with a wobble that brings 'em right up to the surface. HOOKS THAT HOOK'EM AND HOLD'EM One little part of the outfit about which the aver- age every-now-an'-then fisherman does not bother about, any more than the law allows, is the hook. And the hook, old-timer, is a mighty important piece of the tackle layout. Particularly is this true in still fishing, where a decided strike is given to set the hook and in bait-casting with live bait, the min- now, frog, crawfish and such other natural foods of the game fins. Quite a number of the boys who skip off for a couple of weeks fishing wait until the last minute on the hook question and then generally get a few of this and a few of that and let'ergo at that. In the making of hooks there are two styles of point and barb which class the hook as a real affair or just an ordinary one. These distinctive styles are the hollow point and the spear point. The hol- low point is hand cut and is used on all first-class hooks and on hooks that you can depend on to have strength and staying qualities when you need them, while the spear point is a point and barb made by machinery and used on the hooks that come at about ten cents a hundred. One good hollow point hook 124 HOOKS THAT HOOK 'EM AND HOLD 'EM 125 will last practically as long as a hundred of the spear pointers and there Is not one hundredth as much chance of it snapping off when the big fellow heads for the weed-bed or the underwater snag. I recall one experience which brought me up sud- denly to a resolve to always test out my hooks before taking them on a fishing trip. A few years ago I had tied a dozen or so flies for a try at the opening of the season and had tied these flies on a bunch of hooks from the same box. Although I had a num- ber of strong strikes I failed to hold any of the large fish and seemed to be able to bring to net only the smallest of the tribe. After a few disappoint- ments, accompanied by the usual vocal explosions, I gave my flies a close once over and found that the hooks upon which they were tied had about the strength of the ordinary copper wire — just a bit harder to bend than lead. This box of hooks had worked through without being tempered and were worthless for fishing. You can stack a nice bunch of whites on it that I thoroughly examined every hook after that and you cannot be too careful, old scout, in testing out your hooks before tying your flies or taking them along in the kit for still or bait fishing. The hooks most generally used for trout, bass, pike and musky are the Sproat, O'Shaughnessy, Lim- erick, Cincinnati Bass, Carlisle, Sneck and Aberdeen, by which you will note they are all from the other 126 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS side of the water and this includes the Cincinnati Bass, which is an American style but usually made at Redditch, England, which is the home of the fish- hook. All of these hooks have their followers and they have different bends, with either the point par- alleling the shaft or with an outward twist which throws the point a trifle off at an angle with the shaft. By some the off-bent point is considered an aid in the strike and to others, who swear by the straight point, it is shuffled into the discard as being N. G. For both fly tying and for bait fishing I like a bit of an off-bend in my hooks but for regular still fishing I use the straight pointer. On this score, old man, the only thing to do is to try both styles and use the one that strikes your fancy as the one best bet; either way from the Jack, both makes are good hooks and you will probably end up the contest by carrying a few of each, which is a wise little move at that. About the most popular all round hooks are the Sproat and the O'Shaughnessy and these two hooks are almost identical with the exception of the bend to the points. The Sproat being a hook with the point on a line with the shaft commonly called a center draught, and the O'S. having the point twisted a bit to starboard. They are both strong, powerful and with a short shank that makes them equal to the kick of any game fin. These short squatty hooks don't show up very well when laid alongside of the HOOKS THAT HOOK 'EM AND HOLD 'EM 127 trim and classy looking, long-shanked Aberdeen, but they are sure built for business and when you strike with them they dig right through the mouth and they are there to stay. Although the Aberdeen is a good looker, and has a fine spring to it, if you are after the big fellows and hope to hold'em when you hook'em, save your Aberdeens for the smaller fins and place your bet on the roughnecks, or until you have developed a line of skill in playing your fish that will enable you to land 'em with the least amount of strain on any part of your tackle. The Limerick or the " Dublin " Limerick is an ex- cellent hook, the bend and form are somewhat simi- lar to the O'Shaughnessy, but the wire used in mak- ing this hook is slightly smaller than that of the O'S. The Dublin Limerick is hand forged and a particularly strong hook. Of the hooks with the point out-bent, about the best is the Cincinnati Bass, which is a short-shank, sturdy looking hook and equal any day in strength to the Sproat or O'S. The Carlisle is of the long- shank variety, with the out bend to the point and although the style of the hook is somewhat on the order of the Aberdeen, with the out bend exception, it is a very good hook and a stronger one than the Aberdeen. A hook with a bend entirely its own is the Sneck which has almost a square off bend at the lower end. The out bend of this hook throws the point con- 128 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS siderably out of line with the shaft, more so In fact than either the Cincinnati or Carhsle. The bend in the latter two hooks being made in such a way as to keep the point even with the shank; this is accom- pHshed by starting the out bend at the base of the shank, while the out-pointing of the Sneck starts after the first bend on the shank. Taken all the way through, any of these hooks are worthy of a place In the tackle box and after you have passed the " hooks is hooks " end of the game you will probably tie up with a certain style that has been found just the type of a hook to answer to your particular method of playing the game boys, and by that bend and make you will swear as the one best bet in the hookery. A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS For the beginner at bait-casting, old scout, the steel rod is about the best all-round bet in the rod end of the game, and at that there is no reason why it is not a handy tool for any old bait caster. For the fellow who has sort of post-graduated at the sport, and who loves the feel of the split-bamboo and knows how to treat it, there is still room in his kit for a steel rod for certain kinds of casting, and it's a one-hundred-to-one shot that you will find him armed with one of these husky battlers. Of course in speaking of the steel rod of the pres- ent day one does not refer to the heavy, cumbersome rods first brought into the fishing game, and from which some anglers have based their opinions of the steel rod in general, and by which they have eternally damned it thereafter, but to the whippy, snappy, arching steel rod that has just the amount of resiliency to give to the forceful rush of a fighting bass and to come back to normal without breaking its back. The light-weight steel rod of the five and a half foot length is a casting tool to please the most ultra-conservative highbrow in the casting game, if he would only give it a bit of a trial before shooting the skids under it. 129 I30 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS STEEL ROD IS POPULAR Take any lake in the North woods country or close-in on " civilized " waters, and you will find that the majority of keen fellows who toss the ar- tificials do their bit of tossing with the steel rod. They are so far ahead in count that you wonder why the other fellow has failed to get one. Naturally there is a reason for this popularity of the steel tool with the fellows who do their fishing on the water and not on the front porch at the club. And this big reason, old-timer, is that the steel rod is a trusty tool, it seldom if ever gets out of order and there is very little chance of breaking it unless you step on it or give it some other wallop for which it never was intended. Even at that you can care- fully bend it back into shape and still find it willing to do its share in the casting game. For the emergency rod when on a fishing trip in the country where rods are hmited to what you carry with you, you have to slip the blue ribbon to the steel rod. Break the tip of your favorite split- bamboo while out on the water trails, and you have no recourse but to slow up on the fishing, while if you have a nice little steel rod trotting along as a partner, you cast until your arm drops. Naturally a fellow does not treat his tackle roughly or give it any more hard knocks than possible, but there are times when accidents happen, and about the best A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS 131 insurance against accidents in the rod line is the steel rod. The fact that it is built strong and sturdy simply means that it will stand up under harder wear than any other kind of a rod and in the pack or on the portage it will get through without damage. As to the length of the steel rod make it about a five and a half footer, or longer or shorter, if you find that the different length seems to carry the " feel " that you wish in a rod. The five and a half foot casting rod is about the average and in the light steel rod makes an ideal caster. AGATE GUIDES THE BEST When you consider that a line shoots out thou- sands of times through the guides in a day's casting, you realize the amount of wear to which the line is subjected. The friction caused by this rubbing of the line on the guides soon frays it, and as lines cost good money, you will find that agate guides on the rod will cut down the upkeep in the line end of the game. This friction is particularly heavy on the tip and the first guide from the reel seat and these at least should be of agate, although it costs but little more to have the entire set of guides of that mate- rial. Medium-sized guides are the best. Agate guides add at least three times to the life of the casting line, and that makes 'em a mighty good in- vestment, and tough luck to the linemakers. In addition to the regular hand grip, the rod fitted 132 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS with the forward hand grip above the reel seat are certainly winners. This little old cork affair sure makes the work of reeling in the line a regular dream, makes laying the line evenly on the reel easy and takes away from the game a mighty tiring piece of business. It gives you a firm hold on the rod and adds to your efficiency in playing your fish with- out unnecessary straining of the finger muscles. And it makes the transfer of the rod from the cast- ing hand to the other hand a faster, steadier propo- sition so that you can start the bait back quickly after its splash in the water, which is a mighty im- portant thing in the bait-casting stunt. You gotta keep that bait movin' to interest the game fins, and here is a little helper in the movin' operation. FINGER PULL A WINNER For the beginner at the casting game, get a rod with a finger hook or pull. The finger pull gives you a firm hold on the rod and at the same time keeps the reel from becoming unseated through the reel band working loose as the hook is attached to the reel band. Of course you never intend to have your reel work loose when fishing, but there are few of the clan who can truthfully say that they have never had this happen. Last season I " sat-in " at a finish fight when a friend hooked a 30-pound musky, and during the rumpus kicked up by this old rascal the pal's reel became unhorsed and slipped A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS 133 into the lake, and you can take It from me, old scout, there was some tall scrambling to get that reel out of the drink and back onto the rod without losing the fish. And he was no amateur at that; it was simply an accident that will happen in the best- regulated fishing parties. As to price, dollar for dollar, you can get far more value in a steel rod than any other. Putting say five to eight dollars into a steel rod means that you will get a rod that will last for years and all you have to do with it is give it a bit of care and wipe it off occasionally with a little oil. Of course you dry it every night, after using it, before you tuck it away in its trundle bed. And whatever you do to the rod^ old top, don't twist it in taking it apart, if it sticks dt the ferrules, that's something no rod will stand for. A BIT ABOUT REELS There is a great difference in the use of the reel in the fishing game and what reel to use in the dif- ferent classes of the angling derby. There are two styles of reels generally used, the single action or click reel for fly-casting, and the quadruple-multiplier for bait-casting, and sometimes the double-multipher for still fishing or trolling, although most fellows use their quadruple-multiplier for the latter styles of fishing. The single action or click reel used in fly-fishing is merely a storage place for line, as the line is not cast from the reel as in bait-casting. The line is grasped by the left hand between the reel and the first guide, and any lengthening or shortening of the line is done with this hand. As the slack accumu- lates, the rod is shifted to the left hand and the slack wound on the reel with the right hand. The reel is neither used in casting or landing the fish. ELIMINATE EXCESS WEIGHT For the reason that the reel in fly-casting is not used in casting nor in killing the fish, the reel for this end of the game is made as simple and light as possible, and yet strong enough to do its share of 134 The demand for a feel that would do more than merely run out the line and at the same time help the beginner learn the bait casting game in a few hours has brought out the reel that eliminates back- lashes, level winds the line and is a free spooler. And these reels certainly do make bait casting easy for the fellow who has not the time to learn the art of thumbing the spinning reel spool. Illustration No. 1 is the famous Pflueger-Supreme reel, a wonderful tool that does ever3'thing a fellow could ask a reel to do and then some. This reel saves the tired'.'fingers due to guiding the line on the spool on the retrieve, throws a perfect cast without re- tarding the. line and it is a hard thing to .do to produce a backlash with it. . :' ' ■ . . • Illustration No. .2 is tin well-known South Bend Antibacklash reel, the antibacklash being prevented by the pressure of the wire bale across the frant of the spool which bears directly on the outgoing line. It is a very well made refl and a fine worker. Illustration No. 3 is a very popular reel, the Pflueger-Redifor Antibacklash reel and this moderate priced tool does the work as well as many higher priced ones, living up to the reputation of the Pflueger reel family. With this reel, an amateur can do clean casting in an hour or so. _ .' Illustration No. 4 is the smooth running Beetz^ell, a free spool, level winding antibacklash reel that makes bait casting a real joy jaunt. It is a very fine tool and it does everything said about it. If lays an evei\Hne^ throws a clean cast and; reduces backlashes to zero. :lji A BIT ABOUT REELS 135 the work. The elimination of excess in weight gives balance to the light fly-rod which is necessary to make your casting right. For this reason it is well to have your fly-rod with you when selecting a fly- reel in order to get one that balances well with the weight of the rod. The light feather-weight click reels which have a cutout scrolled frame make a good style reel that balances with nearly any light- weight fly-rod. The correct position of the click reel is underneath the rod, with the handle to the right, the reel, of course, being placed on the reel seat below the grip. On the stream while fly-casting there are often enough little jinx that lie in wait for the fisherman. Perhaps the back-casts hang up a bit, or the leaders develop a desire to tangle up or you slip on a nice juicy bowlder and take a flop into the drink, so why add to the layout by using a quadruple-multiplier and tangle up the line on the projecting reel handle which seems to gather up more loops in the fly-cast- ing line than one could imagine could be bunched together in such a short period. On the click reels the handle revolves within protecting bands, while on some of the reels the handle is entirely eliminated and a revolving disk with a small projecting knob takes the place of the handle. Then again if, at times, you should resort to the reel in playing your trout or bass, the speed at which you would unin- tentionally reel in the line if using a quadruple-mul- 136 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS tiplier would probably mean a damaged piece of tackle, as the lightness of the fly-rod generally used would not stand the strain of the speedy reeling in against the kick of a livewire fin. The single-action reel is equal to any emergency in fly-fishing for trout or bass, although where the bass range to a large size it is sometimes an advantage to have the speed of the double-multiplier, in which case, however, it is well to have tackle somewhat heavier than the light-weight stuff generally used. THE RIGHT SIZE REEL In selecting a single-action reel make it a point to secure one of one hundred yards capacity, as this size is just about right to take care of twenty-five yards of size E enameled waterproof silk line with a core of old line, say about five yards. This back- ing or core, being wound onto the spindle to build up the actual casting line so as to increase the speed a bit in retrieving the slack. A mighty good single- action reel can be bought for a dollar, and if you want a real aristocrat in this style of reel, five dol- lars stakes you to a beauty. As the click reel stands out the one best bet In the fly-casting end, the quadruple-multiplier is the only thing in the bait-casting line. Wherein the single-action reel plays a small part in the casting, the quadruple with its speed is what makes bait-cast- ing the joy it really is. On the single-action reel the A BIT ABOUT REELS 137 handle revolves but once with the spool, while on the bait-casting reel the spool revolves four times to the one revolution of the handle, therefore the name quadruple-multiplier. And this speed of the spool is what makes the rapid retrieve of the line possible with little effort on the part of the fisherman. This speed of the bait-casting reel is, however, not only an advantage in retrieving the line, but it is what makes possible the medium long casts necessary in this end of the game. Then again, after you hook a fish, old-timer, you don't speed him into the net as fast as the reel can run. This would not only endanger tackle and the loss of the fish, but you would miss the fine sport of playing the game fins in their effort to make a getaway. REEL POSITION ADDS TO CAST In using the bait-casting reel it should always be placed on the top of the rod with the handle to the right, and should be kept in this position when cast- ing and playing the fish, with one exception, and that is as the stroke of the cast is made and the line sings out through the guides. At this time the rod should be held so that the reel stands on its end, that is the side or end plates should be parallel with the water when the cast is finished, the rod turned in towards the caster in order to bring the reel to this position. In this way the spindle or spool ends rest in the bearings and the reel spool spins correctly on the 138 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS end pinions and not on the side of the spool which would be the case if the cast were made with the reel spool perfectly parallel with the water. It is surprising the additional casting power one will se- cure with the reel in the correct position and at the same time there is far less line friction when the cast is made this way. The best bait-casting reels are of the long low spool design, and you can get a good one around six or eight dollars. Of course, if you want to hit the high spots and get a tool built like a watch, you can go as high as the roof and get a reel that will last throughout your fishing days and be an heir- loom to hand down to your descendants. The main thing with the bait-casting reel is to give it a show for its life, and not take it apart every now and then to see what makes it run so smoothly. BACKLASHES AND THE REASON There Is one little old visitor to the bait-casting end of the game that is generally sneaking in when you least expect him and at times he sticks around until you run out of cuss words. This pal of the high and low among the casters is Mistah Backlash. What makes 'em do it? Three or four good, clean casts, then the piled-up j amble of line on the reel spool and the untangling process that eats at the very soul of the fisherman as he tries to remain per- fectly calm while his more fortunate and experi- enced pal gives him the scornful once-over. But the pal's time will come, shortly, when as he fails to finger the line closely while reeling in and his next cast piles her up, the beginner takes a turn at the once-overing stunt. Improper thumbing of the line as it leaves the reel on the cast, carelessness in evenly laying the line on the spool in the retrieving and trying to make too much distance in the cast are sure-fire invitations of the backlash. I know one expert at the game, a chap at the casting stunt, in fact, who every now and then sits-in with a backlash. Although he usually looks at his reel in an accusing sort of a way, to shift suspicion to that fine-running tool, it's a ten- 139 I40 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS to-one shot that he merely slipped up a bit on his at- tention to the game and therefore the backlash. THE ORDINARY VARIETY Probably the most common cause of the backlash is to be found in the thumbing. And the time when the backlash starts on its wicked course is when the plug or bait slows up in its flight through the air and the reel spool spinning fast in fine bearings con- tinues to pass out the line, which having no weight or pull, to take it out through the guides, merely piles up on the spool in the glorious tangles we have all experienced. To cut down the number of backlashes at this point, the thumbing of the line should be given more attention. The thumb should never be taken en- tirely off the line on the spool. Keep a bit of pres- sure on the line all the time, it naturally will be slight when the plug or bait is in full flight, but that slight pressure of the thumb keeps you in control of the line at all times. At the start of the cast the thumb is firmly pressed on the spool, as the rod sweeps to verticle, begin the release of the spool by taking off the thumb pressure and as the rod sweeps out in front of you, continue to release the thumb pressure until the spool spins freely and swiftly, the line barely touching the thumb as it works out. So far there has been no cause for the backlash that is flirting around your reel, but he is waiting for BACKLASHES AND THE REASON 141 a chance to jump in if you fail to clamp the thumb hard and fast on the reel spool when the plug has made its flight and is about to settle on the water. Keep your eyes on the plug and not on the reel — when the plug is about a foot or two above the point on the water where you wish it to fall, press the thumb down hard on the reel spool and stop it. This little point will kill more backlashes than any other angle of the bait-casting game. But don't forget to keep the eyes on the bait and off the reel. ANOTHER REASON FOR 'EM Of course, backlashes often come to a healthy growth before your cast goes as far as the particu- lar spot at which you are aiming. In fact they will sometimes develop right after the lure starts on its flight, and a backlash of this kind is generally due to the fact that you have lazied a bit in guiding the line evenly on the spool while reeling in. Probably the line has lovingly crawled up on one of the end plates of the spool or developed a wonderful hump in the middle that would make a camel jealous. In either event, old-timer, you are coaxing a backlash on the next cast, and no amount of clever thumbing will save you from piling 'em up before the cast is finished. A heap of time will be saved in casting if care is given the reeling in of the line. Of course a fellow can be excused for piling up the line if he has an old " he-whop " bass on the business end of 142 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the line. The excitement of playing a game fin makes watching the reel a matter of small im- portance, but when you are reeling in the line, just hopin' for the strike, you are preparing for the next cast and the line should be evenly spooled as an in- surance against the backlash. HELPS THE TIRED FINGERS The level winding reel is a mighty handy tool to eliminate the tiresome finger work in spooling the line, and the fact that the line works through a line carrier is no logical objection to this reel, as the line carrier does not retard the line sufficiently to shorten the cast and it sure does save a lot of trying work on the fingers in a day's casting. And at the same time it speeds up the game so that more actual casting can be done and thus more water will be covered. Trying to throw your bait way over to " hellen- gone " is another way to encourage the backlash. The beginner at the casting game, somehow gets the idea that unless he can shoot out his hundred feet of line on a cast, the rest of the boys will think that he is an amateur. So he makes a swipe that nearly tears his arm out of the socket and the lure speeds out to nowhere in particular. In order to coax it along a bit he lifts the thumb clean off the spool and, after sorting out the backlash he rows to shore and pulls the plug out of a jack pine. Once in a while you get a squirrel or a pine cone that way, but very BACKLASHES AND THE REASON 143 few fish. A 30 to 50-foot cast is plenty distance for most any casting, and a cast of this length means accuracy in placing the lure in the weed pocket or close to the edge of the rushes or windfall, and it certainly is poor encouragement for our old pal, Mistah Backlash. A BIT ABOUT TROLLING Although trolling does not rank way up In the angling art with some of the other methods of hook- ing the game fins, old-timer, it is deserving of far more credit than it receives. Trolling is not merely dangling a line out behind the boat and hoping for the best, but to troll and troll successfully, requires a keen knowledge of fish and fishing waters. Of course you can troll around all day and get fish, but to make the time pay dividends in fish, means that you troll over waters where the fish are most likely to be and not waste half the time dragging your lure or bait through any old water and think that you are trolling. Trolling does not take quite the expertness of casting in the initial operation, but after a large- sized bronze-backer has connected up with your troll- ing lure, it takes a bit keener work to get the hundred feet or more of line in before he wraps it around a snag or windfall, than it does to work in the fifty feet that is generally out when they strike on the cast. TROLLING IN BETWEEN TIMES Then again, after a few hours casting, taking a whirl at trolling, rests up the pitching arm and often 144 A BIT ABOUT TROLLING 145 saves you from a " charley horse " for the evennig performance with the plugs and Hve bait. Trolling with the ordinary base tackle makes the game one for the sportsman and there are a bunch of thrills tied up in landing your bass, pike or musky via the trolling route, with just as many jumps to the nerve system as in the casting stunt. In the trolling stunt, old-timer, you can play a lone hand, while casting at the best is a two-man job, one at the oars and one at the rod. A mighty handy helper in the trolling game is the rod holder, al- though it is not a necessity. It holds your rod in the correct position, ready for the strike the instant the game fins tickle the lure. At all times the rod should point out behind the boat and not at right angles as the latter method subjects the rod to a continuous strain that any self-respecting rod would resent. There is one point to the trolling game that gen- erally means success or failure, and that is the speed at which you move along. Troll slowly, very slowly; in fact, more fish are lost by rowing the boat too fast in this method of fishing than any other way. Move the boat along at an easy, slow crawl, just enough to keep the lure moving. This is par- ticularly necessary in trolling with the spoon, the ideal trolling lure. To keep the spoon spinning is all that is needed and if you keep your eye on the tip of the rod you can tell by the trembling bobbing 146 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS movement of the tip whether your spoon is spin- ning or whether you have picked up a trailing bunch of weeds. Weeds are, of course, the greatest pest in this sport, but where there are weeds you usually find the fish, so they are a necessary evil. When you hook up with a nice handful, or snag on the sturdy stem of the water lily, the only thing to do is backup and clean the lure. No fish will plow his way through a bunch of weeds to take a wallow at your lure. TROLL DEEP FOR THEM In the latter part of July and August the bass are usually in the deep waters and among the underwater weeds and at this time when you have failed to awaken their curiosity with surface casting, you can take a chance at trolling and generally interest them. When the lakes are " working " or " in bloom," and the days are a bit hot, go after them with the trolling layout when they are down among the weeds with no more pep than to grab what food passes their Lounging place. They may not be overly hungry but they will answer to the flash of battle shot out by your passing lure and take a strike at it, which is all that a fellow can ask for. Naturally one is willing to unhorse a bunch of weeds every now and then, if he can land a few nice bass, especially if the other fellows are not finding .much use for the stringer via the casting method. A BIT ABOUT TROLLING 147 Not only will you find the bass interested in the trolled lure, but also the musky and pike seem to be particularly fond of it and some of the largest wall- eyed pike have come to glory that way. In trolling for the musky and pike you will find it well to troll along the edges of the weed-beds as well as over them as they have a habit of lying along such places waiting for the little fellows to pass along. As the wall-eye is naturally a bottom fish, the trolling lure is of interest to them and as they are great feeders, you can count on a few for the stringer. If you land one of them troll around a spell in the same waters as they always travel in schools and where you get one you can figure on a few more from the same locality. USE UNDERWATER PLUGS ONLY In the matter of artificial plugs you will use the underwater variety altogether and you will not find it necessary to use a sinker because the underwaters are weighted themselves and sink, sometimes too fast and hook up on the bottom. However, if you keep them moving slowly you will have very little trouble with snagging. As to colors of the plugs you will be governed by what has been successful in the waters you fish, but as a general thing, the rain- bow, perch, green back and white belly and white and red have been found good colors for most waters. 148 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS A single spoon, about a No. 4 to No, 6, makes a good trolling bait or the smaller sizes, say about a No. 2 or No. 3 tandem spoon, i's well worth the tryout. You can use the spoon simply with the trebled hook, but I find that the added attraction of a minnow or shiner, a pork-rind or frog hooked onto the spoon Is more enticing to the game fins. Trolling slowly and In the waters where your piscatorial knowledge tells you fish should be is bound to get the fish, and that is what we are usually after when we go a-fishlng. When they fail to answer to the coaxing splash of the cast plug, meet 'em half way and go after them with the underwater trolling dope and It's a sure shot that you will find use for the stringer — but troll slowly, that's the big point. TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS The tackle box, the great little ditty box of many a keen fellow who answers to the cheerful call of the lakes and streams, Is really a treasure-trove to the owner. And many are the kinks and wrinkles he has worked out for his own use that add to his pleasures in his quest of the game fins. Many tackle boxes are heavy with the accumulation of odds and ends that may not be used very often, but a fel- low hates to pass them up so he continues to stuff the old box until the bulge It assumes would do credit to a well-noodled Watertown goose. The tackle box proper, loaded to the gunwales with this varied assortment, which the outlander terms " junk," Is generally used merely as a carryall from the home town to the camp or fishing resort and not toted Into the boat each day nor on the trail, but is stationed at the permanent camp and delved into as need be by the happy owner, to make up the selection of lures and baits to be used according to weather and water conditions. It Is also a sort of repair kit and is the base from which the tools of the trade are put in shape for the foray on the wily tallkickers. 149 I50 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS SMALL PLIERS ARE USEFUL A mighty handy tool for the tackle box is a small pair of pliers, ordinary pliers that can be used in many ways when out in the woods far from the repair man. They should have a wire-cutting ar- rangement on one side, as this feature sure comes in handy many times during the trip. There are so many little repairs that can be made with the aid of the pliers that to leave them out of the kit would handicap the fisherman to a marked degree, while having them on hand at the right time may mean the making of a repair that would keep a favorite piece of the outfit in use for the remainder of the trip. The file, that rough little rascal with the three sides, is another friend of the tackle box that is of real value. To get the best use out of your hooks, you should keep them sharpened to a fine point, as far more success in setting the hook at the strike will follow if the hook is well pointed and not used continually after being blunted from contact with windfall and snag, not to mention the rocks and bowlders that insist in getting in the way of a per- fectly well-regulated hook point. Not only in sharpening the hooks will the file be found of real value, but off and on though the trip you will thank your stars that you have one tucked away in the tackle box. TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS 151 A LITTLE RED CLOTH Way down in the bottom of the box and not tak- ing up much room are a small pair of scissors. You can use them in many ways and always find them bet- ter than the pocket or belt knife for the cutting you find for them. You'll want to cut out a couple patches of wool cloth, the red stuff that makes the pike and bass cross-eyed to get at, from the little roll tucked away in the box, and nothing does the job better than the little pair of scissors. I have a small chunk of woolen cloth, part of an old switch- man's flag, that has been cut down time and again to rig up a special favorite coaxing bait of the pork- rind variety that always seems to make good when given a chance, and I never would feel that the old box was complete without that remnant of glaring red cloth, which is just the color to make 'em hop around in circles as it wiggles through the water. And right snug up to th'e red cloth is a little ball of red yarn that can be used to add a bit of color to the casting-bait. Of course we have the small screwdriver hidden away in the off corner, so that it is not too inviting to the itching palm that always seems to want to monkey with the reel and take it apart to see just what makes it run so darned smoothly, anyway. Outside of that, hov/ever, the screwdriver has a 152 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS place In the kit and will come in for its share of use when on the waters. For the quick repair of the rod or the loose fer- rule you will find use for a tube of ferrule cement, while a tube of anglers' wax will come in handy for doctoring up the flies and snelling hooks. In the matter of oils, we have the one-drop-at-a-time oil can filled with the reel oil for use on the reels and the small can of three-in-one for general use. A bit of three-in-one on a rag and a little elbow grease used in wiping the casting line before the day's fish- ing will condition it so that it will pick up less water than otherwise, and at the same time cast a trifle smoother with less friction on the guides and tip. SINKERS AND SWIVELS A box of split-shot sinkers should be in every tackle box; they can be attached so easily and the amount of weight can be judged by adding another shot or two as the lure requires, that to be without them is unfortunate. A few dipsey sinkers with the swivel eye are excellent for casting with the lighter spoons and lures and there is room in the tackle box for a couple of the six-ounce size for the trolling rig for the deep water veterans and the bottom feeders, while the keel or kidney-shaped sinker, which al- ways rides right-side up in the water, will keep any bait in the correct position as it glides through the TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS 153 water, and it also prevents kinking or twisting of the line when casting or trolling. A small box of assorted-sized split rings are very useful and in the same box can be carried a few extra box or barrel swivels and the extra cooper snaps with which you can rig up a trolling outfit that will be a " safety-first " aginst twisting the line. As a saver of underwater plugs and spoon rigs, the clearing ring or releaser is a right smart tool. When you are far enough away from the source of supply and your favorite lure is snagged down be- low, just slip on the clearing ring and it goes down on its Annette Kellerman dive and loosens up the snagged lure in short order. It don't take up much room and is sure worth its weight in gold when you do need it. Most odds and ends of the tackle box are little things and they don't stand out like the rod and reel in the fishing game, but they are an army of willing " fellers," and when you need 'em, you need 'em bad, and they are always on the job, and do their bit to make the trip successful. A BIT ABOUT CANOES There are many models and styles in the canoe game, old-timer, some are designed for river work and the rough water you sometimes meet in the streams and others are shaped so that they ride a rough wind-whipped lake like a seagull. There are others that can be safely used for the sunset spoon- ing stuff of the beaches, but they are not the kind of craft that will stand the gaff of the river or rough lake trip. As an example, old scout, the canoe with the ends raised and with a bottom curved from bow to stern, is a dinger for river work, especially for rapids and rough water. This style canoe can be Instantly swung around on its center without the current get- ting a chance to grip the ends, but on a windy lake this craft, with Its raised ends, Is hard to keep straight In the wind for the reason that the exposed ends give surface for the wind to play upon. THE RIVER CANOE The model and style of a canoe should be selected according to the waters in which it Is to be used. For the river trip in the North woods for two men for two weeks with an outfit of from 150 to 200 154 A BIT ABOUT CANOES 155 pounds, where some fast water and rapids will be run and some portaged, the canoe built for river work should be used. The ends should be raised higher than the center an«d the bottom slightly rounded. For length the i6-footer with a beam of not less than 32 inches and a depth of at least 12 inches. The ends should be l-ong and slim for speed and there is no necessity to have much tumble-home or outward bulge. As to weight, 60 to 6^ pounds should be about right, making an easy weight to portage, and still be a strong craft. Less weight could probably be used in the canoe but not without sacrificing the strength to stand the buffeting of fast water and the rocks of the rapids. A shoe keel, usually made a half an inch thick and three inches wide in the center, tapering to the ends, will protect the canoe, and although it adds a bit of weight, it is worth it. THE LAKE MODEL For a trip in the lake country among a chain of lakes where the river run is limited to small connect- ing streams and where hardly any real fast water is found, the above canoe would not be the '* safety first " of the canoeing game. A two weeks' canoe trip for two fellows in this kind of waters would mean broad lakes to cross, heavy seas and various length portages according to depth of the water in some of the connecting outlets. The i6-footer 156 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS should be flat-bottomed, straight-keeled with a beam of 34 inches and a depth of at least 13 inches. It is laid with the flat keel so that the ends will not be high enough to catch the wind, while wide outwales turn the combers and a good tumble-home keeps out some of the waves and adds stability to the craft. The weight can range between 65 and 70 pounds which gives it added strength to stand the strain of pitching in the rougher lake swells. The added inches in depth will make the canoe far better rider in the rough heavy seas. The width will be well carried into the bow and stern to assist in riding the waves, although this cuts out a bit of the speed of the craft. But speed in rough water is not as essen- tial as staying on top of the water. For a trip down civilized waters, or the streams near by, where one will find no portages except a power dam or so, and where enough help is generally lying around sunning itself, so that a portage can be made with their assistance for a couple two-bit pieces, then the lake model of say 17 feet in length is the best bet as it gives enough room to carry all the comforts of a home and still have space enough to loll around on the cushions while the current car- ries one down stream. VALUE OF SKILL IN HANDLING Take the experienced canoeman who can handle the paddle with as much skill as he can his casting A BIT ABOUT CANOES 157 rod and give him a stretch of water made up of large lakes, river and streams with a fair bunch of speedy rapids and a few long tiresome portages and he would select a canoe for general service, depending on his skill with the paddle to handle it right under the different conditions. His selection would no doubt be a 16 footer with a depth of from 13 to 14 inches, a beam of from 30 to 36 inches and a weight of 70 pounds. This canoe would have a decided tumble-home and the width and flat bottom would be carried well into the ends, all of which would add to the capacity, buoyancy and seaworthi- ness of the craft. Tbis little old ship would ride any gale and stand the rough knocks of the fast stream work and at the same time be a good speedy traveler. The one-man canoe Is generally a 13-footer with a weight of 50 pounds a beam of 34 inches and depth of 13 Inches. A flat bottom and tumble-home is necessary in this short craft to give it stability and capacity. This canoe can carry two men but she will sure ship a bunch of water when the going is rough. If three fellows wish to use one canoe the length should be at least 18 feet, although a 17- footer for three people with equipment for two weeks, should be at least 14 Inches deep with a beam of 36 or 37 Inches, while the i8-footer with a beam of at least 35 inches and a depth of 13 Inches would give more room for the duffle and paddlers. For 158 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS the party of four on the canoe trip it is far better to use two i6-footers than to get into the heavy- weight freight canoe class. A few points to remember in selecting the canoe are, for quiet waters a depth of 1 1 inches is sufficient, for rivers 12 inches, and for lakes 13 inches; the width or beam for quiet waters may be 31 inches, where speed is desired rather than capacity and as greater stability and capacity are required the beam should be increased to 35 or 36 inches with the width well carried into the ends. For river work, the ends raised and the straight keel for the lakes. The round bottom is good for speed, but the flat bottom is there with the capacity and stability. CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP You and the pal are a little party of two who intend to make a bit of a canoe trip, and you have doped up the game to a fare-you-well, but the outfit for the camp equipment has sort of landed you way up in the air. You will probably have a few port- ages and you want to keep the kit down as light as possible to save the shoulder and back muscles, yet you have a sort of hankering to " smooth it " a bit instead of roughing it altogether. There is a lot of satisfaction in going right in the matter of camp equipment and there is at the same time a wonderfully big variety of duffle that is just a case of being in the way if toted along on the canoe trip. I recall the first canoe trip at which I offi- ciated, my kit was a regular humdinger, it was all there at the start, but after carrying myself and my share of duffle over the first portage I began discard- ing things here and there on the way until at the end I had a mighty light pack to tote over the rough spots. AS TO THE TENT In the matter of tents, eliminate the duck or drill tent as they are too heavy and sure soak up the 159 i6o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS water. Select rather a tent of balloon silk or water- proofed khaki or tent cloth. The balloon silk is a little heavier than the others but very durable. A 7-by-7 " A " tent of waterproof tent cloth will weigh eight pounds, and the balloon silk affair nine pounds. A Hudson's Bay model 6-by-9 tent weighs seven pounds, and seven and a half pounds in these ma- terials. While the snug little sportsman's compact tent weighs but three and a half and is a trim little affair. All of these models are complete with sod cloth, and when erected are snake and insect proof, although with the " A " style and the Hudson's bay ten, a cheesecloth door should be made to keep the skeeters and flies on the outside. A pack cloth of waterproofed canvas about 6 by 8 and weighing around three to four pounds makes a fine carryall for the blankets and small things on the portage and as a ground spread and top cover at night, it keeps the dampness and cold from com- ing up from old Mother Earth. A standard-sized all-wool blanket weighing about six pounds is the real dope for the outdoors and it's plenty warm enough right up to the cold weather. If you carry two pack cloths and feel like sleeping under the stars, you can make a dandy sleeping bag by using the pack cloth and the blanket, doubling them with the pack cloth on the bottom and folded over the top. To make this pack cloth sleeping bag more snug you can pin the end and side with the large blanket CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP i6i safety pins and you have a regular sure-enough sleeper. One blanket to a fellow is plenty, and if you wish to ease up the bed a bit, cut a bunch of bal- sam boughs and place them on the ground, bow side up with the twig ends working down towards the feet. The bow side up makes a natural spring, but don't be afraid to cut enough balsam. THE COOKING KIT For the cooking utensils cut out the enamelware which chips, or the tin and iron which rusts, and stack your cards on the Wear-ever aluminum. You will need one pot with cover 7/4"by-5/^ capacity, four quarts coffee pot with folding handle and ball 5-by-7^ capacity, two and a quarter quarts, one pan 9-by-3 with folding handle for mixing and serv- ing, one steel frying pan ioj4-by-2 with folding handle, two plates 9 inches in diameter, two cups with handles attached only at top so they nest, two each of knives, forks and spoons and a large mixing spoon. You will use your belt knife for the heavy cutting, or a small-sized butcher knife in a leather sheath can be carried. All these utensils will nest and carry in a very small pack and the weight of the outfit with a waterproof canvas covering case is slightly under six pounds. If your cooking skill in- cludes the great American biscuit, an aluminum re- flecting baker, about i6-by-i8 and which folds into a flat little pack will be found a great menu changer i62 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS as pies and bread can easily be baked with it. It should have a waterproof canvas case and the weight runs about four pounds. It is a matter of personal choice whether the cooking be done over the camp- fire alone or with the aid of fire irons or broilers. The CoUis folding grate-broiler is a handy affair, as the whole meal can be prepared at one time with a small fire. A man's-sized ax A mighty important feature of the kit is the ax and two can well fit in the outfit. Make one of them a three-quarter size with a handle at least 28 inches long, the other can be the smaller belt style for lighter work. But the longer handled fellow is a real necessity as anyone will soon learn who goes into the woods with only the small tool. Chopping at its best is a helova job and with the small pocket ax, to produce enough wood for the evening camp- fire is some blistering. The axes should have leather sheaths for safety in packing. As to the camp light besides the flickering glow of the campfire you can get along very well with a small-sized carbide lamp or what is really better in this line is the carbide lantern. One two-bit can of carbide lantern, on a two weeks' trip will give you plenty of light for a bit of evening fishing, although the Stonebridge army lantern that folds into a com- pact flat space and burns candles is a fine illuminator CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP 163 and it never gets out of order. A dozen candles in a tin box will carry you through the trip and the box keeps them from breaking. Take along a file and whetstone to keep the axes in shape and a ball of strong twine, a handful of nails, and a few feet of copper wire as well as a 50-foot length of good stout clothesline, which will come in right handy in line-running the canoe down a bit of swift water you may not feel quite like run- ning. And don't forget your canoe repair kit which is put up In such shape that you have everything needed to keep her floating after a little rough work. A standard repair outfit will contain everything without any of the useless things a fellow might pick up. Take nothing along you'll toss away later. PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER TRAILS The matter of personal kit and equipment is a sort of touchy proposition. Every fellow who has made his trip into the woods by land or water trails has doped up an outfit that he thinks is the best bet and he sticks to it until by experience he finds an ar- ticle here and there that can be eliminated for some- thing else that does the trick just a bit better than the last year's favorite wrinkle. However, the first time over the route a little advance dope, old-timer, will save the toting of a lot of unnecessary stuff, which means less hard work on portage or hike. Richard Harding Davis once passed this out on the subject: "The same article that one declares is the most essential to his comfort, health and happi- ness is the very first thing that another will throw into the trail. A man's outfit is a matter which seems to touch his private honor. You may attack a man's courage, the flag he serves, the newspaper for which he works, his intelligence or his camp manners, and he will ignore you ; but if you criticize his patent waterbottle he will fall upon you with both fists." 164 Since the advent of the wooden artificial, usually called a plug by the bait caster, thousands of fellows have slipped into the bait casting- game a"d sipped deep of the nectar of the outdoors, for which [ say, Bless the I'Uig, regafdless of what some of the angling gentry say about it.- ■:• Illustration No. 1 is the Pflueger AU-In-^One Minnow; No. 2 the Pflueger-Surprise Minnow; No. 3 the Heddons Crab VViggler; No. 4 the South Bend Bass-Oreno Minnow; No. 5 the Fluted Wilson Wob- bler; No. 6 the Creek Chub Wiggler; No. 7 the Wilson Six-In-One Minnow; No. 8 the McCormic Mermaid Minnow. Every one of these plugs are excellent lures for bass and I have had good success with them for musky, pike and pickerel. They all have a little old wiggle, wobble of their own and they certainly interest the game fish. auifj PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER TRAILS 165 THE DUFFLE BAG For the canoe trip on stream or chain of lakes you should have a duffle bag of waterproof canvas and the most convenient size is one 36 inches deep with a diameter of 12 inches. This will hold all your personal kit, clothing and odds and ends, and it stacks up right for the carry on the portage. For convenience in carrying, the bag should have a handle on the side and one end and if you want to ship it as baggage have it rigged up with a chain and padlock. With everything in the duffle bag it is very easy to pack the canoe and to make camp in the evening and should you take a spill in fast water it will float around until salvaged and everything will be safe and dry. For the usual two weeks' trip, one extra suit of woolen underwear besides the one worn is sufficient, and it should be woolen because this material takes up the perspiration and moisture and prevents colds, as you will not dry out quickly when overheated, after a husky bit of portaging, if you wear woolen garments next to the covering old Mother Nature gave you. Wool is cool in the summer and warm in the chill of evening. Four pair of rough knit woolen SOX will keep the feet in fine shape. For midsummer ordinary khaki trousers make about the best bet for the canoe trip, while if the trip be made in the fall when it cools up a bit, espe- i66 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS cially in the afternoon and evening, the olive drab wool will be better. The regular loose-shaped trou- sers are O. K., but the style worn by the infantry which lace in front below the knee are mighty handy, and with the socks pulled up over the bottoms makes a very serviceable piece of duds. STAG SHIRT GREAT STUFF The shirt should be a light-weight woolen or flan- nel and the regulation army shirt with the two pockets is the real stuff. You can the pipe and to- bacco or the " makin's " and a lot of the little stuff that is used often, in these pockets and the buttoned- down flap keeps 'em there. For a coat on the trip I am not very strong, far better than a coat is a stag or cruiser shirt. This is a sure-enough woods- man's favorite, and you slip it on over your regular shirt and let the tail hang outside, although the tail is very short, riding on the hips. The lumber-jacks of the North woods invented this short outside shirt by merely cutting the long tails off with a jack-knife, or stagging it. To stag anything to a lumberman is to cut it off short. The shirt made such a hit and the demand grew so strong that it was soon put on the market. It's a winner for the outdoors, and is wind-proof and warm. A sweater should be car- ried along for camp use, altogether the stag shirt can be used in the place of either the coat or sweater. A good combination is a vest and sweater, the vest PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER TRAILS 167 for general wear and the sweater for the camp or cool of the evening. The vest simply worn over the shirt is the handiest thing in the clothing line, it is never in the way, and the pockets are very useful for carrying a little bit of everything. It does not interfere with paddling nor is it a hindrance to cast- ing, and every way from the Jack it is right for the woods. Any old vests will do, one of those hanging in the clothes-closet, for which the rest of the suit has gone by the board. In the woods or on the trail the sweater is unhandy for the reason that it snags on most every limb or brush that you pass, but for the camp it is right and comfy. WHAT THE FEET NEED For the feet there is nothing better in the canoe than a pair of light moccasins or low leather or can- vas wading shoes. The canvas shoes with rub- ber soles are not as desirable as the leather, as the continuous wear of the rubber soles is tiring to the feet. For the portaging and trail a pair of army shoes of the Munson last are very good as well as larrigans or shoe-packs. Larrigans have a top of from eight to twelve inches high and the seams are on top of the shoe where the least strain comes and the sole is flexible, giving a sort of grip to the toes when walking under the load of a carry. For the trail a pair of canvas leggings can be used with the army shoe or you can pull the sox over the outside i68 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS of the trousers and have a fairly serviceable legging at that. Any old soft slouch hat will cover the hat question, the more comfortable the better, but if you want to look sort of nobby, get a three-inch brim Stetson on the order of the military styles, which will be very popular from now on, and you might as well get used to wearing them now as later. Always wear a belt in the woods, no matter whether you wear suspenders or not, and on your belt you should carry a short hunting-knife, which will answer for your cooking, table and general handy-man use. In your pockets you should also carry a man's-size jack-knife, a waterproof match, box, and a compass, while a fishing line and a couple of hooks stuck away in a pocket may mean a meal if you ever get a bit off your bearings and cannot get back to camp for a day or so. INSIDE THE GRUB SACK The part of the pack of the canoe trip that makes the beginner at this alluring sport wear the point off the pencil and spoil countless sheets of perfectly good paper is the grub to tote along. As a general thing, on the first time out he will carry a layout con- taining a bunch of stuff that takes up a lot of room in the pack, adds a big, stiff extra to the weight, and at that does not produce the necessary protein, fats and carbohydrates to keep the human engine going; in other words that don't sound so highbrow, the heat and energy to keep a fellow fit for his turn at the paddle and the portage as well as satisfying the wonderful, husky appetite he develops after the first day out. To set an iron rule of what to carry in the grub line, with all the varying likes and. dislikes, is a little old job that cannot be handled by one person. Many guides in the North woods will not provision the party they are to guide, for the simple reason that they cannot guess what the other fellow likes, so they sit in with the party and get his ideas before taking a hand at the stocking of the grub sack. 169 I70 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS don't carry water To pack right is to eliminate the foods that con- tain a great amounrof water in their make-up. It is unnecessary to tote along a lot of things that contain the greater part of water, especially when you have so much water along the route. Fresh milk, fruit and vegetables, as well as canned soups, tomatoes and peaches, contain over 75 per cent water, while fresh beef, mutton, poultry, eggs, potatoes, canned corn and beans contain over half water. A few of the things that contain less than one-fifth water are bacon, butter, salt pork, powdered or desiccated eggs, powdered milk, flour, cornmeal, rice, dried beans, hominy, dehydro vegetables, sugar, nuts, dates, figs and raisins. Looking over the past performance sheets for a number of trips last season, I find the list herewith tallies out for two pals on a two weeks' trip. The dope is taken from three trips made on streams along which few settlers were passed and no oppor- tunities were had to buy vegetables or meats en route. This list, however, was varied and helped by fish and small game and at the end of the trip an average of ten pounds of provisions was on hand. However, it is always better to go a bit over than short, as the appetite is a corker the second week. Then again, the fishing may not come up to expecta- tions, and the game be scarce, which would mean INSIDE THE GRUB SACK 171 that the left-over ten pounds would come in mighty handy. THE GRUB LIST The main thing in the woods is bacon; it carries the blue ribbon at its masthead and deserves it. We start the list with bacon in strips, eight pounds; small ham or butt, five pounds; salt pork, two pounds; butter, four pounds; lard, one pound; egg powder, or desiccated eggs, one pound, equaling four dozen fresh eggs; milk powder, three pounds, equal to three gallons of milk; white flour, 12 pounds; cornmeal, one pound; prepared pancake flour, two pounds; rolled oats, one pound; rice, one pound; dehydro potatoes, riced, two pounds, equal- ing fourteen pounds of fresh potatoes, and one pound sliced, equaling seven pounds of fresh; dehy- dro carrots, one-fourth pound, equaling three pounds fresh; dehydro onions, one-fourth pound, equaling four pounds fresh; dehydro cranberries, one-fourth pound, equaling 2^ quarts fresh fruit; dehydro raspberries, one-half pound, equaling five quarts fresh fruit; dried beans, four pounds; prunes, one pound; dried peaches, one pound; raisins, one pound; sugar, six pounds; coffee, two pounds; tea, one-half pound; cocoa, one-half pound; salt, one pound; pepper, one ounce; baking powder, one-half pound; lemons, one-half dozen; mixed nut kernels, one pound. 172 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS The above list runs about 64 pounds, or an aver- age of 16 pounds a week, or about 2 1-3 pounds per day, for each fellow, and when you add to this amount the fish and small game, your average will run about three pounds, which is all the boys from the walled-up cities builded by man can assimilate when flirting with Old Lady Outdoors. The army garrison ration allowance is four pounds two ounces per day, but the mess is given the privilege of vary- ing the amount of staples by substituting luxuries in which it is deficient, thus cutting down the weight of the menu and giving it more variety. ADD A FEW CONDIMENTS To the general list a fellow usually has some one favorite in the grub line that tickles his particular palate, and this article should be Included in the grub list. Condiments vary the taste of the ordinary foods and give a bit of spice to the sauces and gravy. A bottle of Heinz Ketchup and of India Relish should be included, as well as a jar of mustard, the latter being a good medicine for the woods as well as a seasoner. These additions do not add greatly to the weight of the pack, but they give it a variety of taste that will be appreciated, especially about the middle of the second week, when the diet begins to assume a sameness. The pack can be lightened a bit and the amount of space reduced a little by substituting prepared INSIDE THE GRUB SACK 173 coffee and tabloid tea for the regular kind. It is just as good as the latter, and takes but a minute or so to prepare. In fact, for the quick, hot drink and for carrying on the hike, these two prepared articles are hard to beat. The food should all be packed in small individual waterproof sacks, and these sacks then placed in a duffle bag, so that the commissary is all together. The meats should be wrapped in parchment paper, which is grease proof, and then placed in a cheese- cloth bag to keep the flies out, before placing in the waterproof sack; in this way it will keep quite a while. The butter, lard, tea, coffee, etc., can go in the pry-up tins while the salt should be carried in a wooden box, as it draws moisture. ON HANDLING THE CANOE The canoe is a great little craft and for its weight the makers have turned out a wonderfully strong and sturdy affair; naturally, however, it has its weak points, but these weak points need never be subjected to the test if the canoe is correctly handled. A 65- pound canoe will safely carry almost half a ton, but in doing so, with safety to the canoe, the weight should be distributed over the length of 16 feet and the width of three feet and never shot into one end or place. In loading the canoe be sure of one thing, old-timer, and that is that it is floating freely and has space to settle with the added load without grounding. Place the heavier packs in the middle and as flat as possible in the bottom so that when fully loaded the canoe will lie on an even keel. Any- thing sticking up above the gunwales simply means that much more surface for the wind to strike which makes the canoe top-heavy. Before starting down stream lash everything fast, particularly so for running fast water or rapids. This can be easily done by tying a rope to the for- ward thwart and then threading it through the handles of the dufile bags or the straps of the packs and on to the rear thwarts. If you hit a submerged 174 ' ON HANDLING THE CANOE 175 rock in the white water and go overboard you will find all your kit safely attached to the canoe and waterproof. If the packs are loosely arranged in the canoe, however, you'll probably spend a day try- ing to locate them down stream and some of the kit you never will find. It's an easy " safety first " in the game and should not be overlooked. LOADING THE OUTFIT The canoe should always be brought up to shore broadside on and never bow first and it is better dope to step out into the water rather than run up on a rocker gravel bottom. And the canoe should never be hauled up on the shore and then unloaded nor should it be loaded on shore and then pulled into the water. In boarding a canoe let the weight down as lightly as possible and be sure there are no snags or rocks under the canoe upon which your ad- ditional weight will crush the bottom. If part of the equipment is carried in duffle bags and the balance in packs, the portage should be made with one man carrying the duffle bags while the other fellow totes the smallest pack and the canoe, or iT the entire kit is carried in pack sacks each can take his share of the packs and the canoe can be carried by the two men, although the man in front will have the most weight of the canoe and his pack should be the lightest. When two men carry the canoe it should be carried bottom side up. The 176 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS man at the stern lowers the canoe until the gun- wales rest on his shoulders while the man in front allows the front thwart to rest on the back of his neck and shoulders. In this manner both can see the trail and the portage is easy. For portaging the canoe by the one-man power the two paddles must be secured to the thwarts. A piece of rawhide or strong twine should be attached to the thwarts and adjusted so that the paddles can be slipped in and out with ease and still be securely held when needed. The blades of the paddles rest on the forward thwart with the handles on the rear one and the blades should be far enough apart so that they rest on the shoulders without cramping the tendons of the neck. The front thwart rests on the neck and the head extends up between the ends of the paddles. To ease up the weight a bit you will find that a woollen shirt or sweater padded on the shoulders will take a bit of the curse off of the job. PACKS AND DUFFLE BAGS For two fellows two weeks in the woods the en- tire outfit can be carried in two large pack sacks while for the same trip if duffle bags are used, four will be required. The pack sacks of course come with the shoulder straps and the kind best suited for the game also have a head strap. In packing the duffle bags, the tump 'line or head strap is generally used, two or three of the duffle bags being bunched and ON HANDLING THE CANOE 177 the tump line attached. This carry is entirely made with the head and unless a fellow is expe- rienced in handling the tump line he had better take along a pack harness which is an arrangement of shoulder straps into which the duffle bags are tied and the whole thing swung on the back. One pack sack at least should be carried and the fellow who totes the canoe should carry the pack sack as it is easier to handle the canoe with the pack sack than any other way. It is out of the question to carry the canoe and a tump line pack. RUNNING FAST WATER In running rapids of fast water the stern man has control of the canoe and the bow man should keep out of the stearing game and not try to ward the bow off rocks, unless it is certain that the stern man has lost control. As a general thing, back paddle a bit so that the current runs swifter than the canoe. Keep out of the main current if you can find an easier passage and always give the rapids the once over from the shore before you ride them. Follow the passage the clearest of rocks and in passing one of these innocent looking affairs, the current will usually carry the bow to one side and clear the rock, then it is up to the stern man to back the stern clear. If you find a well-worn trail above a bit of rough water you can figure that many a good fellow at the paddle has portaged and it will probably save you 178 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS time and wetting to follow the dope of the gang that have gone before. In ordinary open water on the lakes the bow should ride about three inches higher than the stern. An awful lot of drag is put on the canoe if the larger part of the load is in the stern, however, in running down a swift stream or running with the wind a canoe should ride on an even keel, while running into a stiff wind the bow should be lightened and ride up a bit. Distribute the load evenly and low as a low load adds to the stability of the canoe. Keeping a cool head and acting quickly is the whole thing in the canoe game and the standing up stuff and general horseplay is nix in the parlance of the craft. It's a great little pleasure producer and more downright joy can be frisked out of a two weeks river trip via the canoe and portage than any other end of the fishing game. THE ONES THAT GET AWAY " Yes, sah, old-timer, he was shore a big one; jes' about that long and so thick, an' when he kicked up a ruckus along side o' this yere ol' scow I sutainly knowed he war a reg'lar gran'-daddy uh the bass family — yeah, jes' about so long and so thick, but he got away, an — " That's the way many a fish story runs, old scout. He was a big one, but he got away, did a fadeaway, slipped the hooks, and it's a ten-to-one shot that the fisherman cussed his luck at not handling the fish right, or passed the blame to the tackle for not being as strong as it should have been. And way down deep in the matter, if the fisherman would dope it out, he would probably find that he had overlooked some little detail in rigging his outfit, and these little details overlooked and forgotten have been the real cause of losing a sure enough bunch of '* he-whops " of the finny tribe. So far this season I " sat-in " at the loss of three very large fish. These fish were hooked by expe- rienced anglers who have fished many waters, and each of these game fins were lost, not through any lack of skill in handhng light tackle, but through carelessness. 179 i8o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS LOST HIM IN NETTING The first of this trio of' big ones to slip the " good-by " signal to my fishing pardner was a wall- eye pike, and he was some wall-eye. I have landed a member of the ancient order of wall-eyes up to twelve and a half pounds, and my pard has one of twelve and three quarters to his credit, but the one he hooked on this trip would have pegged down the scales at fifteen pounds — and he lost him. He had worked the old cuss up to the boat and the fish lay in the water a good yard long or better, sure a prize wall-eye, when the pardner tried to head him into a small-sized folding trout net. The big fin's head just about made the net, when he got a leverage on the sides, threw the hook with a shake and disap- peared. Can you beat it, trying to daintily land a fifteen-pound wall-eye in a kid's sized landing net? Up at the cabin there were five larger nets hanging on the wall, but the pardner picked up the one near- est to him and lost a prize fish. If you are fishing in lake waters where you are likely to connect up with a really large fish, although you may be specializing on bass at the time, the landing net with the long handle and a large hoop is the real stuff. And have plenty of net on the hoop so that you can let 'em drop into the net and not hang out over the sides. Or take along a gaff and have that lying in a handy place for the large THE ONES THAT GET AWAY i8i fish, and if you do gaff them, don't take a chance on running the gaff through the body of the fish, but slip it under his gills when they open up a bit as he lies in the water. The gaff often slips off the scaly sides when used through the body. IMPORTANCE OF THE LEADER The second of the fadeaway trio was a pike and he struck the lure as though he needed the feed. The pardner played him a bit and slowly worked him up to the boat. We had just glimmed his size and doped him out at about eighteen pounds when he snapped the line without much effort and kicked back into his home waters. It happened that I had loaned the pard a line that day and he sat there and cussed my lines from the ace to the joker. He made me feel like a regular movie villain, conspiring to make him lose the big fish by giving him a weak old line, while in fact I had reeled on a new fifteen- pound test line not more than an hour before the accident. I couldn't dope out the ease with which the pike snapped the line until I watched the pardner put on another lure and noted that he was tying the lure directly onto the line and not using a wire leader. That may go for bass, old-timer, but not for your Uncle Dixie. I slip on a leader every time, because I take no chances with the pike or musky that may accidentally take a swipe at my lure. If you have ever lamped the sharp dagger- i82 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS edged teeth of these old ruffians and the great mouthful that they have, you can readily see that it is no job at all for one of them to saw a line with a cross-swipe of these teeth. Don't overlook the wire leader, old scout, when you are rigging up the casting outfit. It will probably mean the big one is yours when he makes the dash at your plug. RUSHING THE FISH TO NET The last of the outfit was a pike of possibly fifteen pounds, and he was lost through two reasons. The pardner who had him hooked had a nervous streak and tried to haul him up to the gaff too speedily, probably got a bit of " buck fever " and was afraid of losing him, and he had also failed to break off the worn part of his line before snapping on his lure. When you hook a fish and he wants to take a run of line, give it to him, let him go for a swim, but keep the thumb on the spool of the reel and make him take It. That's part of the sport of fishing, and more fish are lost by trying to drag 'em in in a hurry than through any other way. Play the game fine; give him line and take it away from him; keep the slack out of the line and always have a bend to the rod. It is the spring of the rod that eventually tires out the fish; the constant pull of the rod makes them come, white side up. And as a safety first, old man, be sure and tear off a few feet of worn line from the casting end each day. That is the THE ONES THAT GET AWAY 183 part that becomes badly worn by the friction on the guides and tip by the pull of the lure as it first starts through the air on the cast. Incidentally, I lost a fine bass myself on this trip. He hit the pull to about four and a half to five pounds and with about fifty feet of line out slipped me the good-by stuff. I lost him because I failed to keep my mind on the game. I was alone in the canoe and had set the hooks well, when I turned around and called to a pardner, casting a nearby weed-bed, too watch my tame bass break water. Just about that time he did break on a bit of slack and I was in no position, in a cranky canoe, to take it away from him. He made a beautiful shake of his entire body, waved a fond farewell and my pard had me for the smokes. You simply gotta keep your mind on the game to land 'em. THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM Of all the minnow family who have ever kicked their way into the fancy of the game fish and also kicked their way to safety, the mud minnow stands out like the fourth ace in a two-card draw, as the hardiest, liveliest wiggling minnow in the entire deck of something like One hundred and thirty different species. And take it from me, old-timer, the mud minnow is as attractive a lure to the dyspeptic " he-whop " bass, most any time in the season, as any of the natural baits that tickle his palate. And you don't have to be finicky about handling him in order to get him to the fishing grounds without passing in his checks. This little old wiggling delight of the bass, wall-eye pike, and even the musky can stand more rough handling and less attention than the rest of the minnow outfit, and still be lively enough when you want to use him, to make it an interesting job to hook him up for bait. You don't have to aerate the water every half an hour to keep him alive, nor is it necessary to liven him up with a salt bath during the day. You can crowd them into a small bucket so thick that you can scarcely see the water, with hardly room enough 184 THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM 185 to kick his tail without getting into a fight with the minnows near him and he's Hvely and ready for the game when you get to the fishing waters the next day. SEND 'em by express During the past season I have shipped them by express to pals in the North woods country, send- ing five dozen in a half-gallon bucket, and they have gone through the trip without one ending the jour- ney, white side up. For this hardy nature we sure gotta thank the husky little cuss of darkish brown with a bit of gold and a yellowish-tinted tummy which makes him good to look upon as bass feed. As a bass bait he is a hundred times winner and every second he is in the water he is working his head off to attract a game fin to your hook. I know of mud minnows that have landed five small-mouth bass and still had a lively kick in their tails at that. As an example of what some of these little fellows can stand and still kick around, here is the history of one of them that reads like a five-reel thriller. A few weeks ago, I shipped five dozen to a fishing friend in a city a bit over two hundred miles away. They left by express at 2 p. m. and arrived at their destination about eleven the next morning, which was Saturday, the day they were to do their darndest to entice the wily bass. i86 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS SOME HUSKY, THIS MINNOW Before starting to the fishing waters, my friend, who Is an engineer, changed the water in the blue- print room, thinking they needed a Httle fresh water to give 'em pep. The following Tuesday I received this Interesting bit of Information from the engineer : " Must tell you a funny thing about those mud min- nows. When they arrived Saturday, I took them Into the blue-printing room and put them under the faucet In the blue-print tank. Somehow one of them got out, but we did not discover it. Monday morn- ing the chap In that department decided to clean out the tank, so he let all the water out. He discovered something kicking over in one corner and found it was one of those minnows. It had been living in that rotten water, full of peroxide and acids all that time. He left it lay on the bottom until he had cleaned the tank and then turned in the fresh water. It Is still alive and about as lively as anything you ever saw. We are going to see how long it will live there." Which Is sure going some for any kind of a fish, to stick it out In a tank of peroxide and acids and still be lively and on the job some forty hours later. Probably if this minnow had hair instead of scales It would have been a decided blond at least, after the peroxide bath. If you want to be sure of having bait, that is good live bait when you get to the fishing THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM 187 waters, just take along a bunch of these Httle rascals and the live-bait question is a settled thing. OTHER MINNOWS AS BAIT Of course, there are other members of the minnow family that are lively, sturdy little fellows, but they are not as husky as the mud minnow. The river or creek chub is a tough minnow with a mouth that is strong and holds the hook well. They are livelier than the rest of the minnows and when taken from the swifter, cooler waters they are more vigorous than those from the warmer streams; at the same time they have a brighter, silvery shine which makes an attractive lure for the bass and wall-eye. On bright and clear days when the water is still and " fine," the chub is second only to the mud minnow as a popular bait. The silver shiner or dace is another minnow that makes the bass happy, and its silver sides send out a shining lure that is hard to resist. It is par- ticularly good in rough water or on cloudy and dark days, but it is a tender cuss and don't stand for any rough handling. A good way to get them is with a short line and a small hook, but you must handle them gently and raise 'em like a pet or they kick in before you can use them for a bait. For musky, pike or pickerel, the larger-sized min- nows make the best bait and it's about even money between the black sucker, silver shiner, river or creek i88 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS chub, and the fallfish with the odds in favor of the sucker. The minnows from 6 to lo inches, are about right for the musky, pike and pickerel, while the 4 and 5 inches make a fine size for the wall-eye pike and bass. A minnow of this growth is livelier and will stand the gaff better than a smaller one. As a natural thing the bass like a good mouthful, and you seldom get a minnow that they cannot handle. WHAT HO! THE PIKE FAMILY Old-timer, the greatest little jinx that bobs up in the fishing game to cause an argument and an endless amount of discussion both ways from the Jack, is the question as to the correct identification of the pike outfit; the muskallunge, pike and pickerel. Which is which, and why, makes the life of a fishing editor one glorious nightmare. The fellow who has landed a walloping fighting pike is darned sure that it was a musky, while his friend puts the skids under him by calling it a pickerel, and from that time on they don't even speak when they pass a coaling station. If it hadn't been for the pike, pickerel, musky chewing fest, these former pals would likely be hanging over the rail planning their next fishing trip. The entire pike family are a savage bunch of rustlers and they all make a fight to stay in the wet. Of course the musky kicks up more " hullabaloo " than the pike and pickerel, but at that there is a bit of a fight in the pike and pickerel. Of course there are a lot of highbrow anglers who snort with con- tempt, in fact they fairly bristle with snorts when a feller even mentions pike and pickerel within the glow of their halo, but you can plaster this up in your think-tank for keeps, these self same chaps don't 189 I90 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS land everyone they hook. Many a well-developed pike has thrown a farewell kiss to the fisherman and at the same time carried away his spoon as a sou- venir. WHAT THE DOCTOR SAYS That the boys of the trusty rod may have a sure enough scientific opinion on the true records of the pike family to which the musky, pike and pickerel belong, I give you here a copy of a letter written by Dr. Barton Warren Everman, one of the best known piscatorial scientists and who collaborated with David Starr Jordan in the writing of " Ameri- can Food and Game Fishes." " In the first place, let me say, all the species under consideration belong to one and the same genus, namely Esox (or Lucius, of some authors) . " There are at present recognized in American seven species of this genus. They are : The banded pickerel (Esox americanus), the little pickerel or grass pike (Esox vermiculatus) , the common eastern pickerel, green pike, or jack (Esox reticulatus), the common pike. Great Lakes pike, or pickerel (Esox lucius), the muskallunge (Esox masquinongy), the Chautauqua or Ohio muskallunge (Esox ohiensis), and the great northern pike or unspotted muskal- lunge (Esox immaculatus) . " These various species may be readily differen- tiated by means of the following ' key ' : WHAT HO! THE PIKE FAMILY 191 *' (a) Cheek entirely scaled ; (b) Opercles (gill- covers) entirely scaled; (c) Branchiostegals (the bony rays under or behind the lower jaw, supporting the thin membrane), usually 12, (11 to 13); (d) Color dark greenish, about 20 distinct curved black- ish bars on side — Banded Pickerel. "(dd) Color light greenish, side with many nar- row curved streaks of darker, these usually distinct, irregular, and much reticulated — Grass Pike. "(cc) Branchiostegals 14 to 16 — Green Pike. "(bb) Opercles without scales — Common Pike. " (aa) Cheeks as well as opercles with lower half-naked; branchiostegals 17 to 19. "(d) Sides grayish, with round or squarish black spots, not coalescing to form bands — Muskallunge. *'(dd) Sides brassy, with narrow dark cross shades whfch break up into vaguely outlined dark spots — Ohio Muskallunge. "(ddd) Sides grayish, unspotted or with very vague dark cross shades — Unspotted Muskallunge. " The Banded Pickerel is found only east of the Alleghenies, from Massachusetts to Florida. It is a small fish, rarely exceeding a foot in length. " The Grass Pike occurs abundantly thoughout the upper and middle Mississippi valley and in streams tributary to Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. It does not occur east of the Alleghenies. It r?-.r4 inches, weighs a little less than two pounds including a can of fuel, makes an easy carry for the pack or duffle bag and when it is rainy or cold just set it up in the tent, pour in the beans, soup and coffee and the whole meal cooks merrily in about ten minutes; while you are packing away this food you can fry a few strips of bacon, sausage or fish and the meal is over without any trouble at all. The fuel used is a preparation made from alcohol, cut into cubes, which does not go liquid while burning and you carry them right in the kit. For the quick meal it is there every way from the Jack and the cooking parts are large enough to hold enough for you and your pal at one cooking. 292 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Made of aluminum It is strong and serviceable. Af- ter using this kit I knew it was right so I shipped it over to the kid in France feeling sure that he would find it invaluable In the cold old trenches In the Vos- ges in Alsace this winter. I feel that this kit should be a part of the regular issue to the boys in the trenches and that it would be found indispensable by them. THERMOS BOTTLES Thermos Bottles. — Made by the American Thermos Bottle Co., 35-37 West 31st St., New York City. To write a report on the Thermos bot- tle is just like writing a bunch of side-lights into one's life because I have used the Thermos in my home, in hotels, on the trail, in camp, on hunts and on the water and I have yet to find the time that a Thermos bottle was not a mighty valuable thing to have around. In the cool days of the fall fishing when the wind and spraying water, tinctured with the cold of the Northland, cuts and whips about you, there is nothing th'at can give you more pep and heat when you need it than a swig from the Ther- mos bottle, be its contents tea, coffee or your favor- ite beverage. Far out on the trail, along the old tote roads after partridge in the fall with a well filled Thermos, means a little warm stuff any time you feel like it and no trouble to have It warm, no fire FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 293 to kindle, nothing but off with the cap and down with the drink. Some fellows pride themselves on " roughing It." I pride myself on " smoothing It " In the woods or on the waters and one of the great- est little smoothers Is the Thermos bottle. In the winter time, before starting on a hunt, fill a Thermos and leave It behind at the camp; of course you take another one with you, and say, pal, when you come In cold and wet, you can get up a good warm feehng by taking a bit out of the reserve bottle before you busy up with the camp work for the evening meal. In the summer It is a pleasure to have the cold drink from the Thermos, but for downright real service in the fall and winter, the heat you can sip from one of these bottles is really a life saver. Rig up a Khaki cover for the bottle and a shoulder sling and you have a fine piece of kit that is well worth the weight of toting along. Cut down somewhere else in the weight, but take the Thermos with you. It is right in every way. KAMPKOOK STOVE Kampkook Stove. — Made by the American Gas Machine Co., 724 Clark St., Albert Lea, Minn. The American Folding Kampkook Stove Is a nifty little stove that folds into a steel case the inside of which Is part of the stove, overall, about 14 Inches by 8^ inches by 3 Inches and the whole thing only 294 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS weighs eight pounds. Nothing loose to get mislaid and lost and can be set up in working order in a minute. The two burners throw a powerful lot of heat and they burn right along no matter how hard the wind blows. This is sure an ideal stove for the camp, auto trip or canoe and it is very very -simple to operate and no chances of it blowing up. For a quick, hot bite it is a dinger and can be gotten going while you are thinking of gathering wood for a cooking fire. No loose odds and ends to screw together when you want to set it up, just pull off the lid, push down the automatic legs, pump up the air for the gas and set on the spider. All the way around this little light weight of the camp stoves is a good worker and it has a neat, classy look when tagging along on the auto. It is strong and durable and made for outdoor use and will stand quite a bit of rough handling and bad weather without falling down on the job when you want it. Ordinary gaso- line is the fuel. PELLETIER HAND-MADE SNOW- SHOES Pelletier Hand-Made Snow-Shoes. — Made by Jud Landon, Inc., Schenectady, N. Y. Three weeks before I received the pair of Pelletier snow- shoes for a tryout and test I bought two pairs for use at my permanent camp to replace two pairs of FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 295 another make which had become sagged and broken. This makes four pairs of Pelletler snow-shoes at my cabin up North, which should be a fairly good tryout in itself. A pair of snow-shoes that will stand up under the rough going of burnt-over and slashings are right in the snow-shoe line, and two of these pairs have stood the gaff of rough usage for three years and are in good shape now. A snow- shoe is a part of the kit of the outdoors man that must be right. You depend upon it to get you way out and back again, and there is nothing that will give a fellow the " creeps " as much as a snow-shoe going to pieces when he is six or eight miles in the timber in close zero weather. That's why I say get a snow-shoe with a reputation behind it for high- quality material and workmanship; when you need 'em, you need 'em bad. These Pelletier snow-shoes are not a fancy-looking affair, fact is they look al- most crude, but for service and high value in ma- terials they cannot be surpassed, as only the best quality stuff is used in making them. They are not a snow-shoe sold for decorating a den wall, but for keeping you going in the snow. And they have the proper balance which is an essential in snow-shoes that are right. And besides this, Jud Landon's guarantee is behind every pair of Pelletier snow- shoes absolutely against all defects, and that is worth a lot t9 any sportsman, 296 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS TELESCOPE COT BED Telescope Cot Bed. — Made by the Telescope Cot Bed Co., 538 East 79th Street, New York City. Peg these points up for the Telescope Cot Bed, it is roomy, strong, serviceable, and packs into a small solid bundle. The Standard size which I tried out and which was used as emergency bed at Timber- edge Lodge and packed to the near-by camps on other lakes stood the gaff of all kinds of usage with- out showing up any weak spots in either frame or canvas parts. This Cot was dumped in the water in running Rainbow Rapids in the Wisconsin River and fished out about a mile below the rapids and made just as comfy a bed that night as any other time; the wetting did not damage any part of it nor swell the wooden legs. It is an all-around comfort- able bed and carries well. Regardless of the desire of some of the boys to " rough it " in the woods, if you sleep right, you can stand any kind of rough stuff and be full of pep, and sleeping in a Telescope Cot Bed is my idea of sleeping right in the cot line. This cot folds up into a bundle about 24 inches long by 7 inches deep with a width of 5 inches, and I found it very handy to roll the blankets around it and cover the entire bedding with a tarp. It can be thrown up in a minute or two and there are no little thingumajigs to lose or get out of order. The trestle-work braces take up all sag and the increased FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 297 height from the ground makes it doubly valuable in cold and damp weather. It is made for wear and it lives up to that reputation, and, given the usual good care a fellow gives to his kit, it should last for many years. By the way, the iron is rust-proofed and you can get a mosquito-netting canopy that is mighty handy in the woods and along the water trails. THE RED-E FOLDING BROILER STOVE AND OVEN The Red-E Folding Broiler Stove and Oven. — Made by the Red-E Company, 20 East Broad St., Columbus, Ohio. The Red-E is certainly a stove of class and usefulness and with the Red-E Oven makes a team in the camp cooking line that sure delivers the goods. The stove folds into a very flat pack as does the oven and the two of them go into a khaki case that carries well in the pack sack or pack harness with the duffle bags. It can be set up in less time than you can write it. W^hy it practically sets itself up. With the back to the wind the smoke goes with the wind and you cook in peace and com- fort while any old sized wood feeds it. To cook with the Red-E is to eliminate all the dirty, smoky end of the game and you have plenty of pan space. After the coffee gets going good and the can o' veg- etables, slip these along one side, just touching the side and they stay simmering while you lay out a 298 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS fish on the broiler and let 'er go. And by the way just slip a strip or two of bacon on top of your broil- ing fish and let some of the bacon taste work in — man, it's great. While I managed the broiler and general cooking my pal baked as fine a pan of bis- cuits as you will meet at home and I'll say that the wall-eye pike I broiled was as good as any that " Eddy " ever broiled down at " Pop June's Oyster Bay " in Indianapolis and he sure had a rep for broiling. And here is a point not to be overlooked. It folds with the smoked part in and a clean outside always. All the way through the Red-E outfit is efficient and thoroughly practical, it is welded and riveted, no solder, and strong, compact, easy to use. The stove alone is a winner, but with the oven it is there both ways from the Jack. COMFORT SLEEPING POCKET Comfort Sleeping Pocket. — Made by the Athol Mfg. Co., Athol, Mass. I like to go into the out-of-the-way places, to the places where the fellows expect to rough it, but I never rough it if I can possibly avoid it, and the greatest little old avoider to roughing it in the sleeping-bag game is the Comfort Sleeping Pocket. It makes you think of your home-town bed, and you feel just as comfy as could be on the air mattress of the Comfort. My Comfort is the feather-weight style, rolls up into FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 299 a roll about 8x25 inches with a blanket, and weighs eleven pounds. I stuff this into a duffle-bag and strap it on the back with another duffle-bag in a pack har- ness, and I am ready for any kind of hiking, have a decent water-proof bed, light in weight, and with the head flap propped up at night it makes a little tent for any condition of weather. The outside cover- ing is of balloon silk, the inside of felt, and the air mattress keeps you away from dampness and cold. The fact that the Comfort has snap-buttons down the entire side makes it easy to air, and there is none of the sweating due to some of the closed sleeping- bags. You have a clean bed all the time and one easy to get into and out of on short notice. For sleeping in the open and where you must pack light the Comfort is an excellent addition to the kit, and it Is made of the finest material and the workman- ship Is of the best. You can inflate the mattress by lung power in a couple of minutes and there is no pump necessary. Every way the Comfort Is high quality and there is class to it from every angle of the sleeping game. Comfort in name and in de- livering the goods. PERFECTION CAPE Perfection Cape. — Made by the Athol Man- ufacturing Co., Athol, Mass. When I received this cape and even before I had taken it into the woods 300 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS and along the stream, I knew that it was just the ar- ticle that many, many sportsmen had been looking for. It was a perfect garment and there has been a call for something along Its line for a long time. The cape is made of rubberized silk, it reaches from the neck to the shins and weighs but 19 ounces. It is made on the poncho style with a rattling good neck device that comes from Mexico which can be wrapped around the neck and snapped shut. This absolutely removes any chance of those little streams of water that trickle down your neck with the or- dinary cape or rain shirt, especially if you happen to get a good brimfull of water on your hat and bend back too far. It has snap buttons that open down both sides and arms and all the body heat goes out these openings, thus you are subjected to no annoy- ance of sweating up the inside nor is there any dis- comfiture from the heat. The arms are good and roomy, you can cast, row, cut the campfire wood, in fact do anything that requires active swinging move- ment without any binding or catching in the garment anywhere. It packs in a small space i ^'^ x 4'' x 8" and comes in a neat, nifty leather case. For the amount of good it does it sure packs in the smallest possible space and can be dropped in the packsack, in the pocket or creel and carried along ready for the rain you expect, but hope will not materialize. It is equally as handy for the motorist as well as the angler, hunter or hiker. On the way to the fishing FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 301 country I had to change a tire and while it was rain- ing very heavily I kept free from being wet by us- ing it and had plenty of room to do the operation. In material the Perfection Cape is high class, the workmanship of the best and it is a practical, useful garment designed by a fellow who knows what is needed by the outer. FUMO MOSQUITO AND FLY CHASER FuMO Mosquito and Fly Chaser. — Made by the Taplex Corporation, Broadway and 34th St., New York City. Have you ever wanted to do a bit of night-fishing, either the moonlight stuff or the simon-pure black night game when the big bass are doing their surface frolic, you would have gone, it's a ten to one shot — but darn those pesky, friendly little buzzing mosquitoes. They always try to whisper secrets in my ear and take a bit o' toll in the way of a bite or two. You can play the night game now — play it to a fare-you-well, get the big bass, have the joy of night-casting and tell the whole darned mos- quito family to go to . Just take along a Fumo burner and a little box of Fumo Incense, fill 'er up, light it and place it in the canoe and it's a good-bye to the winged pests. And say, old-timer, it smells like a cross between a Chinese Joss House and a gilded palace — your nostrils fill with a pleasing whiff of an oriental perfume and for the life of me 302 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS I cannot see why a mosquito hates It so much, it smells so restful and nice that you would think they would be tickled to death to sit around and enjoy it. But it certainly drives them away and you can cast in peace and comfort. I backed the canoe right plumb into a weedy bay at the head of a tam- arack swamp right in the home of miUions of mos- quitoes, set the old Fumo agoing and they cleared right out and I sure cleaned that bay for a couple nice big bass. Besides chasing the buzzers away, Fumo is worth smelling any old time and I set 'er going in the cabin of an evening while we pass out the bunk around the fire on the reasons why the big one got away. TAPLEX HANDY WARMER Taplex Handy Warmer. — Made by the Tap- lex Corporation, Broadway and 34th St., New York City. The Taplex Handy Warmer is a sure enough cold weather friend. One in each side pocket after a few hours in a duck blind in the cold morning tem- perature when the ducks like to fly makes a fellow thank the big chief for sending them along for a tryout. No smoke or smell and with one loading, so help me Hannah, if they didn't keep nice and warm for over seven hours, fact is I had to regulate them a bit from being too darned warm. They are just a nice size, enough to clasp the hand FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 303 around and give you a good warm grip and with the hands warm and the feet warmed by a couple pair of wool sox, say, cold weather ducking has no terrors at all. The fuel with which you fill the stove looks like a cross between a scrambled bunch of cobwebs and soot but it certainly is surpris- ing what a small amount of it will produce in the line of good warm heat. And by mixing a tablespoon of pulverized charcoal with the old burnt out ashes of a loading of the fuel you get another shot of heat for six or seven hours. A tube of charcoal, enough for five loadings costs you a jitney which Is cheap enough in these High-cost days. There is no chance of a fire on the person if you cart one of these stoves in the pocket. I gave it every opportunity to play a trick on me but it just went along and produced heat of high or low degrees as I regulated it by closing the covering or opening it. Not a bad piece of kit at all and well worth the fellow's time to carry along if he goes out where the cold weather makes cold hands, an unexpected delight. THE McMILLIN AUTO BED The McMillin Auto Bed. — Made by the Auto Bed Co., Bellingham, Wash. For a compact handy bed that sleeps two people very well, without any sagging and rolling together, the McMillin Auto Bed is right. It is not complicated and can be 304 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS set up under the top in a few minutes, and every- thing is ready for the night. The materials used in the bed are strong and it is well made, the canvas sling being made of lo-ounce goods and ropebound for strength. The fact is the seat cushions sup- port the weight of the back, shoulders, and hips, prevents sagging and takes up the weight and pull that you would suppose drags on the top. The iron supports and canvas weighs but twelve pounds and can be wrapped in a roll about 4 inches by 2 feet long and can be strapped on the running- board, or the iron rods can be stored under the back seat. With the side curtains dropped you are pro- tected from wind and rain, and sleeping high and dry from the ground you have a mighty comfort- able bed. KEEN KUTTER JR. SHAVING SET Keen Kutter Jr. Shaving Set. — Made by the Simmons Hardware Co., St. Louis, Mo. This shaving set is the whole deck in a nice case, a place for everything and everything in its place or you can take what you need out and carry it with you, but the case is so compact and handy that the logical thing to do is to stick the whole outfit in the pack and have the tools of the shaving game all in one place when you need 'em. And by the way a shave in the morning in the woods is just as fine a thing as the FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 305 A. M. shave in the city, It makes you feel clean and fresh and with the pine air it's a great feelin'. The razor itself is a neat little tool and it shaves clean and right, while the blades stand up under quite a few hairy races over the jaw. There is a good strop with the outfit and a sharpening arrangement to hold the blades that any kid could work and put an edge on a blade. And there is as nifty a lather brush in an individual nickeled case as you will find In many a day; It's a short, rubber-handled affair with a good hair brush that works like a charm on the face. I was particularly fond of the brush in the outfit. The soap is of the stick variety and it comes in a nickeled case with a movable bottom so that you can shove It up with the finger. The entire case full Is handy, neat and useful and if you tote It with you there is no chance of forgetting something. Like other tools with the Keen Kutter name on them this razor will help make that name popular with the fellow who likes a face tool with a keen edge and that will shave well at all times. The razor is built with an angle that practically makes it impos- sible to use it any other way than at the proper slant to get the most effective cutting edge. STONEBRIDGE FOLDING LANTERN Stonebridge Folding Lantern. — Made by the Stonebridge Mfg. Co., 23 Warren Street, New 3o6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS York City. This lantern is a valuable addition to any kit and it is very simple with nothing to get out of order. The one Phave been using for five years is the galvanized iron' model, with aluminum reflec- tor and extra heavy mica windows. This lantern has had some mighty hard service, been tramped on and sunk under the water a number of times as well as packed considerable and outside of a few dinges does its part as a lantern as well now as it did the first time I lit it. Besides the fact that it folds into a small flat pack, the big thing that can be said of it is that it will not blow out — get that with its full force, old man, it's a lantern that will not blow out, regardless of the gale. This lantern has been knocked over, kicked over, and fell over and when righted still cast its light — and I never expected it to blow up and send the outfit to kingdom come. And, no matter where you are you can always buy a few candles for it. Taken four ways from the jack it is some lantern and I always feel pretty good when some fellow, who had previously kidded me about the candle affair, comes through with the acknowl- edgment that it is sure some lantern. It is in fact a very practical lantern and as it is used by the U. S. Army in many departments it must be able to stand the rough and ready wallops and still be on the job as a lantern. FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 307 SCHILLING'S AUTO-CAMP Schilling's Auto-Camp. — Made by The L. F. Schilling Company, Salem, Ohio. This is surely the entire camp and bed wrapped up into a little compact long bundle that straps onto the running- board of a car and doesn't take up hardly any room at all. It looks nifty on the board, and who of the crowd would suspect an entire camping quarters snugly in place for instant use. Your side curtains all up and you have a handy dressing-room in the car and can step right into bed, and say, when you mention beds in connection with the Schilling Auto- Camp, you mean real beds, for the bed which carries springs of a combination of the woven wire and link variety, like those on the Schilling, sure is some bed. There is no sag to it, you sleep right. And it is full 48 Inches wide and 72 inches long of sleeping space, which is roomy enough for two, and three can bunk in it on an emergency. The frame is of pressed steel and swiveled onto the running-board. All parts are attached, and you cannot lose or forget 'em. Steel parts are enameled and rust-proof. The tent part or shelter top is of heavy 12-ounce U. S. Khaki, and an extension spring attached to the foot-rail keeps the top taut. The camp can be erected complete in about five minutes and about the same amount of time Is necessary to take it down and stow it on the running-board. In manufacture 3o8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS the Auto-Camp Is first-class, and in material it is of the best quality. As a real nifty, cozy, and com- plete camp in compact form, either when set up or packed, the Auto-Camp can be fully recommended to any outer who likes to sleep snug in his own bed instead of taking chances in any old bed he is likely to find wherever he stops. DANZ BAGS Danz Bags. — Made by Summers Mfg. Co., Los Angeles, Calif. This is certainly a fine piece of equipment and shows at once the car-marks of a practical man as the designer. The bag is a com- bined shell and game bag and is equally as good for hunter, hiker or fisherman. The first impression gained is that the pocket in the back should be higher, but this is wrong, it is placed just right and carries well with a full pocket of game or fish. For hunt- ing, shells are carried in the four front and side pockets and are very accessible; for fishing these same pockets hold the tackle and the small pockets on the flaps accommodate the smaller sinkers, hooks, and what-not of the tackle-box, while the game pocket eliminates the creel, being one in itself. It can be worn with or without a coat and it carries snug and balances well. The standard khaki duck of which the bag is made is excellent material and it is doubled sewed, leather bound and strengthened FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 309 by rivets. In hiking the smaller kit can be carried in this bag and an ordinary pack or duffle-bag car- ried above it, or for going light it will carry suffi- cient kit and a light tent can be carried above it. For a mighty handy, efficient, and well-made piece of outdoor equipment, the Danz Bag is right in ev- ery respect and its material stands the gaff of rough treatment. KAPO KANTSINK GARMENTS Kapo Kantsink Garments. — Made by the Kapo Manufacturing Co., 114 Bedford Street, Bos- ton, Mass. The Kapo product is a life saver, whether it is made into a belt, waistcoat, canoe cushion, or any other kind of outing kit. I took my Kapo waistcoat, tied a dead weight into it, threw it into the lake one evening and it was serenely float- ing when I came down to give it the once over in the morning. I let it stay in the water the entire day and took it out that evening and the only thing that was changed was the fact that it was very wet, and who would not be willing to be considerably wet if they were hauled out of the water twenty-four hours after they Avere dumped into it, and be taken out floating right side up? For canoeing for pleasure it should make a fine thing to have about, either as the waistcoat or in the shape of cushions; and on the stream where there is a lot of white water the waist- coat would be a good thing to have along for the 3IO FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS spill that often takes place. It Is strongly made and well tailored and considering what it will do is very light, mine weighs just one and one-half pounds and it does not interfere with casting at all. I pre- fer the waistcoat because of the freedom to the arms. The fact that the U. S. Battleships are fitted with these garments show they have stood up under far harder tests than a sportsman would ever have to put them to. When it's blowing just a bit rough and the canoe is taking the sea with considerable wobble, there is a comfortable feeling to the game when you know there is a Kapo right handy. EVER READY AUTO BED Ever Ready Auto Bed. — Made by the StoU Mfg. Co., Denver, Col. Just bore two little holes in the running board and attach the Ever Ready Auto Bed with the bolts that come with it and you are ready for the outdoors, ready with a good bed and a tent over it, that can be set up in about three minutes and everything set for a good night's rest. The reason of the treat of a good night's rest Is be- cause the bed is made with real live steel springs that won't sag with two big heavy weights. There is sure real sleeping comfort In the bed and you wake up in the a. m. feeling fit for a full day's casting or hunting. The mattress Is light and strong and es- pecially constructed to keep out the cold and It has FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 311 a homey feel to tired shoulders and hips. The tent part of the kit Is made of close woven Army duck and it is storm-proof. A very good thing in the make-up of the tent is the ventilators in the side flaps which give you a bit of air without the bugs and 'skeeters that generally go with it in the out- doors, because they are insect proof. The Ever Ready is a simple arrangement to set up and when it is set up it is very solid and substantial. For an Auto bed that is compact and handy it is to be recom- mended and at the same time the material and work- manship on the Ever Ready is all that could be de- sired in equipment of this kind. For sleeping com- fort the bed is equal to any bed in your home. And you can pack as high as five blankets in the lay-out without making it bulge out of shape. It carries well on the car making no noise nor rattle and is the real goods in every way. AEROTHRUST MOTOR Aerothrust Motor. — Made by the Aero- thrust Engine Co., La Porte, Ind. The Aerothrust motor sure can take a canoe or rowboat through the weed beds and rushes without any trouble, and wher- ever there is enough water to float your craft you can go with the Aerothrust, and that certainly is an advantage to be chalked up to its credit. In mate- rial and manufacture, for quality and workmanship, 312 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS this motor certainly comes clean. The cylinders are cast en bloc, the crank-shaft and connecting rods are forged from a solid piece of high-grade carbon steel, and all pins and rings are hardened and ground. It will stand the gaff of hard rough going. All parts are accurately machined, assuring alignment and the least possible wear. The new pitch to the propeller will give a speed of ten miles an hour with the engine running at 1600 per minute. I got an average of eighteen miles to a gallon of fuel and think it will run a little better than this if economy of operation is practiced. The magneto gives a good spark on a half turn of the crank, and during a month's workout the motor caused no trouble to speak of, and it was operated by six or eight differ- ent people more or less expert at the engine game. In all details the Aerothrust Outboard Motor is well made and strongly constructed and it is a valuable addition to the boating end of the game. HOPPE'S NITRO POWDER SOLVENT NO 9 Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9. — Made by Frank A. Hoppe, 1741 N. Darien Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Here is an oil that will remove the residue of any high-power powder as well as black powder; it is great stuff for the bore, as It keeps It from rusting and corroding and at the same FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 313 time It removes metal fouling. You do not have to use a brass brush with this solvent and in this way adding to the life of the barrel. It is also fine for rubbing over the outside of the gun as a preventer of rusting. After cleaning I found that it would re- move leading and fouling by running a piece of cot- ton cloth soaked with the oil through the barrel, as the mixture acted as a neutralizer on anything left in the barrel. It is good dope for any kind of a bore and is particularly effective in the high-power rifles, Including the 22 caliber. I also found that it was a good plan to run a rag or two, dipped in the oil, through the barrel before firing, but in such case it Is necessary to dry the bore thoroughly before fir- ing. It is equally as good for shot-guns, revolvers, and, in fact, any kind of firearms, and one big thing in Its favor Is that it is not made of combination of acids, as a matter of fact no acids are used whatever. It is a merit nitro-solvent oil and is easily used in all guns. RAZ CREEL HARNESS Raz Creel Harness. — Made by W. D. Hum- phrey, Pendleton, Oregon. Here is certainly an ideal creel harness, it is a rattling good piece of kit. The entire weight of the creel full of fish rests on the bottom straps that run under the basket which is the logical place to carry it. There is a circling 314 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS strap running around the creel and from rings the straps run under the creel and up to the other side of the circling straps, the bottom straps are braced by two straps across longwise under the basket and these are reinforced by two zinc strips. The har- ness is very easy to adjust, you simply run the cir- cling straps through the openings in the basket and buckle them on the inside. Besides holding the creel in a snug position to the body it takes but a moment to unstrap the harness and remove the bas- ket entirely which makes it a simple job to wash the basket and keep it clean and sweet. It is easily ad- justed to any carrying position and will fit a creel from numbers three to six inclusive. I have sewed on leather reinforcements to my creel heretofore and made a sort of harness, but the leather soon be- came foul and rotten from repeated washings. Nothing like that happens with this harness, it does not collect dirt and it stays clean which is something to be glad for with a creel layout. It is made very strong and it sure is durable, being made of Latigo leather and the buckles and rings nickeled. The straps are all copper riveted, no sewing to tear out. Taking the Raz harness every way around it is a fine high-class, useful piece of outfit and something that will make the stream wader pass up a little prayer of joy when he owns one. FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 315 PARR FOLDING FROG BOX Parr Folding Frog Box. — Made by the North Star Spinning & Mfg. Co., 1834 University Ave., St. Paul, Minn. Here is an excellent little carrier for the live frog that is a real handy and useful af- fair. When closed for packing to the camp it folds into a compact small space and packs flat without making any bulk at all. The sides and tops are of galvanized wire and the ends and bottom of sheet metal. It will not rust and it is built strong and sturdy, the ends being held close by strong springs; from either end the bait can be taken out without trouble, the springs bringing the end closed snug as soon as the frog is removed. I carried two dozen frogs three hundred and fifty miles by train, ten miles by auto and the last three by trail and the frogs were in good shape when they reached the bass. The fact that the ends close by strong spring pressure makes 'em " fool proof " and you cannot forget to shut 'er up again. You can slip the box into the pocket for the hike home. And for an emergency minnow bucket you can hang it over the side of the boat and have live minnows any time. Taken all the way round the Parr Folding Frog Box is a clever piece of kit, it is made right and one of them ought to last a fellow a lifetime in the fishin' game, and the fellow who invented it sure must have been a fisherman because it makes the old style frog basket look like an " also ran." 3i6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS DUXBAK CLOTHING DuxBAK Sportsman's Clothing. — Made by Utica-Duxbak Corporation, Utica, N. Y. Hang- ing on the peg in my cabin, Timberedge Lodge, as I write this, is an old worn hunting jacket that has been my pal on many a hike in quest of feathers, furs and fins. Great has been the service of this coat in days of rain, of sunshine and of snowy flur- ries, through timber, burnt-over and slashings, along the rushing stream and placid lake waters. This coat is dear to my heart, it has been a faithful ser- vant, always ready and willing to serve. Rough has been the treatment I have given it for the past ten years, but it has always stood up to just a bit more than I could expect of it. It has kept me dry when everything else was wet, warm when the cold winds whipped through the pines or while sitting waiting for the whirr of wings in the duck blind. When I jam my arms into the sleeves of this old coat, I feel as nobly clad as any knight of old in his shimmering armour of burnished steel and chain. It is good for many more days on woods and water trails. It is a Duxbak coat, lo years young. That is the only trouble with a Duxbak coat, they last so darned long and a fellow gets so fond of the Comfy feel of one o' them that he hates to throw it .away. Every way through in wear, fit and style I have found the Duxbak a premier piece of out- FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 317 door clothing. The Duxbak garments are water- proofed and they keep you dry, that is something when you can always figure on an average of wet days when in the woods. They are strong and well made and the style of the garments for different wear are made with just the special features that make such garments right handy for that particular end of out-doors sport. Writing this tryout has been one of the easiest things I ever had to do, be- cause I have used this line for ten years and expect to use it for many more. If I could not get any new garments of Duxbak, I feel that the ones I have will still be wearable when my time comes to pass on to the happy hunting ground. And here's hopin' I get a layout equally as useful to wear over there. That's how good I have found them. BRADLEY SWEATERS Bradley Sweaters. — Made by the Bradley Knitting Co., Delavan, Wis. When a fellow buys a sweater he looks 'em all over and hopes he has picked the best, but when he once buys a Bradley he never bothers again about what he'll buy the next time if he ever has to buy one because It's a hundred to one shot that he will go in and say " Gimme an- other Bradley Sweater." And the reason is that he has had more downright good wear and value out of the first Bradley that he knows he is satisfied and 3i8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS that the Bradley is what he wants. And this is all because the Bradley people make a true value sweater, a garment that has snap and style to it and a helova lot of wear to it. I have a Bradley that I bought five years ago, one of the Navajo coat styles, that has kicked around with me on many a trip and had more rough usage on hike and trail, through burnt-over and brush country and what-not and yet to-day this old piece of kit has enough style and hang to it to look toppy when worn in the city or at a golf club. The reason is that it was made right — made of the right stuff at the start and made to wear. The only thing I cannot see is how the Bradley outfit can put so much value into a sweater that will last so long. When can a fellow wear one out and have to buy a new one? It seems to me that they will last a lifetime and for that rea- son I say that a garment like a sweater that gener- ally gets out of shape and hang, that is made so that it wears like iron, and still looks the part of a thor- oughbred after long use and still holds its shape and style is an article that I can recommend as being right in every respect. The Bradley sweater is that kind of a sweater, it is full value any time and in a class by itself. FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 319 "WEAR-EVER" ALUMINUM WARE *' Wear-Ever " Aluminum Individual Camp- ing Outfit. — Made by The Aluminum Cooking Utensil Co., New Kensington, Pa. This little old compact outfit is certainly a dinger. For a number of years I had in my outfit one of the U. S. army mess kits, but when I lamped this " Wear-ever " stuff and compared the weight with the old kit, I shot the old army pal up into the garret and have used the new one ever since. I find it very convenient and can pack enough bacon, salt, pepper, and other dope for a couple of meals right inside the cup and pot and carry the whole thing in the neat strong khaki bag which slings over the shoulder out of the way, al- though I have rigged it with snap hooks and snap it right onto my pack. Before I had used aluminum in the outdoor trips some of my pals said it would hold the heat too long and be inconvenient in that way. This is, in my opinion, not a fact at all, as I find that when you are preparing a meal in the out- doors the tendency is for part of the meal to get quite cold while you are getting the balance of it in shape, and I feel that what heat the aluminum does hold is to the advantage of the outfit and makes for a better, warmer meal. For an all-round good compact outfit for use on the hikes from lake to lake, or on the trail when you are going light, the " Wear- ever " Individual outfit is a decided improvement 320 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS over the home-made affair, and the beauty of the out- fit is that you are carrying no excess weight or kit. The outfit consists of a pudding pan or plate, a bucket or pot with cover in which you can brew some fine coffee or tea, a cup, fork and spoon, and a fry- ing-pan with a folding handle. This handle is holed for the use of a stick to lengthen it if desired, and the whole affair nests into a small pack. Aluminum is the right stuff for the cooking kits, and " Wear- ever " on the bottom of a pan means the same as sterling on a piece of silver. BROADBILL DUCK CALL Broadbill Duck Call. — Made by N. C. Han- sen Co., Zimmerman, Minn. This is certainly a fine duck call and with a little practice you can make the calls of any duck. Of course the majority of the wild duck species will answer the call of the Mal- lard which is easily learned on the Broadbill. The beginner at calling will find this a simple call to mas- ter and the old-timer will be delighted with it. It is very well made and the materials are good. All around it is high class and will mean a good flight of ducks if used right. I have had one in my duck outfit for a number of years and it is in just as good shape now as the day I took it out of its box and made my purp stand on his ear looking for the bird. It was originated by an old-time hunter and pat- FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 321 terned after one he had used for years and it na- turally should be good when doped up by a duck- hound. FLY-TYING MATERIAL Fly-Tying Material. — Made by C. H. Shoff, 405 Saar Street, Kent, Wash. The line of fly-tying materials carried by Mr. Shoff are of the highest quality and the assortment is varied and complete. Although I have not used material from all of his stock, what I have used was up to A-i in every re- spect, and some few exceptional pieces of goods have been secured from him that are not generally in stock. His peacock and wood duck feathers are fine, and the matched feathers carefully selected. Mr. Shoff has written an excellent little booklet on " How to Tie Artificial Flies " with a chapter on how to make your own leaders. This book should be read by every fellow who anticipates the pleasure of tying his own flies, and it can be secured free by sending a two-cent stamp to Mr. Shoff to cover the cost of mailing. To the boys who have never tied a fly there is a lot of sport due to the feeling of making the fly that coaxes the big fin into the creel, and with first-class materials such as Shoff handles and a bit of practice many killing patterns can be tied with a little patience. 322 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS OLT'S GAME CALLS Olt's Game Calls. — Made by Philip S. Olt, Pekin, III. For quite a good many years Olt's Game Calls have been famous throughout the great duck regions of the mid-west section and they de- serve every bit of the fame that has come to them. The call I used during the last season, however, was not one of the regular ones but Olt's newer adjust- able duck and crow call. A mighty big advantage of this call over the ordinary one tone duck call is that it can be quickly adjusted to call the particular call of any of the ducks and it is equally as easy to set it for calling crows. One does not find it neces- sary to carry an assortment of calls, the adjustable call taking the place of many of different tone. The call is well made and entirely of hard rubber which does away with any metallic sound often found in calls and it will not shrink or swell in damp weather. Mr. Olt has put the experience of many years at hunting game birds into the character of this call and when you use it, you know that it was designed and made by a practical duck man. Much sport can be had with this call shooting crows as it is easy to bring them within gunshot by using it. Of course you must know the call of the bird to be imi- tated In order to give the correct tone to your call- ing; knowing this, you cannot help but find it success- ful. At the same time the more crows the sports- FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 323 men kill off helps protect the nests of the real game birds. HEINZ FOODS Heinz 57 Varieties. — Made by H. J. Heinz Company, Pittsburg, Pa. If there is one little thing that adds spice to the camp commissary it sure is the Heinz line of food products. They certainly break up the monotony of the usual camp diet like a 16-centimeter shell wallops the first line trenches. Old-timer, it makes you smack your lips to even think of the variety that can be added to the camp table by a varied selection of these wonderful goods with th€ snappy flavor. The best meal you can think of, that has tickled your palate in the city has nothing on a camp meal well done when served with a dash of Heinz Ketchup, or some of those pickled mixtures like the India relish. Yeah Bo ! You gotta hand it to Mr. Heinz for putting up a line of pickled fancies that would make any old meal ap- petizing. I have used the whole deck and back again, everyone of the fifty-seven and it is hard to tell which is best. They are all good from the oven- baked beans to the Cream Soups and Fig Pudding. Before I started taking Heinz along to my fishing camp, all the meals had about the same taste and flavor; about the fifth day, everyone was on edge about the cooking, and carried a grouch right along. \ 324 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS Then I started with a little assortment of the Heinz good things to eat. After that you never heard a peep out of the worst old growler of the bunch and that's one reason why I have Heinz in many differ- ent styles in the cabin cupboard. It is surprising what you can do in the way of making tasty sauces and relishes with a few bottles of these goods and they tone the stomach up at the same time that they taste so good. They are put up clean, pure, and sanitary and the name of Heinz on a food product is just as much a mark of worth as the 24 kt. on a piece of jewelry. And Oh Boy! They are easy to open, you don't need a jimmy. ANKER'S BRAND BOUILLON CAPSULES Anker's Brand Bouillon Capsules. — Made by the Royal Specialty Co., New York City, N. Y. Here is the chance for the sportsman to take the real fresh meat flavor on the trail in a compact form and know that he is carrying a supply of food-stuff that is really made from meat and concentrated to the utmost. Drop one or two capsules into the pot of soup and it takes on a flavor that makes it a most palatable dish, or when you come in tired and cold from the lake or trail, heat a little water and slip a capsule into the tin cup and you have a bracer that will hold you together until the feed-bag is ready FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 325 for the evening chuck, and say, boy, it will give you an appetite like an old sea dog. It's clean and pure and as nutritious as the broth of fresh meat, with none of the unpleasant flavor sometimes found in preparations of this kind. And the big winning fea- ture besides the high food value and the compact- ness, is the fact that each bit of extract is put up in a sealed capsule which is sanitary, clean, and free from chance contamination. This is good stuff for the commissary and gives a change from the usual line of flavors found in the camp menu. After the first couple days out, if the " tummy " goes wrong with the change of diet, just try these capsules for a day or so and it will help put the digestive organs back into good shape. The fact that Anker's Brand Bouillon Capsules are ready for instant use and can be prepared in a moment's time, and that they are pure, clean, and wholesome, commends them for the use of the outer. WHITE HOUSE COFFEE White House Coffee. — This coffee made by the Dwinell-Wright Company, 311 Summer Street, Boston, Mass., is certainly the goods when it comes to getting up a coffee that has got the real aroma and flavor, which, when it comes stealing into your tent in the morning, will snake you out of bed like a team of horses; once you get that fragrant smell 326 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS of White House Coffee in your nostrils, it won't take you very long to wash up and make a bee-line for the breakfast table. I have tried and tested a two-pound can of Ground White House Coffee recently, and for a number of years I have used it at the house, and believe me, it is great. I have about sixteen different ways of making coffee, and the boys all tell me that my coffee is good. I am a modest guy, but I am so fussy about making the coffee that I don't blame the boys for saying that I make it right. Point No. I on making good coffee is to have the coffee-pot absolutely clean. Don't let any of the brown scum or deposits remain on the side of the pot or in the spout when you rinse it out. Then you can make your coffee by allowing one table- spoonful to each cup, and one extra tablespoon to the pot, pour on your freshly boiled water and stir the coffee which rises to the top down underneath the water, then allow it to draw for five minutes, but don't boil, pour slowly so as not to stir up the grounds. No. 2 Recipe : — Make the same allowance of White House Coffee for each cup as above, wet the coffee a little in the bottom of the pot and let it stand while you are mixing up the flapjacks, then fill the pot with cold water and let it come to a boil, boiling not more than two or three minutes, take it off the fire and let it stand for three or four minutes FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 327 before serving. Don't let coffee stand and get cold in the pot any way you make it, it kills the flavor. You cannot make bad coffee with a good coffee like WHITE HOUSE, if you simply follow out direc- tions above. TECO PANCAKE AND TECO BUCK- WHEAT FLOUR Teco Pancake and Teco Buckwheat Flour. — Made by the Ekenberg Company, Cortland, N. Y. Here is a pancake flour that has the added value of malted buttermilk mixed in with it to give necessary punch to the flour to produce delicious food. The buttermilk is reduced to a powder and mixed right in with the flour and say, old-timer, if you want to make the old homey kind of pancakes with the milky flavor, you can do it without toting any milk along if you use Teco. This buttermilk, besides making the pancakes easily digestible adds to their nutritive value, fact is, it produces a cake that is deliciously different. They have a taste that won't come off. Not only in making A-i pancakes does Teco shine as a flour, but you can use it in many different ways around the camp. It makes a crackerjack good bannock and for a sour dough bread you gotta go some to beat it. I think that the flavor to many things can be improved greatly by using Teco Pancake Flour instead o-f ordinary 328 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS wheat flour. Most any kind of fish or meat, when rolled in Teco before frying will make a dish fit for a king. Teco Flour is good all the way through and as a tip to the outer, write the Eckenberg Co. for their booklet " Campfire Cookery." It is full of tried recipes for out-door cooking, that will be found of value for the camp menu. RY-KRISP Ry-Krisp. — Made by The Original Ry-Krisp Co., Minneapolis, Minn. For the fellow who goes into the woods and along the water-trails, Ry-Krisp is great stuff. It's a bread baked dry and hard, but not as hard as the old hardtack, and it has a great many advantages over that old piece of the com- missary. The first time I bought it for a trip to the woods the two pounds never reached the woods, because the family liked it so well that we ate it before starting north, and ever since that time I have had Ry-Krisp in the home menu. We often substitute it for toast in the morning and munch a bit of it any time, and it sure is a great little stomach regulator. For the woods, it makes it unnecessary to bake bread, and from some of the bread the fellows bake in the woods — deliver me and my little tummy. Ry-Krisp will not become soggy, and a bunch in the hunting-coat pocket answers the bread question in the woods. It is an ideal camp bread FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 329 and is very agreeable to the taste. Besides all this, it is really a wonderful health food, and it's a hun- dred to one shot that many of the thousands suffer- ing with stomach trouble would fall to it with glee if they knew what a fine thing it is. It is made en- tirely of ground rye and a bit of salt and that is all, but for downright good stuff for the system, in camp or home, I am behind it with both feet because it put my cranky old stomach in first-class shape and that is one reason why I am for it. Forget your bread troubles and take along Ry-Krisp. It keeps indefinitely, that is if you can keep from eating it faster than you figured on. FARWELL & RHINES' FLOURS AND FOODS Farwell & Rhines' Flours and Foods. — Made by Farwell & Rhines, Watertown, N. Y. I have always found that with the change of location, air, water, and diet, incurred when on a hunting, fishing or canoe trip, a man needs an effective laxa- tive. One of the best is Farwell & Rhines' Table Bran; and the best thing about it is that you can take your " medicine " without knowing it. If I am mix- ing up a batch of flapjacks, or a pan of biscuit, I put in three heaping teaspoonsful of this table bran; it improves the flavor, while acting in a per- fectly natural way as a stimulant to the lower di- 330 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS gestive tract, and keeping a man " regular." Far- well & Rhines make a number of special flours, and their Cresco and Gluten flours are put up especially for people with diabetes and dyspepsia. Person- ally, I am one of those disgracefully healthy spec- imens, so I didn't need the Cresco or Gluten prod- ucts, but I tried them out several times just for fla- vor and cooking properties, and because I know there are some brother sportsmen who are afflicted with poor health who will be glad to know that these special " diet " flours cook up as appetizingly as the untreated goods, while at the same time filling the doctor's orders. The terrific appetite that the out- doors gives the average sportsman demands some- thing that will " stand by " a man, and I can espe- cially recommend for this the Farwell & Rhines K. C. Whole Wheat Flour and their Crescent Graham Flour. Biscuits, flapjacks, and bread, made up from either of these, are more laxative than the white flour product. Graham flapjacks are in my estimation a lot healthier than others made of ordi- nary wheat flour. For a breakfast food that will stand by you for a heavy day's casting, paddling, or hiking, I want to recommend strongly that you try Chesco Grits, or the Farwell & Rhines Barley Crys- tals. The former tastes mighty good, old-timer, when you slice it up cold, fry it, and eat it with ma- ple syrup — m-m — man I FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 331 GRAPE-NUTS Grape-Nuts. — Made by the Postum Cereal Company, Battle Creek, Mich. Many articles of food carried into the woods will not give you half the pleasure and food value of Grape-Nuts, and in many cases a fellow does not tote along this tasty cereal because he does not know of its value as a food and the wonderful good it does to have some- thing in the grub sack that will give him a change in diet from the usual flap-jacks and bacon, especially at the early A. M. meal, not to mention the fine taste it gives to the evening meal as a wind-up dish. It is easy to pack and always ready for a quick lunch. It contains high food value and although four or five tablespoonsful are all right for the city diet, believe me, after hitting a fair to middling trail or portage, a great big bowl of Grape-Nuts makes a better impression on the appetite and you sure en- joy a good strong helping. The first time I took Grape-Nuts into the woods, my supply lasted about three days instead of a week. I never knew how good they really were until I got out-o'-doors where the craving for just such a food develops mighty fast overnight. I find that taking them out of the original package and placing them in air-tight tins keeps 'em crisp and fine. One of the greatest little hunger satisfiers is to put a pouch of, say, a couple handfuls of Grape-Nuts in your pocket when you 332 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS start on a hike or fishing trip from the head camp and off and on during the day put a few in the mouth and munch them; this not only keeps down your hun- ger but it makes the mouth feel mighty good when you want a drink and no water in sight. At the same time your system is getting just the supply of natural cereal food that will balance the heavier foods one generally packs away while in the woods. This is especially of value to keep you in good con- dition and at the same time you have the pleasure of eating an appetizing dish that is a real palate de- hght along the woods and water trails. INSTANT POSTUM Instant Postum. — Made by Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Battle Creek, Michigan. This product is a concentrated extract made out of whole wheat and molasses. The manufacturers state that there is nothing else contained in it. Take a teaspoon- ful of this dry powder and stir it into a cupful of hot water, and in a jiffy you have a delightful bracer with a flavor not too dissimilar from that of a mild high-grade coffee. When you are out in the woods, or you come in from a morning's fishing in the cold, drizzly rain, and you feel that you want something hot that will go right to the spot to warm you up and make you feel cheerful again, and at the same time give you a little something in the way of food FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 333 value, all you have to do is go to the can of Instant Postum and make it up as described above. There is no caffeine or other drug in this article. It is ab- solutely pure and contains only the concentration from wheat and molasses, but there is absolutely no trace of the taste of molasses in the appetizing fla- vor of Instant Postum. I can recommend this prod- uct unqualifiedly as a bracer which is both delicious to the taste and of real food value to the camper, especially recommended to those people who are un- able to drink tea or coffee with comfort. / GOSSOM'S QUICK MADE POWDERED SOUPS Gossom's Quick Made Powdered Soups. — Made by B. F. Gossom, 1345A Beacon Street, Brookline, Mass, Samples I have tried out and tested were Gossom's Pea and Lima Bean Soups. These are put up in handy little rolls which occupy very little space. You wet up the powder with a little water and then you pour in boiling water and keep it on the fire for 15 minutes. You can make up a dandy tasting soup with this specialty without much trouble, and it is all the manufacturer claims it to be. It tastes just like the good hot steaming soup the wife makes up for you at home, and it is hearty and satisfying. As a camp commissary proposition that stands out on account of its all- round merits, I have got to hand it to Brother Gos- 334 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS som's preparations. You can't get a concentrated soup which has more food value value in less space than this, and let me tell you if you go ahead and get a sample and make it up according to directions, you will go to it with a vim and zest that will be one mighty little fine round of pleasure while you are sinking it into your system. Be careful when you are wetting up the powder at first to make it thor- oughly smooth, and you will join with me in saying that Gossom's Powdered Soups are the real article. These soups can be secured in quite a variety of veg- etables to satisfy most any appetite, namely green pea, yellow pea, lima bean, black bean, celery and mushroom, enough variety, in fact for even a jaded appetite. FISHING— SPORT — TRAVEL Fishing, Tackle and Kits BY DIXIE CARROLL Author of " Lake and Stream Game Fishes " How, when and where to fish and the right kind of tackle for all anj^les of fishing for the fresh water game fish. Habits and peculiarities of the basses, muskallonge, trout, pike, pickerel and wall-eyed pike. Fishing facts that will make the tyro an expert angler and the expert more fin- ished in the art. Practical information that will make your fishing dreams come true. Little points that fill your stringer written from years of lake and stream study and experience. How to play the fish in a sportsmanlike manner. Things worth knowing about tackle, kits and equipment secured from actual tests and investigations. Nature's reasons governing fishing conditions. From cast to gaff and how to do it. Care of tackle and the reasons why it does its part and how it makes your batting aver- age higher in the greatest out-of-doors sport. Many illustrations from photographs. Colored cover jacket. Large 12mo. Cloth Net $2.00. Lake and Stream Game Fishing A Pbacticai. Book on the Popilar Fresh Water Game Fish, the Tackle Necessary and How to Use It. BY DIXIE CARROLL Editor of the 'National Sportsman and Fishing Editor of the Chicago News. Author of "Fishing Tackle and Kits." Seasonable facts that affect the fishing conditions. In- formation that will be found invaluable to the beginner and to the experienced angler alike. Written from actual fish- ing experiences. The Basses, Muskallonge, Pike, Pickerel, Wall-eyed Pike and Trout treated in a thorough manner as to habits and peculiarities. Elaborately Illustrated. Cameo Paper Net $2.00 STEWART & KIDD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS FISHING— SPORT — TRAVEL Camp Fires in the Yukon By harry a. AUER In this book, the author, an explorer, a hunter of big game, and a lover of the Great Out-doors, takes the reader from the shut-in life of the Cities to the mighty -wilderness of Alaska and the Yukon. Hunters of big game wiU revel in this journey to the greatest range of big game on the continent ; lovers of animal life will find keen interest in observing and studying with Mr. Auer the habits of the wild life of the far North, while the reader who loves the Open Places of God's Great Nature will be dominated by the in- timate contact with the Majesty, Might and Beauty of the Wilder- ness of Alaska and the Yukon. Numerous Full Page Illustrations on Cameo Paper. Handsome 3 Color Cover Jacket Net $2.00 Endorsed by U. S. Government Officials Individual Instruction in Rifle Practice With a Chapter on Revolver Shooting — Unabridged Edition By CX)L. a. J. MAC NAB, JR., U. S. A. The science and art of shooting (written by an expert) the Military Rifle and Revolver is described and illustrated in a clear and comprehensive style that makes the student's progress accurate and complete. The subjects of Aiming, Position, Vision, and Trigger-pull are all treated in a manner ijotli interesting and instructive. The chapter on Revolver Shooting describes in detail how to shoot the new Smith & Wesson 45-caliber Revolver, which uses the 45-caliber Automatic Cartridge, and is the last word in Revolvers. Outdoor Life: "One of the most practical, clear, and concise books on rifle and revolver shooting for beginners, both in civil and army circles, published. It actually tells how to learn to shoot as nearly as it seems possible to explain the matter in print." 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated Net 75c STEWART & KIDD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS FISHING — SPORT— TRAVEL Streamcraft: An Angling Manual By dr. GEORGE PARKER HOLDEN The author has written a volume which will be of great interest to those of the angling fraternity. It deals with the selection, care and rigging of the rod, the art of casting, trout habits, lures and their use, including some stream entymology, the angler flies and how to tie them, including a description "of the most successful trout and bass flies. The style is always sprightly and lucid, even in the most technical parts. No other volume on American angling is so authoritative and comprehensive. Handsomely and elaborately illustrated. Eight full page colored illustrations and numerous black and whites. The book in size handy for the pocket. Net $2.00 3-4 Turkey Morocco $7.50 The Yellowstone National Park The World's Greatest Wonderland America's Only Geyser Land By gen. HIRAM M. CHITTENDEN An entirely new and revised edition with new plates and new illustrations of this remarkable classic of The Yellowstone. Ever since its discovery, more than forty years ago, the Yellowstone Park has grown in popular interest. Its natural wonders surpass any- thing to be found in like compass elsewhere in the world. To these attractions have been added others in the form of won- derful mountain roads built by the Government, and a system of hotels and camping facilities which make traveling through the Park a delight quite apart from its scenic interest. The 1918 edition of The Yellowstone is the most comprehensive book on the Park ever jniblished. It gives a complete history of that region, as well as a full scientific descrijition of its natural wonders. It is also an admirable Guide Book. Handsomely illustrated on Cameo paper, and three-color cover jacket showing Yellowstone Falls in its natural beauty; also an elaborate map Net $2.00 STEWART & KIDD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS FISHING — SPORT — TRAVEL Bass, Pike, Perch and Other Game Fishes of the United States Bt JAMES A. HENSHALL, M.D. Author of "The Book of the Black Bass," Etc. The most comprehensive book on American Game-Fishes pub- lished. It describes in detail ninety species and varieties of the game-fishes inhabiting fresh water lakes and streams east of the Rocky Mountains, and the marine and brackish waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In addition to a brief, technical description of the fishes for the purpose of identification, the popular description and account of their habits, habitats and everything relating to their environment is full and complete; the whole comprising a valuable compendium and text book for the angler with bait or artificial fly. The style of descriptions of the various fishes is new, lucid and entertaining. The suggestions and directions for angling, and of the tools and tackle recommended are in Dr. Henshall's best style, and can be confidently recommended and relied on as they are in strict conformity with his own practice and experience which cover a period of more than fifty years. Many illustrations , frontispiece and cover jacket in full color. 12mo. Cloth Net $2.00 The Book of the Black Bass By JAMES A. HENSHALL, M.D. Author of "Bass, Pike, Perch and Other Game Fishes of the United States." This new edition is revised to date and largely rewritten. Contains "Book of the Black Bass" and "More About the Black Bass." Comprising its complete scientific and life history, to- gether with a practical treatise on Angling and Fly-Fishing, with a full account of tools, implements, and tackle. Forest and Stream: "The Book is a complete treatise on the bass, containing not only advice as to methods of angling, but also the scientific history of the species and a thorough debate as to the tackle and other implements that should be used. It is a re- vised and enlarged edition of the author's older work." l2mo. Cloth. 140 illustrations. A handsome three-color cover jacket showing a real Bass Net $2.00 STEWART & KIDD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS ' ^ ^ s ^ \ ^ N f; .V &^.. .0-^ o -r. ,/" ';p ■>* ^ "i ' •' j^ "^ <>^ .^^ -^^ A' * \'^ '* .<^- ^ * 8 1 \* ^^ * 9 s O \V '^-i ( ^00^ «5 -n^ ' "^ vO°. %^ '% i .•t- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 002 884 490 6 mi I £'•■;■' !:,r; ';i^ :i;!'!;''> M ,!.>.